Sunday, September 13, 2009

Leave my dog alone!

I have the sweetest neighbors, for the most part. The only downfall I can see is that they love my dog. Ordinarily, not a problem! But, they seem to think that she is their dog too! When Annie first started making trips to their house, we would call her back and scold her for leaving the yard. Since I couldn't be outside all the time, I asked them to call me if she wandered over to their house, so I could call Annie back home. I specifically asked them not to feed her. Well, the dog still went over there and they never called me. Then I found out that they were feeding her dog treats all the time! No wonder Annie wanted to be over there! I would too! So, I asked them, again, to please not feed her anything. Well, it didn't work..they still fed her. So, I sort of conceded, not much I can really do. Like I said, I can't be outside all the time to keep an eye on the dog. But, we did continue to call her home and discipline her when she ran across the street.
Not too long after the treat incident, I found out that they were letting Annie in their house! I was furious! I could not, and still can't, understand why you would let someone elses dog in your house! I asked them to please not let Annie in the house, or the garage, or any other building because I wanted to her come home when I called. At this time, I reiterated my plea to "Please NOT feed my dog." I'm pretty sure they didn't listen...again.
Then the other day, Annie was penned up for the night and she was barking. Pretty soon, the phone rings. It's the neighbor. She says "Can you please check on Annie? We can hear her barking and we're getting worried." Um...she's MY dog! Don't you think if I thought something was wrong, I'd go check on her? Kind of overstepping the bounds there Mrs. G! Then a couple days later, the phone rings again. It's the neighbor again. This time she says "Is Annie ok? Mr. G saw her at the road the other day and he called her over to our house, but she didn't come. We thought maybe you had done something." Hmm...wait..did you just say that you CALLED MY DOG OVER TO YOUR HOUSE? ACROSS THE ROAD? After I've asked you not to, several times? Ugh! Frustrating! It turns out, the reason Annie isn't leaving the yard is because the cat had another litter of kittens and, once again, Annie has adopted them.
I know we're lucky to have neighbors that love our dog. Most people would probably be furious that the neighbor's dog was in their yard. If they lived next to us, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but they live across the street. I'm so afraid Annie is going to run out in front of a car or tractor and get hit. I've tried asking them nicely, I've tried calling the dog back and scolding her where they can see, I've even gone over to their house and gotten the dog. I can't kennel Annie all the time, that's just mean, and we can't afford and electric fence. My understanding is that you have to manually activate a shock collar, and that seems cruel like tasing my kid or something, so that's not an option I'm too big on. Any other suggestions? We just want Annie to stay in our yard so that she doesn't get squished on the road.

2 comments:

Ashley T said...

I laugh everytime i see "tractor" lol.. for a moment i forget you live in the country.. anyway, they are crazy! I know they are nice but come on! Its your dog!

Amber said...

This story makes me mad. I have absolutely no advice to offer. They suck.