I briefly mentioned a while back that the guy who lives behind me has an American Bulldog that turned out to be deaf. He's a sweet dog but I feel he's being completely neglected. For a while the dog was crate trained and kept indoors. Then one day, sitting right against my fence (and behind the guys shed so it can't be seen from his house) is a dog house and a shiny new post and chain. I knew what was coming, and it's happened. The dog is now chained up outside 24x7. He gets no attention from anyone but my wife and I. They guy comes out and gives him food and water but even that is not consistent. He spends no time with the dog aside from a couple minutes to feed/water him, and doesn't pet him or anything. The poor dog is starved for attention. I'm constantly untangling him from being stuck in one place for hours. The dog house is about a foot away from my fence and a foot away from the guys shed, so the dog goes in between, then gets stuck on the other side when his chain gets caught under the house or on debris. He gets his water in a bucket which is usually knocked over shortly after it's put out, and the bucket has been knocked over the last 2 days so I know the dog has not had a drink except for the rain we had yesterday. His food is probably soaking wet. Since he's deaf, when he's laying there the birds come down and eat it on him. The dog house is pretty nice, but has no bedding. The dog has no toys (aside from a soup bone we gave him) or anything to do. He's at the point now where he's barking way too much- 20-30 minutes at a time all night long. He just wants to be with someone. I have compassion for the poor thing but I can't take over caring for him. He's a pretty rough and tumble dog- easily 50-60 lbs and real thick and strong, and if I brought him in our yard I think he'd hurt Daisy and Bruzer because he's so full of energy and has no training, and Gunnar definitely doesn't like dogs like that and would probably hurt him.
I haven't directly confronted the neighbor about the dog but I've mentioned to him several times about how the dog needs attention, how nice he is and that he just needs some training, etc. but it isn't sinking in. I've decided that I'm calling the SPCA and the town today. The SPCA to get the dog taken care of, and the town to find out if he's breaking any easement/right of way rules with the dog house right against my fence and to ask about getting him to clean up the poop. He's also got a compost pile right against my fence which stinks pretty bad as well. The dog is closer to my house than it is to his and when it gets warm I can smell the poop, which is not acceptable. Gunnar is starting to take issue with the dog being right on the other side of his fence and is starting to act territorial. I can call him off easy but he shouldn't be put in that position to begin with. The dog is probably 6 months old now and I havent' seen him be taken off the chain for weeks, so I know he's not getting vetted and probably hasn't had more than the 1st round of shots, so I'm also concerned for my dog's health around him. It's a sad situation. If we didn't already have 3 dogs we'd take him in, but it just can't happen, our hands are full with training Daisy, and to take in another big dog that is completely wild and untrained is impossible.
I haven't directly confronted the neighbor about the dog but I've mentioned to him several times about how the dog needs attention, how nice he is and that he just needs some training, etc. but it isn't sinking in. I've decided that I'm calling the SPCA and the town today. The SPCA to get the dog taken care of, and the town to find out if he's breaking any easement/right of way rules with the dog house right against my fence and to ask about getting him to clean up the poop. He's also got a compost pile right against my fence which stinks pretty bad as well. The dog is closer to my house than it is to his and when it gets warm I can smell the poop, which is not acceptable. Gunnar is starting to take issue with the dog being right on the other side of his fence and is starting to act territorial. I can call him off easy but he shouldn't be put in that position to begin with. The dog is probably 6 months old now and I havent' seen him be taken off the chain for weeks, so I know he's not getting vetted and probably hasn't had more than the 1st round of shots, so I'm also concerned for my dog's health around him. It's a sad situation. If we didn't already have 3 dogs we'd take him in, but it just can't happen, our hands are full with training Daisy, and to take in another big dog that is completely wild and untrained is impossible.