Ok, I live in a house that shares a yard with another house. My neighbours (a classic idiot couple) have just brought home a dog, without consulting with us at all - the dog is a badly socialised chow, I have no idea if he knows about other animals etc.. and we have a 4 month old cat. At the moment, my cat is used to being able to play in the yard when we are home - she loves outside and I am not prepared to take that from her. So, the problems I have are manifold.
First off, I'm worried about my cat's safety. Secondly, I'm worried about the dog, because a) it may perceive us as a threat
b) (This is where the idiot couple part comes in) - the guy has told me he plans to keep the dog chained up. I told him uncategorically no, that this was cruel. He says he wants to keep it as a guard dog and only let it loose at night. (well, what happens when I come home from an evening out?)
c) this presents a problem, because if he listens to me and lets the dog run loose (it doesn't look likely) I can't let our kitty out for fear of what might happen and she will be extremely unhappy.
I know if this turns into a major issue, he will end up taking this dog to a shelter (or keeping it chained - in which case I have to step in by alerting the shelter where I volunteer) and grown dogs chances are slim... I don't want to see this dog put down because of a person's stupidity.
I went up to the dog earlier, tried talking to it. It barked at first, then growled, then just lay down at the end of it's chain whilst i spoke to it, but wouldn't let me touch it, or approach. It doesn't seem overly aggressive, just unsure of itself and the new situation. (they got the dog from a friend )
I'm thinking that a good strategy would be to try to befriend this dog as much as possible and get it to trust me so if I can convince this idiot to give it freedom it will view me as a companion (because this man clearly isn't going to be) but the cat situation still worries me. Can I socialise this animal to my cat?
I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation, but I really need some ideas
Help!
First off, I'm worried about my cat's safety. Secondly, I'm worried about the dog, because a) it may perceive us as a threat
b) (This is where the idiot couple part comes in) - the guy has told me he plans to keep the dog chained up. I told him uncategorically no, that this was cruel. He says he wants to keep it as a guard dog and only let it loose at night. (well, what happens when I come home from an evening out?)
c) this presents a problem, because if he listens to me and lets the dog run loose (it doesn't look likely) I can't let our kitty out for fear of what might happen and she will be extremely unhappy.
I know if this turns into a major issue, he will end up taking this dog to a shelter (or keeping it chained - in which case I have to step in by alerting the shelter where I volunteer) and grown dogs chances are slim... I don't want to see this dog put down because of a person's stupidity.
I went up to the dog earlier, tried talking to it. It barked at first, then growled, then just lay down at the end of it's chain whilst i spoke to it, but wouldn't let me touch it, or approach. It doesn't seem overly aggressive, just unsure of itself and the new situation. (they got the dog from a friend )
I'm thinking that a good strategy would be to try to befriend this dog as much as possible and get it to trust me so if I can convince this idiot to give it freedom it will view me as a companion (because this man clearly isn't going to be) but the cat situation still worries me. Can I socialise this animal to my cat?
I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation, but I really need some ideas
Help!