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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Why do people do this?

33 replies

TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 17:11

Walking down my street today going back home after the village easter egg hunt.

Walk past a neighbours house and his giant Rottweiler (sp) is in the front garden.

Instantly it growls and pounces jumping up at the wall. It could easily have got over so DS and I run past. DS is terrified nearly in tears, he's 10yo so not a baby. The dog is easily bigger than him.

This is not the first time this has happened but with a different dog.

So my question is, why do people put there unfriendly, frankly ferocious dogs in their front garden to terrorise passers by?

OP posts:

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ditavonteesed · 08/04/2012 17:21

If it could have got over and it didnt it wasnt going to, doesnt stop it being scary though.

EasyToEatTiger · 08/04/2012 17:33

Perhaps they don't have a back garden? The dog's behaviour was rewarding to itself. The growling and barking worked well and moved you on quickly. Poor dog. It's not nice for them either.

TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 17:35

Maybe just glad I didn't have my dogs with me.

I know the owner and he has a couple of dobermans too and they're all lovely beautiful dogs so wasn't expecting that tbh.

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TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 17:36

Easy they are my neighbours their back garden is about 100ft long!!!

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TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 17:37

Also Im not blaming the dog I'm asking why the owner has put it in the front?

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ohdearwhatdoidonow · 08/04/2012 17:42

My neighbour does this with her Alsatiion. It barks all day everytime someone or another dog goes past. It's an accident waiting to happen!

The constant barking is driving me crazy too. I've asked her to do something about it but she went off on one accusing me of reporting her to the council. (I haven't yet but it means someone else in the street has).

TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 17:49

Its awful isn't it.

Clearly your neighbours dog is ferocious from being so bloody bored.

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D0oinMeCleanin · 08/04/2012 17:53

Had it wanted to get over, it would have. Had it wanted to hurt you it would have.

It is not a ferocious dog, unfriendly dog. It is guarding it's boundaries, which is very normal behaviour. Saying that it's not nice for passers by. Your neighbours should have more respect.

It's also highly irresponsible to leave any dog, let alone one of that breeding, in a garden unsupervised. It's just advertising it to theives and dogs fighters. Poor dog

You can report it to the dog warden who might pop round and have a word. FWIW one of my dogs guards, but the instant you are invited into his house, his whole demeanour changes. I would teach him not to guard, that's what he's here for, but I do control keep and keep him away from boundaries unsupervised. He mainly does it when I answer the door. He's not dangerous.

TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 08/04/2012 19:09

Yeah I can see I suppose about the guarding.

I can't see anyone wanting to try and pinch it though because it really was huge and very scary.

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RedwingWinter · 08/04/2012 19:17

It's unpleasant, isn't it, even when you know the dog is just guarding its own territory. There is a dog like that round here. It got out once and I was scared but we just slowed down a lot and tried to ignore it and it stood there looking like it didn't know what to do. The second time I saw it out I told it to go home and it thought about it and then did, and after that the owner fixed it so it can't get out any more.

Is it better to walk past than run? I worry that running might trigger a chase response. But like Dooin said, if it wanted to get out it probably would have done.

Olivia34 · 08/04/2012 19:28

Maybe the dog just didn't like you

ohdearwhatdoidonow · 08/04/2012 19:40

Ohhh that's helpful!

noinspiration · 08/04/2012 20:21

I don't get why people are so funny about dogs on their own territory, guarding. Most dogs do it, and I suspect that you were influenced by a fear of the breed more than anything. Just walk past. If the dog was loose on the public highway - different story.

My dogs are loose on my land, and bark at people who come up the drive. They are out there for that precise reason - I have had intruders three times in a year trying to steal from the out buildings. Perhaps your neighbour has had a bit of trouble too.

tropicalfish · 08/04/2012 21:14

Essentially dog owners think that it is natural behaviour for a dog to behave in a frightening way. They actually get pleasure from it in some instances as you can read in the responses you have got but mostly dont care about the fear their dog instills.
You were just walking past how do you think their actual next door neighbour feels when its hurling itself against the fence. They are stuck with it.

readysteadymummy · 08/04/2012 21:34

I've been terrified of dogs since I was about 4 years old so I can't imagine how scary that was.

colditz · 08/04/2012 21:37

A dog is not unfriendly and ferocious because it is barking at people walking past it's territory, it's just informing you that it won't allow you to come in unless it's master says you can.

colditz · 08/04/2012 21:40

I have a tiny dog who goes MENTAL when people walk past the fence. Fortunately she can't even reach halfway up it and yips like a toy poodle, so doesn't scare anyone at all (I hear people laughing) ..... but her behavior isn't any different from a large dog's behavior, she's just small so not scary. Neither is she at all ferocious. Once I have opened the front door to someone, she lies on her back and grunts like a pig at them.

tropicalfish · 08/04/2012 21:41

but colditz its master is allowing it to behave in an unpleasant way.

D0oinMeCleanin · 08/04/2012 21:43

Mine throws himself at the door with such ferocity it actually sounds like he can break it down (he can't). Once you're in our house he sniffs you, realises you are not edible and goes back to sleeping. Unless you pick up his raggy rope, then you become a person of huge interest to him and he will torture you to play with him forever more.

RedwingWinter · 08/04/2012 21:52

I think for people who aren't used to dogs though, it's hard to tell the difference between one that is just throwing itself against the fence but would be friendly if it 'met' you, and one that would bite you if it got the chance.

Readysteadymummy, I used to be exactly like that. The thing that helped me was learning to ignore the dogs - not even look at them - as then they would usually ignore me too.

I keep my dogs away from people who look like they are scared because I remember what it was like. The husky looks like a wolf and Dog2 gets over-excited so some people find them intimidating.

MessyTerrier · 08/04/2012 22:00

I walk on a lot of trails that back on to rear-gardens. We encounter a wide variety of dogs "guarding" their territory, some are little and cute, some big and scary. I think it's quite natural for dogs to do this and not necessarily something to get alarmed over (although I would be frightened of a Rotty or Doberman barking at me...). Try to stay open-minded. I know it's frightening but it doesn't mean the dog is automatically aggressive. Your neighbours, on the other hand, may have slightly dubious intentions in allowing their dog to do this...

colditz · 08/04/2012 23:17

You cannot stop a dog from barking at the border of it's perceived territory. Not unless you debark it, which is cruel, or keep it inside all the time, which is also cruel. It can no more help barking at passers-by than you can help closing your eyes when you sneeze. It's not bad behavior, it's dog behavior.

D0oinMeCleanin · 08/04/2012 23:20

You can train it to stop, but most people don't want to. I know I don't. One of the reasons I got a dog was to help protect the house/alert us to strange noises.

I do limit his access to boundaries unsupervised (e.g the front of the house) and only let him in the yard when I'm close and can hear him barking and thus tell him to stop. He does have a stop command. I won't train him not to respond to noises/people nearing his terrority. That's his job.

colditz · 08/04/2012 23:27

Training a dog not to bark is like training a 6 year old not to speak. It's almost impossible and unnatural anyway.

D0oinMeCleanin · 08/04/2012 23:34

It's not easy, particularly not with talkative breeds like Terriers or naturally gaurding breeds, but believe it or not it is possible. Whether it is natural is a different matter. Providing it is done right and the dog is taught more desirable ways to use it's energy, it's okay. Too many just punish their dog for barking and give it no other outlet or training, which is sad and fustrating for the dog and will undoubtedly lead to more problematic behaviours.

Whilst my dogs are predominantly pets I do want them to protect the house and guard their family.

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