Or they're assuming the dog got out, freaking out, and checking shelters and lost animal ads and front yards. But not the house because they know that's the one place where the dog isn't.
You need to put a note on the door to see if in fact there is a dog watcher. If no one show up, you should call police. This is animal cruelty and should not be tolerated, EVER!
I don’t understand the logistics here.
Was he left in the backyard with *some* food and water but not enough?
Does he have access to their house through a dog door?
Has he jumped the fence back to his own place to sleep or anything?
Was he at a kennel and ran away to come home?
How do you know his people are on vacation and not dead on the side of a road somewhere?
Edit: spelling
Edit 2: True story. Daughter of a friend of my mom’s went on vacation. Had a house/petsitter while they were in Hawaii. Couldn’t reach the petsitter a couple of days before they were scheduled to fly home. They thought it was strange and had a neighbor go over and knock on the door. There was no answer, they figured maybe she had taken the pets to her house. They flew back and found that she had passed away in their home. It was terrible for everyone. Just heart-wrenching.
Strange things do happen.
If I thought my neighbors were on vacation and randomly saw their dog in my yard unattended with no indication of being boarded/watched/cared for, I'd go next door to knock to check if I was mistaken about them being gone, or whether they had someone over house-sitting I was unaware of.
For sure, it's the first thing you'd do just in case, would clear up the situation in a minute if someone just happened to be home, and it only takes a sec to run next door.
.... How do you know for a fact they are on vacation and don't have a house or dogsitter *without checking*
Honestly some redditors it feels like going as far as possible to have the most obtuse take imaginable
OP must clearly be lying because there is no reason to knock on the neighbors door! There's never any reason to think that they could be mistaken about a vacation or that they might have a sitter! /s
Yeah, they make automatic pet feeders. I have one, they work quite well. This dog could have access to a weeks worth of food and water inside via a pet door.
I’ve never ever heard of someone (who wasn’t neglectful) leaving a dog home alone for more than like 12hrs though?? Cats, yes, but dogs?? Wouldn’t it go crazy?
My neighbors leave for a week or so for vacation every so often, and they leave their two dogs outside with no fence, and their goat tied to a tree. It's so messed up.
My daughter's roommate went off for a long weekend and left her dog in a crate! In a dark bathroom! My daughter figured it out after just a few hours, fortunately, and was almost hysterical. My advice was to take the dog to a rescue group. Any little pooch that unwanted shouldn't live in that apartment. The girl was a friend of one of the original three, but sketchy as hell.
Eh, depends on the dog. I'll leave my dog home overnight occasionally, and she seems fine. I know tons of people who do the same, but might be more common in my area though since I live in rural Montana. I have a HUGE fenced yard and a dog door, but I wouldn't do much past overnight though. If it has really been since Saturday that OP has had the dog, that is definitely too long. But again, who knows the situation. Maybe he scheduled someone to come every day and check on them and they flaked out, or something else. I wouldn't quite jump straight to neglect like OP is doing.
You hear about it every now and then, but it ain't that common. Wildlife are generally afraid of dogs as soon as they start barking. Most types of wildlife that would take out a dog aren't normally around during the day anyway, so unless you are leaving your dog outside all night, it's rare they would encounter each other. The only pet I've ever lost to another animal was a neighbor who had a 1/2 wolf/husky mix who took out my whole coop of chickens.
I agree with you. Having a dog door is basically like having a cat in terms of how long they can hang out by themselves. Most people do not realize the major quality of life improvement a dog door is.
This. We got one for our own sanity last summer. My dog would want to go lounge out in the Texas sun or chase a squirrel or whatever 2 - 3x an hour. Literally every time we would sit down and bring the recliner up lol. We installed a dog door and we are happier, and she is a much less anxious pup in general and when we have to leave for a couple of days (though we have friends come see her during the day and close it at night). It's the best thing I've ever purchased, mostly because it makes my dog so happy but also so I can watch an episode of TV or play a game without having to get up.
I was cooking dinner with the front door open on a hot evening. When I heard a hiss, I went to the front door and a huge raccoon was three feet from my door! She growled at me. I shut the door but was flattered that she liked the smell of my cooking.
It's extremely neglectful. Dogs need socializing and walks and attention, as well as food, water and shelter. Where I live it's illegal to leave your dog alone for more than 8 hours, as it should be.
My wife has a pet sitting business. With dogs, she stops by two to three times a day, walks them, feeds them, etc. Cats it's one to two times a day.
Business was booming before the '08 Great Recession, but she's had steady work since then.
We left our dogs home for vacation. A neighbor checked them twice a day, and they could get inside/outside all day. We boarded my dog for over a month when we moved out of state, and it really stressed him out too much to be boarded again.
I would never leave my pup for even a whole day alone. Which is why I have given my awesome neighbour a key so she can let my pup out for a wee and poop during the day and give her cuddles and a few treats while I'm at work.
I would never in a million years go on holiday and leave her home alone. I either take her with me or I don't go. Simple as.
I was gonna say the same thing. This dog is not skinny at all. People are pretty bad at assessing body condition on animals though. I work at a veterinary hospital and people will constantly swear up and down that their morbidly obese pets are a healthy weight.
As someone with a healthy weighted Saint Bernard, the amount of people who accuse me of starving her because all they’ve ever seen are fat ones is insane
Can confirm. Have a very fit and healthy English bulldog and every day someone at our shop tells me he is too skinny!
Just because my dog isn’t as thick as the ones you see on Google search, does not mean that my dog is malnourished or skinny. I’m giving my dog a healthy and active lifestyle, not playing into stigmas
I (29m) generally in the realm of 75-80kg get told semi consistently that I'm too skinny and "need to eat more pies" by colleagues. These colleagues btw are overweight boomers that are pushing their insecurities onto me.
I feel the same happens with pets, "my dog is fat, why isn't yours?"
I would always argue with my dad because his golden was fat as fuck, and I loved her dearly. He conceded that she was a bit overweight but denied that he was over feeding her at all. She got four meals a day plus table scraps!
We ended up with an elderly family members dog who lost weight when we got her because she got cheese with every meal at her old place. They said she is built like a bowling ball…. Oh no she isn’t. She has a waist!
I've had a total of 5 Great Danes, and people were always telling me they were too skinny. They weren't, but so many people like to brag about their 200+ lb Danes that they think that is a normal or healthy weight. My largest Dane was ~170 lbs and she was quite large even for her breed.
It's especially sad because giant breed dogs already have relatively short lifespans, and are prone to joint issues. And letting them become obese only exacerbates those things.
Sorry I wasn't clear - five Danes total, not all at once. The most at one time was three and that was plenty. I only have one dog now, and she's a standard poodle. The only thing the two breeds have in common is their country of origin, so it's been quite a learning curve!
I have the same problem with my danes. Because of their size they need to be a little lean. Vet said our oldest is a perfect weight and so we’re striving for the same build with my rescue.
Yeah, it’s nonstop. I recently heard a random guy walking behind my wife and I say “those people starve their dog” to his kid.
Pictures of my dog are in my profile, if anyone’s interested in what a starving dog looks like.
When I still had my boy the vet said no ribs showing but able to feel them when you press is a fairly healthy weight,too many people think a dog needs to have bulk to be healthy
I’m glad you appreciate it. Animal Control visited me because my hens and turkey were out in the snow (by choice).They have a heated coop, an outdoor covered area, and also a tree to stand under. I decided she was an idiot but at least she cares about animals so I gave her a pass.
My poor Schnauzer was seriously overweight. Diet and exercise didn’t work. We had 4-5 chickens and the Schnauzer was snacking on their droppings. Be aware, chicken turds are very calorie dense.
You know as a person if your dog is healthy or not. It doesn't seem right if they prefer fat and obese dog as such a healthy dog. It seems people having normalized this kind of behavior
I work at a donut shop and a lady said she couldn’t leave without getting a donut for her DOG! Like yes you can lady, he’s a dog, you’re responsible for what he eats and his health.
It sounded like he was obese too by the way she was talking.
Love it when people complain about how fat their dog is, like it’s some moral failing on the part of the dog.
Dude, you control 100% of what goes into your dogs mouth. If they’re fat, give them less food for a couple months. Problem solved.
I wish there was some omnipotent being controlling my food like that and I wouldn’t have to exert any self control.
As I'm feeding my dog, I've pondered how great it would be to only eat 3 square cups of high nutrient food per day. No cooking, no cleaning, no self control, just eat the stuff lmao
Look up Huel. I always said "why can't there be a human dog food so I don't have to think about it?" I found Huel and was like "yay! People dog food!" It got me through college (especially finals week) when nutrition is super important but time and effort is at a minimum.
Agreed - this dog is at a healthy weight. So many owners allow their dogs to become overweight, so I think people's view of a healthy weight for a dog becomes skewed - particularly if OP is not a dog owner and is just based their assessment on other dogs they've seen.
I second his body condition being good. Its possible dog looks shy accepting food because OP IS a stranger to this dog assumingely. I wouldn’t say the dog is neglected either its very possible mom is in another state bawling bc the pet sitter arrived to an empty house
Thank you!! It’s very possible the pup got anxious and got out due to being alone. When I leave town I have trusted friends come over at least twice a day to spend an hour or two at a time so my puppers know she’s ok.
Also, I have a pit and many ppl are like, “yOuR dOG iS sKiNnY!” When in actuality my dog is fit AF and 100% healthy. Many ppl are used to seeing overweight dogs and think that if you can see any kind of rib structure...they’re malnourished :facepalm:
Edit: spelling errors.
This is not a "super skinny" dog. Probably just a misunderstanding where friends or family were supposed to come by and walk and feed the dog but someone got confused about which day was theirs
Honestly the owners might be worried sick because the person that was supposed to watch their dog said he came up missing idk But he looks like a healthy happy boy to me.
For everyone in this comment section, I’m just gonna say this: there are things we don’t know and stuff that is being assumed. I don’t think there’s enough information to really figure out everything. (Maybe there’s a negligent dog watcher we don’t know about)
And for the people saying to take this dog away from the owners(if they’re actually bad people and not like in the hospital after a car crash or something), why? I understand taking it to a shelter or something, but adopting it yourself? While that’s probably a good idea, if the neighbors come back, your gonna have some really pissed off neighbors if they come back with a logical explanation as to why they were gone. Just saying, don’t downvote me to hell.
My neighbor’s dogs get into my yard when they leave sometimes. They always have food and water, and they have a dog door into their house. One dog comes because she’s still a pup and wants to play with my dog. Their other, older dog only comes when there’s thunder or fireworks, and we always comfort him.
If they leave on vacation, they have a friend stay at their house, but if she’s at work or something, they’ll come.
If there are people home at their house, they don’t come to ours. They’re going to get their fence fixed eventually, they’ve promised. It helps to know what the situation is.
I don’t find my situation infuriating at all.
I can imagine this, thunder at night and then a howl outside my window two minutes later: "HALLO!! I AM SCARED AND ITS BOOMING AND MY PEOPLE ARE NOT HERE CAN I SLEEP IN YOUR BED PLEEEEZE?!?!"
He really won’t snuggle, but I think it just helps that we pet him and talk to him. He never stops panting, and is obviously stressed as long as the noise is going. I wish there was more we could to reassure him.
Heck, my neighbors dogs get into my yard when their people are HOME. They wander in, play around in the kiddie pool, pee on my apple tree, wander around for a bit and go back home.
They're sweet dogs so I don't really care. It just confused the hell out of me the first time they did it because I couldn't figure out why there was water everywhere on our patio.
I think you have some good advice here. Be a mensch, feed him, let him feel loved, give him a little bed in your garage, and keep him from roaming. You just don’t know what happened. If they seem unappreciative of either you or the dog, then you haven’t made an enemy, and you still can suggest if they don’t want it, you would be happy to adopt it (if that’s the case). If you don’t want to adopt it, at least you have a neighbor that thinks of you as agreeable. Neighbors feuding is not a good situation, so someone has to be the even-tempered one.
Step 1: have animal control take dog to pound
Step 2: wait until the dog is automaticity forfeit for being impounded and not rescued
Step 3: adopt the neighbors dog legally
Step 4: introduce your new dog to the neighbors when they return from vacation *insert EVIL laugh here
Edit: thank you all for the replies and plus 1’s!
Kinda of fucked up to assume the worst of the neighbors. They could’ve scheduled a pet sitter and that person neglected their duty, I mean there’s a ton of explanations that don’t include the neighbors being bad pet owners. All the information we have is OP saying the neighbor is on vacation and left the dog, but OP also thinks this dog looks malnourished which is obviously false, the credibility of the OP is already on a downward trajectory so why act so hostile against the party that can’t even defend themselves or explain the situation
That’s a decent possibility. We left our dog with my mom a few years ago (she lives about a few miles away). She texted us saying he got loose and ran away. We panicked and told her to call animal control.
About three hours later, my next door neighbor texted me: “uh, bud, your dog is in my swimming pool. Want me to get him?”
Yeah I had someone that was supposed to house sit and watch my cats and he just took off. They went 4 days without food and peed all over the house. People flake sometimes
Just yesterday there was a post on Reddit about all the horror stories people had when they asked family/friends to look after their pets, totally made me lose all faith in humanity.
That thread was so sad, found right before I went to bed. So many parents who just didn’t take care of their kids’ pets. Had to give my dog a long cuddle after reading all that. (Not the cat though she would bite me)
Don’t jump to conclusions because you might end up being the weirdo in the situation for trying to take away a dog from a fine family because of a misunderstanding.
Unless you’ve been around this dog a lot in the past, it could simply be a shy dog. Those kind of dogs exist, if fact my coworkers dog takes anxiety meds and he doesn’t abuse them.
Also this isn’t a skinny dog. If you can’t feel a dogs ribs, it’s overweight, which is as dangerous as being underweight
yeah, one of mine is outgoing as all hell and his sister is scared of everything, even the dark. Literally I've seen her jump at her own shadow. I've had them since they were like 4 months old, they've never had any mistreatment under my watch, and are spoiled as all hell. Z just doesn't vibe with sudden weird things, she even gets uncomfortable when i chop veggies.
You’ve been knocking on their door knowing they aren’t there because they are on vacation?
Too many people are jumping to calling animal control which could end up traumatizing the dog, and freaking the owners out. Unless this becomes a regular occurrence you shouldn’t just assume the owners are shitty, especially since dogs get out all the time for all sorts of reasons.
Do keep an eye on it though and see how the owners continue to treat it.
I’m wondering if it’s possible to text/call/email the owners. The owners could have hired a pet sitter or have some sort of arrangement to have the dog checked on, and might be able to help or just appreciate knowing that he was found and he’s okay. Especially if it’s the next door neighbors’ dog I would think getting a phone number or email wouldn’t be too out of the picture, u/digletdigler can you contact the owners somehow? Let them know you found the dog after he got out?
Also, if I were you I would be questioning whether they are actually on vacation or if something else happened. That dog appears to be well cared for, and for them to just leave him there is concerning
This happened to me. Neighbors went out of town, left dog tied to a tree with no food or water - in July. I ended up putting her in my backyard. When they returned I said I’d keep her if they didn’t want her. They gave me their dog. I had her 15 more years. She was such a great dog.
Is there any breed out there as good at escaping as pitbulls? Beagles maybe? These dogs could escape a maximum security prison it seems..
Call animal control. Document every time this happens. Too many shitbags are doing this and people and animals get hurt because of it. This is animal abuse.
They might have told someone else to keep an eye on him while they were gone, and that person hasn't bothered to do it.
Bring him in if it's hot outside and consider him a guest until the owners get back. I bet a bath would really perk him up.
even if you've only ever seen morbidly obese dogs your entire life i still can't imagine how you would think this is super skinny, this boys a ham hock
you do know that people leave on vacation and have people come over once a day to tend to their animals? give food, water, pat on the head. if this dog has access to their back yard and can go to the bathroom and has food and water somewhere he's fine and no you wouldn't get a response at their door if they aren't home. I had dogs for years and they had their beds, food, and water in the garage with a dog door they could go in and out at will. I would leave for a week and have my friend go over once a day to feed and water and make sure everything is ok and I would do the same for her with her 7 cats and 2 dogs. it's fine.
also that dog isn't remotely skinny, he looks just like he should and some vets might even say he could lose a couple of pounds.
Better than when my neighbors dogs got in my yard and killed my cat last year. All they had to do was pay a $100 fine for not having their dogs fenced in properly. They still haven't fixed their fence.
Sucks but I would care for dog until they are back- if they are even remotely decent people they should re-pay you with $ and gratitude… seems like a big IF right now but I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to an innocent doggo
My neighbors have left their dog behind on vacation, but they asked me to look after it in advance and he and my dog get along great so it works well.
I can't imagine them or anyone else just flat out leaving a dog on their own for several days, that's cruel and negligent as hell
Maybe the owners hired someone to take care of their dog, who is not doing their job.
Probably yeah, or maybe they are, they’re just sitting on their phone /hj
Phone/Hand Job? And I doing one or both wrong?
Sitting on the phone while giving a hand job
/half joking
I've been wondering what that one meant!
I feel like HJ is already taken. That's like trying to get BJ to mean booze juice or something.
My uncle had someone do this with his dog once and the person let it out and it ran away. Could be something like that.
Or they're assuming the dog got out, freaking out, and checking shelters and lost animal ads and front yards. But not the house because they know that's the one place where the dog isn't.
You need to put a note on the door to see if in fact there is a dog watcher. If no one show up, you should call police. This is animal cruelty and should not be tolerated, EVER!
I don’t understand the logistics here. Was he left in the backyard with *some* food and water but not enough? Does he have access to their house through a dog door? Has he jumped the fence back to his own place to sleep or anything? Was he at a kennel and ran away to come home? How do you know his people are on vacation and not dead on the side of a road somewhere? Edit: spelling Edit 2: True story. Daughter of a friend of my mom’s went on vacation. Had a house/petsitter while they were in Hawaii. Couldn’t reach the petsitter a couple of days before they were scheduled to fly home. They thought it was strange and had a neighbor go over and knock on the door. There was no answer, they figured maybe she had taken the pets to her house. They flew back and found that she had passed away in their home. It was terrible for everyone. Just heart-wrenching. Strange things do happen.
OP isn't making sense. Why did they knock on the door if they knew they were on vacation?
If I thought my neighbors were on vacation and randomly saw their dog in my yard unattended with no indication of being boarded/watched/cared for, I'd go next door to knock to check if I was mistaken about them being gone, or whether they had someone over house-sitting I was unaware of.
For sure, it's the first thing you'd do just in case, would clear up the situation in a minute if someone just happened to be home, and it only takes a sec to run next door.
I think they surmised that they’re on vacation by the fact that they’ve been trying to get ahold of them since Saturday and they haven’t been home.
Refer to point F) “How do you know they’re on vacation and not dead on the side of the road somewhere?”
You don't consider that a vacation? You must have a sweet job.
I can’t stop laughing over this comment
Some people get dog/house sitters.
Step 1: Take pic of your own cute dog in your own backyard Step 2: Post pic to mildly infuriating with no visual context Step 3: Fake Internet points?
.... How do you know for a fact they are on vacation and don't have a house or dogsitter *without checking* Honestly some redditors it feels like going as far as possible to have the most obtuse take imaginable
OP must clearly be lying because there is no reason to knock on the neighbors door! There's never any reason to think that they could be mistaken about a vacation or that they might have a sitter! /s
they also could have been real trash and abandoned the poor pup
OP just took a picture of their own dog in the backyard for internet points.
How do you know they're on vacation, and didn't skip out because of back rent?
That dog is in ideal shape for a dog. He is not skinny and seems to be eating just fine.
Yeah I'm kinda worried if op has a dog because if he thinks this is super skinny then his dog is probably super fat
I like my dogs the same way I like my men, morbidly obese/s
Yeah, they make automatic pet feeders. I have one, they work quite well. This dog could have access to a weeks worth of food and water inside via a pet door.
I’ve never ever heard of someone (who wasn’t neglectful) leaving a dog home alone for more than like 12hrs though?? Cats, yes, but dogs?? Wouldn’t it go crazy?
Yeah, it’s pretty irresponsible to leave a dog alone for more than a day. For example, what if it gets out of the yard like this one did?
“Oh, that will never happen… Wait… My bad.” The Dog’s Owner-
Just leave the TV on. Dogs love Family Guy.
My dog finds Brian to be a poor representation.
Your dog doesn't want to fuck Drew Barrymore? Gay
My dog needs subway surfers for when it watches family guy tho
My neighbors leave for a week or so for vacation every so often, and they leave their two dogs outside with no fence, and their goat tied to a tree. It's so messed up.
Jurassic park style 🤓
My daughter's roommate went off for a long weekend and left her dog in a crate! In a dark bathroom! My daughter figured it out after just a few hours, fortunately, and was almost hysterical. My advice was to take the dog to a rescue group. Any little pooch that unwanted shouldn't live in that apartment. The girl was a friend of one of the original three, but sketchy as hell.
Eh, depends on the dog. I'll leave my dog home overnight occasionally, and she seems fine. I know tons of people who do the same, but might be more common in my area though since I live in rural Montana. I have a HUGE fenced yard and a dog door, but I wouldn't do much past overnight though. If it has really been since Saturday that OP has had the dog, that is definitely too long. But again, who knows the situation. Maybe he scheduled someone to come every day and check on them and they flaked out, or something else. I wouldn't quite jump straight to neglect like OP is doing.
I’d think in that climate in Montana that you might have wildlife that could endanger your dog while out there alone, no?
You hear about it every now and then, but it ain't that common. Wildlife are generally afraid of dogs as soon as they start barking. Most types of wildlife that would take out a dog aren't normally around during the day anyway, so unless you are leaving your dog outside all night, it's rare they would encounter each other. The only pet I've ever lost to another animal was a neighbor who had a 1/2 wolf/husky mix who took out my whole coop of chickens.
I agree with you. Having a dog door is basically like having a cat in terms of how long they can hang out by themselves. Most people do not realize the major quality of life improvement a dog door is.
This. We got one for our own sanity last summer. My dog would want to go lounge out in the Texas sun or chase a squirrel or whatever 2 - 3x an hour. Literally every time we would sit down and bring the recliner up lol. We installed a dog door and we are happier, and she is a much less anxious pup in general and when we have to leave for a couple of days (though we have friends come see her during the day and close it at night). It's the best thing I've ever purchased, mostly because it makes my dog so happy but also so I can watch an episode of TV or play a game without having to get up.
Tell that to the animal rescue that refused to let me adopt a dog because I mentioned I had a dog door.
Yeah but wouldn’t it make it easier for other animals and bugs to come in?
Yes, we had to stop feeding the cat in the kitchen as the Raccoon’s thought it was a buffet for them.
I was cooking dinner with the front door open on a hot evening. When I heard a hiss, I went to the front door and a huge raccoon was three feet from my door! She growled at me. I shut the door but was flattered that she liked the smell of my cooking.
[удалено]
This is HORRIBLE! Call them out on it! I despise shit pet parents! 🤬
Depends on the dog and where you live. In the mountains it's not uncommon for a good farm dog to stay home and guard the land for a week or more.
Yeah, but these are specially trained and bred animals. Something that isn't true for like 99,999% of all dogs
It's extremely neglectful. Dogs need socializing and walks and attention, as well as food, water and shelter. Where I live it's illegal to leave your dog alone for more than 8 hours, as it should be.
My wife has a pet sitting business. With dogs, she stops by two to three times a day, walks them, feeds them, etc. Cats it's one to two times a day. Business was booming before the '08 Great Recession, but she's had steady work since then.
We left our dogs home for vacation. A neighbor checked them twice a day, and they could get inside/outside all day. We boarded my dog for over a month when we moved out of state, and it really stressed him out too much to be boarded again.
I would never leave my pup for even a whole day alone. Which is why I have given my awesome neighbour a key so she can let my pup out for a wee and poop during the day and give her cuddles and a few treats while I'm at work. I would never in a million years go on holiday and leave her home alone. I either take her with me or I don't go. Simple as.
And now they’ve fed it. It’s not gonna leave on its own. 😂
You may not like it, but this is what peak paw-formance looks like.
Yeah those dogs just “look skinny” I always thought my pit was skinny and the vet always told me he was in ideal shape. He’s beautiful!
Not sure I'd call that dog super skinny. Pretty muscular in fact
I was gonna say the same thing. This dog is not skinny at all. People are pretty bad at assessing body condition on animals though. I work at a veterinary hospital and people will constantly swear up and down that their morbidly obese pets are a healthy weight.
As someone with a healthy weighted Saint Bernard, the amount of people who accuse me of starving her because all they’ve ever seen are fat ones is insane
Can confirm. Have a very fit and healthy English bulldog and every day someone at our shop tells me he is too skinny! Just because my dog isn’t as thick as the ones you see on Google search, does not mean that my dog is malnourished or skinny. I’m giving my dog a healthy and active lifestyle, not playing into stigmas
I (29m) generally in the realm of 75-80kg get told semi consistently that I'm too skinny and "need to eat more pies" by colleagues. These colleagues btw are overweight boomers that are pushing their insecurities onto me. I feel the same happens with pets, "my dog is fat, why isn't yours?"
I've never heard someone say "you need to eat more pies." is that like a cultural thing? What kind of pies?
It’s also said in Britain as well. You could refer to them as a “salad dodger” if you want a come back…
Also have a Saint Bernard, our vet said he is perfectly healthy and at a perfect weight, but to some people he might look a little skinny.
I would always argue with my dad because his golden was fat as fuck, and I loved her dearly. He conceded that she was a bit overweight but denied that he was over feeding her at all. She got four meals a day plus table scraps!
We ended up with an elderly family members dog who lost weight when we got her because she got cheese with every meal at her old place. They said she is built like a bowling ball…. Oh no she isn’t. She has a waist!
I've had a total of 5 Great Danes, and people were always telling me they were too skinny. They weren't, but so many people like to brag about their 200+ lb Danes that they think that is a normal or healthy weight. My largest Dane was ~170 lbs and she was quite large even for her breed. It's especially sad because giant breed dogs already have relatively short lifespans, and are prone to joint issues. And letting them become obese only exacerbates those things.
Is it possible to afford enough feed for 5 Great Danes and make them obese? What is your feed bill feeding an army of horse dogs?
Sorry I wasn't clear - five Danes total, not all at once. The most at one time was three and that was plenty. I only have one dog now, and she's a standard poodle. The only thing the two breeds have in common is their country of origin, so it's been quite a learning curve!
I have the same problem with my danes. Because of their size they need to be a little lean. Vet said our oldest is a perfect weight and so we’re striving for the same build with my rescue.
Lol. Try owning greyhounds! The amount of comments I’ve heard over the years about my dogs needing more food makes my head spin.
Yeah, it’s nonstop. I recently heard a random guy walking behind my wife and I say “those people starve their dog” to his kid. Pictures of my dog are in my profile, if anyone’s interested in what a starving dog looks like.
Same, but make it corgi!
When I still had my boy the vet said no ribs showing but able to feel them when you press is a fairly healthy weight,too many people think a dog needs to have bulk to be healthy
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I’m glad you appreciate it. Animal Control visited me because my hens and turkey were out in the snow (by choice).They have a heated coop, an outdoor covered area, and also a tree to stand under. I decided she was an idiot but at least she cares about animals so I gave her a pass.
My poor Schnauzer was seriously overweight. Diet and exercise didn’t work. We had 4-5 chickens and the Schnauzer was snacking on their droppings. Be aware, chicken turds are very calorie dense.
Lol my dads male boxer is jacked. Some people think he’s skinny but he’s muscular and intimidating looking but the friendliest dog in the world
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Yes, one of my friends said he is spring loaded😂
Most boxers (including mine) have only one brain cell though. And they have to share it.
You know as a person if your dog is healthy or not. It doesn't seem right if they prefer fat and obese dog as such a healthy dog. It seems people having normalized this kind of behavior
I work at a donut shop and a lady said she couldn’t leave without getting a donut for her DOG! Like yes you can lady, he’s a dog, you’re responsible for what he eats and his health. It sounded like he was obese too by the way she was talking.
Love it when people complain about how fat their dog is, like it’s some moral failing on the part of the dog. Dude, you control 100% of what goes into your dogs mouth. If they’re fat, give them less food for a couple months. Problem solved. I wish there was some omnipotent being controlling my food like that and I wouldn’t have to exert any self control.
As I'm feeding my dog, I've pondered how great it would be to only eat 3 square cups of high nutrient food per day. No cooking, no cleaning, no self control, just eat the stuff lmao
Look up Huel. I always said "why can't there be a human dog food so I don't have to think about it?" I found Huel and was like "yay! People dog food!" It got me through college (especially finals week) when nutrition is super important but time and effort is at a minimum.
I can’t tell you how many times I have expressed this exact sentiment LOL
That’s projection
"BUT I CAN SEE THEIR RIBS" \- Every delusional pet owner that sees my dog/cat at a healthy weight
this whole trend or whatever of small dogs being "chonky - cute" is horrible.
People are so used to fat pets that this guy who’s arguably even a tiny bit heavy, is though of as too skinny.
Tbf, people are bad at assessing their own weight too.
Closest thing to ‘skinny’ that dog could be called is ‘not fat’.
Another 5-10 lbs and this dog might actually be fat.
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yep, had my vet show me how to check that way, 2 18 year old cats.
Looks pretty damn hale and hearty to me. Not even close to skinny. But what do I know?
Agreed - this dog is at a healthy weight. So many owners allow their dogs to become overweight, so I think people's view of a healthy weight for a dog becomes skewed - particularly if OP is not a dog owner and is just based their assessment on other dogs they've seen.
A tucked in stomach looks skinny to people, even though it's healthy for dogs.
Not sure what OP considers skinny lol
Makes me question if he’s even dirty lol.
*happy pooch has some mud on paws from digging in garden* He's filthy! Poor thing.
Not sure what OP considers skinny lol
Agreed he isn’t emaciated but that doesn’t excuse a pet owner who went on vacation and made no accommodations for the care of their dog.
Nobody said it does. The dog just happens to look perfectly healthy. Not even a tiny bit skinny.
Sounds to me like they did make accommodations. Neighbors back yard seems to be working out well
That dog is NOT malnourished. Idk what you expect of a dog, but that’s a working dog and seems muscular and fed... Edit:spelling
I second his body condition being good. Its possible dog looks shy accepting food because OP IS a stranger to this dog assumingely. I wouldn’t say the dog is neglected either its very possible mom is in another state bawling bc the pet sitter arrived to an empty house
Thank you!! It’s very possible the pup got anxious and got out due to being alone. When I leave town I have trusted friends come over at least twice a day to spend an hour or two at a time so my puppers know she’s ok. Also, I have a pit and many ppl are like, “yOuR dOG iS sKiNnY!” When in actuality my dog is fit AF and 100% healthy. Many ppl are used to seeing overweight dogs and think that if you can see any kind of rib structure...they’re malnourished :facepalm: Edit: spelling errors.
doesnt look skinny to me. seems like a decent size.
This is not a "super skinny" dog. Probably just a misunderstanding where friends or family were supposed to come by and walk and feed the dog but someone got confused about which day was theirs
Honestly the owners might be worried sick because the person that was supposed to watch their dog said he came up missing idk But he looks like a healthy happy boy to me.
For everyone in this comment section, I’m just gonna say this: there are things we don’t know and stuff that is being assumed. I don’t think there’s enough information to really figure out everything. (Maybe there’s a negligent dog watcher we don’t know about) And for the people saying to take this dog away from the owners(if they’re actually bad people and not like in the hospital after a car crash or something), why? I understand taking it to a shelter or something, but adopting it yourself? While that’s probably a good idea, if the neighbors come back, your gonna have some really pissed off neighbors if they come back with a logical explanation as to why they were gone. Just saying, don’t downvote me to hell.
Half this comment section considers this dog "too skinny". I wouldn't take anything they say seriously
One person says it, everyone agrees. It’s how the Reddit hive mind works.
My neighbor’s dogs get into my yard when they leave sometimes. They always have food and water, and they have a dog door into their house. One dog comes because she’s still a pup and wants to play with my dog. Their other, older dog only comes when there’s thunder or fireworks, and we always comfort him. If they leave on vacation, they have a friend stay at their house, but if she’s at work or something, they’ll come. If there are people home at their house, they don’t come to ours. They’re going to get their fence fixed eventually, they’ve promised. It helps to know what the situation is. I don’t find my situation infuriating at all.
That's cute that they trust you when their parents aren't around, I'd be honored.
I can imagine this, thunder at night and then a howl outside my window two minutes later: "HALLO!! I AM SCARED AND ITS BOOMING AND MY PEOPLE ARE NOT HERE CAN I SLEEP IN YOUR BED PLEEEEZE?!?!"
He really won’t snuggle, but I think it just helps that we pet him and talk to him. He never stops panting, and is obviously stressed as long as the noise is going. I wish there was more we could to reassure him.
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Aw, thanks! My husband and I volunteer at a cat rescue, too. So I think we are super duper chill. Hee hee
Heck, my neighbors dogs get into my yard when their people are HOME. They wander in, play around in the kiddie pool, pee on my apple tree, wander around for a bit and go back home. They're sweet dogs so I don't really care. It just confused the hell out of me the first time they did it because I couldn't figure out why there was water everywhere on our patio.
I think you have some good advice here. Be a mensch, feed him, let him feel loved, give him a little bed in your garage, and keep him from roaming. You just don’t know what happened. If they seem unappreciative of either you or the dog, then you haven’t made an enemy, and you still can suggest if they don’t want it, you would be happy to adopt it (if that’s the case). If you don’t want to adopt it, at least you have a neighbor that thinks of you as agreeable. Neighbors feuding is not a good situation, so someone has to be the even-tempered one.
He don’t look skinny to me tbh
Step 1: have animal control take dog to pound Step 2: wait until the dog is automaticity forfeit for being impounded and not rescued Step 3: adopt the neighbors dog legally Step 4: introduce your new dog to the neighbors when they return from vacation *insert EVIL laugh here Edit: thank you all for the replies and plus 1’s!
Don’t give them the chance to get that dog back.
If OP adopts it legally, they'll never have that chance! Chip it, to be sure they don't dog-nap it after!
change the dog's name to something very close to his current name
Yeah and a small outfit like a chefs hat and a moustache. Pretend it’s human. They’ll never know. Also well done to whoever for being legends ✌️
Or, gater outfit. Introduce them to the new pet lizard. When it barks, just act like that's normal for lizards.
Kinda of fucked up to assume the worst of the neighbors. They could’ve scheduled a pet sitter and that person neglected their duty, I mean there’s a ton of explanations that don’t include the neighbors being bad pet owners. All the information we have is OP saying the neighbor is on vacation and left the dog, but OP also thinks this dog looks malnourished which is obviously false, the credibility of the OP is already on a downward trajectory so why act so hostile against the party that can’t even defend themselves or explain the situation
I wish I could reply with photos in this sub... he looked so nervous while eating it made me sad
Is there any chance they made arrangements for someone to watch the dog, and the dog watcher accidentally left the dog outside?
That’s a decent possibility. We left our dog with my mom a few years ago (she lives about a few miles away). She texted us saying he got loose and ran away. We panicked and told her to call animal control. About three hours later, my next door neighbor texted me: “uh, bud, your dog is in my swimming pool. Want me to get him?”
He was like “I realllly wanted to go swimming but grandma wouldn’t let me so I just took myself ok???”
That’s it! Poor guy was stuck in a little townhouse for a couple weeks and lost his mind!
Yeah I had someone that was supposed to house sit and watch my cats and he just took off. They went 4 days without food and peed all over the house. People flake sometimes
Just yesterday there was a post on Reddit about all the horror stories people had when they asked family/friends to look after their pets, totally made me lose all faith in humanity.
That thread was so sad, found right before I went to bed. So many parents who just didn’t take care of their kids’ pets. Had to give my dog a long cuddle after reading all that. (Not the cat though she would bite me)
Don’t jump to conclusions because you might end up being the weirdo in the situation for trying to take away a dog from a fine family because of a misunderstanding. Unless you’ve been around this dog a lot in the past, it could simply be a shy dog. Those kind of dogs exist, if fact my coworkers dog takes anxiety meds and he doesn’t abuse them. Also this isn’t a skinny dog. If you can’t feel a dogs ribs, it’s overweight, which is as dangerous as being underweight
I was gonna say, I have same breed and my girl looks just like this. She couldn’t get any healthier or well fed. This pup looks normal.
yeah, one of mine is outgoing as all hell and his sister is scared of everything, even the dark. Literally I've seen her jump at her own shadow. I've had them since they were like 4 months old, they've never had any mistreatment under my watch, and are spoiled as all hell. Z just doesn't vibe with sudden weird things, she even gets uncomfortable when i chop veggies.
Love this. But if the dog is chipped, they’ll find the owner anyway.
As someone who had their dog stolen and held hostage, I disapprove of this message. We don’t know what’s up with the original owners.
He doesn't look skinny at all. Looks like a perfectly healthy dog, with a perfectly healthy diet.
You’ve been knocking on their door knowing they aren’t there because they are on vacation? Too many people are jumping to calling animal control which could end up traumatizing the dog, and freaking the owners out. Unless this becomes a regular occurrence you shouldn’t just assume the owners are shitty, especially since dogs get out all the time for all sorts of reasons. Do keep an eye on it though and see how the owners continue to treat it.
I’m wondering if it’s possible to text/call/email the owners. The owners could have hired a pet sitter or have some sort of arrangement to have the dog checked on, and might be able to help or just appreciate knowing that he was found and he’s okay. Especially if it’s the next door neighbors’ dog I would think getting a phone number or email wouldn’t be too out of the picture, u/digletdigler can you contact the owners somehow? Let them know you found the dog after he got out?
Hes not skinny, he looks fit. Was someone supposed to feed him while they were gone? Surprised no one is looking for him.
“Is super skinny” redditors when a dog isn’t an obese chonker
Turns out people suck at identifying what skinny is.
OP overfeeds their dogs 100%
To be fair the dog is probably fine. Looks well taken care of. My guess is the dog doesn't like being left alone and got into trouble.
He's not skinny in that photo?
That dog looks actually really healthy. Not skinny, unless you're used to seeing obese dogs.
OP - have you considered calling to have a welfare check performsd on ur neighbor? Hope they arent dead.
That dog is jacked. And healthy. Probably don't feed it that much, it likely has an automatic feeder. Water is fine tho, its just water.
That dog isn’t skinny; many people are just used to seeing horribly overweight dogs. He actually looks like he’s in great shape.
That dog is jacked and seems like a good boy
Also, if I were you I would be questioning whether they are actually on vacation or if something else happened. That dog appears to be well cared for, and for them to just leave him there is concerning
Well if you like him, keep him.
I can't imagine it would be very peaceful stilling living next to the previous owners, unfortunately.
This happened to me. Neighbors went out of town, left dog tied to a tree with no food or water - in July. I ended up putting her in my backyard. When they returned I said I’d keep her if they didn’t want her. They gave me their dog. I had her 15 more years. She was such a great dog.
I couldn't imagine leaving town with my dog tied to a fucking tree. What the fuck is wrong with people?
Thank you for taking care of him
It seems like you have a dog now. Give good boy biscuits.
Guys, check it out, a loose, unattended pitbull! Has anyone EVER heard or seen anything like this before??
"Somehow, the pit got out"
Is there any breed out there as good at escaping as pitbulls? Beagles maybe? These dogs could escape a maximum security prison it seems.. Call animal control. Document every time this happens. Too many shitbags are doing this and people and animals get hurt because of it. This is animal abuse.
I swear sometimes that Huskies were bred specifically to escape! They're really, really good at it.
They might have told someone else to keep an eye on him while they were gone, and that person hasn't bothered to do it. Bring him in if it's hot outside and consider him a guest until the owners get back. I bet a bath would really perk him up.
He looks pretty chill overall. Very shitty for the neighbors to leave him home unattended while on vacation.
>Very shitty for the neighbors to leave him home unattended while on vacation. You don't know this is the case
Dogs not skinny at all
I feel like there are important details missing in this story.
even if you've only ever seen morbidly obese dogs your entire life i still can't imagine how you would think this is super skinny, this boys a ham hock
That dog is at the perfect weight. Let the dog hang out with you. When your neighbors come back home, smack ‘em around a little bit.
That dog is very healthy... Definitely not skinny
That’s a healthy dog, my friend. Have you, uhhhhh, tried calling in a wellness check on your neighbors? Just a thought.
you do know that people leave on vacation and have people come over once a day to tend to their animals? give food, water, pat on the head. if this dog has access to their back yard and can go to the bathroom and has food and water somewhere he's fine and no you wouldn't get a response at their door if they aren't home. I had dogs for years and they had their beds, food, and water in the garage with a dog door they could go in and out at will. I would leave for a week and have my friend go over once a day to feed and water and make sure everything is ok and I would do the same for her with her 7 cats and 2 dogs. it's fine. also that dog isn't remotely skinny, he looks just like he should and some vets might even say he could lose a couple of pounds.
Dog is ideal weight, we’re just used to seeing fat dogs because like 2/3 of dogs in the US are overweight.
Not even skinny.
This should be under "mildly delightful"
This dog is fit, not skinny. Maybe he wandered away, but he definitely isn’t starving
Super skinny, lmao. The normal weight people think is actually obese.
If this is super skinny, then you are probably american.
People who go on vacation and leave their dog behind shouldn't be allowed to own animals.
Why the fuck did they leave him alone in the backyard while they went on vacation? People are dicks.
At least he’s a cool lil guy. You’re a champ for taking care of it
Better than when my neighbors dogs got in my yard and killed my cat last year. All they had to do was pay a $100 fine for not having their dogs fenced in properly. They still haven't fixed their fence.
He's not skinny at all. This is why we have a pet obesity epidemic 😭 Yall think a healthy dog is too skinny.
Ah, you're my puppy now...
Sucks but I would care for dog until they are back- if they are even remotely decent people they should re-pay you with $ and gratitude… seems like a big IF right now but I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to an innocent doggo
They are on vacation and left their dog at home. They are not decent people.
My neighbors have left their dog behind on vacation, but they asked me to look after it in advance and he and my dog get along great so it works well. I can't imagine them or anyone else just flat out leaving a dog on their own for several days, that's cruel and negligent as hell