I Want to Steal the Neighbor’s Dog

Not the neighbor’s Beagle. My Beagle, who really would be happy if she could roam the neighborhood freely.

Sometime on Christmas afternoon, the dogs started going crazy. I looked outside and saw a loose dog trundling down the driveway of the house across the street, where I know no dogs live. From the back he looked a little like a Basset Hound. I couldn’t help but think that Christmas day would be an awful day to lose your dog, so I grabbed a leash and headed outside.

I caught up to the dog in our neighbor’s back yard where I discovered he had no tags, not even a collar. I wanted more than anything to just bundle him back to our house where he could be loved and cuddled and annoyed by the younger dogs. But I did not, because upon catching up  with him, I also recognized him.

He was not a Basset, but a Beagle, an old an overweight Beagle, who lives about two blocks from our house. I know this because I have met him many times. I have escorted him home many times. And not just him. I am aware of at least two other dogs who live at that house who get out somewhat frequently, and one of us always walks them back home (with or without leashes).

Still, I was tempted. I see this dog about once a month wandering the neighborhood. He has no collar or tags, and there is NEVER anyone from his family out after him. The problem? The family the dog belongs with has children who are Pop Tart’s friends. If I brought their dog home, she would recognize him. And since she would know where his home is, us keeping him would seem like stealing to her. (And it would be.)

In addition, because these kids are Pop Tart’s friends, she tries to make excuses for the way they treat their dogs. There are lots of people living there, and sometimes the dogs get out. The Beagle doesn’t like being an inside dog. He likes being outside. The neighbors have tried to claim that he doesn’t wander that far. They’ve told us he never comes as far as our house, even as I try to explain that he was in our yard, or I found him in the yard across the street.

Pop Tart did not live with dogs before us. And at 10, she doesn’t want to think badly of her friends. She is still learning that you can like some things about people and not others, that you can be friends with people who have different view points than you. In her mind, you have to life everything about a person to be friends with them, so she has set her mind to be okay with how their dogs are treated.

We have tried to explain that we understand sometimes dogs get out. She’s seen Junebug get out. And what do we do? We go after her. (She’s also wearing a collar and tags, and is microchipped.) We have tried to explain that yes, Beagles love being outside, and Junebug would also be “happier” if she got to roam the neighborhood freely, following her nose wherever it led. We get that the Beagle probably does prefer being outside for stints of time. But the problem isn’t with what the Beagle prefers, it is with his safety. Our dogs don’t have the run of the neighborhood not because we think they wouldn’t enjoy it but because we know it is dangerous.

And the truth is, I would be perfectly happy if Pop Tart didn’t stay friends with these girls, specifically because of the messages she gets from that family about the way dogs (and animals in general) should be treated and cared for.

I also, really, really want to steal their Beagle.

But I can’t do that. Because of Pop Tart. And because it was Christmas day, and it would suck to lose your dog on Christmas.