What am I supposed to do?

[Kfamr]

As some of you know, my neighbor owns a pit bull named Buddy. Buddy digs under the fence EVERYDAY, giving my dogs fleas, and who knows what. I've taken him home 3 times already within the hour i've been home (filling uo the hole each time) His owners aren't home and my dad spoke to them last night saying they need to take care of him. He's dug under the fence and came to our backyard atleast 5 times a day in the past week or so.

As I type this he's digging.
Yesterday he dug out the side fence, and ran around the neighborhood, ending up at our front door. My dad fooled wih him all day while I was at school, and when I came home i dealt with him. My dad has a bad back and can barely control him. His collar is too big and he slips out of it. He's an angel for me. Everytime I go to take him back to his house, he puts his tail under his legs and tries to pull away.

I gave him a bath yesterday, with flea shampoo. He's covered in them today. My dogs have fleas as well, because of him coming in our yard, and we've sprayed it numerous times.

My dad says next time he comes over (dad is gone right now) he's calling the humane society. He hasn't in the past because I just don't want to see Buddy in there. There's tons of pit bulls, some have been there for months without homes. I have a feeling he'd be in there for a while to.

I don't know why i'm posting this... i'm just really upset. I really wish these people would take care of this dog. He's adorable and he's the biggest sweetheart ever.

I wish he could come over "on our side" forever.

[ramanth]

It's sad and depressing to see people not take care of their dogs.

I hope Buddy can learn to stay in his yard... have they or would they be willing to try chicken wire buried into the ground under the fence?

*hugs*

[K9soul]

From the pictures I really thought Buddy was a boxer. I looked again closer and I notice now how wide his head is. I guess his coloring threw me off.

Wish I had something to suggest but I really don't know what to tell you =(. It seems pretty much beyond your control.

[aly]

It sounds like your humane society is no-kill, which means it most likely isn't animal control. If your dad calls them, they'll tell him to call animal control, which is where Buddy would likely end up on death row The humane society probably wouldn't take him unless you made something up and didn't tell them it was your neighbor's dog.

[primabella]

This must be very stressful for you. I really wish your neighbor would take care of his dog or pass him on over to you. Good luck with everything. Here's hoping Buddy stays to his side. I'm worried about what will happen to him...

[aly]

Email a pit rescue in your area and let them know whats going on and ask for advice.

[primabella]

Originally posted by aly
Email a pit rescue in your area and let them know whats going on and ask for advice.

That's a good suggestion.

[lv4dogs]

notifying a rescue is a great idea. Or maybe if you tell your neighbors your gonna call the HS next time they might wake up & realize & take better care of him.

Sorry to tell you that by him comming into your yard probably adds to your fleas, but you would probably still have them if he lives next dorr, those fleas can travel & they will to find food! And this time of year fleas are really bad as they want to get inside where its warm.,

[lv4dogs]

sorry I just saw you live florida, fleas are really bad there, they live in the sand, dirt & are everywhere.

[CamCamPup33]

AW kay! I hope you can find something to do, i really dont have any answers for you.. poor buddy.. Yes if only he could be on your side forever, we would know he would have a better home..

[My Peanuts]

Well you have to ask yourself what's worse... Getting hit by a car or going to the humane society? If he gets out that often it's going to happen. Does Buddy live outside and is he neglected? I posted about this before. This is what I posted in a previous thread...

They(my neighbors) got this cute little mix breed lab in late fall. The poor puppy lived outside, and we live in Chicago. Chicago is known for its extremes in temperature, really cold or really hot. These idiots actually thought that this was suitable for a puppy. After my dad called a couple of times to tell them "oops you left your dog out" even though we knew she lived there. Thank goodness they brought her in after our numerous complaints. After that we thought they were going to treat her right, until summer came. The poor thing was outside tied up in 90 plus degrees. To top it all off she was chained right next to my pool. Who wants to look at a poor dog literally dying of heat and go in a pool. I used to hose her off and give her ice because she was frequently without water. Oh, not to mention that we made several calls to the village to save her, but they were no help. Thinking back I should have called a shelter to get her, but sometime all the legal stuff gets in the way. One hot night the little angel "disappeared" my neighbor told me she was "stolen" Between me and all of you, she is fine and now in a good home after she was taken to a no kill shelter. And I don't feel guilty about it either. I feel good now when it hails, thunderstorms, and gets really hot and I know she is being taken care of right!


So you know what I'd do

[KYS]

Buddy from your posts sound like a wonderful dog.
If Buddy not being well cared for
by his owners, than I agree with
others about calling a non-kill rescue.
If Buddy is well cared for, than maybe you can
work something out with your neighbors to
hole proof the fence which is quiet easy but labor
consuming.

Two things Your neighbor can do for a wood fence.


Buy Chicken wire and staple gun it to the bottom of the fence,
approx. 1 foot up the bottom, you should have approx.
2 feet of chicken wire left free that you can either
dig a trench and lay bricks or anything heavy on top
on the chicken wire on the ground
than fill up with dirt. What I did
was simply lay the excess chicken wire down and
lay rail road ties accross the chicken wire instead
of buidling trench, but it kept rocy, from digging
to the other back yard.
Bad example: L <--- the fence with chicken wire attached.

Another thing I did was to dig a small trench and fill
it up with cement right by the bottom of the fence.
I left enough room so the cement was not touching
the fence for repair and drainage reasons.
The dog can not dig through chicken wire or cement.
Just have to dig the trench far enough down to
discourage digging.
This worked for us and was not costly accept for
the rail road ties. Good luck with your neighbors.

[Kfamr]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Do you think a rescue would take him, even if he is being fed?

I don't think the owners have ever taken him for a walk, given him a bath, played with him, taken him for car rides... or anything a normal dog owner would do.

I talked to the guy once or twice myself and he said he "doesn't trust him(Buddy)" Well, how in the heck are you going to learn to trust the dog if you never spend time with him???

About the chicken wire, I doubt that's going to happen. We already spent $20+ on wood to to bury. We put metal polls every few inches in some spots. We can't tear up our whole yard to keep this dog on his side. Besides, it took his "owner" years of living there to take care of their rotten fence, that was barely standing up. They just finally did it this year, without giving us warning that they were doing it Wouldn't you wanr your neighbors, that have two dog(and actually care about them) that you were tearing down a fence that seperates your yard from theirs?

Another thing... We were good friends with the people that used to live there. The yard and house were GORGEOUS. They had the perfect lawn, their trees and bushes were trimmed, they had beautiful flowers -- their pool was taken care of, their deck was nice, the pine needles and palm leaves were taken care of.
Not anymore. The yard is overgrown, the deck is near rotten, the pool is filthy with sticks and leaves, there's pine needles and palm leaves everywhere. I'd hate to imagine how it is inside.

I don't think Buddy is beaten, or mistreated, besides the fact that they don't pay attention to him.

Buddy doesn't get out often in the neighborhood. Only into our backyard. It was the first time i've heard of him running in the neighborhood, and he hasn't tried it again.

Aly- I'd NEVER EVER let my dad call animal control. Never. He doesn't have any behavior problems (besides the digging into our yard) and he doesn't deserve to die.

Fleas never used to be really bad for us. Until them. We've told them we were going to call the HS, obviously it doesn't matter if he's doing it again. I know he adds to our fleas, and that's a reason I don't want him coming over, and the reason it makes me so mad that he keeps doing it.

I don't blame him either... nor do my parents. If you were a dog, and saw two happy plump puppies (and their plump owner ) Playing in their backyard and the dogs actually getting attention, you'd wanna come over too, right?

As I said, I wouldnt EVER let my dad call animal control, or let this dog die. If he did, i'd probably never speak to him.

I wish I could find words to say to this duy, and ask him if I could take Buddy. I'd be willing to take money out of my savings account in Michigan (it's supposed to be for vacation and such to have fun) to help pay for vet bills or whatever Buddy needs. I'd either find another home for him, a rescue, or maybe he's already chose his home, and that's why he wants to come home.

I hope I answered all of your questions..... if not point them out to me... i'm really tired..

[dukedogsmom]

He is such a sweetie! I sure feel sorry for him. I hope you have your dogs on Advantage or something. Otherwise, poor things are going to get eaten up. Cold weather is coming. Maybe that will make the fleas go away.

[lizbud]

Even if Buddy's not being beaten or starved, he is being
neglected. Do you know what the owners said when your
dad talked to them before? Sad to say but sounds like these
people are not likely to ever treat Buddy the way Simba & Nala
are treated. It's a darn shame. I wish he could stay on "your
side" too, but all families have their limits on number of animals.
Makes you wonder WHY some people even get a dog in the
first place. At most, they'll probably chain him in the yard.