Our nearest neighbor has several dogs who love to come visit each day–probably because near the door I have a bag full of tasty freeze-dried lamb lung bits. It might also be because we don’t call the sheriff or animal control if they visit, which, according to our neighbor, the previous owners were prone to do. (Rumor is they also shot at trespassing animals.)
When we moved in, it was just Happy, Spartacus, and Rusty. Since then, Katie and Abby joined the pack, but sadly, Rusty passed away from kidney failure early last year.
All the dogs are super friendly, although Spartacus rarely visits due to some aging joints. They love to hang out at the end of our driveway and visit with the neighbors who bought the parcel just below it. We have to be careful though, as our county animal control can be a bit overzealous. One time they came up to deal with an issue, and because the dogs were excited to see them and our nearest neighbor was at work, AC didn’t seem to realize that our driveway is private property and the dogs are totally ok hanging there. Instead of just dealing with the rogue livestock, they “collected” the Katie and Happy. When I found out, I immediately called our nearest neighbor, gave him the AC officer’s cell, and he resolved the issue. A few minutes later, Katie and Happy were delivered back to me and I took them into our kitchen for a bit to satisfy AC, then after treats and scratches I sent them home. They didn’t really seem to mind the brief truck ride, but I’m sure they would have minded being stuck at the shelter for a day.