would you report this?

[mousymouse]

disclaimer: I don't own a dog and don't really have a clue but put it in here because I don't want a dangerous dog discussion.

yesterday when out for a walk with baby in sling and 3year old ds we went past a house. a car was parked in front and a man was packing stuff. when we were just past the front door a large dog (3 feet head hight, no idea what breed) leapt out towards us growling and barking and jumping up on my son. I tried to get between the dog and my ds and showing the dog our backside but it was circling around still growling and barking. the owner (man by the car) lept to us and pulled the dog back and brought it into the house.
me and ds were pretty shocked and had to sit down at the curb to cry and try to comfort ds who was very upset.
would you report an incident like this to the dog warden?
the reaction of the dog owner made me think that the dog has lept out like that before.

[sb6699]

Legally a dog owner should be in control of their dog at all times and it doesnt seem as if this man was.

On the other hand the man did respond immediately and took the dog away.

It is difficult without being there to tell whether the dog was being aggressive. My lab will run up to the gate and bark if someone walks past, he sounds very aggressive but an experienced doggy person would be able to tell that it is just him saying hello (although tis handy in keeping folking who shouldnt be there away from our house).

My dog is a bit of a houdini and can escape from anywhere and if he got out he would want to come up to anyone who was around for a bit of attention. We have to be careful because he's big for his breed and we appreciate that some folk might be intimidated by him.

If he did get out I would be upset if someone reported us to the dog warden as I know he is very friendly but if he wasnt I would probably understand.

At the very least the man should have apologised to you and your ds.

[WhyHavePets]

I think you probably should, yes. As you are not a doggy person you are not best placed to assess how agressive or not it was but it did scare you and your child.

If I were you I would give them a call and be honest, you are not sure if the dog was threatening you but you did feel threatened.

Most liekly they will just tell him to keep it under better control - unless they already have dealings with him in which case it is a different kettle of fish and he should be doing a better job!

[Vallhala]

The reaction by the owner is completely normal and means nothing either way. You only have to read some of the dangerous dog type threads on here to know that regardless of reason for a dog's approach there are plenty of people out there who will kick off, accusing dog and owner of all sorts, or even kick out. If your dog is approaching someone, whether barking or wagging his tail, and that someone is not happy/confident then the wise thing to do is to move your dog pronto.

As sb6699 says, without being there it's really hard to judge the dog's motivation. Some will say.. what if, what if... but you can't have your life rules by what ifs.

I would view it in the same manner as I would a child behaving badly towards mine and who was reprimanded and stopped by his parent - no harm done and the person in charge recognised that it shouldn't have happened and stopped it immediately. They were in control as soon as they spotted the issue, which to me is the important factor - it's when the control isn't there that I would be more concerned.

[mousymouse]

no apologies from the dog owner, even though we were sitting at the kerb for a few minutes.
I didn't feel that there was a lot of control, or the dog would have stayed in the house, not bolted towards us. we were just walking not even skipping and singing like we sometimes do, which I understand might set some dogs off.
but then, I am no dog person and have not clue and feel I should not need to know (apart from the keep still and turn your back to the dog).

[Ephiny]

I think the owner should have apologised, even if there was no harm done, because you were obviously annoyed/frightened by what happened. And it's not great that the dog was able to just come out in the street like that, when we're loading/unloading the car we always have dog on lead or in the house with the door closed. Not that he'd bother anyone, it's as much for his own safety as anything, in case he got into the road and hit by another car.

Don't think I would report it tbh, but then I probably wouldn't have been as upset by it as you were.

[ragged]

Everything Ephiny said. I wouldn't report this incident, but I might if it became a regular thing.

[mousymouse]

but HOW am I to know if this is an isolated incident?
I am not going past that house very soon...

[spikeycow]

You can't get people into trouble because of your reaction to something. A dog ran out of it's house and that's all that happened, similar things have happened round my way. What is there to report?

[WhyHavePets]

No, a dog ran out barking and jumped up on her child then barked and growled at them making sure it kept in front of them whilst they were trying to turn away from it until the owner came.

It is not the case that a dog simply ran out. If it were then it would be a simple case but it is not.

[DooinMeCleanin]

I wouldn't report it no. Not unless it happened again. My dog would run at you if you were passing the hsoue and he was able to. If you started turning around in circles and your child was crying (I'm not blaming you for what happened btw, anyone in yur position would have done the same) he would ahve thought it was a game and he would have started circling you/jumping up at you/growling and barking, he growls a lot when he is playing and to an untrained eye/ear it does sound very aggressive. He would have been playing. He is not a danger to anyone (but me when I have to bring him a on night ) unless he is severely provoked (e.g by someone hitting/kicking/pulling at him constantly and not heeding his warning growls and snaps)

I don't allow my dog to be in a position where he is able to to do this. If the front door has to be open he is usually either shut into another room, crated or tied up. It depends how long the door needs to open for/how many doors are open etc. Perhaps their dog was contained and an unruly child let it out? There is no way of you knowing and no way of a dog warden knowing either, so even if you did report it, I hightly doubt anything would be done about, other than you'd have a seriously pissed off neighbour.

[ragged]

I'm not sure it's your responsibility to worry about whether it's a regular thing, Mousy. I meant I wouldn't report it unless I knew it was a frequent experience (for me and/or others). They guy could move away, the dog could die tomorrow, the guy could have just had the news that his wife has cancer so he wasn't thinking straight on the day, I think you're thinking too hard about the possible ramifications of not reporting.

[WhyHavePets]

Ragged, how on earth could you kow that? This is just a house they walked past. Unless you expect the op to find out about all cases of inappropriate dog behaviour so she can make an informed decision?

If no-one ever reported indiviual incidents who is the warden supposed to know the bigger picture? It may be that this dog does it every day and has a list of complaints as long as your arm, or it could be the first time anyone has ever said anything about it. The warden will react appropriate to each situation. As I said, with this, assuming it is a first call, they will possibly do nothing or, at worst, tell the bloke to keep a better eye in future. Which is totally reasonable. They are not going to swoop in and put a beloved pet to sleep based on one phone call.

I honestly think you all need a little more faith in the system, just like problems with dc there is a system there, if we don't use it how on earth do we have the right to complain when it fails us?

[ragged]

I know people who have been traumatised by a false or exagerated accusation made thru official bodies (like RSPCA, SS).
I think that the Dog Warden needs to concentrate (prioritise) resources on the worst cases.
So that's why I wouldn't report it.

[WhyHavePets]

But the op isn't planning on making a false or exaggerated accusation