NEED QUICK ADVICE! - Neighbour’s Dog Alone

[PolarBear559]

My neighbour frequently stays out for the night and leaves the dog at home alone. I don’t know exactly how long for but I know for certain one evening the dog was left alone from around 7pm until around 11am the following morning.

I’ve just found out my neighbour has gone on holiday and left the dog at home! Someone is popping in, but not for very long. All I can think about is how hot it is and how there’s no airflow in the house, or if it needs to go to the toilet, or runs out of water, or even just the poor thing having no interaction, exercise or company!

Please offer some advice on whether I should do anything about this and if so, what’s the best thing to do?

Thanks in advance x

Yes to pp. Ringing the neighbour and shaming them on their holiday is definitely a good plan. I am not saying that with a hint of sarcasm. Ruin their trip. Tell them you are calling the RSPCA if they get pissy.

Ring doorbells are pretty good at these things…

so I can see what’s going on 24/7. Infact, I can tell what time the person arrives and leaves to the millisecond.

Currently I’m not 100% sure how many times per day they are popping in. Neighbour went on holiday yesterday I think it was. It’s actually the neighbours partner popping in (they don’t live together).

Going to go over the doorbell footage to see how many times so far they’ve gone in. But the one visit so far today was for 15 minutes only 😔

I'd ring the rspca, they may not be able to do anything but a welfare check may be enough for the owner to realise what they are doing is serious neglect.

As a dog owner stories like this are so awful to read. Dogs are sociable, they aren't like cats they crave company.

What's the owner like do you speak at all?

So they went on holiday yesterday and by 9:30am, when you posted, the neighbours partner has already been in to tend to the dog.

I know you’re concerned about the dog, but I think this is preemptive.

'It’s actually the neighbours partner popping in (they don’t live together).'
Seriously?! Why on earth doesn't thr bf/gf just stay there for a few days even if they don't live there normally 🙄.

Poor dog. It’s times like these when it would be great to find a broken door or window so you could remove the dog and look after it. How long has neighbour gone away for. The neighbour is selfish and cruel.

So by 9.30am, someone had been in to tend to the dog, someone who is familiar with said dog. It's only midday, they may be back several times.

Maybe they're at work or out somewhere for the day - it was only 9.30am when OP posted, after all.

So you think popping in for 15 mins once in 24 hours is ok?

I guess people like you (with these types of opinions) are the reason that this behaviour is happening.

So she went away at 9.30am yesterday? I must have missed that, as did this poster. I don't think you need to be so accusatory. This is a really unpleasant post.

I just read all your posts. At no point did you say your neighbour went on holiday at 9.30am on Friday. At one point you say, you think they went on holiday yesterday. You've also said is it fair to leave a dog alone for a week with someone popping in just 15mins a day. You have no idea if this is the case for the upcoming week or even for today. He might come back later and spend several hours with the dog. PP is correct you are being preemptive and YABU.

If it is only 15 mins in 24hrs then call RSPCA, your posts haven't suggested that this is definitely the case though, so be prepared to back it up.

Our neighbour does this, and the dog just barks and barks and barks and barks and barks….
so nice to live next to for 2 weeks!
it has one person at 6am and again about 8pm for 5 mins each and that’s it.

That is so cruel. No walks, no exercise? What do your neighbours say when you tell them it is obviously bored and distressd as it barks constantly.

Speak to the dog sitter or leave them a note, offer to take to dog out in the evening when it’s cooler

Could you not offer to help out rather than being judgy about it?

Why on earth should a neighbour offer to help out the neglectful owner?!

You haven't said in any of your posts that the dog has only had one 15 minute visit in 24 hours.

You did say that the last visit was 15 minutes long and that you don't actually know how many visits there have been in total or how long the neighbour has been gone.

If it's true that the dog is getting one visit in 24 hours then obviously that's not acceptable, but a 15 minute garden break on a hot morning as part of multiple other visits isn't so problematic.

You’re right I apologise. I wrote that message in a rush.

they left yesterday, around 24 hours ago. There’s been one visit today for 15 minutes, obviously left all night alone, and I can’t confirm how many visits yesterday. So what I can confirm is there’s been one 15 minute visit in around 17 hours (I’m fairly confident it’s a lot longer than that but for the avoidance of doubt I’ll go with what I absolutely can confirm for now).

However, this still doesn’t take away from the fact that a dog has been left alone for a full week (or will have been by the time they return). And that all it’s getting is brief visits so far so I imagine it’s likely to continue.

My point exactly – stop talking to people like trash and calm down. The guy could be staying there to dog sit and gone out to work or shopping etc. My point is that you hadn’t gathered enough info in the two hours since you posted.

The OP is not talking to people like trash so why don’t you calm down! The OP is asking for advice, if you don’t have any move on.

She spoke to me like trash.

I left my dog alone for an hour on Thurs- in fact he wasn't entirely alone as our other dog was here. When I got back, he had had a bad tummy and it was all over the rugs. I separate the dogs when I go out - one in the hall and he had the lounge/kitchen. You just cant account dir stuff like this happening. Poor boy was really distressed. I wouldn't want to leave a dog alone for too long. Your neighbour might get similar.

Then you need to do something. No dog should be left for that long! That is totally ridiculous!

And there was me this morning, left TV and fan on, dog flap open, blinds down, to go 20 minutes to the chemist and back. I had the camera open on my phone the whole time, microphone enabled and even apologised to the chemist for not paying attention to her because I was watching my dog 😆 She said a colleague has her camera app open all day watching her dog.

But overnight?? No. Dogs are social animals and that's a long time. What if the water runs out?