To think this is more common than people realise

[OfficeProbx]

I live opposite an able bodied woman in her 30’s, with a teenage daughter. Shes self employed and home a lot. They had an old dog and got a new dog a few years ago - in lockdown. I can hear them barking from the house.

I have never, not once, ever seen them walk either of these dogs. I only know they exist as they are noisy and she has mentioned them in passing before. I’ve seen them once when they got out of the front door - dogs are not disabled and both a small breed that is very energetic.

a relative had a dog she rarely walked, just let out into the garden every few hours. Eventually she rehomed the dog as it became destructive.

I have a dog and I cannot imagine the misery I would inflict on it to never be walked. It makes me feel so sad for the dog.

I guess I might not always be home to see them walk the dog so might be wrong that it is walked at times, but I actually think this is something that is more common than people realise but people don’t admit to it. You have all the best intentions but then life gets busy and you assume the dog is fine just running around your tiny garden and before you know it, you haven’t walked your dog in months.

Hand on heart, if I had a dog, I would struggle to walk it every day. I am busy but also I just wouldn't be arsed with it. Naturally, I do not have a dog. People like me should be more honest about what kind of a dog owner they would be.

Nb. Although I only have responsible dog owners in my family, I too have known a non-walker. A buyer at my old company. She left the dog alone all day too. (And I mean ALL day from 7am-7pm)

In her opinion "my dad fitted a dog flap" was the solution to both of these issues.

Ofc. she was actually a devoted dog owner, because she had a photo of him as her lock screen and shared photos of him on FB every night. (To choruses of what a great "dog mama" she was.) Jack Russell, poor little fucker.

This is the worst comment on this thread! Are there any local animal rescues or organisations you can contact who can talk with the owner of the puppy?

The dog or the owner….?

I’ve never seen any of my neighbours bringing in their food shopping in the time I have lived here, though I’m sure they do eat. Unless you are stalking these people then you really don’t know how often the dog is being walked.

I’ve never seen any of my neighbours bringing in their food shopping in the time I have lived here, though I’m sure they do eat
Now you've said it, I don't think I have for some.of my neighbours, but I have seen them walk their dogs.
The only logical conclusion is that one household, including all pets, lives on air.

In this chaps case, if you take away the long days he's out and the frequent weekends he's out full stop, for the times he's around he often has his x 2 small kids from previous relationships with him. I work from home facing the front and he's the type of person who can't leave the house without slamming every door on the way. So I'm pretty confident I'd see or hear him.

Im sure there are plenty of people who don't walk their dogs. But im not sure if people think I walk mine, as I walk at different times within a three hour block (sometimes 9am, sometimes 10 but always before 12), and at night it's when people are inside otherwise soccupied. I've never seen the woman across the street walk hers til I had to get up for an extra early walk as on a day trip and voila there she was walking her dog at 6.30am.
I also take my dogs to a bigger park via the car on occasion and unless you saw me in the 30 seconds from house to car then you'd miss it.
Unless they match your routine I'm not surprised you haven't seen them, but you may also be quite right.

Yes, there’s one opposite me that lives in a flat, so no garden. Little staffy.

When I started working from home I first realised it lived there. I’d see the woman come out front with it, wait for it to wee/poo in the parking area, then take it right back in again. I never saw it go out for a walk. One day, it ran off down the street. The poor thing just wanted to explore, I hope she had a good time 💖

Several years on, I thought she was no longer there as I’d not noticed her in a year or two. Then one day, working from home, I see her brought out for a wee again 😭 my heart actually breaks for this poor little dog, she looks so sweet. Damn, lazy, irresponsible owners 😡

I am aware of a nasty rumour in my neighbourhood that I don't walk my dog. We go out for a couple of hours in the very early morning so sadly the lay-a-beds don't see us. We also have a private field attached to our house where he can run free and where we play many games of fetch throughout the day. You may have no real idea of what neighbours get up to, and spreading these kind of rumours can be a form of bullying.

I simply do not have this level of awareness of my neighbours' comings and goings. Some of them might only leave the house twice a year for all I notice! That said the one who has a dog I see walking it quite often.

@PixieLaLar the dog

A family member of mine has a husky and doesn't walk it 😩I don't get it, but the dog has constant company and seems surprisingly well adjusted. They do have a garden but that's the extent of it.

I do think there's a balance to be had between multiple walks a day at set times, and never walking your dog at all though, and I say that as a dog walker.

My own dog doesn't have a set routine and the times of his walks vary each day. Sometimes he'll be out with me for several hours, other days he'll get 40 minutes on the lead around the streets. Some days he'll come out with me to a friends' house to play with her dogs, other days he'll even skip a walk and stay home.

He's well adjusted, doesn't destroy the house and is quite happy to settle down at home regardless of how much exercise he's had. Obviously I wouldn't advocate for dogs to never go out but some of the most well-adjusted dogs I know don't go out everyday and don't have set routines.

It's very, very common for people to have dogs and not walk them. It makes me really angry.

So many people will say 'Oh, he gets plenty of exercise running about in the garden'. Imagine if you just had to get all your exercise just walking up and down your garden, every single day and never got to see or experience anything new, ever. You'd go insane. Dogs are no different. They need a lot more than just a stretch of their legs.

I also think people have this idea that small dogs don't need much exercise. Which might be true of, eg, a pug. But is absolutely not true of most small terriers, or a schnauzer, or a cocker spaniel. When I was a kid we had Westies and people often assumed they didn't need proper walks... despite the fact that Westies were specifically bred for running around all day in all weathers over rough terrain.

This thread has made me sad, I didn't realise that people owning dogs and never bothering to walk them was such a thing. Dogs in my family have always been walked at least once a day, and my two are walked twice a day. We usually go to two different places, and they're almost always off lead to run around and do doggy things because none of us love walking on streets with them on the lead. I know not everyone has that time to spend dog walking (and not everyone has a wealth of dog walks on their doorstep), but it definitely saddens me how many people don't seem to understand that dogs are sentient beings with needs that go way beyond going out in a garden a couple of times a day.

This kind of thing drives me mad. It’s common knowledge that all dogs need to be regularly walked; every day. And yet some people expect their dog(s) to just be fine being shut up in the house all day doing nothing and going crazy.

My relative has acquired so many dogs over the years and then rehomed every single one as each time it comes as a shock that when the dogs aren’t walked they behave negatively- destroying stuff, constant barking, peeing indoors, biting…

You'd be surprised how quickly some dogs adapt to little/no exercise.

When my dog misses a walk, his behaviour doesn't really change, I have to say, though I'm not sure what he'd be liked if he missed multiple walks as that's never happened (apart from when he was unwell).

Some dog owners are so lazy they just make up any excuse that suits them. Dogs are very intelligent social animals and require a lot of outdoor exercise, in the wild they would be constantly roaming, and that's where we should have left them, they would have been much happier, wild and free.

I think it's more common than people realise. Especially with small breeds. I have a friend with a Jack Russel who only gets let out into the garden. She thinks as he is only small he's fine just to potter in her new build postage stamp garden. He is also on calming medication as he's "high energy, hard work and barks all day". He is walked around the new build estate at the weekend and that is his big walk. Strangely enough, the Jack Russel went to her parents whilst they were on holiday and her retired dad took it for long walks over the fields twice a day and all it did was sleep and quietly potter for the 10 days it stopped with them. Her mum stopped giving it the calming tablets as she was concerned it was sleeping too much. It didn't even bother about her parents neighbour's cat.

Dogs need exercise and stimulation.

Because I grew up in a family where the dogs never got walked. I imagine that, as a child, the thought probably never crossed my mind.

Yes, our next door neighbours don’t seem to walk their dog 😞

Obviously I can’t be completely sure because I don’t watch their house at all times, but I’m as sure as I can be that they don’t walk it regularly.

It's always been really normal in my extended family to not walk dogs but just let them out in the garden (small terraced house yards rather than gardens tbh).

I always thought it was cruel - but anyone who thinks this is rare is wrong. It's a very common sight to see a back yard full of dog shit and a non-stop barking dog!

When I was a kid, neither ours or my auntie's dog even owned a lead...