This hits a little close for me because an ex was kinda the same way. Wakes up and lets the dogs out while she got ready, then locked em in the kitchen while at work. Her parents would come over everyday midday to let them out, then lock em back up in the kitchen. She’d get home after work and let em out and put food in their bowls as she locked em up again…if there was time before one of her after-work activities (huge into local theater so if she wasn’t doing community production it was a school production). And often would go out for drinks at some point and maybe finally get back home around 10ish, let em out and then sit on the couch for a couple hours and fall asleep there. Always had an excuse for never taking them for a walk or doing anything stimulating for the dogs, never trained or obedience so the dogs never had boundaries or barely even how to sit. I swear she treated them as accessories or toys. And one of the dogs, the dachshund, barked at everything, climbing on anything, and more often than not would pee/shit on the kitchen floor. When I finally did do some convincing and started taking them for walks, one couldn’t sit still to get the hardness on, while the dachshund would piss when you tried to get hers on.

I felt bad for the dogs.