To own an indoor only dog in one bed flat?

[JusWunderin]

I’ve noticed a couple over the road have a dog, at first I wasn’t sure if it was actually theirs as I never saw it come or go so assume it was a visitor.

But since I’ve had a doorbell camera that picks up movement from their front door opposite my house I’ve never once seen them take it out, not once. I work from home and my office faces their front door too so I’ve become a bit of a nosey neighbour if I’m honest. But I feel sad for the dog, it never goes outside, they occasionally open their ‘patio’ doors (barred in doors with no balcony on upper level flat) and the dog just stands there with its nose poking through the bars.

It looks healthy, it’s a relatively young dog/puppy, large breed and doesn’t look uncared for but I would have thought it doesn’t have much room to get much exercise in a one bedroom flat?

and I know what you’re going to ask.. what about toileting? No idea.. I’ve literally never once seen them take it out on a walk, or just outside for the toilet. I’ve seen them come and go.. just never with the dog.

Is it cruel? Should it be reported? I don’t want to be ‘that’ neighbour but?

Context: I don’t own a dog so unsure of dog owner etiquette. Are dogs like cats, you can have indoor only cats.. can you have indoor only dogs?😅

No, you can't have an indoor dog.

Your doorbell camera shouldn't be picking up movement from their front door though. Set it up properly.

In a word no.

@SoupDragon my doorbell picks up movement from any of that general area so I can’t really help it if I ‘block out’ those areas on my device it blocks of directly informer of my path so it would render it useless, it also picks up people parking, pulling up and driving past. It just notifies me that there’s been movement outside my property

No. I live in a flat and wouldn't consider getting a dog.

It's a difficult situation though because shelters are full to bursting so if you report, the dog could end up worse off? There's no guarantee it would be rehomed.

@Beezknees you’re right. It does look in healthy shape too, it’s a beautiful looking dog so I think they do ‘care’ for it. Perhaps it’s just a bit of laziness and they’ll take it out once it’s bigger?

How long have they had it? Dogs aren't allowed out until 13 weeks at the earliest, not sure what they're doing about toilet training though.

How long have they had the dog ? A rescue organisation I had some dealings with stated new adoptees had to be kept inside the property for a certain amount of time. Annoyingly I can’t remember if it was 3 days or 3 weeks!
But no you can’t keep a dog inside permanently, their muscles would atrophy.
Ring your council and ask to speak to the dog warden and ask their advice.

And it monitors your neighbours over the road such that you are aware of every one of their comings and goings for the whole day.

You can adjust your doorbell. Do so, and stop watching them!

Unless you are literally stalking them, how could you possibly know.

And if the dog looks and sounds healthy… they probably are?

We have a dog and live in a flat. It wouldn't have been our ideal choice, but our landlord sold up and the only place we could get to accept us quickly was a flat so we've had to make do. We hardly ever see any of our neighbours or bump into them coming and going, but I would hate to think that they would assume that we never take the dog out. Unless you are literally watching them 24/7 you can't be certain they don't take it out

You aren’t supposed to take young puppies out til after their jabs and you can get puppy pads for them to toilet inside.

If it's a puppy it may not be old enough to go for walks, or it could be unwell or have an injury. It could also be a rescue who is too nervous to go outside yet.

Unless the dog looks neglected or uncared for then it's really none of your business.

Maybe there’s another door to the flats that you can’t see and they’re using that to go in and out of with the dog.

We have neighbours who bought 2 spaniel puppies, they go in the garden for a wee but other than that they don’t leave the house. I feel sad for the dogs, spaniels need exercise. The dogs have chewed their house to bits and get blamed for doing so but they’re not stimulated 😭 I have offered to walk them as I go for daily walks but they always say not to bother as they’re quite lazy dogs 🤷‍♀️

Unless you're watching them 24/7 you can't know if they take it out early morning/evening or not.

It looks healthy, it’s a relatively young dog/puppy, large breed and doesn’t look uncared for

How can you tell that from across the road?

I’ve seen it relatively close when I’ve walked past or drive past. Our properties are opposite eachother on a narrow road, it’s hard to explain but they are almost on my doorstep 😅

They’ve had the dog at least 9ish months. I just hadn’t really taken much notice until I started noticing that I’ve never actually seen it out of the flat.. then when I became quite nosey 😅

I can’t adjust the doorbell to block out their door as it blocks out my path in the same square I want the camera for my property ☺️

It's actually essential to take puppies out to acclimatise them to the world, sounds, smells, other dogs, traffic. You can't put their feet on the ground until after their second jab but you should definitely be carrying them out and about.

All the blocks of flats round by us have front and back entrances. Could they be using one you can't see?

@TheChosenTwo I see you've already thought of that.

Right! How intrusive to watch your neighbours every move

My dd has a small dog who lives in a flat, but he's taken out at least 4 times a day-2 good walks and 2 pee trips. Plus more if he asks.

I would find it hard to believe they don’t take it out!

Who would want to pick up turds and clean up piss from the floor inside their living accommodation? The stink in a flat!

They may take it out at night or through a back entrance as PPs have said.

Maybe they realise their neighbour across the road is a weirdo who’s spying on them so avoid the front entrance?

In Singapore, I knew a family who had a shower room just for the dog with some fake grass in the base of the shower. Their dog toileted on the fake grass and they would rinse the urine away with the shower hose. They did walk their dog though, and I presume it was trained to poo outside rather than on the fake grass!

It may be an reactive dog that they may only take out very early or very late to avoid other dogs.

I would imagine it's much more likely that there is a back entrance to you don't know about that they use for the dog instead of taking it out the front.

I'd be concerned for the dog too. Hardly outrageous to notice and have some compassion for other living things (despite what some are saying). Some people go through life oblivious - I know I'd rather be the sort who notices.
Also, if I ever get a ring doorbell, no chance I could set it up to not pick up everything going on in the street (up high etc) (or literally every coming and going of my next door neighbour) (why do I need a ring doorbell? - all the unsavoury neighbours!)