Neighbours never walk their dogs

[DashRiprock]

I might be overstepping the mark a little here, but as a pet owner myself this is really starting to bother me.

Our neighbours have 2 fairly small mongrel dogs, one about 3/4 years old and the other about 6 months old. I have NEVER seen them walk either of them. Normally I wouldn't give it a second thought, but they've recently been coming through a hole in the fence into our garden and trying to intimidate our cats. I also worry about when our daughter gets a little older and will want to play in the garden, a lack of exercise and stimulation for a dog can cause a lot of aggression.

Is there anything I can do? If I complained to the RSPCA, would they do anything or even care? I just don't understand why you'd get a pet in the first place if you had no intention of looking after it properly?

My neighnour has never walked her dog, I know she hasn't because she said the dog is too strong on the lead to walk him (St Bernard) but they never walked the two dogs before that one that were considerably smaller. It's strange to me she loves dogs, probably more than me who walks in all weathers with mine, but doesn't see walking them as part of the deal.

Rspca won't do anything. In my husband's home country people rarely walk their dog as they see running around a garden as sufficient. My MIL thinks its ridiculous that we walk ours twice a day and have him indoors. Tbf their dog isn't over weight and because he is never indoors he does seem to run around the garden alot. Maybe neighbour thinks the same? Maybe they are walking the dogs very early/very late.

On the rare days where's it's literally raining non-stop then ddog can go without and I don't feel guilty but that's only because he's a small breed. I'd never not walk a big dog!

Big dogs often need less exercise than small ones, though.

Many giant breeds only need an hour or so a day and would be perfectly happy on less than that if necessary.

Yes size no indicator of walking requirement

As a dog owner, if true it makes me sad.

The best thing you can do for yourself is mend the fence and ensure the dogs cant enter your garden.

I just wanted to agree with the posters saying how do you know they aren't walked?

I moved house and we have a neighbour two doors down who keeps stopping me and asking me why she's not seen me walk our dog
I always walk him at the big country park estate nearby (a major factor in us choosing the house we chose actually) but the walk is in the opposite direction to her house and so she hasn't seen us go by.
She will not shut up about it. She's best friends with my actual next door neighbour and now my neighbour has started to make comments too and we feel so watched.
I make a big show of walking the dog in the hope they are watching but why should I have to?!
They've also commented to me that they heard him whimper in the garden and is he ok - I work from home and he's always by my side and never whimpered!
Also when he's in the back garden next door but one neighbour has also said "oh your poor dog (in jokey upset voice) his little face when he's in the garden, he looks like he's saying "let me in".
If you feel like genuine mistreatment is taking place then of course you should report but until then please give them a chance and not assume the worst.

I mean this in the nicest possible way, you sound like a real nosey interfering busybody who really should consider getting a life.

How on earth would you know that they don't walk the dog? Do you watch them 24 hours a day?! And if you do then you sound like a bloody creepy stalker!

Are you sure they aren't being walked? My neighbour accused me of never walking my dog - in reality he was getting 2-3 hours a day, she just wasn't curtain twitching at the exact right times.

Fix the hole in your fence - though this is unrelated to walking. I can assure you that my dog could have walked all day and would still find a hole in a fence irresistible, and cats incredibly fun to chase.

As plenty of other posters say, they may be getting walked early or late. I rarely see our neighbours take their dog for a walk, that's just because they walk at a completely different time to us.

I also don't feel that all dogs necessarily need a daily walk if (and only if) their needs are met elsewhere. We do a lot of training, play and enrichment at home and so there are days, admittedly rare, when our dog doesn't get walked. She doesn't like the rain for instance, it gets her over-aroused very easily, and so it's not an enjoyable walk for anyone. So if a day is particularly rainy she doesn't get a walk.

All you can do is make sure your boundary is secure.

They might walk them. A friend of mine used to have neighbours who assumed he didn’t walk his dogs and made a few comments about. He worked a variety of shifts and usually walked them overnight.

Fix the holes in your fence and stop being so nosey and judgemental .

I once got real indignant about a neighbour not walking her dog, I’d seen her carrying it as a tiny puppy and then never seen her walking it... turned out it only had 2 and a half legs serves me right for judging, lol.

Half my neighbours didn’t even know I owned my last dog, nevermind see me walking him, I walked him at stupid o’clock or put him straight in the car because he had some pretty major behavioural issues and lots of health issues.

So I wouldn’t assume you’d know if they were or weren’t walking them tbh.

I have an old chihuahua never liked going for walks and always had to drag him even when he was baby. I don't bother forcing him anymore. He's happy in the house and going out in the garden.