Next doors dog

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chaps89

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I am a bit concerned about my neighbours dog and don't know if there's anything I can/should do.
He was adopted from a charity maybe a month or two ago now. He's a large breed, and to me seems quite territorial (the few times I've met him in the hallway or driveway he's been at the end of his lead, braced and barking. She maintains he is friendly, personally I keep my distance!)
He barks quite alot if you go in or out- weirdly only in the evenings though. He gets an ineffective 'shush' when that happens.
That's irritating but part of living in a flat I guess.
What worries me most is
1) she has a very tiny car and he goes in the boot and it looks neither comfortable or safe
2) she initially took alot of time off work when he arrived and he went EVERYWHERE with her. She's now back at work and he howls/whines/barks. Thankfully not continuously, usually every hour or so for a few minutes. Slight advantage to how thin our walls are is that I can give a very firm command of 'be quiet' and he shuts up. She had arranged for a dog walker but I've worked from home a few days and been back mid morning and in the rest of the day and no-one has been in so I worry he's being left a rather long time. I'm not spying on her - our flat is ground floor next to the drive and sound proofing is non-existent so you can hear all comings and goings!

So, oh wise people of AAD who know lots more about dogs than me - am i just being a bit soft or a nosy/interfering goodie too shoes and should I stay out of it or is there anything I can do? No point in talking to her - the one time my OH said the dog was making alot of noise she just laughed :(
 
Yep, I know which charity.
It's rental (same landlord)
It's just that it will be obvious who has reported it (small flat - us and her downstairs and 1 flat upstairs - upstairs get on very well with her) I guess it's slightly easier to be anonymous if I contact the charity though so that's a good shout, thanks :)
I don't want to cause any hassle, I just feel sorry for the poor dog - and actually a bit angry that the charity thought it was a suitable home if I'm honest!
 
Start with the charity first. To rehome a large breed dog to a flat seems madness to me. Do they have a garden?
 
Seems mad to me - there is a garden but it's a small courtyard with no direct access from the flat.
He's been barking/howling every 5/10 minutes now since 7pm, he's been on his own a long time today :-/
 
What sort of dog is he? I only ask because my family call my 18” high lurcher “large”, whereas to me my 32” high greyhound is large 😄😄
 
He's an akita cross, he's definitely a big boy! Not sure what the cross is but I'd hazard a guess gsd or similar personally. Not in great Dane size territory clearly but big enough imo.
 
Wow. With that breeding, he's not doing anything surprising, to be honest. What is surprising is that any charity would have rehomed him into that sort of household unless they are desperate to get dogs out the door. Are there any training groups in your area that you could drop into the conversation in a friendly way?
 
He was described as needing a home with experience of large breed dogs, her family have a rhodesian ridgeback, amongst others, and I can only assume there's not too many people out there with larger breed experience queuing up.
I'm not surprised either- I wouldn't blame any dog for behaving that way but especially not a fairly mentally and physically active young one.
I try to keep my distance but as and when I next seem them I might just drop that into conversation.
If nothing else this thread has been therapeutic in just getting it off my chest and knowing I'm not bonkers thinking it all seems a bit mad!
 
Crumbs - yep I’ll agree that is definitely a big dog! and bored, fed up, not entertained or mentally stimulated enough.... not a good placement by the rescue to put it mildly 😳☹️☹️
 
Given how difficult some folk find it to rehome from charities I find this incredible, that they thought a flat and a working owner to be suitable for such a large breed dog. Please contact the charity to at least make them aware, your other option I suppose would be enviromental health at your council to complain about the noise, although not sure how that would help the dog :( As you are both tenants from the same landlord presumably you know his/her views on having a dog in the flats?
 
Trouble is there are charities and people who would rehome a dog to anyone for £100. It may well be the latter in this case.
I feel sorry for you, primarily, and secondly the dog.
 
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Thanks. Unfortunately it's a big household name charity!
OH has suggested we keep a log of the issues, give it to her so she can't say it doesn't happen all that much and give her chance to do something, then go to LL/charity if needed. I presume LL is aware of the dog, he's very relaxed and doesn't mind us having a cat here either.
 
Oh it gets better. She saw OH earlier and apologised for the dog barking during the night (if he did we didn't hear it) so OH said he hadn't disturbed us but he had been very noisy and seemed quite distressed during the day after he'd been left alone alot. The response was well I just want to get my life back.
*head-desk*
 
Seems like she is doing what she can as in taking time off work to help him settle, and getting a dog walker. I'm not sure what to suggest other than logging any noises. What hours are you talking about when you say he's been alone a long time? Most dogs can cope with an 8hour day with a walker coming in halfway through, although I appreciate an Akita cross is not 'most dogs'
 
Plus she's only had him a few weeks. Maybe try some supportive advice in the first instance, I don't think it is fair to report her to the charity just yet as it is still early days and could cost the dog a home that might well work out great with a few adjustments
 
chaps89 said:
Oh it gets better. She saw OH earlier and apologised for the dog barking during the night (if he did we didn't hear it) so OH said he hadn't disturbed us but he had been very noisy and seemed quite distressed during the day after he'd been left alone alot. The response was well I just want to get my life back.
*head-desk*
Click to expand...
That doesn't sound great, but it may have just been a tongue in cheek comment, I am always moaning about my animals but I don't really mean it
 
I don't necessarily disagree but a young, driven dog I don't think is the right type to be left alone for long periods in a small flat.
Yesterday he was alone 11.30am - 9.30pm - she popped in briefly (5 minutes) twice but that was it. After being left for the second time that was when the noise ramped up.
On the days I've been in and she's been out there's not been anyone (dog walker) in to see him.
I do think it could work but I think with that kind of dog it needs alot of mental and physical stimulation which he just doesn't seem to get.
I get there's dogs in worse situations, absolutely. Just hearing him howling yesterday though just made me feel so sad.
I think the issue is she's gone from one extreme to another, always being there to being out for a long time?
Nothing worse than people giving unsolicited advice and she's also just not the kind of person you could do that to. I'm also quite intimidated by our upstairs neighbours who get on very well with next door, so we upset her then we upset them and it all gets unpleasant.
So honestly, I want to stay out of it. But I posted as last night I was worried about the dog (as well as fed up with the noise yes, but primarily as I was concerned)
 
That sounds like a really difficult situation, I agree 10 hours is a long time, and pee breaks to the garden aren't gonna cut it for that type of dog, he needs to be taken out for an hour at least and 'run ragged' for want of a better term :(
 
Maybe Doggy Day Care or something would work? I used to be a dog walker and would sometimes look after dogs just while their owner was at work, and would include them on 2 or 3 of my group walks, and drop them at my house inbetween - it was actually a really good deal financially for the owners, would have cost them an arm and a leg to pay separately for the walks
 
For any charity to rehome an Akita in this situation, with a tiny flat with the owner away for a lot of the time, is sheer madness. Specialist breeds like this with a tendency to aggression if not handled right, need rehoming where someone knows what they're doing and can give the dog adequate management and plenty of exercise, which patently isn't happening in this case.

Is the landlord aware of the dog in the flat on its own in a distressed state? Was the landlord consulted before the tenant obtained the dog? Did the charity either know or care whether the fact that the potential owner was a "tenant" and therefore there could be a "no pets policy" in existence? I very much doubt it!

Unfortunately, animal charities DO make mistakes in rehoming; I've been involved in two cases this year which needed emergency intervention as things had reached a crisis point (one a dog, the other a cat) where frankly the person doing the Home-Check must have been either blind, or stupid, or just downright didn't-give-a-damn-but-rehome-it-anyway. With the result that people like me that DO care, had to step in to what was an emergency situation and get the unfortunate animal out of it quickly.

Personally, if you know the charity involved, I would have a word with them and express your concerns.
 
as much as you don't want dogs stuck in charity kennels, this situation sounds worse

I am not anti flats with big dogs- our first dog was a 2 yo German shepherd and we lived in a small flat. But he was out at the horses for 2 hours every morning, so spent the day sleeping, and I was out 8-3.30. then back out for a long walk and horses. so the flat was somewhere to chill.

why on earth have they got a dog? I feel this is doomed to fail, even if they sorted some more walks and day care- which I doubt they will want to pay for.
 
Clodagh, sadly you are right, our neighbour rehomed 2 dogs from the local "pound", the first was a patterdale x, the second an english bull terrier, both ended up being pts as both bit the kids and the EBT also bit the husband. Imo neither dog was suitable for a home with 3 kids, the youngest was 10 at the time so not babies but its a busy home with lots of friends to play, no history of either dog was known and both are breeds that need a little bit of experience I think. They now own 2 yorkies bought from a breeder as pups, both are totally enchanting little dogs and extremely well socialised and happy. My neighbour was mortified that the first 2 ended the way they did but it really wasnt down to her, the dogs obviously had issues that were neither known or disclosed, she was out of pocket by about £800 in total with rehoming fees, stuff and the PTS bills!! The lost dog pound however cannot keep going without making a profit so after 7 days the dogs are put up for rehoming :( I cant help but think rehoming an Akita x to a flat with an owner who works full time and "wants her life back" is a horrendous decision. Its not only going to be left when shes at work but whilst she "getting her life back", why on earth did she want a dog??
 
pounds don't homecheck do they though? Neither do they behaviour test the dogs so that's a hell of a risk to take if you have 3 children.
 
MBC, with the greatest respect to you and your neighbours I very much doubt either the EBT or the Patterdale had “undisclosed issues”, I just think they were breeds who needed experienced homes not first time dog owners.

I’m not a Patterdale fan personally, but I’d love an EBT, I’ve had dogs all my life and have just taken on my 12th rescue (I think, I’ve lost count!) but even so I wouldn’t taken on an EBT lightly.

OP I would put up with this for the dogs sake, if you know which charity the dog came from I would be approaching them and explaining your concerns. They appear to have made a mistake with the re-homing, it happens, people lie about their level of commitment during the process, but the poor dog needs a decent home not what you are describing ☹️
 
She may have tried to get a dog walker but experience in kennels tells me once you say the words Akita people say no sorry. It could be that or she maybe didn’t try. Who knows. Not sure it will stay much longer if she already can’t be bothered with it though.
 
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