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Original poster

To not go to brothers house again if dog is loose?

31 replies

Probablyshouldntsay · 21/04/2026 13:08

Not a whole dog bashing thread ❤️
Im a huge animal lover and fine with the rest of the family dogs, all on the medium to large size.
I had a bit of an unnerving experience with my brothers dog on Saturday when visiting.
I don’t have much personal knowledge of dogs as I’ve never owned one. Whenever I’ve seen dog in the past he’s always been happy and wavy but on this occasion his dog came to sit next to me on the sofa, then began leaning very heavily and stepping its foot on me. To the extent that dog has essentially pinned me really hard.
The dog is a very large overweight boxer, and when it was looking down at me it was showing the whites of its eyes, not wagging tail or asking for a fuss if that makes sense.
I tried to gently, the more forcefully say down, get down etc and tried to gently push but it just would not budge.
Im not explaining very well but I genuinely felt like it was going to attack :(
After a couple more seconds I shouted my brothers name and he came quickly and hauled the dog off and straight into the garden.

He loves the dog, but to be honest it isn’t walked enough or very trained. Brother does wfh so it always has company. It has never nipped or been aggressive as far as I know.
Would it be an overreaction to ask to meet without the dog in future? I’ve never had a sudden gut feeling like that around an animal before.

OP posts:
Suzjspik · 21/04/2026 14:01

I have a dog and just a suggestion he may have picked up on your 'vibe' and sensed your nervousness. He may have picked up you were not relaxed and therefore may have felt threatened, not that it excuses it.

Frequency · 21/04/2026 13:56

It sounds like you were in his seat and he was trying to bully you off. An attack is unlikely, but the body language you describe would also have made me uncomfortable.

If it happens again, stand up, slowly, and firmly but calmly direct the dog down onto the floor, verbally. Do not get physical with a dog you are unsure of.

28andgreat · 21/04/2026 13:52

So the dog was essentially standing on you?
Or sat leaning against you with his leg/paw on you as he was sitting/leaning?

Also confused on how it was looking down at you?
(not being an arse just trying to figure out the exact positioning)

Original poster
Probablyshouldntsay · 21/04/2026 13:47

BudgetBuster · 21/04/2026 13:15

You are perfectly within reason to ask him to out the dog in the garden or another room when you call over, but he's also within reason to say no its the dogs house (given nothing actually happened).

Did you not tell your brother you got a fright?

Yeah, he rang once I’d gotten home to say sorry things got a bit hectic.
I really don’t want to hurt his feelings or cause any tension- we get on really well, and like you said nothing happens really.
I suppose just posting to see if any dog behaviour experts could help me understand what went wrong here.
As I said, we’ve a large family and all of them have dogs but it’s the first ‘oh shit’ moment I’ve experienced with one of them

OP posts:
BatchCookBabe · 21/04/2026 13:19

100% with you @Probablyshouldntsay My DH's brother (who now lives 5000 miles away thankfully) had a bloody annoying, overbouncy, hyperactive cocker spaniel about 20-22 years ago, and he kept continually jumping up my 2 DC when they were little/primary school age, and barking in their face. (The dog not the brother!) He (the dog) was rough, and strong, and a bit bitey, and would knock them over - and he barked CONSTANTLY!

After a few times I said to DH, we are NOT going there again unless he puts the bloody thing outside, or in the conservatory. His brother refused, so I refused to go and wouldn't let our DC go either. It helped that they didn't want to go! They were relieved. Nothing worse than bloody awful dog owners!

BudgetBuster · 21/04/2026 13:15

You are perfectly within reason to ask him to out the dog in the garden or another room when you call over, but he's also within reason to say no its the dogs house (given nothing actually happened).

Did you not tell your brother you got a fright?

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