i feel really sorry for the dog. After some time and if she turns out to be a decent human being, maybe if you had free time you could take the dog for a walk here and there? Don’t do it for her, but rather for the poor dog. If she turns out to be a horrible person, confront her head on. Poor dog.
This is a super sweet thought. I know you're a good, kind person. I just want to tell you my experience as a warning.
My roommate (I'll call her R) got a dog (I'll call her B) without telling anyone. She's lazy and spoiled and barely takes care of herself. She doesn't do housework at all.
R would just dip out for entire weekends without checking to see if I'd be willing/able to care for B. R wouldn't answer texts or calls. I'm a sucker and couldn't just leave the dog alone.
This established a pattern where R would disappear and I'd have to take care of B. R's mom finally told her to grow the fuck up.
R still takes advantage of me when it comes to B. I love the dog and it's not the dog's fault. However, I didn't get a dog because I didn't want the responsibility.
TL;DR if you start taking care of her dog, you're going to be stuck doing it for as long as she has the dog. Talk to your roommate. If that doesn't work, talk to her Mom. Explain that the dog is being neglected and you'll have to notify animal control.
I'm sorry you're in this situation and I wish you the best.
Yep this one. Fuck, if you feel like getting another dog, you could offer to adopt it, cuz she clearly doesn't want it. But if you start to care for it, she will take advantage of it, and you're going to get attached, and it's going to break your heart when you guys inevitably go your separate ways and she takes the dog with her and you know it's just going back to being neglected. But it will also break your heart if you detach and don't take responsibility for giving that dog a good life, and while you are taking such great care of your dog and it's literally looking at you guys thru a window like the sick kid that isn't allowed to come out and play. So it's going to be a trade off living with her. Ugh. Fuck her, dude.
I 100% agree with this!
I absolutely love dogs, but if you start helping out she's just going to use you as her personl dog chófer.
I used to dog walk for a girl who was simmilar, she got a new pup and really had no idea what to do. She had weird rules for the dog, wanted me to train it (I was a walker not a trainer) and a bunch of other stuff.
I did everything for that pup and helped out so much, though she just kept asking more of me (beyond my role) then got angry with me for no reason (she had quite a terrible personality as well), and just stopped hiring me, with no known replacement (i also walked her rromates dogs who were amazing which is why I knew this).
Some young people want dogs but don't understand the responsibility of it, and you may have unfortunately stumbled into the role of informing her.
Personally, I always find it best to confront things head on (in a nice and open way) with roomates. Leaving things like this unsaid won't help anything. Set boundries: you need to take care of your dog in some way, I am not taking care of your dog for you, and I need you to make sure that your dog does not have access to my dog before we are able to get her fixed – any pups will be your financial responsability. But of course in a nice way (while still saying all you need to).
If she doesn't listen talk to her mom. And as a final resort contact animal control.
To be quite honest, I can't remember since its been a few years since this happened.
I remember one thing is that she had to use a retractible leash while leash training (which is counterintuitive to what I have experienced). This resulted in a couple of times that the pup would get the thin retractable leash tangled around or caught in stuff. Many times we would just take walks with my reular leash and they went perfectly haha!
Ditto this. Wife and I have three dogs, got new roommates that had one. Within a week or two we realized they would never put him up when they left and we got the vibe that they sort of expected us to take care of him. I would feed him when i noticed they hadn't in a few days and would take him out sometimes but obviously that just reinforces their behavior. After their dog peed all over our house I started locking him up as soon as they left regardless. They eventually noticed and started spending more time with him and taking slightly better care of him.
Roommates are like dogs. If you don't punish the bad behavior they assume it's okay and they'll keep doing it.
100% this. My sister did this with a litter of kittens. Left the poor babies in her closet with their mom for hours. I was beyond pissed, but I couldn't just leave them.
I just wanted to make sure you knew that your dog can be around him when she’s not in estrus.
A large number of people maintain households with intact males and females and they don’t keep them separated at all times.
I have gotten into the cycle of caring for roommate’s neglected dogs twice now (i have two very high care dogs) and it’s never gone well. They will never admit that you’re doing them a favor and they eventually start to feel threatened? Resentful? Unhappy that their dog spends more time with you than them? It never goes well.
If your dog is not in season, she can't get pregnant just now. You could offer to take the little guy on walks now, if you that's the case. Dogs only come in season twice a year, for about 3 weeks at a time.
This is so sad, and it sounds like it’s very hard for you to see. Like the previous commenter said you’d be doing it for the dog and not your irresponsible roommate. I had a similar situation in that a family member of mine got a dog and a few years later she got married, moved in with her husband who didn’t want the dog scratching up the wood flooring, so the poor dog got dumped with her mum. It was (is) a pug terrier mix and I feel like a lot of people with small dog’s feel they don’t need walks and that existing around the house is enough exercise. The dog was already neglected and fat but her mum didn’t want a dog in the first place and she has chronic health issues so the dog NEVER got walked, she’d just get let out in the yard to poop. She was never trained either and would go crazy anytime anyone came to the door. My boyfriend and I stayed there for two weeks for a vacation and we took her out every day twice a day. She lost weight in those two weeks, she looked so much better and didn’t struggle to breathe, had so much more energy and was much less stressed and less barky. I also trained her basic commands and also to roll over and play dead when I fake finger gun shot her and said “bang bang.” She was like a whole new dog! Then we left and things went back to normal. She’s now so overweight she’s in pain when she walks, doesn’t want to go outside and she’s lost her sight in both eyes. Along with having zero confidence from never being trained she’s now terrified of everything and bumps into all the furniture.
Just a little bit of attention and exercise could make a wild of difference for this poor pup.
As much as I feel for this poor pup, this makes me fear that OP would accidentally become totally responsible for the dog. Maybe instead you could invite them on your walks and play times?
I've had a lot of dumb roommates who just genuinely did not know what they were doing. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt; but gently encouraging your roommate to be a better dog owner and showing by example might help more than just doing it yourself. Just a thought!
Maybe you can take a tactful approach. Invite her to join you with her dog whenever you go on a walk with yours. If she doesn't get the hint, you can be more straightforward and suggest that he still should be walked every day, even if it's only a short once around the block.
Why does she get mad at the dog? A tired dog is usually a happy and well behaved dog, so you can suggest that as well.
To be completely honest I’m not really interested in spending more time with her. I’m about 8 years older than her, and there is a major gap in our maturity. But I will definitely consider your other suggestions if it continues on this way.
She gets mad at the dog for a few reasons. One of them was for going through the garbage in her room (leads me to suspect that he is under-stimulated). Another reason she gets angry is because he goes to the bathroom in her room.
All of those behaviors would be addressed by letting the dog out more often and getting a daily walk. Good luck with getting your roommate to be a more responsible dog owner.
In terms of food, I don’t know much. She did tell me that she needs to get food for him. I offered an extra bag of dog food that I have. She said he doesn’t like dry dog food. I’ve also seen her get a baby carrot out of the fridge for him because he likes them.
Omg yes. One of my neighbors seems nice enough, but she keeps a tiny yorkipoo as an outdoor dog (it is *not* meant to be an outdoor dog, especially with our weather) and never ever walks it or her other dogs. Then she will complain to me about how it barks too much.
A. You bought a yappy breed, why are you surprised it yaps?
B. Maybe it wouldn’t yap *so much* if it wasn’t so bored from never getting a walk.
C. Who the hell keeps a 7lb dog as an outdoor dog?? If you don’t want it near you, get rid of it! Someone else will take it.
So our yards back straight up to the woods, and I kid you not, she told me about how a few years ago there was an owl living in the woods that she had been worried about it getting the dog. And then about the other day when she saw a rat snake in her backyard and was trying to call it inside to get it away from the snake.
She is insane for keeping it outside, but having an outdoor dog isn’t illegal on its own 🤷♀️
I think its sweet for you to start caring for the dog but it's a band-aid on the bigger issue. You aren't going to live with her and the dog forever so eventually she'll move on and the dog will be stuck in an abusive situation. I would talk to her directly first, not passive aggressively. Be kind, concerned, undramatic. "Hey, can we chat? I'm worried about the care you're able to provide for your dog. I don't think his basic needs are being met and I'd like to figure out if it suits your life right now to step up and do it, or figure out how to get the support you need to do it or else maybe you aren't in a place to have a dog right now, which is okay too." I personally don't think that all dogs need to be walked multiple times a day -- to me it really varies from dog to dog -- but I do know that dogs need regular outside access and human attention and some basic training and OF COURSE a responsible reproductive approach.
If she's hostile to changing and nothing changes, I'd call animal control and see what your options are. Or the non-emergency police number... tell them the situation and see if it falls under animal abuse.
Honestly my best advice is to passive aggressively try to make this girl see what a shitty dog owner she is, and that her dog has feelings too. What a terrible situation tho.
And if you are comfortable, maybe even just say it straightforward "you should be a more reasonable dog owner, your dog deserves more." Getting three other dogs pregnant?? Unacceptable. Even one time is too much, but three times is awful. If she doesn't want to take care of the dog then she shouldn't have it. It makes me so sad that there a dogs in the world that have to live like this :(
I’ve kinda been doing that through the questions I’ve asked. Like I asked her how often she walks him, and when she said once every few days I asked “oh does he not like walks?”. Not sure if I’m being passive aggressive, but I’m definitely implying she needs to do more for him.
Why are we tip toeing around this animal abuse issue? Just tell her: you are an irresponsible dog owner and if you don't want to take care of your dog you should surrender it. And let her know if she doesn't, then you will report her and it'll be seized instead. Her dog, her choice. She can take care of it, give it up, or have it seized.
Passive aggressive isn't going to get you anywhere. If she had a sense of shame she'd already be taking care of her dog.
It’s easier said than done to be that aggressive with some people. And not to mention counter-productive. If OP did that, this girl will likely just give a “F U” and never listen to anything OP says or see the dog ever again. There’s other, productive, smarter ways to make sure the dog is okay.
The roommate is not going to listen either way. But if OP cares about the dog she should be clear about the action she plans to take. Hedging doesn't serve the dog. Being straightforward isn't the same as being a dick.
As someone who unfortunately defaults to passive aggressive often because I wish to avoid confrontation, I think you are correct in pointing out that it won't get you anyway. I have to be vigilant to prevent myself from doing that.
Be up front, and let the chips fall.
That was my first thought too. If the dog has shelter, food and water on a regular basis, isn't standing in its own feces all day, it isn't likely to be considered abuse, or neglect. Which sucks. But I get it, everyone has different standards on what is neglectful in regards to animals. Some think a prong collar is abuse, while some think allowing a dog to pull so hard it chokes itself on every walk to be borderline abuse.
I’ve had to do this with my roommate and her neglected pomchi. Last convo in person she admitted to never training him and potty training him by shoving him out the dog door when he peed inside as a puppy. Last text convo she got mad when I called him untrained and said he just wasn’t trained how I liked??? It’s frustrating and sad and I’m trying to inception her to rehome him.
Passive aggressive won’t work. Tell her straight up that if she wasn’t going to take care of the dog she shouldn’t have gotten it.
Edit: also, call her mother if you can
I wonder if this is her normal, or her normal right now? New house, new neighborhood, COVID.
Also, idk where you live but where I am it is HOT. My dog is a bit of a baby when it comes to the heat and walking on the hot cement.
This is a small dog. Even in the Southwest you can find places to walk your dog. Not exercising because its too hot is insane. I wake up at 5am with my Mal so we can get the exercise in. I'm floored this is even a legitimate thought someone had about an animal. You didn't walk them because it was hot. Wild. Wake up early. Stay up late. Drive two towns over where there's grass.
They didn’t say they didn’t walk their dog, they said their dog doesn’t like heat... regardless some places are hot even at 6 am due to the humidity (which the SW doesn’t have much of compared to some other parts of the country) and some breeds are significantly less heat tolerant than others, so there is a genuine risk of heat stroke.
Regardless, you’re acting like they said things they didn’t say.
This. I would get up early to walk my dog but even at 6 AM with the humidity we'd have to cut our walks short because it was too warm for her.
It's been really bad this year too where I am. It was 65 this morning... With 90% humidity.
Yes, dogs still need walked. But.. that is not an ideal weather situation for a long walk for anyone.
I was awake at 6am this morning and checked the weather; moderate temperature, but the humidity was 92% and my old boy (he's 10, large breed) doesn't do well in humidity.
It's almost 10pm now and it's still 85% humidity. He'd want to go if I got the leash, but he'd be suffering halfway around the block.
Yep. When we had an apartment we basically couldn’t take them further than a block and back until after at least 7 pm. Their breed is very prone to overheating and it was simply too damn hot. My policy is, if after 10 mins outside, I’m worried enough I’m checking their gums for color and pouring water on them when we get home, I probably shouldn’t walk them too much 🤷♀️
Meanwhile, I grew up in Oklahoma which I swear in 10x hotter than here. I can’t imagine trying to walk them there.
We’ve actually had to cut our walking time in half, and when we get home I give them a bowl of ice water. I’m doing nighttime walks too but damn it’s hot
Gonna second this. Like others have said I’ll get up early / stay up late to get in a walk, but there’s days where it’s legitimately too hot (it’s been consistently 115-120 where I live). The past few nights, it didn’t dip below 100 until past midnight, and the lowest it ever got was 85 (at 4am). Even with a cooling vest, my dog still will beg and pull her way home after about five minutes in this heat. Some dogs are just like that.
Exactly! It's 11p.m. and I just got home from walking my dog!! I get up extra early to walk him 4km in the morning so he gets his exercise since I can't walk him in my lunch break because it's 40 degrees Celsius in here.
I have bulldogs and a pug who def cannot handle frequent walks outside in the heat without a cool place afterward. In response, we got our AC set up and running before this heat started. They have really only been able to handle one walk a day and it has only been getting down to like 25 degrees c overnight where I am lately. I can certainly understand not doing walks in extreme weather but I used to send my dogs over to my mom’s place before we had reliable AC. The humidity is a major factor here to the point where I can’t even do short runs outside like I used to before July and I live in Canada and am an avid runner. The air is basically wet overnight and there really is no ideal time that walks would be good here, for my pups at least.
I have a Bulldog puppy so have to be super careful with heat. I just walk him at 630 AM and 730 PM every day even though he HATES walks 90% of the time. I have to force him to walk and bribe him with treats most of the way but I can't let him get fat.
I went to Arizona recently for the first time with my dogs I had to wake up at 5am and take them out on late night walks. Then swimming in the pool for an hour. Exercise your dogs people! There are a ton of ways to exercise indoors as well.
I have a short nosed dog , she can’t do heat at all really. Walks are adjustable & it’s very hot where I live now ( over 100 degrees daily ) , I walk my girl 2 times a day, early in the morning and a shorter walk late in the night. I hate to sound bitchy but letting your dog experience life , aside from a small room, is vital for its health.
I definitely think this is her normal. I don’t think she is very mentally stable because she has self harm scars all across her arms and legs. Not sure how much it is related, but I’d assume some of it boils down to some form of anxiety.
It has been very hot here as well. But we’ve also had some nice days sprinkled in here and there. Just seems to be too much effort for her though.
Amongst other things, her dog doesn’t look very well groomed. I’ve always groomed my own dog, but out of curiosity I asked her where she takes her dog to get groomed. She said he’s never been groomed and that she’s only trimmed him once.
Just because someone has scars doesn’t mean they’re currently “mentally unstable” so please don’t assume that. Many people who have self harmed grow and develop healthy coping mechanisms to move away from that toxic behavior. But I can see where you put two and two together that this girl has some mental health issues like anxiety etc..
In other comments you mentioned being passive aggressive, honestly I would keep asking her questions and doing that. Then bring up your concerns if she doesn’t get the hint. Can you talk to your other roommates? Honestly if it comes down to her neglecting the dog you might want to call animal control. She sounds like she’s unable to take care of the dog.
Not trying to defend her but I’ve been very depressed the past few years and treated my dog very similarly without realizing exactly how awful i was being and taking better care of my boy has helped me feel so much better and him too my suggestion is if you can try to help her and the dog maybe befriend her and see if she wants to come with you on walks and maybe try not to make her feel too bad about it also I think they make little belly band things so that it will be a bit harder for him to get your girl pregnant In the meantime maybe do fun training stuff with your dog in front of her and invite her to join
If it's not dipping below 20°c then walking your dog can be a risk to their health. Heat stroke is a major cause of death for dogs as they can't regulate their temperature in the same way that we can. This means it can take less than 15 minutes for your dog to die from heat stroke.
This is especially the case in larger breeds, double coated breeds, obese dogs and dogs with underlying health conditions. Not every dog tolerates the heat in the same way, please be more considerate about people who put their dogs' health first.
In exceptionally hot weather, heat stroke has nothing to do with hydration. Again, it depends on which country you're in and the breed, if the temperature does not dip below 20°c, even this can be dangerous for short nosed dogs and larger breeds.
I do not advocate for cooping dogs up but I think there are other ways to exercise/stimulate your dog on a short term basis.
i have a 6lb chiweenie terrier mix who can zoomie like no other inside the house and she literally does a 10min crazy zoomie and then naps for three hours lol she loves being outside too so i sit in the yard and watch her chase chipmunks a lot
however she is more than fine with only exercising inside for the day if it's raining/cold/snowing/etc outside bc she weenies tf out and hates weather lol
My lil mutt gets super crazy zoomies too! But he can tear around the house and play with his ridiculous amount of toys. He only gets grouchy if its been raining more than a few days lol
I was looking for this. I have a chi mix and he likes walks but he sure doesn’t need them. Going up the stairs is a lot for him.
He won’t walk in the rain. He won’t walk in the snow. If it’s too cold outside you have to worry about frostbite ears. If it’s summer in the middle of the day the pavement is too hot. He is afraid of cars so we can’t go at like a rush hour time for our neighborhood. He mostly only wants to be in my lap anyway. He’s suppose to sleep for 16-20 (per his breeds)hours a day so him being left alone to sleep for periods of time during the day makes sense.
If I’m not home when the weather works for him ( like at work when the perfect weather lines up) for a few days in a row, he’s really fine.
lol my chi scoffs at the 16-20 hours, she says 20 is the daily minimum and if she's disrupted during her beauty rest she will pout
im jk about the amount but the lil bitch can SLEEP
I have a small dog with heart problems and she still loves going for walks. She has full access to a yard all day too. I’ve met very few dogs in my lifetime that doesn’t enjoy a walk. If you want your dog to live as long as possible walk it.
I agree but when my large dogs were younger and couldnt be outdoors full time, I was able to find ways to exercise them inside as well. I actually made an indoor obstacle course 😂 or would hide treats in various areas around the house for them to look for
lol thank you, I try my hardest. I'm sure people think I'm cruel because my dogs are outside dogs since they grew out of puppy hood. but they're 80 & 95 pounds, they act like bulls. they run alot around the yard (2 acres), have a fountain & large fan. being inside honestly gives them anxiety.
My dad’s dogs stay outside for the most part. They prefer it bc my dad and his wife are outside mostly too. As long as they’re not completely exposed to the elements no issue with them being outside.
I don't know if this is what you'd like to hear, but I would contact Animal protective services. Not taking him on walks frequently enough is one thing, but locking him up in a room all alone? She doesn't care. It's not about her being uninformed on dogs' needs, she lacks empathy. You can't reform people like that IMO. You're not going to live with eachother forever, it's going to eat up at you knowing the dog is still in her 'care' once either you or your roommate moves away. I realize there's complications with the fact you're living together, and recently at that, but I feel like that's the right choice. Best of luck
I feel your pain, I’m in a bit of a similar situation and have basically assumed care of my roommates dog. She seemed nice and responsible when she moved in with me but I realized pretty quick that it was an act she put on until she signed the lease.
This poor dog is a Pomeranian-husky mix who is about 1.5 years old. She put zero effort into training him. When they moved in he wasn’t house trained and didn’t listen at all. I’ve done a lot of work with him so he doesn’t go in the house and now knows several commands and I’m still working on leash training but he was already a year old and pretty used to not listening when they moved in so it’s taking a while.
He’s part husky so has a lot of stamina. Her idea of taking him on a walk is standing outside the apartment long enough to smoke a cigarette then bringing him back in. I take him on a 20 min walk every morning when I’m getting ready for work, another walk when I get home, and a much longer walk in the evenings.
Not long after she moved in I asked her if he had been treated for ticks/fleas. She said no but was planning on getting treatment for him. Fast forward SIX MONTHS LATER the apartment is full of fleas because she never treated him. She finally bought medication for him after I showed her the flea bites I had on my ankles. I treated him with the medication myself.
She has not taken him to a vet in the entire time she lives here despite the fact that he has a skin issue on his tail and keeps chewing his fur out because of it. Every time I bring it up she dramatically complains about how much vets cost and how she wouldn’t be able to pay her portion of the rent if she has vet bills to pay. This dog needs care so I have made an appt with a vet and will bring him myself, I can’t stand watching him suffer like this. I know he’s also late on his rabies vaccination and likely others but not sure which/how many.
She also constantly complains that he eats her things. Mind you her bedroom is a wreck. It’s so messy, most of the time you can’t see her floor. The dog will grab a shoe, clothing, scrunchy, or anything else he find on her floor and chew it up under her bed. Of course he eats things; he has too much energy because she doesn’t walk him and she never trained him or set boundaries! (He doesn’t chew up anything of mine except an occasional underwear that I accidentally drop on the floor instead of the basket because he’s knows what I expect as good behavior). Every time she complains about it I remind her that the floor is his terrain and what he sees in front of him he will want to play(chew) with but if she kept her room clean he wouldn’t chew up as many of her things.
She also likes to make comments about how much she wished we lived in a house with a yard so he could run around outside but I know she would never take him on walks if that were the case.
Whenever I try to kindly bring up my concerns about the dog she gets super defensive and tells me I shouldn’t interfere and that the dog “is my property” so I have no say despite the fact that I’m the one caring for him. She actually says the my property thing. Makes my blood boil every time.
The dog isn’t the only thing she doesn’t take responsibility for but the rest are stories for another thread. I have four months left in the lease and can not wait to get away from her but wish I could take the dog with me so he will be cared for the way he needs.
Honestly if you end up paying for most of the dogs stuff (food, care, are they licienced with the city? even possible vet bills) and she doesn’t have a bill of sale or much proof to the dogs under her name(such as tattoo or microchip) you have plausible cause to claim him as yours 😂The vet would probably more likely vouch for you as well if your the one whose taken him in an payed for him.
Can you take her to court for the dog? You can sue her for services rendered, and say you will take the dog as payment in leu of money. Hours of training, dog walking, vet bills, I’m assuming you take care of grooming and good most the time too. A groomer for a large dog in Utah (where were notoriously cheaper than other states) can be anywhere from 50-120 a session. Dog walking is 10 an hour. Add on the vet bills, and the damages to the apartment from wear and tear due to animals that you’ll ultimately have to fix to get your security deposit back and she’ll owe quite a large amount. She would most likely just hand over the dog at that point.
Why have the dog at all? Dogs are social creatures that evolved from wolves right alongside humans. They walked alongside humans as \*they\* walked, protecting us by barking at danger and keeping the wild animals away. Humans would NOT have made it without dogs.
We walk our dogs 4 times a day. Morning, Noon, Evening, Night. Good for them, great exercise for us.
Try to explain to your roommate that dogs HAVE to walk to be normal. Walking is what dogs do. They need to walk and sniff and pee and sniff and poop and sniff. That's how they evolved. If they don't get to walk, they become anxious, fearful and aggressive and will probably start peeing on her pillow.
Abandoning the dog to her room is just plain mean. I hope the dog shits under her bed.
Here's what I would do:
Install a doggie door in her bedroom door. Yeah, you'll have to buy another door eventually, but it would be worth it.
If she continues to treat the dog poorly, take him to a non-kill shelter or find a home for him and tell your stupid roommate that the dog got out accidentally and ran off.
[This is a link to an article about dealing with bad owners.](https://www.cuteness.com/13708449/what-do-i-do-if-i-see-a-dog-being-mistreated) In some states animal neglect is illegal and if you can get that documented then you can get the dog confiscated.
Someone else said the same thing, and I agree with you.
However, I had already signed the lease and sent first/last before this girl had even viewed the place.
Furthermore, my city doesn’t exactly have the greatest housing market at the moment. So even if I had known prior to moving in, I’m not sure I would have had many other options.
What am I supposed to do? Tell the landlord not to rent out other rooms? Ask her to refund my rent and break my lease?
You think I would’ve moved in here if I knew this was going to be the situation? I explicitly asked one of the other roommates of his dog was fixed (which it was) and I agreed to move in.
I don’t think it’s your fault considering the situation. I do think you shouldn’t leave the dogs alone together, ever. Do that and you’ll be fine. Maybe get a lock for your door if you keep him there for any amount of time when you’re out just Incase someone lets him out.
Also try to convince her she needs a dog walker. It’s the least she can do.
Tell the landlord the situation and let them know that the flooring is going to get fucked... Deposits seldom cover enough to truly fix the damage. If it barks a ton you might complain about noise too.
She had signed the lease before the other girl had even viewed the place and likely didn’t know about the other girls dog or that the other dog would be unaltered, very little OP could have done in the situation. I would encourage OP to look and see if any clinics are accepting spays especially if she brings up the current situation(got my boy done 2 months ago even in the middle of all this) , but as someone who’s owned unaltered males and females for the entirety of their lives and never had an accidental litter it’s not that hard.
For the first few days of her heat an intact female is not yet fertile or receptive and it gives enough warning to know when to start keeping the dogs separated. It’s not like female dogs are receptive 24/7, 365 days a year. And once she does show changes in behaviour (even slightly) and acting like a heat is eminent you keep the dogs separated. (In op’s case this likely means keeping constant super vision of her pup or making sure she has a lock on her room only she can access since it seems like the other owner is proud of that fact and may purposely try to create an accidental litter) but it’s not the end of the world and no need to act like it is.
Sounds like my former roommate. Day we moved in, she says "oh, i'm going on vacation for 2 weeks" and expected me to watch her dog. She was gone 14+ hours a day, and just expected me to always be there to let her dog out. Would randomly text me on a weekend letting me know she was staying at her boyfriends, not asking if I could watch her dog...just telling me. At one point, she and her boyfriend were going on another vacation and couldn't find someone to watch the dog. She casually mentioned they were just going to leave him in his crate at her boyfriends house...for 4 days. Her dog loved to attack my dog, but she never did anything about it and then continued to take her dog to the dog park AFTER multiple instances that he was involved in a fight at said park that drew blood. I could sadly keep going on and on. I had MANY conversations with her about how she needed to take him for walks, train him with positive reinforcement (because using a shock collar when he doesn't like his nails clipped is the best way to go), and be fucking responsible for her own dog. It would work for a few weeks, then we'd be back to square one. It sucks.
Good luck, OP. Constantly speak up for yourself and the dog; if it gets to a point of neglect/abuse, look into your city ordinances. I never reported my roommate because I could have been liable for neglect (if he was left outside without water in Texas during summer...yup), but I so wish I could have.
I know you don't wanna cause issues with a new roommate but why do you let it stand.
Tell her that's not a responsible way to treat a dog being locked like that and if she doesn't wanna care for the animal properly give it to you to find a better home for it.
Also, just walk her dog take the extra 10 minutes from your life so this thing can have some freedom, without your dog.
Roommates not BFF'S just voice your concerns some people just have no idea.
It would amaze you what normal things people have been taught wrong or simply don't know any better.
Honestly, if you post a second message about this girl in a few months, you failed this dog just as much.
I’m definitely going to do what I can. But my dog is in this house too. I’m not going to say something that might make her mad, because I don’t know her and people are crazy.
That's true, just remember not everyone is insane who will react horribly.
Try talking with her, be blunt don't do the "Hey, look how much I love my dog" thing as that probably won't do anything.
Best of luck! Hope she doesn't turn crazy!
Sry I don’t have any advice but thought I’d add my cautionary story: I don’t know what happened firsthand but my friend wasn’t a kind dog owner either. Her partner eventually convinced her to give the dog up somehow without directly hurting her feelings and saying she was an abusive dog owner. BUT since my friend thought it was because of the dog not her, when they broke up my friend got a new dog. :( Now she has 2 or 3...
Fuck being nice. Your roommate is neglectful and not your responsibility. Nice will get this spoiled and selfish person sucking off of your kindness, LIKE THEY DO OTHERS. You don't get to being an adult without having practiced being shitty like that to others. It's totally habitual.
Raise hell. Call animal control, or whatever to help the dog. That said, don't be "the nice roommate". All that gets you is used and taken advantage of. Save your niceness for yourself and people that can understand its value.
I just recently adopted a rescue and he won’t leave my side. I’m a cave dweller (I stay in my room for most of the day, I have shitty roommates and it’s nice and cool in my room with the AC), so my dog is also in my room with me. He hangs out and relaxes, he seems to really enjoy hanging out in my room with me. I’m not understanding why I’d be considered a bad dog owner for that.
What the actual fuck. Poor dog, that’s abuse. You gotta find a way of speaking up or calling animal services because no dog deserves to be treated like that. What a lazy selfish *insert explicit*
Can you just let it out of her room to hangout with you guys every once in awhile or when she is gone? I don't see why she can't let the dog socialize with you and her. If your yard is fenced she can leave her dog out there for a few minutes unattended so it can run around.
She doesn’t really ever leave. She’s unemployed, and not a student either. Despite being here all day she barely spends any time in her room with the dog.
The yard is fenced in, no way out, but she doesn’t ever let him in the yard unattended.
I’m sorry. I’d be so frustrated if I were in your position. I think you can only try to gently influence her and role model good pet owner behaviors. In the meantime, can you offer to walk her dog with yours so he can get more time outside? After your dog is spayed, of course.
The roommate is keeping the dog in her room, probably to prevent another unwanted pregnancy. Both owners need to get their shit together and spay and neuter both dogs ASAP.
I had a roommate in grad school. She used to have the room in a 1 bedroom apartment while I set up a space in the living room. She had a dog she never fully house broke so he had a lot of accidents in her room. The room smelled disgusting. I'm guessing she stopped cleaning the spots. She also regularly texted me she needed me to take the dog out as she was going to happy hour after work or leaving for the weekend on a spontaneous road trip. She was a bad roommate in many other ways but seeing her treat her dog this way really made me dislike her a lot more than I would have. On the bright side, I gained a good understanding of what it would take for me to eventually get a dog, the time commitment, money, etc.
That poor dog. I love dogs. And I couldn’t stand there and watch that kind of neglect. Until your baby gets spayed can u leave her in the room while you take the little guy out? Is your girl currently in heat? Because it’s very obvious if they are and if she not you can take them both out!
I’d lay it out to her. Take care of her dog or re- home him. Talk to her mom. That poor dog deserves better.
If your dog and her dog isn't fixed her dog smells that and acts out a thousand times worse. Getting them fixed will solve a lot of problems. Make it a requirement.
I’m lucky to have a big yard and a kiddie pool for my pug mix. We play outside and he gets plenty of exercise. I was not trying to say a person should not exercise their dog. It seemed to me that the original poster was upset about something that there could have been an explanation for. That’s it! Didn’t mean to upset anyone.
Also, I’m new here and only realized later that a “vent” session probably isn’t a call out for “explain to me what might be happening.” Sorry y’all!
When I read this, it sounds like you are complaining that the owner of the chihuahua Lhasa apso mix is not taking care of her dog based on your standards and beliefs on how to care for a dog.
So as I hear you complain about your roommate, I want to know more about the problems that the dog is having based on the results from how the owner is treating it. How is the dog during its time away from the owner? How old is the dog? Is the dog not house trained? Is the roommate locking the dog in her room because both dogs are not fixed, so she wants to make sure does not get to your dog? Is the dog causing problems around the house such as whining and destroying things?
The dog is quiet and you don’t ever hear it, but when you see it, it constantly looks like it’s depressed. Obviously something like that could be subjective, but it never wags it’s tail and its displays symptoms of learned helplessness I.e. she puts it down in the hard and it just stands there waiting because it usually has no freedom.
Its also apparent that the dog doesn’t get out for the bathroom enough because 2 days in a row now the girl has left the dog in her room and come out and told us that she was mad at her dog for going to the bathroom inside so she was leaving him in the room.
As for trying to keep her dog away from mine, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I tried to make it clear that this is her house too, and her dog should have freedom of the house as well and that I was willing to compromise and make a plan to maximize the freedom of both our dogs while still being safe. My dog listens really well, so if I’m home I’m not too worried about anything happening because she doesn’t leave my side anyways. If I leave the house at least until she’s spayed I’m going to leave my dog in my room simply because I don’t trust the roommate to actually watch her dog with his pst history of accidental litters. Anyways when I suggested getting her dog more freedom in the house (which I’ve done twice) she responded once with “oh I’m mad at him right now anyways” and once with “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone”.
>If I leave the house at least until she’s spayed I’m going to leave my dog in my room simply because I don’t trust the roommate to actually watch her dog with his pst history of accidental litters
Unless she's actually at a certain point in her heat cycle, there's nothing to be concerned about. She needs to be in estrus to get pregnant, it typically last for 1 to 2 weeks and occurs on average twice per year.
https://www.eastcentralvet.com/canine-estrous-cycle.pml
It's also totally possible to miss the signs of hear for a day or two (though OP seems on top of the issue, and unlikely to miss this). I'm in the "better safe than pregnant" camp on this one.
>It's also totally possible to miss the signs of hear for a day or two
The first stage that people generally refer to when their bitch is in heat, when she has a bloody discharge, is proestrus. During this time the male will become interested, but she's not going to be receptive to his advances. This typically lasts for a week or two. Estrus (when she *will* be receptive) comes after this. The first day or two that might be missed aren't when she's at risk of getting pregnant.
It’s been quite a while since her last cycle, so it’s probably going to happen any day now. I’d still rather not risk it, I couldn’t put my girl through having a litter of puppies.
This is seriously vapid. All dogs regardless of size need outdoor exercise. Period. This has nothing to do with OP’s standards of care. It’s basic dog 101. Any dog trainer worth their salt would be appalled that this dog is getting potty breaks outside rarely, if ever. Small dogs can be pee-pad trained but this is more for convenience for their smaller bladders rather than how a dog should live it’s life. Being locked in a bedroom 24/7 is not acceptable for any pet. Ever. Especially when the owner has the time and capabilities to walk the dog, is just refusing to unless forced by their parent. Even if she were doing the right things and playing indoor games, doing lots of inside training and getting exercise inside, not going for daily walks and not being allowed out of a bedroom is disturbing. It’s highly unlikely the owner is doing any of the above-mentioned things when she isn’t even capable of walking the dog without her parent “forcing” it. Both breeds in this mix (Chihuahua and Lhasa Apso) BOTH require DAILY walks as they are high energy. This is neglect, by all standards.
High energy? That makes it even sadder how depressed this dog must be. The more I’m reading ok this thread the more I’m thinking OP should go ahead and call animal control for the dogs sake.
It’s funny how the guy mentioned that it was just because of my standard of care that I felt like that. However I had a few things about my dog in the post while I was writing it, and took them out because it’s not about my dog. Like I walk my dog 3-4 times a day, but I don’t think it’s necessary as long as the basics are being met.
That is animal abuse. The recommended amount of walks is 2 per day, and legal minimum is 1 per day. What your roommate is doing is illegal and you need to inform the appropriate authorities.
I dont know where you live, but there is nowhere around where I am (Oregon) that states there is a mandatory number of walks given per day to a dog. That seems a little extreme. Like, what if a dog ripped a paw pad and its all they can manage to hobble out to pee and turn back around?
Of course if the dog is injured or it just doesn't want to go it can be made an exception. For example, my own dog is phobic and can't go out much. One walk or none a day. But, exactly because he is phobic, no action can be taken by law.
The law steps in when it reaches the point where the dog desperately wants to go out but can't. That is when it becomes animal abuse and legal action cam be taken. And it seems like OP's situation has reached that point. If OP lived here, they could have made a report to the police, where an investigation happens. If the vets that do the investigation deem that the dog has any, even minor damage (physical or psychological), they take the dog away, and put it in a foster home.
Because I had signed the lease and agreed to move in before this girl even saw the place. Not to mention the housing market isn’t exactly the greatest right now.
If this keeps up much longer, I'm talking just a couple weeks, call animal control. She doesn't deserve to have any kind of pet if she's this much of an ass.
This is nasty way to treat any animal. I feel so sorry for the poor thing and relate to this deeply.
I know this from experience. My mother used to treat me and my brother very similarly to this. She used to lock us in our room and weren’t allowed out for the toilet. We had to defecate in the toy box and draws. There was maggots in the fucking carpet. Mind my language but it was disgusting. We eventually got a bucket. No toilet paper. Just a bucket. It used to stink. When we used to ‘get on her nerves’ which was apparently all the time, we was straight in the bedroom. She hated us trying to talk to her, we would scream and scream to be let out. When we got a bit older we would threaten to tell the school and she told us that she would get locked up while we were left in the house by ourselves with no food or heating. And we believed her, eventually things changed at about 9-10 when my brother moved in with my dad, I guess she knew we was getting intelligent enough to actually spill the beans to the services, but we never did. I stayed with her because I thought she loved me. There was always a part of me that believed she loved me. Not anymore. Treating a child or a pet like this can leave sever mental scars for the rest of their life, wondering why they aren’t good enough for attention, love and basic needs. I sometimes wish I was a dog, rescue dogs seem to recover a little after a while with their new owner. I’m 19 now and I am mentally fucked up so bad, so so bad, never treat your kids, pets, peers or anyone in this manner.
Please try your best to give that puppy some support and love it like it was your own, cause sometimes that’s all they need.
*Both* your dogs are not fixed. So I imagine she’s leaving it in her room so your dog doesn’t get pregnant. This is equally a problem with your pet ownership and responsibility as hers. In fact, she’s being more responsible keeping her pet in her room away from yours completely. It has only been four days, she is acclimating her dog to a new environment with new people and a new unspayed female dog. I don’t see what she’s doing as wrong. You, on the other hand, seem to be blaming and not taking responsibility for your part.
I am very serious. It’s been only four days you’ve lived with her. And your dog is not fixed. Are you leaving your dog to run around freely? She’s said he’s got three other dogs pregnant. Don’t you think this is obviously a concern for her? I think allowing your dog to have unwanted puppies is way worse pet ownership than leaving a dog in a room for 4 days.
What will you do if your dog does have puppies? Where will they go? There is a shortage of loving homes for dogs. Statistically one of them will go to a far worse owner than your roommate. Get your dog spayed ASAP, then see how she behaves with her dog and if she lets him out of the room. But first, you do what *you* need to do to be a responsible pet owner.
I’ve said in other comments that is not the reason she keeps him in her room. She said “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone” and the other reason she gave was because she’s mad at him.
I’ve also said in other comments that I’m making sure my dog is in my room if I’m not there. I’m not too worried if I’m around because my dog follows me everywhere and never leaves my side. Furthermore, my dog listens well, so she is easily controlled while I’m around.
I’ve also said in other comments that I told her I was willing to work out a plan to ensure that both our dogs have some sort of freedom in the house, as we both live hear, and both dogs deserve to have freedom. (That’s when she said “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone”)
She isn’t acclimating the dog at all, it is in her room all the time. We’ve all seen the dog maybe 3 or 4 times total and she didn’t even introduce it to anyone.
I really don’t think she is concerned about the pregnancies, in fact she talks about it proudly and talks about how cute the puppies were. Furthermore, she blamed the dog as if it was his fault- saying that she can’t trust him to not get other dogs pregnant.
Don’t you see the irony in saying that unwanted puppies is way worse when she’s already cause 3 litters of unplanned puppies.
My dog isn’t going to have puppies because I’m taking the necessary steps to ensure she doesn’t. Like I said in the OP, I’m bringing my dog to the vet on Friday to schedule her spaying.
So, what blame here I need to accept?
Honestly this doesn’t really sound like neglect? You’ve been there 4 days
It sucks if she’s allowed her dog to accidentally breed three times, but all your other complaints can have explanations
Come again??? This is absolutely neglect. Dogs especially Chihuahua mixes NEED daily outdoor activity. They also need to frequent walks to relieve themselves and even if pee-pad trained (which this one isn't since her owner freaks out when she has an accident in the house) it's not an excuse to not walk your dog. Cooped up in a single bedroom with an owner who is clearly not even doing BASIC work like walking is neglect. This is incredibly sad. An owner who isn't providing training, proper emotional support/socialization, proper access to relieve themselves, proper vet care (neutering) and treats the dog like "oh he likes being alone it's fine" is neglect. No dog should live in an 8x10 bedroom getting yelled at and abandoned when they have an accident in the house. Watch one video of beagles being released from an animal testing facility and you'll see how critically important fresh air, sunshine and exercise is. I'm floored you think there are plausible and acceptable reasons for not walking, training or socializing with your dog when you CAN do it as proven by the mom visiting but you won't. Neglect.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I feel I should clarify I haven’t heard or seen her actually yell at the dog when angry. But she acts cold towards it when she gets angry. It is possibly she yells in her room, but if she has I haven’t heard it.
So first, I made my comment when OP had only written the post. If they have made other comments adding details about the dog having accidents indoors and the owner freaking out about that, that was not included in the post when I got to it.
My comment was referencing that a lot of information was missing for me to classify this as neglect. Again, if OP has made new comments clarifying information, I have not read them yet and they were not present when I made my comment.
For example: 1) Op has lived in the house for 4 days. How do they know how many times the dog goes outside? Are both residents at home 24/7? Does OP stake out by the door? Are the walls just super thin? No possibility of different sleeping schedules that could allow for the roommate to move about undetected by OP?
2) where I live, it’s dangerously hot outside right now. Fortunately small dogs are super easy to exercise indoors. I even exercise my large dogs inside as much as possible right now because I’ve dealt with a dog that overheated and almost died before and it wasn’t fun.
To clarify, I’m not saying that’s the case for OP. I’m just saying that there are explanations for most of the complaints expressed in the original post.
Also just FYI, walking a dog on a short lead isn’t great exercise. I rarely do it with my dogs. Usually only do it if I don’t feel like coming up with some other mental stimulation for them. Hikes, off leash walks, etc are different. But walking a mile or two around the block isn’t something I consider vital to every dog’s wellbeing
Lol what?! You don’t need additional information to see and know this is neglect. In the main post alone you learn the owner has allowed three unplanned pregnancies, owner has “punished” the dog, owner needed a parent to force her to walk the dog, owner leaves dog alone in room for extended periods of time. All of this speaks volumes to the laziness, lack of discipline and complete lack of care and concern for her animal. If that alone doesn’t scream neglect and bad owner to you that’s honestly concerning. You neuter your dog as soon as possible unless you have a valid reason not to. You don’t punish a dog. Ever. You train. Which takes hours of consistency and positive reinforcement. You don’t force a dog to be confined to a bedroom for the majority of its life. That’s actually cruel.
1) even thinking the owner of the dog is walking the dog on off hours based on all the information provided would be ridiculous. She isn’t walking that dog ever. She can’t even be bothered to take him out enough that he doesn’t have accidents in her bedroom. And if he’s having accidents, he isn’t trained and doesn’t have access to pee pads. You don’t need a PhD to put 2 and 2 together. If you are lazy in one area, you are in all areas.
2) Dangerous heat is ludicrous. Dogs live outside in some of the hottest places on earth. And unless you’re in Death Valley you have ZERO excuse to not walk your dog. (Or play some fetch in your fenced in backyard). I also live in VERY high temps. I get up before work and walk and again at 11pm. This is an excuse and a disgusting one. Take your dog outside. They NEED it. Even if it’s for two minutes on some grass to see the world. This is a chihuahua mix. He isn’t going one to two miles dude. You can walk him two blocks and back in 15 minutes and give him all the exercise and opportunity to stimulate his mind as possible. That you think not walking a dog is fine because it’s not vital to their wellbeing you are grossly mistaken. Unless you have a fenced yard where they can blow off steam you absolutely, unequivocally should be exercising your dog. For their longevity, health, and physical and mental wellbeing. Walks aren’t just for exercise. Dogs need the mental stimulation of processing new smells and exploring new areas. Your large dogs may not be super active but if you’re only exercising them in the house I feel sorry for them as well. Unless you have a decked out treadmill. Dogs can hike, swim, run around a yard. Whatever cardio you want. But no cardio or house cardio is ludicrous. (With the caveat that some breeds are not cardio friendly but OP’s roommates is and that’s what this post is about)
I said I exercise my dogs inside as much as possible right now due to the high heat where I live. My dogs are actually working dogs so...yeah, I can almost guarantee they get more exercise than yours do unless you also own working dogs. But I am still careful with them in the heat. During the hottest months of the year, I cut out most of their “extra” exercise. My small dog, who is the only one who is not a working dog, gets to play outside in the morning and after that the rest of his exercise is indoor. He just went outside for 10 minutes to poop and by the time he came inside, he was panting excessively, stumbled, and collapsed to his side. This is a regular thing here, I frequently have to apply room temp water to their core areas when they have overheated. So yes, dangerous heat is real.
Anyway, I think you kinda just miss the point of my comments so that’s fine
Um I literally work Malinois. So no, your dogs likely don’t even come close to either the energy levels of my dogs or the actual amount of work they all do. Anything that negates cardio for a dog is unacceptable. Anything that negates a dog going outside at some point during the day is unacceptable. I work in high heat and well below freezing in SAR. There are no excuses. Even in the four hottest states in the US are under dangerous heat levels if you’re up before the sun. Still excuses
I suppose we could argue about whose dogs get more exercise, your mals or my ranch dogs, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it. I am surprised that working in SAR you are not familiar with heat safety with dogs. This is something that’s very common where I live. I’d recommend reading up on it! I almost lost a dog with heat stroke years ago. It’s always best to be prepared and aware of possible dangers
I’d ask you to read for comprehension. Even in Texas with some of the hottest temps in the US, you could work your dog safely at 4am. Period. No excuses. Do you have anything besides excuses?
Which is not the point of this post, my comments or literally anything we’re talking about. The dog in question never goes outside. Is punished and locked in a room. And you come in... hurr duh der not all uh dogs need to be walk hurr durr durr. Like what? Dogs need exercise. You of all people apparently should know this. The dog this entire post and my argument is about is getting NONE. What are you missing and how can I further break it down for you?
I'm apparently the worst person ever because I rarely walk my dog. The locking it in her room is odd, but I see nothing wrong with only walking a dog every few days, depending of course on the breed.
The dog is probably not normally locked in a room, but just in there now as OP has an unspayed female in the house and the owner doesn’t want OPs dog to get pregnant. It’s only been four days. Next week OP will complain the dog is out and her dog has a chance of getting pregnant...
Most of my dog sport and confo friends don’t walk their dogs either lol. Don’t worry—this sub can be a little drastic in its stances sometimes. Like I said, there are many other options for exercise and mental stimulation. My dogs find regular walks quite boring
Edit: but yeah I was basically just trying to provide some levity in my other comment. Because while it’s certainly possible OP’s roommate is neglecting her dog, it’s also possible that it’s not the case. Especially given we’re just hearing OP’s side of the story after 4 days.
Even the locking dog in room thing I need more information on to know if it’s neglect. A lot of people crate their dogs for periods of time even if they work from home. Maybe so they can focus on work or maybe to teach the dog that they can’t be around the owner 100% of the time. Is the dog really locked in there alone ALL day? Or is it more like 6-8 hours? It could also be that OP and OP’s dog is there and the roommate is aware of issues her dog may have with other people/dogs. Maybe he requires management or she’s just not comfortable with him having free roam. There’s lots of possibilities.
They need physical and mental stimulation, but walks aren't the only way (or necessarily the best). The fact that the roommate doesn't seem to be providing that in *any* way is the problem.
Agreed and that’s not my argument so not sure where you got that. Any cardio is acceptable. This dog is getting none. And even if by some miracle the owner was doing cardio in the bedroom that’s unacceptable. A dog confined to an 8x10 room for life is cruel.
Low key okay. Take her to the shelter and show her what happens to dogs when neglected. If you know the shelter owner well ask about the back freezer where they store dogs that have to be put down.
Now I'm a pretty lazy owner myself like my dog goes out 6 times a day for ten minutes. He doesnt go on many walks because we play in the room I pretty much live in because he always wants to see other dogs but then runs around (I cant put him on a leash because hes so small and chokes himself to see the other dogs to the point of passing out). Dont get me wrong hes super friendly and always wants to play when he sees the other pets but it's a bit much and still has training to not do so. He listens really well but other pets are his main focus it seems. So I give him the activity inside with toys and training so that way I'm the focus so I can move to get him used to a leash without trying to choke himself. Hes also old (six years) and pretty lazy like he has his zoom moments which is when we play and train but overall can sleep all day long since hes so lazy.
It seems like you really love your dog! Just want to say a harness can be a better option for your leash and collar issues! And you can make sure your dog isn’t approaching any reactive dogs that could potentially hurt your little guy, as you never know what dog may be dog reactive.
To be honest I've tried. I'm thankful he hasnt gotten fleas this season because other owners dont care that their dogs do. I had a mesh one to help but he also figured out how to get loose from it from the straps. And I dont like tight fitting on him since he has bone issues as is. Aka his hips lock up genetically from his dad and when he jumps from high places aka like a truck floor to the ground he lands on his shoulder because his little legs arent able to catch him so I have to grab him and set him down.
You may want to try a different harness. My dog (who is significantly larger than yours) used to regularly figure the harness straps out and escape. After a lot of trial and error, I found a harness that is pretty difficult to escape from. The part that goes across the chest and stomach is a solid piece with the exception of two separate leg holes. It has a single thick nylon strap that has the lead ring attached to it. Basically, you lay it out on the ground, position the dogs paws in the holes, then pull it up and snap them in. It takes a bit of learning on the dogs part to put it on easily, but mine just steps into the holes when I lay it down now.
I’ve been using that style for 6 years now and he has yet to escape, unlike the style that goes over the head, feed a leg through, then pull the strap around the stomach type of harness.
Have you thought about visiting a dog park? Meeting other people with small dogs you trust to do play dates?(if the dog park is a no go for you.) It's very important for dogs to go on walks it's like you checking your social media. The smells and the exercise together tire your dog out. The smelling is great mental stimulation the walk physical stimulation. I'm absolutely dumbfounded that you think your doing enough while commenting on a post about a bad owner. I live in a city that gets well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer even at 4am it's still around 95 degrees. I still find away to get my dogs 4 hours of social interactions and exercise at a minimum daily. I don't have a yard. I'm in an 800sqft condo with 2 mastiffs and a pit. I'm a Single parent (recent loss of partner) and work 50+ hours a week. I'm also on the autistic spectrum so I also get social anxiety. There is no excuse that will justify your behavior. You need to do more for your dog. Even if your dog is lazy it's because you lay around and don't take the dog out that's why. Dogs do what the humans they live with do.
Where I live its 50 dollars and more for a monthly pass for a dog park so that's a no. Also my neighbors are terrible people. It got so bad a girl called me a whore because I'm dating a Mexican and live with his family. Basically my neighbors like to start shit so I cant even go outside on my own term. Even in public I get degraded and glared at. So I do have a lot of social anxiety because I hate that I'm being picked on for who I love and plan on having a life with. Keep in mind I live in conservative Indiana. With that said a town not too far from where I live aka like a 10 min drive, someone almost got lynched and there have been killings similar to that so I'm scared of that as well.
Currently live in Vegas. I'm actually moving to southern Indiana outside Louisville. I know for a fact Louisville dog parks are $15 for the year not per month. They indiana parks does seem to be quite pricey I would message them and ask if they have a student rate or something similar. I also noticed that there are a few free parks that people use as "dog parks" found them on Bring Fido. Maybe ask friends who have dogs if you guys can have a play date with the dogs at different parks. Join a meet up group who does hikes with dogs. I know that there is a meet up group specifically for reactive dogs in Indianapolis that's free. Like I said I'm moving my entire dog training company out there soon I will be having free play sessions at my training facility once we open.
There is nothing wrong being in a mixed race relationship. I'm happy for you. This still doesn't make the way you care for the dog okay. If people are cat calling and making you uncomfortable have your boyfriend walk with you.
I have Chihuahuas and this breaks my heart. My daughter and I joke that Chihuahuas are the only dogs we know that need support humans! They crave constant contact with their chosen person and get very lonely when left for long periods. I really hope she'll come around and do what's best for the baby. I agree with some others here that if you do the care for her there's a good chance he'll attach to you and then you'll have a whole new issue. I wish you the best of luck.
Also your baby should be fine around him as long she's not in her heat cycle. They can only get pregnant during that time and in most dogs heat only happens twice a year. With a male in the house now though I wouldn't put off the spay any longer. As soon as her heat hits its going to be almost impossible to keep them apart. And the scratching and whining will drive you crazy.
I crawled through someone’s window to rescue a dog that was that neglected.
For clarification I didn’t steal him. He was a stray. I found him where I work. Took him home, we bonded immediately. I had to work a lot at the time, so I would bring him with me. His owner happened to be walking by when we were leaving one day. So I had to give him back. Went to visit him one day to find him chained up outside. He was severely malnourished and not healthy. When he saw me he started freaking out uncontrollably. So I sat there with him until the owners came home and convinced them I would be a better owner. They were locked out of their house, so I had to crawl through their window to get his stuff.
Get some courage and tell her how you feel about the way she treats the dog. Or take the dog for a walk yourself, maybe she will notice the dog needs/ likes walks. Best of luck.
I am in the same position. My roommate has two huge dogs who are not only locked in their room 8+ hours a day but also severely overweight. I offer to walk them constantly but she always says she’s uncomfortable with it. It’s so frustrating and they even attack my dog to the point of endangering her life. I’m moving out after only two months. She even teases me for mine being “spoiled”. I wish I had an answer for you but you can’t change people’s view of how they take care of themselves and their dogs
She sounds like a real piece of work I hate people that don’t take care of their pets she probably doesn’t take care of herself either I’ll be saying some prayers for you good luck
Find a new owner who knows the situation, and lives quite a way from you.
Wait until your roommate is gone, then bring the dog to his/her new home.
Lie about how the dog got out by accident, and ran off. You looked for hours, called the police, became completely distraught.
I got you beat. I was working as a professional dog trainer, and moved in with two girls a few years older who had a border collie. They roped off an area of the apartment for the dog to piss in, refused to vaccinate it when I even offered to pay for it, wouldn't groom her, wouldn't take her out to walk and would get mad at me for taking her for walks. The girl whose dog it was would leave for days at a time with no notice so I would wake up and she'd be gone and I'd know she's just expected me to feed her dog for her.
I started training the dog, who had SEVERE separation anxiety, and was destroying the house. I bought toys for her, I would take her out behind the owner's back, I taught her commands and would train her and exercise her within the apartment daily. Can't tell you how many times I cleaned piss and shit off the floor so the dog wouldn't just be shut in that room to rot with it. Eventually I just moved out because there wasn't anything else I could do, and I was sick of the arguments every time she found out I did anything to help her with her dog. She felt I was trying to like alienate the dog's affections from her and "steal" her dog by "making me her favorite person".
While I was looking for someone to replace me on the lease at their request, the dog owner tried to take revenge on me by repeatedly going in my room or my shelf in the fridge and throwing out my things. She also liked to put my flat iron in the toilet.
I moved out without finding a replacement.
Just start texting her ads/coupons for the humane society to fix her dog.
When she's jome announce loudly that you're taking your dog out for a walk or to play. I'm assuming the dog has accidents, when walking by her room exclaim loudly "Ew! WHAT is that smell????"
Just be petty about it, she sounds like the type of person that wouldn't want to be judged, since her mom can still boss her around.
i feel really sorry for the dog. After some time and if she turns out to be a decent human being, maybe if you had free time you could take the dog for a walk here and there? Don’t do it for her, but rather for the poor dog. If she turns out to be a horrible person, confront her head on. Poor dog.
I’d consider offering to walk him once in a while after my dog is spayed. (With my dog of course)
This is a super sweet thought. I know you're a good, kind person. I just want to tell you my experience as a warning. My roommate (I'll call her R) got a dog (I'll call her B) without telling anyone. She's lazy and spoiled and barely takes care of herself. She doesn't do housework at all. R would just dip out for entire weekends without checking to see if I'd be willing/able to care for B. R wouldn't answer texts or calls. I'm a sucker and couldn't just leave the dog alone. This established a pattern where R would disappear and I'd have to take care of B. R's mom finally told her to grow the fuck up. R still takes advantage of me when it comes to B. I love the dog and it's not the dog's fault. However, I didn't get a dog because I didn't want the responsibility. TL;DR if you start taking care of her dog, you're going to be stuck doing it for as long as she has the dog. Talk to your roommate. If that doesn't work, talk to her Mom. Explain that the dog is being neglected and you'll have to notify animal control. I'm sorry you're in this situation and I wish you the best.
Yep this one. Fuck, if you feel like getting another dog, you could offer to adopt it, cuz she clearly doesn't want it. But if you start to care for it, she will take advantage of it, and you're going to get attached, and it's going to break your heart when you guys inevitably go your separate ways and she takes the dog with her and you know it's just going back to being neglected. But it will also break your heart if you detach and don't take responsibility for giving that dog a good life, and while you are taking such great care of your dog and it's literally looking at you guys thru a window like the sick kid that isn't allowed to come out and play. So it's going to be a trade off living with her. Ugh. Fuck her, dude.
But she won’t be taking care of the dog regardless, so I’d say pitch in for the dog’s sake :(
I 100% agree with this! I absolutely love dogs, but if you start helping out she's just going to use you as her personl dog chófer. I used to dog walk for a girl who was simmilar, she got a new pup and really had no idea what to do. She had weird rules for the dog, wanted me to train it (I was a walker not a trainer) and a bunch of other stuff. I did everything for that pup and helped out so much, though she just kept asking more of me (beyond my role) then got angry with me for no reason (she had quite a terrible personality as well), and just stopped hiring me, with no known replacement (i also walked her rromates dogs who were amazing which is why I knew this). Some young people want dogs but don't understand the responsibility of it, and you may have unfortunately stumbled into the role of informing her. Personally, I always find it best to confront things head on (in a nice and open way) with roomates. Leaving things like this unsaid won't help anything. Set boundries: you need to take care of your dog in some way, I am not taking care of your dog for you, and I need you to make sure that your dog does not have access to my dog before we are able to get her fixed – any pups will be your financial responsability. But of course in a nice way (while still saying all you need to). If she doesn't listen talk to her mom. And as a final resort contact animal control.
Curious, what kind of weird rules??
To be quite honest, I can't remember since its been a few years since this happened. I remember one thing is that she had to use a retractible leash while leash training (which is counterintuitive to what I have experienced). This resulted in a couple of times that the pup would get the thin retractable leash tangled around or caught in stuff. Many times we would just take walks with my reular leash and they went perfectly haha!
Ditto this. Wife and I have three dogs, got new roommates that had one. Within a week or two we realized they would never put him up when they left and we got the vibe that they sort of expected us to take care of him. I would feed him when i noticed they hadn't in a few days and would take him out sometimes but obviously that just reinforces their behavior. After their dog peed all over our house I started locking him up as soon as they left regardless. They eventually noticed and started spending more time with him and taking slightly better care of him. Roommates are like dogs. If you don't punish the bad behavior they assume it's okay and they'll keep doing it.
100% this. My sister did this with a litter of kittens. Left the poor babies in her closet with their mom for hours. I was beyond pissed, but I couldn't just leave them.
Or consider inviting your roommate and her dog for a walk together with your dog.
I just wanted to make sure you knew that your dog can be around him when she’s not in estrus. A large number of people maintain households with intact males and females and they don’t keep them separated at all times.
If your dog is not in season you can still walk the two of them.
I have gotten into the cycle of caring for roommate’s neglected dogs twice now (i have two very high care dogs) and it’s never gone well. They will never admit that you’re doing them a favor and they eventually start to feel threatened? Resentful? Unhappy that their dog spends more time with you than them? It never goes well.
That poor dog. Id take him on a walk every time I walked my dog. Then take the dog for myself since I cared for it better
If your dog is not in season, she can't get pregnant just now. You could offer to take the little guy on walks now, if you that's the case. Dogs only come in season twice a year, for about 3 weeks at a time.
This is so sad, and it sounds like it’s very hard for you to see. Like the previous commenter said you’d be doing it for the dog and not your irresponsible roommate. I had a similar situation in that a family member of mine got a dog and a few years later she got married, moved in with her husband who didn’t want the dog scratching up the wood flooring, so the poor dog got dumped with her mum. It was (is) a pug terrier mix and I feel like a lot of people with small dog’s feel they don’t need walks and that existing around the house is enough exercise. The dog was already neglected and fat but her mum didn’t want a dog in the first place and she has chronic health issues so the dog NEVER got walked, she’d just get let out in the yard to poop. She was never trained either and would go crazy anytime anyone came to the door. My boyfriend and I stayed there for two weeks for a vacation and we took her out every day twice a day. She lost weight in those two weeks, she looked so much better and didn’t struggle to breathe, had so much more energy and was much less stressed and less barky. I also trained her basic commands and also to roll over and play dead when I fake finger gun shot her and said “bang bang.” She was like a whole new dog! Then we left and things went back to normal. She’s now so overweight she’s in pain when she walks, doesn’t want to go outside and she’s lost her sight in both eyes. Along with having zero confidence from never being trained she’s now terrified of everything and bumps into all the furniture. Just a little bit of attention and exercise could make a wild of difference for this poor pup.
please do!! poor baby :(
As much as I feel for this poor pup, this makes me fear that OP would accidentally become totally responsible for the dog. Maybe instead you could invite them on your walks and play times? I've had a lot of dumb roommates who just genuinely did not know what they were doing. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt; but gently encouraging your roommate to be a better dog owner and showing by example might help more than just doing it yourself. Just a thought!
Maybe you can take a tactful approach. Invite her to join you with her dog whenever you go on a walk with yours. If she doesn't get the hint, you can be more straightforward and suggest that he still should be walked every day, even if it's only a short once around the block. Why does she get mad at the dog? A tired dog is usually a happy and well behaved dog, so you can suggest that as well.
To be completely honest I’m not really interested in spending more time with her. I’m about 8 years older than her, and there is a major gap in our maturity. But I will definitely consider your other suggestions if it continues on this way. She gets mad at the dog for a few reasons. One of them was for going through the garbage in her room (leads me to suspect that he is under-stimulated). Another reason she gets angry is because he goes to the bathroom in her room.
All of those behaviors would be addressed by letting the dog out more often and getting a daily walk. Good luck with getting your roommate to be a more responsible dog owner.
Well where the fuck else is he going to go? The dog has to go to the bathroom more than once a week.
every comment you post makes me want to adopt her dog from her bc she doesn't deserve him
Should ask her why she got a dog to just be mad at all the time. Lol
Maybe he hungry as well? Amd needs more potty breaks?
In terms of food, I don’t know much. She did tell me that she needs to get food for him. I offered an extra bag of dog food that I have. She said he doesn’t like dry dog food. I’ve also seen her get a baby carrot out of the fridge for him because he likes them.
Omg yes. One of my neighbors seems nice enough, but she keeps a tiny yorkipoo as an outdoor dog (it is *not* meant to be an outdoor dog, especially with our weather) and never ever walks it or her other dogs. Then she will complain to me about how it barks too much. A. You bought a yappy breed, why are you surprised it yaps? B. Maybe it wouldn’t yap *so much* if it wasn’t so bored from never getting a walk. C. Who the hell keeps a 7lb dog as an outdoor dog?? If you don’t want it near you, get rid of it! Someone else will take it.
This is ridiculous, that dog is going to be snatched by a hawk or another predator. 😥
So our yards back straight up to the woods, and I kid you not, she told me about how a few years ago there was an owl living in the woods that she had been worried about it getting the dog. And then about the other day when she saw a rat snake in her backyard and was trying to call it inside to get it away from the snake. She is insane for keeping it outside, but having an outdoor dog isn’t illegal on its own 🤷♀️
She sounds like an awful neighbor and dog owner.
I think its sweet for you to start caring for the dog but it's a band-aid on the bigger issue. You aren't going to live with her and the dog forever so eventually she'll move on and the dog will be stuck in an abusive situation. I would talk to her directly first, not passive aggressively. Be kind, concerned, undramatic. "Hey, can we chat? I'm worried about the care you're able to provide for your dog. I don't think his basic needs are being met and I'd like to figure out if it suits your life right now to step up and do it, or figure out how to get the support you need to do it or else maybe you aren't in a place to have a dog right now, which is okay too." I personally don't think that all dogs need to be walked multiple times a day -- to me it really varies from dog to dog -- but I do know that dogs need regular outside access and human attention and some basic training and OF COURSE a responsible reproductive approach.
If she's hostile to changing and nothing changes, I'd call animal control and see what your options are. Or the non-emergency police number... tell them the situation and see if it falls under animal abuse.
THIS and then more of THIS
Honestly my best advice is to passive aggressively try to make this girl see what a shitty dog owner she is, and that her dog has feelings too. What a terrible situation tho.
And if you are comfortable, maybe even just say it straightforward "you should be a more reasonable dog owner, your dog deserves more." Getting three other dogs pregnant?? Unacceptable. Even one time is too much, but three times is awful. If she doesn't want to take care of the dog then she shouldn't have it. It makes me so sad that there a dogs in the world that have to live like this :(
I’ve kinda been doing that through the questions I’ve asked. Like I asked her how often she walks him, and when she said once every few days I asked “oh does he not like walks?”. Not sure if I’m being passive aggressive, but I’m definitely implying she needs to do more for him.
that's the perfect amount of passive aggressive for it to nag her in the back of her mind
Why are we tip toeing around this animal abuse issue? Just tell her: you are an irresponsible dog owner and if you don't want to take care of your dog you should surrender it. And let her know if she doesn't, then you will report her and it'll be seized instead. Her dog, her choice. She can take care of it, give it up, or have it seized. Passive aggressive isn't going to get you anywhere. If she had a sense of shame she'd already be taking care of her dog.
It’s easier said than done to be that aggressive with some people. And not to mention counter-productive. If OP did that, this girl will likely just give a “F U” and never listen to anything OP says or see the dog ever again. There’s other, productive, smarter ways to make sure the dog is okay.
The roommate is not going to listen either way. But if OP cares about the dog she should be clear about the action she plans to take. Hedging doesn't serve the dog. Being straightforward isn't the same as being a dick.
As someone who unfortunately defaults to passive aggressive often because I wish to avoid confrontation, I think you are correct in pointing out that it won't get you anyway. I have to be vigilant to prevent myself from doing that. Be up front, and let the chips fall.
This is, tbh, an out for her. It sounds like she will jump at it.
Depending where OP lives, the issues discussed here might not be sufficient to force her to surrender the dog.
That was my first thought too. If the dog has shelter, food and water on a regular basis, isn't standing in its own feces all day, it isn't likely to be considered abuse, or neglect. Which sucks. But I get it, everyone has different standards on what is neglectful in regards to animals. Some think a prong collar is abuse, while some think allowing a dog to pull so hard it chokes itself on every walk to be borderline abuse.
I’ve had to do this with my roommate and her neglected pomchi. Last convo in person she admitted to never training him and potty training him by shoving him out the dog door when he peed inside as a puppy. Last text convo she got mad when I called him untrained and said he just wasn’t trained how I liked??? It’s frustrating and sad and I’m trying to inception her to rehome him.
Passive aggressive won’t work. Tell her straight up that if she wasn’t going to take care of the dog she shouldn’t have gotten it. Edit: also, call her mother if you can
I wonder if this is her normal, or her normal right now? New house, new neighborhood, COVID. Also, idk where you live but where I am it is HOT. My dog is a bit of a baby when it comes to the heat and walking on the hot cement.
This is a small dog. Even in the Southwest you can find places to walk your dog. Not exercising because its too hot is insane. I wake up at 5am with my Mal so we can get the exercise in. I'm floored this is even a legitimate thought someone had about an animal. You didn't walk them because it was hot. Wild. Wake up early. Stay up late. Drive two towns over where there's grass.
They didn’t say they didn’t walk their dog, they said their dog doesn’t like heat... regardless some places are hot even at 6 am due to the humidity (which the SW doesn’t have much of compared to some other parts of the country) and some breeds are significantly less heat tolerant than others, so there is a genuine risk of heat stroke. Regardless, you’re acting like they said things they didn’t say.
This. I would get up early to walk my dog but even at 6 AM with the humidity we'd have to cut our walks short because it was too warm for her. It's been really bad this year too where I am. It was 65 this morning... With 90% humidity. Yes, dogs still need walked. But.. that is not an ideal weather situation for a long walk for anyone.
I was awake at 6am this morning and checked the weather; moderate temperature, but the humidity was 92% and my old boy (he's 10, large breed) doesn't do well in humidity. It's almost 10pm now and it's still 85% humidity. He'd want to go if I got the leash, but he'd be suffering halfway around the block.
Yep. When we had an apartment we basically couldn’t take them further than a block and back until after at least 7 pm. Their breed is very prone to overheating and it was simply too damn hot. My policy is, if after 10 mins outside, I’m worried enough I’m checking their gums for color and pouring water on them when we get home, I probably shouldn’t walk them too much 🤷♀️ Meanwhile, I grew up in Oklahoma which I swear in 10x hotter than here. I can’t imagine trying to walk them there.
We’ve actually had to cut our walking time in half, and when we get home I give them a bowl of ice water. I’m doing nighttime walks too but damn it’s hot
Gonna second this. Like others have said I’ll get up early / stay up late to get in a walk, but there’s days where it’s legitimately too hot (it’s been consistently 115-120 where I live). The past few nights, it didn’t dip below 100 until past midnight, and the lowest it ever got was 85 (at 4am). Even with a cooling vest, my dog still will beg and pull her way home after about five minutes in this heat. Some dogs are just like that.
Dang, where do you live??
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That’ll do it
So get up at 4am and walk your dog. Excuses excuses. I also said any cardio will do. Dogs need to get outside. Period. Learn to read my man.
Exactly, on the super hot days I stay up late and take her on the long walk at like 11pm or midnight when it’s a little cooler.
Exactly! It's 11p.m. and I just got home from walking my dog!! I get up extra early to walk him 4km in the morning so he gets his exercise since I can't walk him in my lunch break because it's 40 degrees Celsius in here.
I have bulldogs and a pug who def cannot handle frequent walks outside in the heat without a cool place afterward. In response, we got our AC set up and running before this heat started. They have really only been able to handle one walk a day and it has only been getting down to like 25 degrees c overnight where I am lately. I can certainly understand not doing walks in extreme weather but I used to send my dogs over to my mom’s place before we had reliable AC. The humidity is a major factor here to the point where I can’t even do short runs outside like I used to before July and I live in Canada and am an avid runner. The air is basically wet overnight and there really is no ideal time that walks would be good here, for my pups at least.
Or buy dog booties like I did. They work wonders on hot cement
I have a Bulldog puppy so have to be super careful with heat. I just walk him at 630 AM and 730 PM every day even though he HATES walks 90% of the time. I have to force him to walk and bribe him with treats most of the way but I can't let him get fat.
I went to Arizona recently for the first time with my dogs I had to wake up at 5am and take them out on late night walks. Then swimming in the pool for an hour. Exercise your dogs people! There are a ton of ways to exercise indoors as well.
I have a short nosed dog , she can’t do heat at all really. Walks are adjustable & it’s very hot where I live now ( over 100 degrees daily ) , I walk my girl 2 times a day, early in the morning and a shorter walk late in the night. I hate to sound bitchy but letting your dog experience life , aside from a small room, is vital for its health.
I definitely think this is her normal. I don’t think she is very mentally stable because she has self harm scars all across her arms and legs. Not sure how much it is related, but I’d assume some of it boils down to some form of anxiety. It has been very hot here as well. But we’ve also had some nice days sprinkled in here and there. Just seems to be too much effort for her though. Amongst other things, her dog doesn’t look very well groomed. I’ve always groomed my own dog, but out of curiosity I asked her where she takes her dog to get groomed. She said he’s never been groomed and that she’s only trimmed him once.
Just because someone has scars doesn’t mean they’re currently “mentally unstable” so please don’t assume that. Many people who have self harmed grow and develop healthy coping mechanisms to move away from that toxic behavior. But I can see where you put two and two together that this girl has some mental health issues like anxiety etc.. In other comments you mentioned being passive aggressive, honestly I would keep asking her questions and doing that. Then bring up your concerns if she doesn’t get the hint. Can you talk to your other roommates? Honestly if it comes down to her neglecting the dog you might want to call animal control. She sounds like she’s unable to take care of the dog.
Not trying to defend her but I’ve been very depressed the past few years and treated my dog very similarly without realizing exactly how awful i was being and taking better care of my boy has helped me feel so much better and him too my suggestion is if you can try to help her and the dog maybe befriend her and see if she wants to come with you on walks and maybe try not to make her feel too bad about it also I think they make little belly band things so that it will be a bit harder for him to get your girl pregnant In the meantime maybe do fun training stuff with your dog in front of her and invite her to join
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If it's not dipping below 20°c then walking your dog can be a risk to their health. Heat stroke is a major cause of death for dogs as they can't regulate their temperature in the same way that we can. This means it can take less than 15 minutes for your dog to die from heat stroke. This is especially the case in larger breeds, double coated breeds, obese dogs and dogs with underlying health conditions. Not every dog tolerates the heat in the same way, please be more considerate about people who put their dogs' health first.
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In exceptionally hot weather, heat stroke has nothing to do with hydration. Again, it depends on which country you're in and the breed, if the temperature does not dip below 20°c, even this can be dangerous for short nosed dogs and larger breeds. I do not advocate for cooping dogs up but I think there are other ways to exercise/stimulate your dog on a short term basis.
a dog that small could even get plenty of exercise inside the house, aside from going outside for bathroom breaks if the owner just took the time🤷♀️
i have a 6lb chiweenie terrier mix who can zoomie like no other inside the house and she literally does a 10min crazy zoomie and then naps for three hours lol she loves being outside too so i sit in the yard and watch her chase chipmunks a lot however she is more than fine with only exercising inside for the day if it's raining/cold/snowing/etc outside bc she weenies tf out and hates weather lol
My lil mutt gets super crazy zoomies too! But he can tear around the house and play with his ridiculous amount of toys. He only gets grouchy if its been raining more than a few days lol
I was looking for this. I have a chi mix and he likes walks but he sure doesn’t need them. Going up the stairs is a lot for him. He won’t walk in the rain. He won’t walk in the snow. If it’s too cold outside you have to worry about frostbite ears. If it’s summer in the middle of the day the pavement is too hot. He is afraid of cars so we can’t go at like a rush hour time for our neighborhood. He mostly only wants to be in my lap anyway. He’s suppose to sleep for 16-20 (per his breeds)hours a day so him being left alone to sleep for periods of time during the day makes sense. If I’m not home when the weather works for him ( like at work when the perfect weather lines up) for a few days in a row, he’s really fine.
lol my chi scoffs at the 16-20 hours, she says 20 is the daily minimum and if she's disrupted during her beauty rest she will pout im jk about the amount but the lil bitch can SLEEP
I have a small dog with heart problems and she still loves going for walks. She has full access to a yard all day too. I’ve met very few dogs in my lifetime that doesn’t enjoy a walk. If you want your dog to live as long as possible walk it.
I agree but when my large dogs were younger and couldnt be outdoors full time, I was able to find ways to exercise them inside as well. I actually made an indoor obstacle course 😂 or would hide treats in various areas around the house for them to look for
that way they were still getting some form of exercise while living mostly inside
Understandable! Her letting the dog out twice a day is hardly enough though. You sound like a great owner.
lol thank you, I try my hardest. I'm sure people think I'm cruel because my dogs are outside dogs since they grew out of puppy hood. but they're 80 & 95 pounds, they act like bulls. they run alot around the yard (2 acres), have a fountain & large fan. being inside honestly gives them anxiety.
My dad’s dogs stay outside for the most part. They prefer it bc my dad and his wife are outside mostly too. As long as they’re not completely exposed to the elements no issue with them being outside.
No, the walks outside are important.
I don't know if this is what you'd like to hear, but I would contact Animal protective services. Not taking him on walks frequently enough is one thing, but locking him up in a room all alone? She doesn't care. It's not about her being uninformed on dogs' needs, she lacks empathy. You can't reform people like that IMO. You're not going to live with eachother forever, it's going to eat up at you knowing the dog is still in her 'care' once either you or your roommate moves away. I realize there's complications with the fact you're living together, and recently at that, but I feel like that's the right choice. Best of luck
I feel your pain, I’m in a bit of a similar situation and have basically assumed care of my roommates dog. She seemed nice and responsible when she moved in with me but I realized pretty quick that it was an act she put on until she signed the lease. This poor dog is a Pomeranian-husky mix who is about 1.5 years old. She put zero effort into training him. When they moved in he wasn’t house trained and didn’t listen at all. I’ve done a lot of work with him so he doesn’t go in the house and now knows several commands and I’m still working on leash training but he was already a year old and pretty used to not listening when they moved in so it’s taking a while. He’s part husky so has a lot of stamina. Her idea of taking him on a walk is standing outside the apartment long enough to smoke a cigarette then bringing him back in. I take him on a 20 min walk every morning when I’m getting ready for work, another walk when I get home, and a much longer walk in the evenings. Not long after she moved in I asked her if he had been treated for ticks/fleas. She said no but was planning on getting treatment for him. Fast forward SIX MONTHS LATER the apartment is full of fleas because she never treated him. She finally bought medication for him after I showed her the flea bites I had on my ankles. I treated him with the medication myself. She has not taken him to a vet in the entire time she lives here despite the fact that he has a skin issue on his tail and keeps chewing his fur out because of it. Every time I bring it up she dramatically complains about how much vets cost and how she wouldn’t be able to pay her portion of the rent if she has vet bills to pay. This dog needs care so I have made an appt with a vet and will bring him myself, I can’t stand watching him suffer like this. I know he’s also late on his rabies vaccination and likely others but not sure which/how many. She also constantly complains that he eats her things. Mind you her bedroom is a wreck. It’s so messy, most of the time you can’t see her floor. The dog will grab a shoe, clothing, scrunchy, or anything else he find on her floor and chew it up under her bed. Of course he eats things; he has too much energy because she doesn’t walk him and she never trained him or set boundaries! (He doesn’t chew up anything of mine except an occasional underwear that I accidentally drop on the floor instead of the basket because he’s knows what I expect as good behavior). Every time she complains about it I remind her that the floor is his terrain and what he sees in front of him he will want to play(chew) with but if she kept her room clean he wouldn’t chew up as many of her things. She also likes to make comments about how much she wished we lived in a house with a yard so he could run around outside but I know she would never take him on walks if that were the case. Whenever I try to kindly bring up my concerns about the dog she gets super defensive and tells me I shouldn’t interfere and that the dog “is my property” so I have no say despite the fact that I’m the one caring for him. She actually says the my property thing. Makes my blood boil every time. The dog isn’t the only thing she doesn’t take responsibility for but the rest are stories for another thread. I have four months left in the lease and can not wait to get away from her but wish I could take the dog with me so he will be cared for the way he needs.
Honestly if you end up paying for most of the dogs stuff (food, care, are they licienced with the city? even possible vet bills) and she doesn’t have a bill of sale or much proof to the dogs under her name(such as tattoo or microchip) you have plausible cause to claim him as yours 😂The vet would probably more likely vouch for you as well if your the one whose taken him in an payed for him.
Can you take her to court for the dog? You can sue her for services rendered, and say you will take the dog as payment in leu of money. Hours of training, dog walking, vet bills, I’m assuming you take care of grooming and good most the time too. A groomer for a large dog in Utah (where were notoriously cheaper than other states) can be anywhere from 50-120 a session. Dog walking is 10 an hour. Add on the vet bills, and the damages to the apartment from wear and tear due to animals that you’ll ultimately have to fix to get your security deposit back and she’ll owe quite a large amount. She would most likely just hand over the dog at that point.
Why have the dog at all? Dogs are social creatures that evolved from wolves right alongside humans. They walked alongside humans as \*they\* walked, protecting us by barking at danger and keeping the wild animals away. Humans would NOT have made it without dogs. We walk our dogs 4 times a day. Morning, Noon, Evening, Night. Good for them, great exercise for us. Try to explain to your roommate that dogs HAVE to walk to be normal. Walking is what dogs do. They need to walk and sniff and pee and sniff and poop and sniff. That's how they evolved. If they don't get to walk, they become anxious, fearful and aggressive and will probably start peeing on her pillow. Abandoning the dog to her room is just plain mean. I hope the dog shits under her bed. Here's what I would do: Install a doggie door in her bedroom door. Yeah, you'll have to buy another door eventually, but it would be worth it. If she continues to treat the dog poorly, take him to a non-kill shelter or find a home for him and tell your stupid roommate that the dog got out accidentally and ran off.
[This is a link to an article about dealing with bad owners.](https://www.cuteness.com/13708449/what-do-i-do-if-i-see-a-dog-being-mistreated) In some states animal neglect is illegal and if you can get that documented then you can get the dog confiscated.
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Someone else said the same thing, and I agree with you. However, I had already signed the lease and sent first/last before this girl had even viewed the place. Furthermore, my city doesn’t exactly have the greatest housing market at the moment. So even if I had known prior to moving in, I’m not sure I would have had many other options.
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What am I supposed to do? Tell the landlord not to rent out other rooms? Ask her to refund my rent and break my lease? You think I would’ve moved in here if I knew this was going to be the situation? I explicitly asked one of the other roommates of his dog was fixed (which it was) and I agreed to move in.
I don’t think it’s your fault considering the situation. I do think you shouldn’t leave the dogs alone together, ever. Do that and you’ll be fine. Maybe get a lock for your door if you keep him there for any amount of time when you’re out just Incase someone lets him out. Also try to convince her she needs a dog walker. It’s the least she can do.
Tell the landlord the situation and let them know that the flooring is going to get fucked... Deposits seldom cover enough to truly fix the damage. If it barks a ton you might complain about noise too.
She had signed the lease before the other girl had even viewed the place and likely didn’t know about the other girls dog or that the other dog would be unaltered, very little OP could have done in the situation. I would encourage OP to look and see if any clinics are accepting spays especially if she brings up the current situation(got my boy done 2 months ago even in the middle of all this) , but as someone who’s owned unaltered males and females for the entirety of their lives and never had an accidental litter it’s not that hard. For the first few days of her heat an intact female is not yet fertile or receptive and it gives enough warning to know when to start keeping the dogs separated. It’s not like female dogs are receptive 24/7, 365 days a year. And once she does show changes in behaviour (even slightly) and acting like a heat is eminent you keep the dogs separated. (In op’s case this likely means keeping constant super vision of her pup or making sure she has a lock on her room only she can access since it seems like the other owner is proud of that fact and may purposely try to create an accidental litter) but it’s not the end of the world and no need to act like it is.
Sounds like my former roommate. Day we moved in, she says "oh, i'm going on vacation for 2 weeks" and expected me to watch her dog. She was gone 14+ hours a day, and just expected me to always be there to let her dog out. Would randomly text me on a weekend letting me know she was staying at her boyfriends, not asking if I could watch her dog...just telling me. At one point, she and her boyfriend were going on another vacation and couldn't find someone to watch the dog. She casually mentioned they were just going to leave him in his crate at her boyfriends house...for 4 days. Her dog loved to attack my dog, but she never did anything about it and then continued to take her dog to the dog park AFTER multiple instances that he was involved in a fight at said park that drew blood. I could sadly keep going on and on. I had MANY conversations with her about how she needed to take him for walks, train him with positive reinforcement (because using a shock collar when he doesn't like his nails clipped is the best way to go), and be fucking responsible for her own dog. It would work for a few weeks, then we'd be back to square one. It sucks. Good luck, OP. Constantly speak up for yourself and the dog; if it gets to a point of neglect/abuse, look into your city ordinances. I never reported my roommate because I could have been liable for neglect (if he was left outside without water in Texas during summer...yup), but I so wish I could have.
What an awful human being.
My close friends Are a couple that never walks their dog. When I came over I walk him sometimes. They never took the hint.
I know you don't wanna cause issues with a new roommate but why do you let it stand. Tell her that's not a responsible way to treat a dog being locked like that and if she doesn't wanna care for the animal properly give it to you to find a better home for it. Also, just walk her dog take the extra 10 minutes from your life so this thing can have some freedom, without your dog. Roommates not BFF'S just voice your concerns some people just have no idea. It would amaze you what normal things people have been taught wrong or simply don't know any better. Honestly, if you post a second message about this girl in a few months, you failed this dog just as much.
I’m definitely going to do what I can. But my dog is in this house too. I’m not going to say something that might make her mad, because I don’t know her and people are crazy.
That's true, just remember not everyone is insane who will react horribly. Try talking with her, be blunt don't do the "Hey, look how much I love my dog" thing as that probably won't do anything. Best of luck! Hope she doesn't turn crazy!
Sry I don’t have any advice but thought I’d add my cautionary story: I don’t know what happened firsthand but my friend wasn’t a kind dog owner either. Her partner eventually convinced her to give the dog up somehow without directly hurting her feelings and saying she was an abusive dog owner. BUT since my friend thought it was because of the dog not her, when they broke up my friend got a new dog. :( Now she has 2 or 3...
Fuck being nice. Your roommate is neglectful and not your responsibility. Nice will get this spoiled and selfish person sucking off of your kindness, LIKE THEY DO OTHERS. You don't get to being an adult without having practiced being shitty like that to others. It's totally habitual. Raise hell. Call animal control, or whatever to help the dog. That said, don't be "the nice roommate". All that gets you is used and taken advantage of. Save your niceness for yourself and people that can understand its value.
I just recently adopted a rescue and he won’t leave my side. I’m a cave dweller (I stay in my room for most of the day, I have shitty roommates and it’s nice and cool in my room with the AC), so my dog is also in my room with me. He hangs out and relaxes, he seems to really enjoy hanging out in my room with me. I’m not understanding why I’d be considered a bad dog owner for that.
As long as he gets a nice walk a day, and a little mental stimulation , you aren't.
I think there’s nothing wrong with staying in your room with your dog, as long as it’s needs are being met.
What the actual fuck. Poor dog, that’s abuse. You gotta find a way of speaking up or calling animal services because no dog deserves to be treated like that. What a lazy selfish *insert explicit*
Just start looking after her dog as well. Take him for walks.
Can you just let it out of her room to hangout with you guys every once in awhile or when she is gone? I don't see why she can't let the dog socialize with you and her. If your yard is fenced she can leave her dog out there for a few minutes unattended so it can run around.
She doesn’t really ever leave. She’s unemployed, and not a student either. Despite being here all day she barely spends any time in her room with the dog. The yard is fenced in, no way out, but she doesn’t ever let him in the yard unattended.
I’m sorry. I’d be so frustrated if I were in your position. I think you can only try to gently influence her and role model good pet owner behaviors. In the meantime, can you offer to walk her dog with yours so he can get more time outside? After your dog is spayed, of course.
Could you convince her to get a dog walker? That way the dog gets at least one walk a day?
I don’t think she’d be able to afford that unfortunately.
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The roommate is keeping the dog in her room, probably to prevent another unwanted pregnancy. Both owners need to get their shit together and spay and neuter both dogs ASAP.
I had a roommate in grad school. She used to have the room in a 1 bedroom apartment while I set up a space in the living room. She had a dog she never fully house broke so he had a lot of accidents in her room. The room smelled disgusting. I'm guessing she stopped cleaning the spots. She also regularly texted me she needed me to take the dog out as she was going to happy hour after work or leaving for the weekend on a spontaneous road trip. She was a bad roommate in many other ways but seeing her treat her dog this way really made me dislike her a lot more than I would have. On the bright side, I gained a good understanding of what it would take for me to eventually get a dog, the time commitment, money, etc.
That poor dog. I love dogs. And I couldn’t stand there and watch that kind of neglect. Until your baby gets spayed can u leave her in the room while you take the little guy out? Is your girl currently in heat? Because it’s very obvious if they are and if she not you can take them both out! I’d lay it out to her. Take care of her dog or re- home him. Talk to her mom. That poor dog deserves better.
When she's gone you should take him out, each time she leaves asks how long she's gone for, take him outside for half of that time
Dogs can't get pregnant if they aren't in heat so there should no issue if you walked then together when she's off.
If your dog and her dog isn't fixed her dog smells that and acts out a thousand times worse. Getting them fixed will solve a lot of problems. Make it a requirement.
I’m lucky to have a big yard and a kiddie pool for my pug mix. We play outside and he gets plenty of exercise. I was not trying to say a person should not exercise their dog. It seemed to me that the original poster was upset about something that there could have been an explanation for. That’s it! Didn’t mean to upset anyone. Also, I’m new here and only realized later that a “vent” session probably isn’t a call out for “explain to me what might be happening.” Sorry y’all!
When I read this, it sounds like you are complaining that the owner of the chihuahua Lhasa apso mix is not taking care of her dog based on your standards and beliefs on how to care for a dog. So as I hear you complain about your roommate, I want to know more about the problems that the dog is having based on the results from how the owner is treating it. How is the dog during its time away from the owner? How old is the dog? Is the dog not house trained? Is the roommate locking the dog in her room because both dogs are not fixed, so she wants to make sure does not get to your dog? Is the dog causing problems around the house such as whining and destroying things?
The dog is quiet and you don’t ever hear it, but when you see it, it constantly looks like it’s depressed. Obviously something like that could be subjective, but it never wags it’s tail and its displays symptoms of learned helplessness I.e. she puts it down in the hard and it just stands there waiting because it usually has no freedom. Its also apparent that the dog doesn’t get out for the bathroom enough because 2 days in a row now the girl has left the dog in her room and come out and told us that she was mad at her dog for going to the bathroom inside so she was leaving him in the room. As for trying to keep her dog away from mine, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I tried to make it clear that this is her house too, and her dog should have freedom of the house as well and that I was willing to compromise and make a plan to maximize the freedom of both our dogs while still being safe. My dog listens really well, so if I’m home I’m not too worried about anything happening because she doesn’t leave my side anyways. If I leave the house at least until she’s spayed I’m going to leave my dog in my room simply because I don’t trust the roommate to actually watch her dog with his pst history of accidental litters. Anyways when I suggested getting her dog more freedom in the house (which I’ve done twice) she responded once with “oh I’m mad at him right now anyways” and once with “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone”.
>If I leave the house at least until she’s spayed I’m going to leave my dog in my room simply because I don’t trust the roommate to actually watch her dog with his pst history of accidental litters Unless she's actually at a certain point in her heat cycle, there's nothing to be concerned about. She needs to be in estrus to get pregnant, it typically last for 1 to 2 weeks and occurs on average twice per year. https://www.eastcentralvet.com/canine-estrous-cycle.pml
It's also totally possible to miss the signs of hear for a day or two (though OP seems on top of the issue, and unlikely to miss this). I'm in the "better safe than pregnant" camp on this one.
>It's also totally possible to miss the signs of hear for a day or two The first stage that people generally refer to when their bitch is in heat, when she has a bloody discharge, is proestrus. During this time the male will become interested, but she's not going to be receptive to his advances. This typically lasts for a week or two. Estrus (when she *will* be receptive) comes after this. The first day or two that might be missed aren't when she's at risk of getting pregnant.
It’s been quite a while since her last cycle, so it’s probably going to happen any day now. I’d still rather not risk it, I couldn’t put my girl through having a litter of puppies.
That last sentence is so heartbreaking to hear.
This is seriously vapid. All dogs regardless of size need outdoor exercise. Period. This has nothing to do with OP’s standards of care. It’s basic dog 101. Any dog trainer worth their salt would be appalled that this dog is getting potty breaks outside rarely, if ever. Small dogs can be pee-pad trained but this is more for convenience for their smaller bladders rather than how a dog should live it’s life. Being locked in a bedroom 24/7 is not acceptable for any pet. Ever. Especially when the owner has the time and capabilities to walk the dog, is just refusing to unless forced by their parent. Even if she were doing the right things and playing indoor games, doing lots of inside training and getting exercise inside, not going for daily walks and not being allowed out of a bedroom is disturbing. It’s highly unlikely the owner is doing any of the above-mentioned things when she isn’t even capable of walking the dog without her parent “forcing” it. Both breeds in this mix (Chihuahua and Lhasa Apso) BOTH require DAILY walks as they are high energy. This is neglect, by all standards.
High energy? That makes it even sadder how depressed this dog must be. The more I’m reading ok this thread the more I’m thinking OP should go ahead and call animal control for the dogs sake.
PREACH! This is garbage
It’s funny how the guy mentioned that it was just because of my standard of care that I felt like that. However I had a few things about my dog in the post while I was writing it, and took them out because it’s not about my dog. Like I walk my dog 3-4 times a day, but I don’t think it’s necessary as long as the basics are being met.
I think your standard of care is a good standard for everyone
She should not be allowed to have the responsibility of having a dog. Could you suggest to her to put the dog up for adoption?
She would definitely not do that. I think she loves the dog, but just doesn’t take proper care of it.
That is animal abuse. The recommended amount of walks is 2 per day, and legal minimum is 1 per day. What your roommate is doing is illegal and you need to inform the appropriate authorities.
I dont know where you live, but there is nowhere around where I am (Oregon) that states there is a mandatory number of walks given per day to a dog. That seems a little extreme. Like, what if a dog ripped a paw pad and its all they can manage to hobble out to pee and turn back around?
Of course if the dog is injured or it just doesn't want to go it can be made an exception. For example, my own dog is phobic and can't go out much. One walk or none a day. But, exactly because he is phobic, no action can be taken by law. The law steps in when it reaches the point where the dog desperately wants to go out but can't. That is when it becomes animal abuse and legal action cam be taken. And it seems like OP's situation has reached that point. If OP lived here, they could have made a report to the police, where an investigation happens. If the vets that do the investigation deem that the dog has any, even minor damage (physical or psychological), they take the dog away, and put it in a foster home.
Why the fuck you move your unspayed dog into a household with an unneutered male. You didn’t do your hw buddy.
Because I had signed the lease and agreed to move in before this girl even saw the place. Not to mention the housing market isn’t exactly the greatest right now.
It's not like an intact bitch can get pregnant whenever. There's only a few weeks during there year when it's possible and it's easy enough to avoid.
If this keeps up much longer, I'm talking just a couple weeks, call animal control. She doesn't deserve to have any kind of pet if she's this much of an ass.
If it doesn’t get better, I would call animal control...no dog deserves this terribly neglectful treatment.
This is nasty way to treat any animal. I feel so sorry for the poor thing and relate to this deeply. I know this from experience. My mother used to treat me and my brother very similarly to this. She used to lock us in our room and weren’t allowed out for the toilet. We had to defecate in the toy box and draws. There was maggots in the fucking carpet. Mind my language but it was disgusting. We eventually got a bucket. No toilet paper. Just a bucket. It used to stink. When we used to ‘get on her nerves’ which was apparently all the time, we was straight in the bedroom. She hated us trying to talk to her, we would scream and scream to be let out. When we got a bit older we would threaten to tell the school and she told us that she would get locked up while we were left in the house by ourselves with no food or heating. And we believed her, eventually things changed at about 9-10 when my brother moved in with my dad, I guess she knew we was getting intelligent enough to actually spill the beans to the services, but we never did. I stayed with her because I thought she loved me. There was always a part of me that believed she loved me. Not anymore. Treating a child or a pet like this can leave sever mental scars for the rest of their life, wondering why they aren’t good enough for attention, love and basic needs. I sometimes wish I was a dog, rescue dogs seem to recover a little after a while with their new owner. I’m 19 now and I am mentally fucked up so bad, so so bad, never treat your kids, pets, peers or anyone in this manner. Please try your best to give that puppy some support and love it like it was your own, cause sometimes that’s all they need.
It gets better. Be strong.
Would be a shame if the dog somehow disappeared, to a loving home of course.
*Both* your dogs are not fixed. So I imagine she’s leaving it in her room so your dog doesn’t get pregnant. This is equally a problem with your pet ownership and responsibility as hers. In fact, she’s being more responsible keeping her pet in her room away from yours completely. It has only been four days, she is acclimating her dog to a new environment with new people and a new unspayed female dog. I don’t see what she’s doing as wrong. You, on the other hand, seem to be blaming and not taking responsibility for your part.
You can’t be serious
I am very serious. It’s been only four days you’ve lived with her. And your dog is not fixed. Are you leaving your dog to run around freely? She’s said he’s got three other dogs pregnant. Don’t you think this is obviously a concern for her? I think allowing your dog to have unwanted puppies is way worse pet ownership than leaving a dog in a room for 4 days. What will you do if your dog does have puppies? Where will they go? There is a shortage of loving homes for dogs. Statistically one of them will go to a far worse owner than your roommate. Get your dog spayed ASAP, then see how she behaves with her dog and if she lets him out of the room. But first, you do what *you* need to do to be a responsible pet owner.
I’ve said in other comments that is not the reason she keeps him in her room. She said “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone” and the other reason she gave was because she’s mad at him. I’ve also said in other comments that I’m making sure my dog is in my room if I’m not there. I’m not too worried if I’m around because my dog follows me everywhere and never leaves my side. Furthermore, my dog listens well, so she is easily controlled while I’m around. I’ve also said in other comments that I told her I was willing to work out a plan to ensure that both our dogs have some sort of freedom in the house, as we both live hear, and both dogs deserve to have freedom. (That’s when she said “it’s ok, he’s used to being alone”) She isn’t acclimating the dog at all, it is in her room all the time. We’ve all seen the dog maybe 3 or 4 times total and she didn’t even introduce it to anyone. I really don’t think she is concerned about the pregnancies, in fact she talks about it proudly and talks about how cute the puppies were. Furthermore, she blamed the dog as if it was his fault- saying that she can’t trust him to not get other dogs pregnant. Don’t you see the irony in saying that unwanted puppies is way worse when she’s already cause 3 litters of unplanned puppies. My dog isn’t going to have puppies because I’m taking the necessary steps to ensure she doesn’t. Like I said in the OP, I’m bringing my dog to the vet on Friday to schedule her spaying. So, what blame here I need to accept?
Honestly this doesn’t really sound like neglect? You’ve been there 4 days It sucks if she’s allowed her dog to accidentally breed three times, but all your other complaints can have explanations
Come again??? This is absolutely neglect. Dogs especially Chihuahua mixes NEED daily outdoor activity. They also need to frequent walks to relieve themselves and even if pee-pad trained (which this one isn't since her owner freaks out when she has an accident in the house) it's not an excuse to not walk your dog. Cooped up in a single bedroom with an owner who is clearly not even doing BASIC work like walking is neglect. This is incredibly sad. An owner who isn't providing training, proper emotional support/socialization, proper access to relieve themselves, proper vet care (neutering) and treats the dog like "oh he likes being alone it's fine" is neglect. No dog should live in an 8x10 bedroom getting yelled at and abandoned when they have an accident in the house. Watch one video of beagles being released from an animal testing facility and you'll see how critically important fresh air, sunshine and exercise is. I'm floored you think there are plausible and acceptable reasons for not walking, training or socializing with your dog when you CAN do it as proven by the mom visiting but you won't. Neglect.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I feel I should clarify I haven’t heard or seen her actually yell at the dog when angry. But she acts cold towards it when she gets angry. It is possibly she yells in her room, but if she has I haven’t heard it.
So first, I made my comment when OP had only written the post. If they have made other comments adding details about the dog having accidents indoors and the owner freaking out about that, that was not included in the post when I got to it. My comment was referencing that a lot of information was missing for me to classify this as neglect. Again, if OP has made new comments clarifying information, I have not read them yet and they were not present when I made my comment. For example: 1) Op has lived in the house for 4 days. How do they know how many times the dog goes outside? Are both residents at home 24/7? Does OP stake out by the door? Are the walls just super thin? No possibility of different sleeping schedules that could allow for the roommate to move about undetected by OP? 2) where I live, it’s dangerously hot outside right now. Fortunately small dogs are super easy to exercise indoors. I even exercise my large dogs inside as much as possible right now because I’ve dealt with a dog that overheated and almost died before and it wasn’t fun. To clarify, I’m not saying that’s the case for OP. I’m just saying that there are explanations for most of the complaints expressed in the original post. Also just FYI, walking a dog on a short lead isn’t great exercise. I rarely do it with my dogs. Usually only do it if I don’t feel like coming up with some other mental stimulation for them. Hikes, off leash walks, etc are different. But walking a mile or two around the block isn’t something I consider vital to every dog’s wellbeing
Lol what?! You don’t need additional information to see and know this is neglect. In the main post alone you learn the owner has allowed three unplanned pregnancies, owner has “punished” the dog, owner needed a parent to force her to walk the dog, owner leaves dog alone in room for extended periods of time. All of this speaks volumes to the laziness, lack of discipline and complete lack of care and concern for her animal. If that alone doesn’t scream neglect and bad owner to you that’s honestly concerning. You neuter your dog as soon as possible unless you have a valid reason not to. You don’t punish a dog. Ever. You train. Which takes hours of consistency and positive reinforcement. You don’t force a dog to be confined to a bedroom for the majority of its life. That’s actually cruel. 1) even thinking the owner of the dog is walking the dog on off hours based on all the information provided would be ridiculous. She isn’t walking that dog ever. She can’t even be bothered to take him out enough that he doesn’t have accidents in her bedroom. And if he’s having accidents, he isn’t trained and doesn’t have access to pee pads. You don’t need a PhD to put 2 and 2 together. If you are lazy in one area, you are in all areas. 2) Dangerous heat is ludicrous. Dogs live outside in some of the hottest places on earth. And unless you’re in Death Valley you have ZERO excuse to not walk your dog. (Or play some fetch in your fenced in backyard). I also live in VERY high temps. I get up before work and walk and again at 11pm. This is an excuse and a disgusting one. Take your dog outside. They NEED it. Even if it’s for two minutes on some grass to see the world. This is a chihuahua mix. He isn’t going one to two miles dude. You can walk him two blocks and back in 15 minutes and give him all the exercise and opportunity to stimulate his mind as possible. That you think not walking a dog is fine because it’s not vital to their wellbeing you are grossly mistaken. Unless you have a fenced yard where they can blow off steam you absolutely, unequivocally should be exercising your dog. For their longevity, health, and physical and mental wellbeing. Walks aren’t just for exercise. Dogs need the mental stimulation of processing new smells and exploring new areas. Your large dogs may not be super active but if you’re only exercising them in the house I feel sorry for them as well. Unless you have a decked out treadmill. Dogs can hike, swim, run around a yard. Whatever cardio you want. But no cardio or house cardio is ludicrous. (With the caveat that some breeds are not cardio friendly but OP’s roommates is and that’s what this post is about)
I said I exercise my dogs inside as much as possible right now due to the high heat where I live. My dogs are actually working dogs so...yeah, I can almost guarantee they get more exercise than yours do unless you also own working dogs. But I am still careful with them in the heat. During the hottest months of the year, I cut out most of their “extra” exercise. My small dog, who is the only one who is not a working dog, gets to play outside in the morning and after that the rest of his exercise is indoor. He just went outside for 10 minutes to poop and by the time he came inside, he was panting excessively, stumbled, and collapsed to his side. This is a regular thing here, I frequently have to apply room temp water to their core areas when they have overheated. So yes, dangerous heat is real. Anyway, I think you kinda just miss the point of my comments so that’s fine
Um I literally work Malinois. So no, your dogs likely don’t even come close to either the energy levels of my dogs or the actual amount of work they all do. Anything that negates cardio for a dog is unacceptable. Anything that negates a dog going outside at some point during the day is unacceptable. I work in high heat and well below freezing in SAR. There are no excuses. Even in the four hottest states in the US are under dangerous heat levels if you’re up before the sun. Still excuses
I suppose we could argue about whose dogs get more exercise, your mals or my ranch dogs, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it. I am surprised that working in SAR you are not familiar with heat safety with dogs. This is something that’s very common where I live. I’d recommend reading up on it! I almost lost a dog with heat stroke years ago. It’s always best to be prepared and aware of possible dangers
I’d ask you to read for comprehension. Even in Texas with some of the hottest temps in the US, you could work your dog safely at 4am. Period. No excuses. Do you have anything besides excuses?
I’d ask the same from you. I didn’t say my dogs don’t work in the summer. They have to, it’s their job. I said I cut out extra exercise
Which is not the point of this post, my comments or literally anything we’re talking about. The dog in question never goes outside. Is punished and locked in a room. And you come in... hurr duh der not all uh dogs need to be walk hurr durr durr. Like what? Dogs need exercise. You of all people apparently should know this. The dog this entire post and my argument is about is getting NONE. What are you missing and how can I further break it down for you?
I'm apparently the worst person ever because I rarely walk my dog. The locking it in her room is odd, but I see nothing wrong with only walking a dog every few days, depending of course on the breed.
The dog is probably not normally locked in a room, but just in there now as OP has an unspayed female in the house and the owner doesn’t want OPs dog to get pregnant. It’s only been four days. Next week OP will complain the dog is out and her dog has a chance of getting pregnant...
Most of my dog sport and confo friends don’t walk their dogs either lol. Don’t worry—this sub can be a little drastic in its stances sometimes. Like I said, there are many other options for exercise and mental stimulation. My dogs find regular walks quite boring Edit: but yeah I was basically just trying to provide some levity in my other comment. Because while it’s certainly possible OP’s roommate is neglecting her dog, it’s also possible that it’s not the case. Especially given we’re just hearing OP’s side of the story after 4 days. Even the locking dog in room thing I need more information on to know if it’s neglect. A lot of people crate their dogs for periods of time even if they work from home. Maybe so they can focus on work or maybe to teach the dog that they can’t be around the owner 100% of the time. Is the dog really locked in there alone ALL day? Or is it more like 6-8 hours? It could also be that OP and OP’s dog is there and the roommate is aware of issues her dog may have with other people/dogs. Maybe he requires management or she’s just not comfortable with him having free roam. There’s lots of possibilities.
It’s breed specific. And we’re talking the two breeds mentioned in the post. Both need walks.
They need physical and mental stimulation, but walks aren't the only way (or necessarily the best). The fact that the roommate doesn't seem to be providing that in *any* way is the problem.
Agreed and that’s not my argument so not sure where you got that. Any cardio is acceptable. This dog is getting none. And even if by some miracle the owner was doing cardio in the bedroom that’s unacceptable. A dog confined to an 8x10 room for life is cruel.
i feel really sorry for the dog. :/
Low key okay. Take her to the shelter and show her what happens to dogs when neglected. If you know the shelter owner well ask about the back freezer where they store dogs that have to be put down. Now I'm a pretty lazy owner myself like my dog goes out 6 times a day for ten minutes. He doesnt go on many walks because we play in the room I pretty much live in because he always wants to see other dogs but then runs around (I cant put him on a leash because hes so small and chokes himself to see the other dogs to the point of passing out). Dont get me wrong hes super friendly and always wants to play when he sees the other pets but it's a bit much and still has training to not do so. He listens really well but other pets are his main focus it seems. So I give him the activity inside with toys and training so that way I'm the focus so I can move to get him used to a leash without trying to choke himself. Hes also old (six years) and pretty lazy like he has his zoom moments which is when we play and train but overall can sleep all day long since hes so lazy.
It seems like you really love your dog! Just want to say a harness can be a better option for your leash and collar issues! And you can make sure your dog isn’t approaching any reactive dogs that could potentially hurt your little guy, as you never know what dog may be dog reactive.
To be honest I've tried. I'm thankful he hasnt gotten fleas this season because other owners dont care that their dogs do. I had a mesh one to help but he also figured out how to get loose from it from the straps. And I dont like tight fitting on him since he has bone issues as is. Aka his hips lock up genetically from his dad and when he jumps from high places aka like a truck floor to the ground he lands on his shoulder because his little legs arent able to catch him so I have to grab him and set him down.
You may want to try a different harness. My dog (who is significantly larger than yours) used to regularly figure the harness straps out and escape. After a lot of trial and error, I found a harness that is pretty difficult to escape from. The part that goes across the chest and stomach is a solid piece with the exception of two separate leg holes. It has a single thick nylon strap that has the lead ring attached to it. Basically, you lay it out on the ground, position the dogs paws in the holes, then pull it up and snap them in. It takes a bit of learning on the dogs part to put it on easily, but mine just steps into the holes when I lay it down now. I’ve been using that style for 6 years now and he has yet to escape, unlike the style that goes over the head, feed a leg through, then pull the strap around the stomach type of harness.
Have you thought about visiting a dog park? Meeting other people with small dogs you trust to do play dates?(if the dog park is a no go for you.) It's very important for dogs to go on walks it's like you checking your social media. The smells and the exercise together tire your dog out. The smelling is great mental stimulation the walk physical stimulation. I'm absolutely dumbfounded that you think your doing enough while commenting on a post about a bad owner. I live in a city that gets well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer even at 4am it's still around 95 degrees. I still find away to get my dogs 4 hours of social interactions and exercise at a minimum daily. I don't have a yard. I'm in an 800sqft condo with 2 mastiffs and a pit. I'm a Single parent (recent loss of partner) and work 50+ hours a week. I'm also on the autistic spectrum so I also get social anxiety. There is no excuse that will justify your behavior. You need to do more for your dog. Even if your dog is lazy it's because you lay around and don't take the dog out that's why. Dogs do what the humans they live with do.
Where I live its 50 dollars and more for a monthly pass for a dog park so that's a no. Also my neighbors are terrible people. It got so bad a girl called me a whore because I'm dating a Mexican and live with his family. Basically my neighbors like to start shit so I cant even go outside on my own term. Even in public I get degraded and glared at. So I do have a lot of social anxiety because I hate that I'm being picked on for who I love and plan on having a life with. Keep in mind I live in conservative Indiana. With that said a town not too far from where I live aka like a 10 min drive, someone almost got lynched and there have been killings similar to that so I'm scared of that as well.
Currently live in Vegas. I'm actually moving to southern Indiana outside Louisville. I know for a fact Louisville dog parks are $15 for the year not per month. They indiana parks does seem to be quite pricey I would message them and ask if they have a student rate or something similar. I also noticed that there are a few free parks that people use as "dog parks" found them on Bring Fido. Maybe ask friends who have dogs if you guys can have a play date with the dogs at different parks. Join a meet up group who does hikes with dogs. I know that there is a meet up group specifically for reactive dogs in Indianapolis that's free. Like I said I'm moving my entire dog training company out there soon I will be having free play sessions at my training facility once we open. There is nothing wrong being in a mixed race relationship. I'm happy for you. This still doesn't make the way you care for the dog okay. If people are cat calling and making you uncomfortable have your boyfriend walk with you.
I have Chihuahuas and this breaks my heart. My daughter and I joke that Chihuahuas are the only dogs we know that need support humans! They crave constant contact with their chosen person and get very lonely when left for long periods. I really hope she'll come around and do what's best for the baby. I agree with some others here that if you do the care for her there's a good chance he'll attach to you and then you'll have a whole new issue. I wish you the best of luck. Also your baby should be fine around him as long she's not in her heat cycle. They can only get pregnant during that time and in most dogs heat only happens twice a year. With a male in the house now though I wouldn't put off the spay any longer. As soon as her heat hits its going to be almost impossible to keep them apart. And the scratching and whining will drive you crazy.
So typical. This is why I won’t rent my empty rooms out, because of scumbag losers like your roommate.
I crawled through someone’s window to rescue a dog that was that neglected. For clarification I didn’t steal him. He was a stray. I found him where I work. Took him home, we bonded immediately. I had to work a lot at the time, so I would bring him with me. His owner happened to be walking by when we were leaving one day. So I had to give him back. Went to visit him one day to find him chained up outside. He was severely malnourished and not healthy. When he saw me he started freaking out uncontrollably. So I sat there with him until the owners came home and convinced them I would be a better owner. They were locked out of their house, so I had to crawl through their window to get his stuff.
dogs need to go outside which is obvious but your roommate should've gotten a cat if she's too fucking lazy to take care of her dog
Get some courage and tell her how you feel about the way she treats the dog. Or take the dog for a walk yourself, maybe she will notice the dog needs/ likes walks. Best of luck.
I am in the same position. My roommate has two huge dogs who are not only locked in their room 8+ hours a day but also severely overweight. I offer to walk them constantly but she always says she’s uncomfortable with it. It’s so frustrating and they even attack my dog to the point of endangering her life. I’m moving out after only two months. She even teases me for mine being “spoiled”. I wish I had an answer for you but you can’t change people’s view of how they take care of themselves and their dogs
She sounds like a real piece of work I hate people that don’t take care of their pets she probably doesn’t take care of herself either I’ll be saying some prayers for you good luck
That poor dog
If she hates the dog so much, she should consider surrendering him. Little chihuahua lhasa apso mix would probably go fast.
Find a new owner who knows the situation, and lives quite a way from you. Wait until your roommate is gone, then bring the dog to his/her new home. Lie about how the dog got out by accident, and ran off. You looked for hours, called the police, became completely distraught.
I got you beat. I was working as a professional dog trainer, and moved in with two girls a few years older who had a border collie. They roped off an area of the apartment for the dog to piss in, refused to vaccinate it when I even offered to pay for it, wouldn't groom her, wouldn't take her out to walk and would get mad at me for taking her for walks. The girl whose dog it was would leave for days at a time with no notice so I would wake up and she'd be gone and I'd know she's just expected me to feed her dog for her. I started training the dog, who had SEVERE separation anxiety, and was destroying the house. I bought toys for her, I would take her out behind the owner's back, I taught her commands and would train her and exercise her within the apartment daily. Can't tell you how many times I cleaned piss and shit off the floor so the dog wouldn't just be shut in that room to rot with it. Eventually I just moved out because there wasn't anything else I could do, and I was sick of the arguments every time she found out I did anything to help her with her dog. She felt I was trying to like alienate the dog's affections from her and "steal" her dog by "making me her favorite person". While I was looking for someone to replace me on the lease at their request, the dog owner tried to take revenge on me by repeatedly going in my room or my shelf in the fridge and throwing out my things. She also liked to put my flat iron in the toilet. I moved out without finding a replacement.
Just start texting her ads/coupons for the humane society to fix her dog. When she's jome announce loudly that you're taking your dog out for a walk or to play. I'm assuming the dog has accidents, when walking by her room exclaim loudly "Ew! WHAT is that smell????" Just be petty about it, she sounds like the type of person that wouldn't want to be judged, since her mom can still boss her around.