Dog neglect?

[InjaTheGolden]

Thank you Freedom and Karen for your answers!

The problem is, Kalou doesn't belong to my friend, she belongs to my friend's neighbours. The only reason I went to dog-sit for them was that my friend's family was going to a wedding with them, so my friend suggested I take care of their house.

Even then, in their eyes I was looking after their expensive house rather than the dog. The father even told me before he left "You don't have to do anything with the dog if you don't want to, she's fine outside. Just feed her and put her in her cage in the evening."

I just really don't understand why they got a dog in the first place. My friend told me they got her to replace their old dog, but even their old dog spent most of his life in the house. The family have no interest in training her, because they don't want a dog they can take places, they don't care if their dog can't behave in public, they're not interested in dog sports or any dog related activities because in their mind, a dog's purpose is to keep you company at home. In their mind, if Kalou can't live in the house it's her own fault, "because she KNOWS she should be calm, she's just being difficult." They treat Kalou like a piece of furniture.

I don't understand, they say that a dog is to "keep you company", but how is Kalou doing that when she's banished to the garden and given no human contact? In my opinion, it's a miracle she's as sociable as she is, I know a lot of dogs who would have developed so many behavioural if treated the same way...

As for the Beagle, I don't even know the family, their younger daughter is a friend of my sister, and I tried talking to her about it but my sister just told me that it's none of my business and that "it's their dog, not yours, so they have every right to treat it however they want. Not everyone spoils their dog like you do."

I don't see how giving daily walks, training sessions and doing agility is spoiling a dog. I see it as strengthening the bond between dog and handler.

With the Beagle, I do make sure I take care of her when I meet her on my walks and I've been doing a bit of boundary training with her to teach her not to go near the main road. My neighbours all think I'm crazy

Dogs are considered property by most of the people I know and so people think they are perfectly entitled no not bother with anything and it annoys me so much. I once tried to explain positive reinforcement and clicker training to another dog owner who lives near me and he just said "Look, you're making everything complicated. Dogs are pack animals, we are the alpha and so they must be made to submit. That's all there is to it. Anything else is being soft and spoiling the dog." This is a man who barks out commands at his dog like a drill sergeant.

Am I over-reacting to all this? Is it over the top to simply want people to give their dogs the lives they deserve? :/

[Freedom]

No you are not over reacting. Nor is it 'over the top.'

The last man you described, the one you tried to explain clicker training, he is following outmoded ideas, from the 1950's. He also sounds like he is saying things from the old "Monks of New Skete" which is long outdated.

We move in 'dog circles,' we are active and involved not only with our own dogs, but with others who think as we do. And we SEE the results, the changes as our own dogs develop and grow. We want that for all dogs; much as folks want all children to have the best opportunities. I guess you just have to keep on making inroads slowly, when and as you can.

[Jessika]

I don't have anything to add to what the others have said, except... it always amazes me when people get dogs and then forget that dogs don't know English (or whatever language you speak in) to obey them when all they're doing is shouting foreign words at the dog with no behavioral association for the words. Sad.

[InjaTheGolden]

I find it especially sad that people are able to buy dogs as easily as you can buy furniture. It's sad that so many people get a dog with no goals (I want a dog to train/to do fun things with/to be my companion/to teach fun tricks to/...) and instead get a dog just "to have a dog", then don't even do anything with the dog. Both Kalou and Clem play no role in their owner's lives, it's like they barely exist for them.

I've attached a picture I took last time I dog-sat her of Kalou tied to the tree near her kennel. You can't see that she's tied up, but she's tied to a thin blue plastic cord that's slung around the foot of the tree. I've been doing a lot of research regarding the laws of animal welfare here in Belgium and I found that these people aren't even respecting the law.

These are the various rules they're not following.

1. It is illegal to chain a dog that has not reached full adulthood: Kalou has been chained since she was six months-old

2. The kennel must be properly insulated and must be provided with a warm bed during winter: This picture was taken during winter, no bed or insulation whatsoever. I suppose they always could justify this by saying she sleeps in the house, but even there it's not much better. She sleeps in an empty crate and the plastic at the bottom of the crate is broken, and she has no bedding, AND is locked away in the garage.

3. In front of the kennel, there must be a concreted or tiled surface of at least 4 m squared to insure that when it rains, the animal is not standing in mud.: Umm no.

4. This surface must be sufficiently sloped to allow the evacuation of urine and excrements. Kalou is actually in a dip, so no evacuation whatsoever. You can smell her kennel area from the other end of the garden and she's constantly walking around in her own dirt, it's even caked in her paws so when she jumps up at you she leaves smears on your clothes.

I really shouldn't hate these people but I do hate the way they're treating their dog. And they still tell me that she's lovely, if "a little feisty" and they do love having her. -_-

[Karen]

Maybe you can talk to animal welfare people so at least they can assure she has a proper kennel to stay warm when she is outside - this is Belgium, not Bermuda! And tell them the other things you have discovered, as well.