Sad.

I wasn't going to write about this. I really wasn't. I was just going to suck it up and blame it on me being irritable. Until Now.

Here's the deal. I have this neighbor who is pretty cool. Glacier loves her, and her dog. She has even watched Glacier on a few of my trips to Utah. A few months ago she started hanging out with a new "friend." The friend was staying with other friends, so the relationship was pretty limited to occasional dinners. Apparently the "friend" moved into a different place. And now, my neighbor has hardly been around. Under normal circumstances, this would be great. No noise, etc. But remember where I said that Glacier loves her dog? Well this poor dog is starting to live a solo life. I found it kind of odd at the time, but when my neighbor started seeing this other person, the dog began to bark. All the time. Hours at a time. Yeah, I could've been annoyed, but I wasn't. I just felt bad for the dog. But now, it is a whole new level.

Since the "friend" has found a new place, my neighbor has hardly been seen in the neighborhood. Her days normally consist of playing with the dog a little in the morning before work, then off to a typical day job. In the evening she does one, of two things. She either comes home for an hour, then takes off to see her friend (and normally stays the night and returns home very early in the am), or she doesn't come home until very late. Sometimes I let the dog out in the day to let her go to the bathroom. My neighbor knows this, but she also knows sometimes I don't do this. Is she assuming I've taken over the care of her dog, or does she just think its okay to leave the dog alone all the time?

This morning I reached my breaking point. My neighbor left for work yesterday morning, as usual. I let the dog out at about 4. Never saw my neighbor last night. In fact, she didn't even come home. Normally when she isn't coming home at night, she at least comes and lets the dog out for a few minutes after work. Nope. At eight this morning, she still wasn't home. Now its ten. The dog has been in there alone for over 24 hours. And I feel awful.

What baffles me is this neighbor has always made her dog the center of attention. My neighbor never really went out much, so it really was a "man's best friend" situation. Whenever I make plans or decisions, I always think of how it will affect Glacier, and my neighbor was similar in this way. I could not live with myself if I knew I wasn't doing everything I could to make Glacier's life a happy one. And I know I'm not the perfect pet owner. I can't take my dog on long hikes or play with him as much as I want, but at least I know I do the best that I can personally do. And yes, my dog is a little spoiled, but even if he wasn't, I would still make sure he was well cared for and healthy.

Okay I'm done now. I just needed to vent. One of my friends said I should say something to my neighbor, but I've realized at this point she honestly thinks what she is doing is okay, and nothing I say will change her mind. I guess I can only hope she turns everything around and figures it out herself.