Bridgett - could you offer to take their dog for a walk with you & Daisy once or twice a week?  (dependent of course on if you have time & if they get along!)

Barring that, maybe you could call animal control & see if that size is what they consider too small.  Does it come inside or is it out all the time? 

I was thinking along the same lines.  It's certainly not your responsibility to walk the neighbor's dog, but if Daisy enjoyed his company and he's well-behaved....you would get 'involved', of course.  (And Poco would be jealous.  )  Sounds like there is no hope of starting a dog-walking business with this one.  Guess you'd have a reference, though.

Does the dog have adequate shelter and shade in the backyard when it is too hot? or cold? Does the dog have water at all times?

If you can answer yes to the above questions - I'd leave the neighbors alone. If the answer is no, then I'd 'nicely' suggest the changes without making any mention of getting the authourities involved. If there are no changes, then I might think about reporting the dog for those reasons only.

Without having seen the situation myself, I can't really offer an opinion on what you should do. I would feel bad for the dog too, but if he's not actually in distress then there's probably not much the authorities would do about it anyway.

I'm basically just posting to this thread to point out how lucky the animals living in your city must be. I doubt there are many cities that have an ordinance requiring outdoor animals to be kept at that level of comfort. Doesn't mean it'll always be enforced, of course, and it's not much more than the bare minimum - but it's better than the nothing that passes for protection in most other areas.

My sister-in-law had two big outdoor dogs for years. At first, they lived out in the country and the dogs had a lot of room to run around and a big doghouse to take shelter in, and it was a pretty good life. But when they moved into town, the dogs were restricted to a pretty small area and a tiny little doghouse, and by this point the dogs were getting older. If it had been up to her, the dogs would have been allowed indoors, but her husband wouldn't hear of it (he can be a bit of a jackass sometimes). Now, one of the dogs has died and the other is finally a house dog. It's just too bad it took so long for her to put her foot down.

It's sad, Bridgett.  I hope he is actually older than 7 or 8.    Try to remember that a dog could have a much worse life.  At least you are not seeing physical abuse.

Bridgett,
I think all you can do is keep an eye on the situation though I know it's very hard.  We have two cats across the street that our neighbor ignores.  We feed them and pet them (we have three of our own) two are older, so we can't take them in.  I bought a cat cabin for the winter weather as he rarely takes them in when the weather is bad.  It's very difficult when the animals involved are older -- if you call the animal officer, the chances are likely that they will be put down.

It sounds like this poor dog is abused but not subjected to physical cruelty (though I'm not sure if there is a difference).  Is your neighbor friendly enough with you to talk with her?  If she loves(d) her cats, she must be affected by this situation.

Good luck...I know it's tough.