to be angry when a staff. bull dog wanders into my garden with my DS playing

Eh? If a toddler teases a dog it has a right to bite her nose off?

Not that it should matter? Of course it matters, IF a child (or anyone) teases a dog, the dog has a right to defend itself!

But as that was not the case here, it is a moot point.

YES, my stepdaughter was supervised. My dh had arrived at at his friend's house, entered the house, saw the dog and said, "is that dog ok with children?" They said yes, and 2 minutes later dsd toddled towards the dog, tripped and the dog leaped and bit her. There was no teasing going on (not that that should matter). It was a small dog. Turns out that they had only had the dog a short while and had gotten it at the pound and really knew nothing about it at all, despite having said that they did.

SofiaAmes - was your stepdaughter being supervised with this dog?? How do you know that she didn't (in a toddlerish inquisative way) poke the dog in the eye and the dog reacted??

As for dogs escaping - they do. By all means call the police, they will laugh at you. Cows escape from fields, horses bolt from stables, cats crap everywhere, and any dog, will occasionally wander away from home. It is the nature of the beast. And no, it is not always possible to tie the dog up/lock it away. Accidents happen!

Don't be too quick to assume you can cuddle a lab or retriever. They are being overbread nowadays and some nasty personality traits (sp) are emerging.

Chances are, if this dog is a farm dog, who is allowed to wander the farm freely (and unfortunately escape) then it is a good-natured dog.
So-called fighting dogs are only aggressive because they are made aggressive by bad owners - ie kept on a chain, beaten, taunted, and used for fighting.
This dog sounds more like a farm dog. Dopey but harmless.

So yes, you are over reacting by calling the police. The owner however, could have been more apologetic. But on the other hand, perhaps she was a bit bemused by your over-reaction, and was too embarrased to apologize.

Dogs can be dangerous and you certainly can't tell either by looking at them (or often by asking their owners) whether or not they are dangerous. My eldest stepdaughter had her nose ripped off when she was a toddler by a dog that was small, no particular breed and whom the owners had vouched for as being good with children a few minutes earlier than the attack.
I personally do not think that you shouldn't wait until you see the dog again to report it to the police. Dog owners are responsible for keeping their dogs on a leash at all times when they are in public. They can still take their dog for a walk....just on a leash!!!! I would either write a polite, but firm letter to your neighbors expressing your concern and asking that they keep their dog leashed in public at all times, or at a minimum fence in any space that the dog is going to be unleashed in. I don't think that it matters what breed the dog is. And if they ignore you or are unhelpful in their response, then I would report it to the police.
Wannabe, if your dog bolted out your door and was running around unleashed for 5 minutes it is YOUR FAULT for not making sure that your dog was somewhere tied up before you opened your door. Hardly a difficult task for a human. If I had come across your dog, I would have reported it to the police. And you should have been mortified for being so irresponsible as to have let it out, not just because you got caught.
It isn't daisycat01's responsibility to fence in her yard....it should be the dog owner's responsibility to fence/tie in their dog.

This has happened to us before,Daisy,
nearly poohed my pants....but that's because i'm scared of dogs.
I,m desperate not to inflict this fear onto my dd's, so i 'played it down'.
Have never called the police, but i think you have every right to be shaken, esp if you don't know the dog.
I would do as others have suggested and make your property harder to get into, also i would expect the dog owner to offer an apology, esp since it frightened you.

at my old house, the fence was not very secure, but my kids couldn't get out. One morning I looked out and saw a strange dog wandering around my garden, I went out and called the dog, who came trotting up to me. He was a beautiful dog, but I didn't know if he was nasty, luckily he wasn't. He had a phone number on his collar so I phoned his owner. He had been missing for days.
It shocked me that a dog could get in, which meant my dog could get out, so I secured the fencing.
I would secure your fencing and ask the farmer to make sure that their dog is kept in a secure place.

Where do foxes poo anyway? do you think some of the "dogs" that poo in the street are actually foxes?

Couldn't agree with you more Daisy!

True about farms, Wannabe.

Kathy yes of course I would be apologetic, is it possible though that as this dog lives on a farm the owners are more relaxed about it - farms generally aren't that close to other properties, and often the farm dogs wander wherever they want. It's not necessarily right but people with dogs in the country do seem to act differently to those of us who live in more built-up areas.

I meant to say there is an offence of a dog being out of control in a private place, which covers the scenario of a dog going into someone else'd garden.
Regardless of how good their fencing is.

This is so hard - it's not about the specific breed of dog per se it is about something that raises every maternal hackle you have and which presents a possible threat to your children - not helped by all the media attention this has received recently. This particular dog may not be on the dangerous dogs act but neither are rottweilers, alsations etc and as a mother I would do my utmost to keep any child away from them. How could any of us live with ourselves if something did happen and we had not taken action. I would consider having a formal conversation/writing a letter to the owner expressing your concerns and then if you get no positive response then perhaps have a chat with the police or get advice from your local council, they all have specialist dog wardens.

No not at all, a strange dog on its own in a your garden, private property with your dc's, you dont know if this dog is dangerous, bites or what, any animal is unpredictable, just because it has never bitten anyone it doesn't mean he wont.

I would expect any dog to be acounted for not to be wandering on its own.

We have a jack russell, he has his own pen in the garden, does not come into childrens garden. I would complain to the farm, you cannot be responsible for an animal if you dont know where it is.

"it just looked like a "fighting dog"". what a generalization.

I don't like staffies, but I certainly wouldn't be running to the police if one entered my garden, I'd be securing my garden to ensure it didn't get in again. I expect burglers to not break into my house, but that doesn't mean I leave the door open anyway - I take steps to ensure that my house is secure.

tbh I imagine the police will pay no attention - especially if the dog hasn't bitten anyone.

It does sound as if the owner needs to secure her property to ensure the dog can't get out, but in her defence at least she appeared to be out looking for it when it wandered off.

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i am surprised though that living in the country you are nervous about dogs. I have a friend who wouldnt come to my house unless i promised her that my boy was locked away, petrified she was - she would have been the same if it were a chihuahua.

But Wannabe, I'm guessing that if your dog got into someone's garden you'd be at least a bit apologetic?
What bothers me about the woman in the OP is not that the thing happened in the first place (like you say, we're all human and he's only a dog) but that she didn't seem to have any sense that she shouldn't be allowing her dog to do this willy nilly.

After all, it's not just whether the dog might attack children, it's also whether it might knock something over, break a plant etc.

There is an offence of a dog being out of control in a public place/ and a public place.
So she was in the wrong.
It is her responsibilty to stop her dog going into your garden.
Not yours to build a proper fence( like DUH?).
You can report it to Police but if you don't know the owner they won't do much.
You could report it to the local dog warden they were really good when I complained about a neighbours dog that was always wandering in our street/coming into our garden.

this is a difficult one, I think that dogs should be under control at all times. No matter what the breed. However, i can imagine in a farm situation the dog wandering off might be less easy to control. I would have been horrified were it me though and i love dogs and have always had rotties, another dog much aligned because it is often owned by idiots. I have to say that staffs are lovely dogs who do tend to love children, its other dogs they have issues with. Saying that, i would have been unhappy were it to wander onto my property - not knowing its nature etc. I do think its the owners responsibility to make sure the dog cannot get out, it may be a lovely cutesy fluffly bum of a dog who just loves children but your children might be terrified or it may wander onto a road and cause and accident.

Message withdrawn

look at my profile, I have a pic of our staffy on there