Some people don't deserve a dog

[Del Lardo]

The family that my GF Klara Au Pairs for have a Chocolate Labrador called Nutley. They have been in Canda for the last three weeks so Klara has been dog sitting and I've been visiting her in Richmond rather than her coming up to Cambridge.

When the family is at home Klara takes the boy, Jamie, to school in the morning and then walks Nutley when she gets home. When she picks Jamie up from school she takes Nutley with her. In the evening either Dennis or Heidi are meant to walk Nutley but never do. At the weekends when Klara is with me Nutley is left in the garden on his own for most of the day and let in for the evening, they hardly ever walk him or take him to the park 200m down the road (really good for dogs). They don't even throw the ball around the garden :angry: When I've been going down for the weekend I've been playing with him loads and taking him to the park and tiring him out by throwing the ball twice a day. When I leave he sits by the door for 5+ hours with his ball in his mouth waiting for me to come back :'(



http://www.pertheus.co.uk/pics/nutley.JPG

If I could look after him I would have taken him home with me last Sunday and told the family that he had run away/been stolen. I really want a dog but my work schedule means that it just isn't viable :(

[Darrin]

That's a beautiful Lab. Looks a lot like my two Blacks.

[iCraig]

It annoys me too when people get dogs and don't bother giving them any exercise. They're not toys or fads that can safely gather dust in the corner if you lose interest in them; they're living breathing creatures that have their well-being rested on you.

It's simple, if you want a dog, you need to look after it.
If you don't want to look after it, fine, don't have a dog.

My girlfriend's little sister recently did her work experience at the local vets. She loved it apart from when they had to put down a morbidly obese lab. The owners had fed it junk and never exercised it. The dog was dumped by the owners one evening because they were sick of it throwing up its food. It was in a right state, major joint problems, tumours and blood in the stools/urine. Basically the poor bugger's insides were shutting down, wasn't a particulary old dog either but the vets couldn't do anything with it being so far gone, they had no choice but to euthanaise.

[Mark]

I'd love a dog like that, or indeed any Lab. My favourite breed due to past family history. Not in this house though - I think I'd have to move and quit my job to make it fair - not being at home 8+ hours on random days of the week just doesn't seem right to me.

[Burnsy2023]

I really want a dog :( One of the main reasons is so that I have long walks in the New Forest with it. Any dog that I have will most defiantly get at least one walk a day.

It annoys me when people don't take the health of their animals seriously :(

[Mark]

Oh aye - I'd walk a dog no problem at all. It'd do me as much good as the dog. :)

[Tak]

He is gorgeous

[Knipples]

I have a worse story than that.

My best mates brother owns a horse and was out riding him on Sunday, he came across a man with a dog who he had tied to a fence. The man appeared to be trying to hide something, turned out to be a gun. He was going to shoot the dog because he'd decided he didnt want her anymore. My mates brother said to this idiot that there was no way he was going to shoot the dog, and that he would take her home instead.
The man untied her and handed her over, she is apparently a complete angel and he cannot understand why anyone would want to kill her.
He's keeping her by the way, and has called her Freya.

[Mark]

It'd be worth getting her checked over by a vet just incase there was more to it than there appeared to be at the time. Sad though. :(

[Kell_ee001]

I always really bothers me when people don't treat pets as they should. I have to admit when we had 3 they very rarely got taken for walks as they were just too big to handle but they had a massive garden to run around in together and got played with by us everyday as well.

[Tak]

He was going to shoot the dog because he'd decided he didnt want her anymore.

Should have shot him in the head :angry: :angry:

[Belmit]

Aw, he looks like a cool pooch.

[Wossi]

If anyone was to see my 2 dogs, they would think they never got walked or fed. They get taken 3 times a day and eat better than I do, yet the youngest one (not exactly young anymore) would run all day long if she could as she never seems to get tired.

[Jonny69]

I don't liek stories like these. When my folks broke up the person who suffered the most was our dog. He got neglected for the last few years and had to go to a rescue centre when the divorce and house sale happened. Nothing any of us could do about it.

[Justsomebloke]

Wossi has met my Frank so he can tell you he is about as fit as a dog can be, Ripples with muscle & has untold energy. His coat shines like wet paint & his eyes are crystal clear & bright & of course his nose is always wet. He has the odd day in the year when he feels ruff & his coat goes a bit flat but it only ever lasts a day so i expect he just picks some crap up that bothers him for the day.
I often ask myself whether Frank would have a better home else where say with a family & kids & a big garden but then i think asking yourself questions like this are healthy.
I wouldn't say he would have a better life any where else just a different life. He has the advantage of consistency with me as i met him when he was a day old & got to know him before taking him away from his Mum & Dad. He came here with me & that was that, He still lives in the same house with the same Bloke.
I do love my dog but then it is hard to be fair when one really only thinks of ones self. Does Frank dream of living on a farm chasing rabbits & bitches across meadows hoping he comes back to a house full of kids, Probably but then so do I.

So I think my point is That dog looks lovely & happy & i hope he is a proper member of the family. he may love hanging in the garden all day chasing the birds & messing about. Most of all though every night he gets to hang with His pack & feel loved :)
You could always offer to carry on walking him whenever you have the time or inclination. Just tell the owners you love him & would love a dog but it's just not practicle at the mo. Having access to the lab from the back garden can't be a problem as long as you let them know & i am sure they will be more than happy with him getting extra walks.

[Haly]

:(
My neighbours have a chocolate lab and treat it much the same :( Really feel sorry for him.

[vix]

:( it's very sad when people treat dogs like that. I had to rehome my two as I was pretty much in the situation in the OP. Still didn't stop some of the RSPCA volunteers giving me abuse for doing it, but surely they were better off going to someone who had the time and money to look after them.

And as for knip's experience *cross*. Wow, I think even Phil would have let me take that dog home! What a stupid thing to do. There are plenty of options if you can't look after your dog any more.

Malc, I really want to meet Frank. He sounds like your best mate :)

[Wossi]

Aye, Malc's dog Frank is a nutcase :D everytime he came near me I'd start to fuss him and he'd go more mental ;D

[Burnsy2023]

As posted on OcUK, it appears that the inhumane treatment of dogs gets worse: http://www.10dailythings.com/2008/04/11/stupid-life-artist-kills-a-dog-in-the-name-of-art/

Absolutely appalling.

[Mark]

Disgraceful, but then again you have to consider some countries don't consider cats and dogs as pets in the same way we do.

[Dymetrie]

Disgraceful, but then again you have to consider some countries don't consider cats and dogs as pets in the same way we do.

Some countries don't consider people in the same way we do...

:(

[Mark]

True.

[semi-pro waster]

It's a real pity to see a dog like that, Labs and Retrievers are quite literally the dustbins of the doggy world and will eat almost anything at any time. Our old neighbours had a dog that didn't get enough exercise until the father of the house had a heart attack and was told he needed to do more exercise so it got walks then.

I'd love to have a dog again but living in a flat and working 9-5 means it just isn't practical for me or it so I've got to content myself with going home every so often and seeing the mutt that my parents have. :)

[Pebs]

I used to worry that my horse was wasted with me, I could compete him but he was sooo much better than me. My instructor said animals have no ambition, they don't now that there is a better/happier/high achieving life out there. I should think the same applies to this chap, he has his family and Klara, he's probably pretty content with his lot :)