Yup, it is.

You are right. It is very cruel. If you have a dog, the dog should become a family member and live freely in the house and interact with the family.

Did I miss an interesting thread, or is this someone you know personally? 'keep this dog in a cage in the garage all the time - both when they are home and when they're not -'

My question is why people would get a dog if they are not willing to walk it, work with it, and take responsibility for it's medical care. I'm tired of people blaming the dog, and not themselves.

My question of the day -
"If a person is going to adopt/buy a dog, only to keep this dog in a cage in the garage all the time - both when they are home and when they're not - then WHY bother having a dog? Dogs are social beings, they want to be with their people. I wish I understood why people bring dogs into their lives only to isolate them this way. It seems cruel to me. "

I agree with you too.Not only is it cruel,it can make the dog mean.

I have a neighbor like this in the cul de sac. That have a yappy pomeranian and they never take the dog for walks. Instead they let the unneutered dog run down the street and go tothe bathroom including poop in everone elses yard then the dog runs back to their house. That was the only excercise the dog got until I wrote not one but two letters to the people. Then when I caught them doing it again we had words. Gentle reminder-like words. Then when they did it again I gave them a helping of not so gentle words becase the dog nearly got hit by an suv passing by and they had to swerve out of the way. Then when that didn't work I attempted to capture the dog and let animal control come pick up the dog. Maybe a hefty fine would send them a signal. I wasn't able to.

But anyway that wasn't even what I wanted to tell you about. These people put their dog in a crate in the garage to deal with it's incessant barking which goes on 24/7. If you are up close it is loud enough to shatter your eardrums. If you are 2 houses down it is enough to drive you insane. Of course rahter than close their garage door, they leave their door open so the rest of the neighborhood can enjoy the non-stop barking. Animal control wrote them a letter supposedly after I complained but it didn't help. They won't come out for animal noise complaints. Neither will the police. In our county when you call the police they tell you to hire a lawyer. Nice as an axe-murder is standing there, "Oh don't chop my head off or I'll see you in court!"

Back on topic, I confronted these people about the dog in the garage with the door open and explained to them that their recent solution (crating the dog in the garage) was cause of the barking and not the answer. I had them close their garage door which lasted all of 3 days.
The most troublesome of all, after I got done talking, they had just this in response... "It's just a dog, it's just a dog".

Some people don't know but what I learned is that there's people that just don't care. They don't care about their pets, they don't care about their neighbors. They don't care about anyone but themselves.

Yesterday I was driving down the street and there was a dog walking across the road with no tag. I had to stop to avoid hitting the dog. I pulled over to deal with yet another dog that someone obviously thought would stay on their property. Even dogs that are not restrained or locked in a garage can be neglected also. Their were 3 other cars that pulled over at the same time to figure out what do to. One lady had a fenced off animal section in her jeep, She offered take the dog.

There is this house that we walk by where the idiots that live there think their dogs have a reliable recall so they didn't bother to fence in their yard even though they are on a busy public street. Everytime we walk by the dogs run out to chase us. The owners call for the dogs to come back. Once a dog ran into the street and a car slammed on brakes and by a miracle was able to avoid hitting the dog. Amazing since the driver was yapping on the cell phone. The owner called out to me because she couldn't see the dog "Did he get hit?"
I told them to get off their --- and come see for themselves. I told them to get a fence or to keep the dogs inside. They did not follow my advice and to this day the dogs still run out to the street.
People don't care. It is so frustrating. I don't know how anyone can be an animal control officer and deal with people like this all day long.

Yes it is cruel. We rescued our second dachsie from people that did this to her.

Except the kennel was outside 24/7. It is a dachsund for chrissakes NOT a husky... what were they thinking. And of course the neighbors complained about the barking.... duh, the dog just wants to come in the house with you.

Anyway we rescued her and worked with her about the separation anxiety and the barking and she lived with us another 9 years and was a great pet.

I hate people that will not take responsibility for their animals... dog or whatever!!! Get rid of it if you don't want them.

And it is a special kind of NFH that inflicts their incessant animal noise on the neighborhood. I recommend barkingdogs.net to get an insite into dealing with the noise in your neighborhood... it an eye opener.

Cause there are stupid people.

Why do people have kids and mistreat them?

Stupid people.

We keep big guy in the garage during the weekdays when I have my cousins little guy. But we honestly believe he likes it out there. We'll put him in the basement, with the whole area to run, his own couch, he'll come to the door and whine, and then run for the garage once he's out. I think it's because he can hear everything thats going on outside, and see out the window. And on nice days I'll leave the side door open to the back, so he can come and go as he pleases, and bask in the sun like he likes to do.

I always feel guilty, but like I said, he seems to like it out there. He's very intolerable of high pitched screams and loud toys. He likes his uninterupted sleep, so he's miserable on the top floor with the kid around, and he'll wander and pace, if we don't put him away.

Coda on the other hand, is out all day, except during nap time. The noises on the baby moniter tend to freak her out and make her bark, when she's out. Which in turn wakes the baby. So I crate her while the baby is asleep.

Weekends they have free reign all day, unless we're gone for extended periods of time.
---

When I was really young we had a pup that evidentally my parents were really unprepared for, and he ended up being crated all the time, because of lack of time to train. Combined with some really unexpected serious medical issues in the family.

He was impossible to house break, he bit, he was a nightmare that they weren't expecting. I honestly think he was a puppy mill puppy and had major behavioural issues that they weren't expecting and didnt know how to deal with.

Since then I vowed any pet of mine will NOT be crated or locked up unless needed to aid in training, provide an escape (in big guys case) or out of neccesity, such as nap time, or being out of the house for hours.

Munkos, it sounds like you have found excellent solutions for all involved. You are keeping the baby safe (which has to come first) and protecting the big guy from being exposed to the irritating little human. Also, since someone is home with the baby, the dog can get attention if something unusual happens that makes him bark more than normal. Coda gets just the attention she needs, too.

Respect and recognition of the creatures' different needs (human and canine) and problem-solving skills all worked together to make a plan that works for all. It took your energy and care to do this, but you benefit from the results.

Now, how can we bottle this and send some to the OP and QQ to pray around their neighborhoods?

Hey, most Siberian huskies like or need their indoor time too, especially in a warm climate. And they are pack animals. Many enjoy people as much or more than dogs. I have had 4 of them. Some of them like to spend a few hours outside, or all night when it's crisp and cold (some can't be dragged in then!), but what they love is exercising with their humans that involves covering some ground.

To a husky, a yard is like a large kennel, and not a substitute for walking.

I have one that prefers to spend 2-3 hours tied in the front yard so she can see what's going on, but she's not a wild puppy either.

My other Siberian (or mix) is here in my office with me, gnawing on a bone. He only lasts about 30 minutes in the yard, and then he's bored and wants his people.

They are great dogs for those who like to walk/jog/hike/do snow sports, if you can handle shedding, digging, need for 6-foot fence with dig-out prevention. Generally they don't make good watch dogs or protection dogs, although sometimes even a quiet, non-protective dog is better than none.

Just doing my part to inform on this fun breed.
Love my Siberians.

I think they are the same stupid people that don't even bother to research the breed to make sure that their personality & energy needs will be a good fit for their lifestyle. One of my BFF dated a guy who never had a pet as a child, but always wanted a german short haired pointer. Who knows why we wanted one so badly - the poor thing was kept in a crate day and night. Whenever he was let out of the crate he had so much energy saved up inside of him he went crazy and the owner would just put him right back in the crate because he couldn't deal with him. No training, no exercise, and no hunting which is what the breed was bred for. Fast forward about 5 years, my friend marries this loser, the dog stays in the crate, develops incontinence issues (no doubt related to stress) and gets put to sleep. I wanted to cry when my friend told me. A very tragic end to a situation that needn't have happened in the first place. Thankfully, the clueless couple has agreed that they will never own a pet ever again.

It is one thing to have a well-cared-for dog that chooses to be outside on a nice day and quite another to force a neglected dog to stay outside because it's more convenient for the bums who own it. In the first case, there is care and affection; in the second the dog just exists. We are still dealing with the effects of a neglected life without love or care with Lady. She's doing so much better . . . but I'd really like to throttle the necks of the idiots who mis-treated this sweet dog.

I agree with all of you all on this topic. To me my animals are like family members.

There is this other story that I don't think I talked about on here.

Down the street outside of our subdivision there is a group of houses there, it's really kind of hard to tell how many. One of those little snub nosed breeds came running out of nowhere to greet us as we walked by. It was so tiny I thought it was a puppy. Not having any way to pick him up with my hands full I walked back home since we were walking along a busy street and the little dog was zig zagging around us and getting very close to the road. It was a dangerous situation for us too. So I sort of ran back home and this little (I thought) puppy followed us. I put him inside the house with some water in a kennel and called animal control.

Here is where some pertinent details come into the story.
The dog was not wearing a tag or even a collar
The dog was not neutered
The dog must have weighed less than 5 lbs.
The dog appeared to have some skin problem and looked unhealthy.

So I thought this was your typical storm drain puppy and was just going to tell AC to go knock on some doors over where I found it if they wanted to. I didn't have time to do that myself because it was time for walk! AC was going to be a while.

So on second attempt at taking our walk some lady pulls up and asks if I had seen her dog. I said yes I'll go get him for you. When I brought the dog to her on a slip lead it was evident this dog had never been taken for a walk before because he couldn't walk on a leash. He just didn't know how. (!!!)
That's ok though because at the time I thought this was a puppy.
When I gave the lady her dog I asked what kind of puppy. She said oh, he's not a puppy, he's 4 years old. What!? You mean to tell me this dog is not wearing a collar or tag, is not neutered, can't even walk on a leash at age 4?! That's splendid, you ought to be real proud.
Then she got belligerent and threatened to turn her husband loose on me. I was like yeah bring it on sweet thing. Real nice thing to do after I save your dog from getting run over and give him back to you to save you from paying the fine. Then she was getting all angry and accused me of stealing their dog. Actually going on their property and stealing their dog and she said she was going to call the police. I said, I'll tell you what, I'll call them for you. Then once I had the police on the phone and told them I had a crazy woman making threats at me and yelling they said to take it to court! Gee whiz, I just can't get a break!

Story is not over quite yet.
It sort of gets better. Or worse depending on how you look at it.

Several months later I see a sheet of paper stapled to a stick in front of a stop sign at the corner. It was for a lost dog. It was scribbled on there so small and hard to read that you basically had to get out to read it. And they had one in front of what turned out to be their house that people are supposed to see as they are going 50 miles an hour by their house (which as it turns out, is a new custom home on a huge lot)
Their dog obviously went missing again and since they most likely never put a tag on the dog it probably never made its way home. A couple of weeks later when they mowed their lawn they took the sign down (if you can even call it a sign... I've had paper bar napkins that were easier to read) and I guess the search effort was called off.

These people didn't care about their dog, your typical irresponsible slobs and obviously didn't want to try very hard to find the dog either. And I truly believe that in addition to not caring, they are genuine halfwits.

I'm sure they'll have a new dog just in time for Christmas that they can neglect, lose and leave for dead just like the last one.

Thats why I have a problem with toy dogs. Aside from all the other features I find unlikeable.

A lot of people get them so they don't have to do typical dog things. They assume these dogs are happy inside, and have no need to spend any free time outside. They're small so running the house *MUST* give them enough exercize.

Being a toy, it was probably un housetrained, because they usually take more effort. And when you buy a dog so you don't have to put in any effort, that's probably right out the window. So it probably never saw the light of day.

It's sad. And unfortunately, like the lady you met..a lot of toy owners are as snooty and prissy as their dogs look. And they're just as annoyingly yappy, too.

I know a lot of people are good and genuinely love their toy dogs, and aren't at all like her. But I think too many people get them for all the wrong reasons. It's a status symbol. All the rich and yuppie people have small, furry, things. But of course they're too good to take care of them. Just like all the rich people who have kids, and pay someone else do to the parenting for them. It's nice to say you have a pretty little dog, and you've raised 3 kids. But doing the work is a whole different story.

This brings to mind an interesting point I have been battling with. Not dog related,but cat related. My dogs are members of this family and NEVER locked away or seperated. I recently posted about a feral cat I trapped,had spayed and later released.Prior to release,I had the choice to keep her in captivity or return her to the life she had always known.I battled with the "safe"vs."content" In my opinion some people see animals as possesions and are only responsible for their fundamental care,not neccesarily their well being.Very sad indeed.

My heart breaks for dogs and cats who are in the custody of uncaring, uninformed, selfish people. It almost consumes my thoughts when I encounter these situations. I posted my experience with similar situation and was chastised for being a busy body and I should mind my own business, etc. So...I don't know why I came back to this forum, I will take my lashes and go away again.

I don't think people realize how much time and effort goes with owning a dog.

Lisa

Yes, this is something I know of in RL. It's one of my daughter's new friends. DD (age 11) came home recently all upset about it, asking basically the same question I posed here. Why? Why get a dog if you're going to park it in the garage like a car? I work from home so I'm around at all times of the day/night...that dog is either locked in the cage or tied to a tree with about 3 foot of chain. I have never gone by the house and not found the dog outside, nor have I ever seen people outside paying attention with the poor thing.
I wish more people would understand that their poor behavior as a dog owner is almost always what's causing the poor behavior of the dog.