How I actually feel about your dog

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05/11/2022 16:18

Subject: How I actually feel about your dog

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Anonymous

This is for my neighbor but I will never tell her because it would destroy our relationship and I don't want an enemy. But maybe other people with dogs will read it and learn something useful.

First off, your dog is unbelievably noisy. Does she bark too much? YES. We live in the city and our homes share a wall and she barks constantly. When you are not home, she barks literally the entire time. When you are home, she barks every time she is excited, sad, scared, hungry, or emotional, which is a lot more than you might realize. Before you moved in with your dog, we never noticed noise from next door, and those people had THREE CHILDREN UNDER AGE 10 AND A DOG. That's how noisy your dog is -- noisier than multiple small children and a whole other dog put together. So yes, your dog is too loud and barks too much.

Yes, it annoys me when your dog goes to the bathroom in front of our house. I appreciate that you pick up the poop at least, but sometimes you don't get it all. Also, when your dog pees on the little tree box in front of our house, it kills the grass. Surely you realize this. Do you not realize this? I don't have a dog so I don't really know where you are supposed to take dogs to pee but when your dog pees on plants, it's extremely acidic and kills them. So this bothers me.

Your dog is also NOT well trained. I know you are trying but I think maybe you are not trying hard enough or simply adopted the wrong kind of dog, because your dog is now 3 or 4 years old, is no longer a puppy, and still does all of the following: jumps on people when seeing them (and does not listen to your half-hearted admonishments to stop), licks and sniffs people on the street, barks at people and dogs often when we walk past the house or pass on the sidewalk, growls at children. None of this is okay for a city dog. It might be okay if you lived somewhere with more space where your dog could get her exercise in your yard and only interacted with people you invited into your home who, presumable, would know and be okay with dogs. It's not okay for a dog walking down city streets or who is often allowed to hang out in a tiny front yard where people walk within a few feet and there is just a small fence separating them. Your dog OFTEN jumps on and barks at strangers. Daily. Your dog needs way, way more socializing and training, and probably an owner who has the time and discipline to really get this dog used to living in a place with lots of people. You aren't doing a good job.

You know when you go to a nice restaurant and someone has brought their children who are not used to being in that environment, and the kids are yelling and throwing things on the floor and being disruptive, and the parents are kind of saying "no, sit down, I told you to sit down" and it's incredibly irritating? Your dog is like that, but all the time. You are the ineffectual, under-invested parent who brought your dog somewhere they have no idea how to behave and is just kind of doing the minimum and hoping for the best. It's not working out.

You frequently take your dog to the nearby park and let her run off leash in the non-dog-park areas even though there is a dog park *right there*. My guess is you do this because your dog is ill behaved at the dog park (because she remains very unsocialized with other dogs) so you go to the other parts of the park to let her run around. Where your dog barks at and jumps on people just trying to mind their own business. It is so rude and many, many of your neighbors hate you and your dog as a result. I don't hate either of you (I think you are in over your head and I feel bad for your dog), but I do think this is among one of the worst things you do.

Anyway, you should not have adopted this dog. You should probably rehome her, if you can -- she is actually sweet natured, just insanely energetic and in desperate need of either a better environment or a much more responsible owner. Or you should just go move somewhere where your untrained dog poses less of a nuisance and danger to others, somewhere less dense where your dog shares fewer public spaces.

I feel bad saying this because I like you personally and I remember you telling me that you adopted this dog early in the pandemic because you were lonely and I know you love the dog. But you are a bad pet owner and at this stage you can no longer excuse being new to it or your dog's youth.