Strange neighbors

[thepennywhistle]

I work out of my home, and my desk is next to the window overlooking
my street, so I see pretty much everything that goes on in this space.
My neighbors across the street had a chihuahua that liked to play in the
traffic. They did fence in the yard to keep it safe, and that worked for
about 8 months until the coyotes ate it. They left it out one night, y'see....

Now they have gotten what looks to be a darling golden retreiver puppy
for their daughter, age 5. They are the best of friends, and I love watching
them play together. Today the family went out and left puppy in the yard
on his own this afternoon. He's a good puppy, and was amusing himself quietly
with a toy. Afternoon dog walkers came along, spoke to the puppy, then
OPENED THE GATE AND TOOK THEIR DOGS IN TO PLAY WITH THE PUPPY!
I've never seen these people interact with the homeowners, and I strongly
doubt they even know the people. They had 2 big dogs and 1 medium sized
dog that had never met the puppy before, judging from everyone's reactions,
and they turned them loose to play together for about 15 minutes, until they'd
run the puppy into exhaustion. Puppy is about 3 months old.

I am stunned. Having strangers come on your property with their dogs and
take it upon themselves to play with your dog without invitation is just
incomprehensible to me. Of course, I come from a horse society where
you are better off being found in bed with someone's husband than in the
stall with their horse, so maybe I have a skewed view of this. I don't know.
All I can say is I'm glad my dogs are watched at all times and that my gates
have padlocks on them!

[Sarah83]

I have to say I'd be EXTREMELY annoyed if someone were to bring their dogs into my garden without my permission and me being there. Have you spoken to your neighbours and told them about this?

[thepennywhistle]

I tried, but there is a language barrier and my Spanish makes
people laugh -- and not kindly, either . I'm hoping the cousin
comes over tomorrow, and I'll get him to tell them what happened.

[OhioRuthie]

Dog walkers sound so irresponsible...what if the puppy isn't finished with his shots they could have put him at risk.
I'm the only one in the neighborhood with a fence..so far no one has tried but I'm always outside with the dogs. I guess the family is lucky they didn't take off with the puppy.

[Whitefang]

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[MPbandmom]

Wow! That is strange. I don't have locks on my gates, but the latches are all on the inside with no handles on the outside. I would never even have the thought pass through my head to enter someone else's fenced property and take my dogs in to play with their puppy. I would certaintly appreciate knowing if someone did enter my yard, so hopefully the cousin will be able to help you out with that.

[Fundog]

Wow! It never ceases to amaze me how stupid some people can be. Trespassing onto someone else's property (even to play with their dog) without permission is unheard of in my world.

[Whitefang]

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[thepennywhistle]

Hi,

Yes, the neighbor's English-speaking cousin came by their house
this afternoon, and I managed to catch him and relay the information.
They looked outraged, and there has been much fussing with the gate,
so I think the private dog park has been officially closed.

I guess the uninvited guests are just more evidence that people are weird.

[Whitefang]

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[emmabeth]

I will add that to t he list of reasons not to leave puppies or dogs unsupervised in gardens/yards.

In all my years i have NEVER ever thought someone might actually do that (and yes I understand totally what you mean on the horse thing!)

[Nettle]

Very odd indeed. That's a new one for me, too.

Re: the horse thing I used to work part-time for a very glamorous lady horse dealer/stud farm owner. Someone said to her wasn't she worried about leaving me alone with her husband (he was a Bit of a Lad).

"Why should I?" she said, "after all, I let her ride my horses".

[wvvdiup1]

I couldn't agree more with all of you on this! However, my concern would also be on the unsupervised puppy in the yard. With no one around, anyone could have stolen the puppy!

[Whitefang]

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[thepennywhistle]

Very odd indeed. That's a new one for me, too.

Re: the horse thing I used to work part-time for a very glamorous lady horse dealer/stud farm owner. Someone said to her wasn't she worried about leaving me alone with her husband (he was a Bit of a Lad).

"Why should I?" she said, "after all, I let her ride my horses".

Oooh, you were the favored rider, weren't you!