Dogs lacking exercise/stimulation

DPU, you know I love you and the work you do is FAR and AWAY light years more than I have ever done.  You are an example of pure selflessness when it comes to your dogs.
 
That said, I think your original response was maybe taking the post a little too seriously.  I don't think the OP was directly attacking your methods in the first post.  Of course, there could be something going on behind the scenes here that I don't know about, as is often the case.
 
It seemed to me that the OP was making some very sweeping generalizations, and I think we have done well to point them out and make some corrections for exceptional situations, for which I certainly think you and your fosters qualify.
 
As I said, we do the best we can.  After all, isn't that why we're all here??

ORIGINAL: badrap

...It seemed to me that the OP was making some very sweeping generalizations...

And it is these generalizations that I am so so so much against.  They spread bad information.  They discourage.  They label.  They create excuses for others.  They scream "Whats the point of trying to change things!"  It irks me when people choose to BI instead of going out there and doing something about what they are complaining about.

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

I see nothing wrong with the use of hyperbole here to indicate frustration, as is often done.  While I'm sure that certain individuals are ALWAYS grammatically correct and also have perfect syntax, this is not the case with ALL individuals. 

After all this is a forum, not a grammar school.[]

 
LMAO.
 
You know, a PET PEEVE of mine is when we fail to recognize that it is ALWAYS going to be best if we ignore certain people.  []

ORIGINAL: probe1957

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

I see nothing wrong with the use of hyperbole here to indicate frustration, as is often done.  While I'm sure that certain individuals are ALWAYS grammatically correct and also have perfect syntax, this is not the case with ALL individuals. 

After all this is a forum, not a grammar school.[]

LMAO.

You know, a PET PEEVE of mine is when we fail to recognize that it is ALWAYS going to be best if we ignore certain people.  []

C.mon Billy, you know we're just [sm=beatdeadhorse.gif] by continuing this line of discussion.  I think we should continue to move on, like the rest of the posters are!

This entire post was based on YOUR AVERAGE dog.. that is in good health and CAN handle daily walking, but their owners are too damn lazy to provide this and they don't view dog ownership as a responsibility.

Exactly spot on!! [] I'm sorry that i didnt make myself clear enough [&o]

The hound, well the hound is just too hard to satisfy the exercise need in a city neighborhood.

Although i hope you wouldnt mind clarifying this sentence dpu? How do you exercise your hound?

And i know this might make some people cringe,but i dont know how else to say it,and maybe i misunderstood a posters post..But sometimes the dogs in our care have to come first,and martyrdom second.
I would dearly love to help out at our local shelter more,and take in more fosters(which i do occasionally),but where would that leave my current dogs and their care?? They would no doubt fall by the wayside whilst i was busy trying to save other dogs. It would be a very hard thing to keep in balance,i do highly respect folks who do make it work and give each dog the same amount (and enough) time,love and that dreaded exercise,and dpu if you are one of those people then you should be commended for your work [sm=angel.gif]

I see how it happens, for some people, though. My neighbors walk their Amstaff once a year. Ok, I exaggerate, they do it 2x per year. They give up immediately, in disgust. The rest of the year this dog sits at their front gate barking at every moving vehicle/human/cat/leaf/paper moving in the street. Why don't they walk it? Besides the normal problems of being too busy and too out of shape themselves, they never learned how. The dog terrorizes them, pulls them around and does fierce lunging at other dogs. In otherwords, they are not capable of exercising their dogs, and they never will be! This dog has lived like this since she was a puppy, 5 years ago

The woman behind me is elderly and has lots of physical problems. She has 2 good sized herding dogs in her backyard. Same thing, they bark and freak out and fly around their yard constantly. But she barely has the strength to get them out to the back yard as it is.

Another family has 2 little yappers. The old woman who owned them became hospitalized, and her family who *cares* for them can't stand their noise, so they leave them out in the yard.

I suspect this is pretty common. Some of these people can't afford training, some just aren't interested. "People" are just doing the best they can, and making some pretty sloppy choices along the way.

Ixas, I think this is a really important thing to keep in mind. Sometimes these "terrible people" are really struggling in other aspects of their lives. One reason it's always good to try to help people instead of attacking them!

I think the OP was trying to get across that dogs need exercise.  I agree, but to say the very lease should be 2 off leash walks a day is not for all dogs,  if you ask me. 
You know what, I walk my dag everyday...yes everyday.  We do not walk in freezing rain and thunder/lightning.  In the summer, we just start early and the winter we go later.  We do walk off leash and since we walk everyday I see the regular folks and the weekend folks.  Guess what....I don't think any less of the weekend folks.  I don't know their situation or their routine so who am I to judge?
Im just happy to see them walking their dogs!

Sometimes these "terrible people" are really struggling in other aspects of their lives.

But what about the dogs??!! If they cant look after them,they should find someone who can.To me,there is no excuse to dump a dog in the backyard,toss it some food once a day and forget about it.They are living,thinking,feeling beings that deserve so much better than that.
If someone doesnt have time for a dog,they shouldnt have one..

ORIGINAL: Edie

Sometimes these "terrible people" are really struggling in other aspects of their lives.

But what about the dogs??!! If they cant look after them,they should find someone who can.To me,there is no excuse to dump a dog in the backyard,toss it some food once a day and forget about it.They are living,thinking,feeling beings that deserve so much better than that.
If someone doesnt have time for a dog,they shouldnt have one..

 
i happen to agree with you.
 
HOWEVER, if there is one thing i have learned in my life it is this:
 
just because i don't like it doesn't make it illegal.  in fact, i am finding that the majority of people treat their dogs the exact opposite way from what i feel is "appropriate".  it's not up to me to define what's "appropriate" for everyone else, though.

ORIGINAL: Ixas_girl

 My neighbors walk their Amstaff once a year. Ok, I exaggerate, they do it 2x per year. They give up immediately, in disgust. The rest of the year this dog sits at their front gate barking at every moving vehicle/human/cat/leaf/paper moving in the street. Why don't they walk it? Besides the normal problems of being too busy and too out of shape themselves, they never learned how. The dog terrorizes them, pulls them around and does fierce lunging at other dogs. In otherwords, they are not capable of exercising their dogs, and they never will be! This dog has lived like this since she was a puppy, 5 years ago []

 
if this isn't a dog that will hurt someone and raise a big "breed ban" hubub some day, then i don't know what is.[>:]

ORIGINAL: badrap

ORIGINAL: Ixas_girl

My neighbors walk their Amstaff once a year. Ok, I exaggerate, they do it 2x per year. They give up immediately, in disgust. The rest of the year this dog sits at their front gate barking at every moving vehicle/human/cat/leaf/paper moving in the street. Why don't they walk it? Besides the normal problems of being too busy and too out of shape themselves, they never learned how. The dog terrorizes them, pulls them around and does fierce lunging at other dogs. In otherwords, they are not capable of exercising their dogs, and they never will be! This dog has lived like this since she was a puppy, 5 years ago []

if this isn't a dog that will hurt someone and raise a big "breed ban" hubub some day, then i don't know what is.[>:]

Now Badrap, if you saw such a thing going on,  wouldn't you feel compelled to do something or would you mind your own business.  Would you at least find out about the circumstances or share your experience with the owners?  Keep in mind this has been going on for 5 years and you actually see this situation day in and day out.

Yeah, I hear you, both. And I was in a city "excessive barking" complaint process for some time with the girls with the amstaff, which would have resulted in losing their license to keep the dog. But, when I adopted my girl at the local shelter in Jan, out of 280 dogs there, somewhere near 200 of them were amstaffs [] I dropped my complaint against the girls - I don't want to be responsible for that dog ending up at that shelter.

The best I can think of now is to try to repair my relationship with the girls, then once I'm more experienced with dogs, I can offer to work with their dog. I have another neighbor who's pretty good with dogs, and very friendly. He might be game to play, too. I dunno what else to do![8|]

ETA: same idea with the other dogs - are the little yappers better off in the yard vs the pound? I guess I don't feel like I know enough to decide that (and if I did, I'd have to break the law to do something about it).

[&o] DPU i don't have a good answer to this question.  i wrestle with it every single day.  are there limits to social responsibility?  i'm not sure.  hypothetical questions become very difficult to answer and very quickly.
 
let's assume that i am ME, and let's assume that i still have my dogs.  probably, at some point, these people would see me, and a conversation would happen.  people with the same breed often do this.  at this point, i might be able to address the issue of training and excersise, and i probably would. 
 
let me give you a NON-hypothetical example.  in the town where i used to live before dallas, there was a place a few houses down that had 3 pit bulls tied up in the yard.  every single day, i would walk by that house.  every single day, my heart broke for those dogs.  i never so much as saw anyone LOOK at them.  somehow, though, they were fairly docile.  i wouldn't have approached the yard, but they never bothered my dogs and i while we walked by.  then, one day, a young male from the house saw me walking and ran up to ask about the prong collar.  i explained its use and how to use it.  he didn't care.  he just wanted to know where i got it.  i lied and said it was custom made, because i knew what was about to happen.  sure enough, a week or so later, all three dogs had prong collars on them.  these were dogs tied to STAKES.  absolutely, completely, indefensibly inappropriate.  what to do?  i was afraid to go in their yard.  i called animal control and reported it, and i left a note in their mailbox that those were training collars and were being put to a totally inappropriate use.  i didn't know what else to do.
 
i think that's how many of us feel when confronted with situations involving dogs that make us sad, or that we don't like.  i think we are still struggling to find the "best" way to handle it.
 
DPU, i don't know what that "Best" way was.  i wanted to take all those dogs away and raise them right.  that, however, is far beyond my physical and financial capabilities.
 
we all want to do what's right. sadly, there are limits to what we CAN do.

Ixas_girl, I knew your story was not complete.  I am glad to read that there is a willingness to give of yourself to attempt to improve the situation.  Not all situations can be improved but I think if you find an opening, please take advantage of it.

Badrap, yes, I look for an opening to get involved.  This past winter while inside my house I heard yelling on the outside.  When I went out to look, I saw an owner strapping his dog with the leash.  I don't know what the dog did nor do I care.  When I saw that the man saw me, he stopped.  The situation was changed because of my presence so that is my opening.  This guy is going to get my presence.  Now my Great Danes are the greatest ambassadors and are very friendly to other dogs and other dogs get along with them *knock on wood*.  So I take the Danes on a neighborhood stroll, eventually find the dog and interact over the fence.  Several times I go over there.  The owner comes out, we have a friendly conversation.  My goal at this time was to show how interacting with the dog by using gentle methods.  Plus the dogs were having a great time together.  So in the next couple months, the guy comes to my house for doggie play dates and I get the opportunities to talk about dogs and my volunteer work.  I eventually ask for a helping hand by him handling one of my fosters in obedience class.  At the time, I was taking my other foster to obedience class and I can handle one dog at a time.  Well I got the standard excuses of not able to commit for 7 Sundays mornings in a row and he was afraid he would get attached to the foster.  I ask but I don't press this.  I know I made progress when I received a belated Christmas gift, a $50 Petsmart gift card. 

I have been doing this volunteer work and trying to influence dog owners for a long time.  I find that as long as the dog is not in danger of its life, then one should use time and persistency to change the situation.  Every situation can not be turned around so I do advocate at times to give up the dog.  When I do advocate give up, I get involve and try to place the dog.

Exercise is very important to maintain a healthy dog.  But there are other needs that are more important so the dog owner needs to set the priorities based on them knowing the dog and their capacity to fullfill all the dog's needs. It is a careful balance.

Not too many people have mentioned it, but the best exercise for dogs can be playing with other dogs - that just requires that your dog is socialized, trained, and you have neighbors or friends with similar dogs. 
Also, not enough attention is paid to mental exercise - add training to the daily regimen, and dogs are ever so much less "antsy".  It does tire them out, and is especially useful for the "problem solvers".  Plus, hopefully, training is fun for dog & human alike.  The best advertisement for this is the well behaved dog that you show off in public every day.