Should I dog warden?

[Snappymcsnappy]

Feel like I should but don't know if it will be taken seriously.

So, I have a dog.
Not dog aggressive but can be a bit grouchy - occasionally growls/lip curls but nothing more.

Months ago she went to greet another off lead dog, said dog went extremely stiff, hard stare and proceeded to begin walking stiffly in stalking type fashion.
I called dog away and other dog lunged forward snarling and snapped at her throat and back of neck (no visible injury)
As we were getting away dog continued to follow us in stiff stalking pose.
Owner very aggressive and rude, questioning what on earth I was doing (getting away from satan dog), dog means no harm .

Fast forward to today, my dog was ahead, just sniffing, mooching around.
I noticed a dog in the distance, considerable distance away.
As it came closer I recognised it as the Satan dog.
I put my dog on lead and intended to walk her a different route away from it when I noticed it, at quite some distance, in stalking pose again, staring at my dog moving forward so immediately starting to walk away quickly.
It quickened up, could hear the owner call it once or twice, we carried on walking away, we had walked quite some way before it gave up and returned to its owner.

I am in two minds what to do.
This dog hasn't caused any damage, but only because I got my dog away quick enough.
I have no doubt that if we hadn't made quick escapes it would have attacked...

[mustbemad17]

Absolutely, call the dog warden. A dog like that is clearly not under control & shouldn't be off lead. It may have issues for whatever reason, but owner is being ridiculously irresponsible

[Floralnomad]

What were you planning on telling the dog warden , from what I’ve read the dog has done nothing so far , it sounds like it doesn’t have a perfect recall but that is probably true of at least 50% of off lead dogs .

[pigsDOfly]

I think I'd give the dog warden a call. You're not committing to anything by just having a chat. If the DW decides it's not worth following up then you've not lost anything, but he or she might feel it's worth further investigation. You won't know unless you ask.

It certainly sounds as if the dog has the potential to be dangerous to other dogs and certainly doesn't sound to be under control.

[pigsDOfly]

Well yes, the dog has done something Floralnomad it attacked the OP's dog, albeit some time ago but if the OP feels the dog is still a threat a word with the DW might be a good idea.

[Floralnomad]

The OP also intimated that her dog is not friendly , for all we know ,or she knows , it could be that this dog only ‘stalks’ her dog because it senses that her dog doesn’t like it . Obviously she can tell the dog warden , but I should imagine that unless they’ve had other reports about the same dog they will do nothing about it . My dog has been attacked 3 times on our local heath by 3 different dogs and on each occasion the other dogs have been known to my dog walking friends as dogs that they have no issues with so I can only assume that the common denominator is my dog who can give off an aloof vibe to certain types of dog ( staffies ,flat faced dogs , husky types ) .

[pigsDOfly]

Yes, it could be that her dog is not helping the situation. If she feels she'd like to talk to the DW then she might get some advice from the dog warden about both her dog and the other dog.

As I said if the DW doesn't think it's an issue and doesn't need to be followed up then there's nothing lost or gained but she's clearly worried about the other dog.

[Snappymcsnappy]

floralnomad Depends what you define as 'friendly'.
My dog is gentle with submissive puppies but growls at bouncy ones, fine with placid gentle dogs but growls/lip curls at bouncier ones. And ones that sniff her from behind, she doesn't like that.
I would never call her dog aggressive because she isn't.
Intolerant would be more accurate.

On the first occasion, she, as far as I could see was approaching the other dog just fine.
Today, she hadn't even noticed the other dog, the offending dog was so far away I could only just make out who it was.

My concern, is that it is dangerous and if I hadn't been able to get away it would have attacked and may go on to attack someone else's dog.

One of my biggest concerns is the way it follows you in stalky starey mode as you are leaving.
On both occasions my dog has had its back to this dog walking away.
Usually you would expect a dog to growl, snarl whatever then ignore as the dog is retreating surely, not follow it continuing to stare it down (and bite it on the first occasion)

[Floralnomad]

Btw OP I’m in no way saying you or your dog have done anything wrong as you clearly are a very sensible and responsible owner .

[Floralnomad]

X post there , your dog sounds quite similar to mine , he has a select group of doggy friends and some of them are even allowed to bark / growl at him but certain other dogs he just seems to annoy by simply being there . When we got attacked by the bulldog the owner was completely traumatised as she’d never had any issues with her before but she came up to us and literally just went for my dogs face . I think she was more upset than me despite it being me and my dog that ended up dripping blood ! .