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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the sign in NDNs window is naff and unnecessary?

203 replies

hotstepper4 · 18/08/2018 23:47

New NDNs, moved in about a month ago. Haven't actually spoken to them yet but they've got a dog, I've seen it out in their garden, it's a rottweiler I believe.

Tbh I'm just happy that so far I haven't heard it barking, so so far so good, haven't worried about it.

Today, the ndns have put a sign in their front window. It says : "Warning! A dangerous dog lives here. It bites. You have been warned"

Myself and dh have 4 dc between us, the dc like to have their friends over sometimes and I think the sign is really giving off the wrong vibes, it's not the nicest area but the sign is making me uneasy. We have a cat too.

AIBU?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Aintnothingbutaheartache · 19/08/2018 15:48

It’s not really ridiculous when you look at the history of dog attacks.
Still not sure about the snobbery bit.
Are we talking about a socioeconomic group here?
Can’t remember a toddler being ripped to shreds by a poodle

YeTalkShiteHen · 19/08/2018 15:53

Aintnothingbutaheartache baby killed by Jack Russell?

breed most likely to bite

Neither of those breeds are the kind you routinely see people getting all uppity about. Hence, snobbery. Because if the dog in question was a lab, or a small breed it wouldn’t evoke such a response from people.

YeTalkShiteHen · 19/08/2018 15:54

baby story

Aintnothingbutaheartache · 19/08/2018 15:57

Isn’t it very unlikely that a lab or a small breed would maul a young child? I’m not talking about a nip, I’m talking full on in the Sunday papers job.
Also, isn’t there a relation to the the jaw power of certain breeds?
Don’t get me wrong I’m a dog lover. I just believe that dogs, like children need to have cared for by responsible adults. They should be properly trained. And I don’t mean trained to attack

Aintnothingbutaheartache · 19/08/2018 15:59

Just read that very tragic story. Surely it’s a tale to keep ANY dog away from a new born

YeTalkShiteHen · 19/08/2018 15:59

Aintnothingbutaheartache labs were responsible for the most bites of a child treated in a hospital in 2016.

More than Staffies, Rotties, mastiffs and all the other usual suspects.

YeTalkShiteHen · 19/08/2018 16:01

My NDN has 3 springers, all are aggressive, one in particular snarls and growls at the fence and has bitten my dog before. I’ve had to put reed fencing up so my kids can’t get bitten by the little fucker.

But because my dog is a staff, she’s the one who gets the funny looks.

Snobbery.

Lethaldrizzle · 19/08/2018 16:03

You mean the one that tears off babies faces

Aintnothingbutaheartache · 19/08/2018 16:04

I will bow to your superior knowledge on that one, but aren’t we getting off the point?
Surely a badly trained dog, whatever it’s breed, is a danger?
Advertising the fact that you have a dog that will bite with 269 pounds of pressure is a concern?

YeTalkShiteHen · 19/08/2018 16:06

Maybe they’ve been burgled before, maybe it makes them feel safer in their own home?

Who knows? It wasn’t me that started a thread frothing about it.

RadioDorothy · 19/08/2018 16:09

I've got a small sign on the back gate saying "Dog loose - do not enter" because my terrier is grumpy and can give a painful nip. If she's in the garden sunning herself and you walk in, she could get pretty arsey with you.

Despite having a perfectly good front door bell and a path where visitors are safe from the dog, many delivery people stroll in the back gate and panic when a screeching ball of black fury flies at them. Nobody bloody reads the sign anyway.

HildaZelda · 19/08/2018 16:12

I have a sign that says "All guests must be approved by the cat", but you know, we'll still let people in anyway!

Kool4katz · 19/08/2018 19:29

I'm appalled that the OP hasn't been round to say hello and welcome the new neighbours. It's been a month.
I'm being perfectly serious btw. I took fresh eggs from my chickens round to my new neighbour when I saw they'd moved in.

OutPinked · 19/08/2018 19:41

I have a friend who is a police officer and she told me these signs are one of the most effective ways of deterring burglars (even if you don’t have a dog). Those and outdoor lights apparently.

I’d imagine that’s the reason.

misscockerspaniel · 19/08/2018 19:43

The sign on my gate says sod the dog, beware the owner Grin

BanquoGhostie · 20/08/2018 17:34

You know what...Rotties have a really bad press. They are actually loveable, soppy dogs. My friend has one and he is a credit to his breed. Bad owners who think they are fighting dogs have given the breed a bad name. Your NDNs are obviously bad owners!!

Strongmummy · 20/08/2018 17:34

So they have a dog that doesn’t bark and is seemingly well behaved and not wandering the streets? Therefore there is no evidence that this dog is dangerous and that you need to be concerned. I agree with others that the sign is a deterrent and you are overthinking it. You also can’t control what they put in their window. Get to know them. You might like them and the dog

Avocadosarethewayforward · 20/08/2018 17:35

Out do your neighbours by displaying this in your window...

To think the sign in NDNs window is naff and unnecessary?
Skywest · 20/08/2018 17:38

I agree with other PPs it really us none of your business. We had a neighbour complain about our Sunflowers being too tall few. They were in our garden and not affecting her at all. She complained that the people using her holiday home (Yes its not even where she lives) might have to look at them. Sunflowers? What empty lives people have.

EllenMP · 20/08/2018 17:39

I would be uneasy with my kids living next to a dangerous dog. I would go to the neighbours and ask in a friendly way if the dog is really a biter or if the sign is just a deterrent to burglars.

CripsSandwiches · 20/08/2018 17:42

I see what the OP means. It doesn't send off a good vibe to announce that you have a potentially dangerous dog in your house. Obviously the dog probably isn't actually dangerous and OP can't ask them to remove the sign but I can see why she's not over the moon about it.

Bekstar · 20/08/2018 17:42

So if your DV went to stroke this dog not knowing it bites, who would you be prepared to. Blame, the neighbour for. Not warming people or yourself for not wanting a sign up that warms people. Their sign sounds pretty responsibility.

MaisyPops · 20/08/2018 17:43

'Beware of the Dog', fine. But all of this 'Our dog will rip you to pieces if you so much as set your big toe on our property. You have been warned' is preemptively hostile and aggressive and treats all visitors as suspicious. Very unpleasant.
I agree.

I don't mind beware of the dog signs.

What makes me roll my eyes at signs like the OP's neighbours is it seems to come from a place of 'look how tough we are we have a dog and we're warning you because our dog bites and we don't give a fuck'. It's really quite aggressive and confrontational.

Plus is also makes me sad for the dogs because I'm generally of the view there's no such thing as an inherently dangerous dog, but there is such a think as dickhead dog owners who buy certain types of dogs for their scary reputation, delight in not training them or reinforcing aggressive behaviour in their dog and seem to think it makes them the big I am. Then the dog does something bad (usually due to how it's owner has raised it) and the dog gets put to sleep.

Only a certain type of person buys a rotweiller and then sticks an aggressive and confrontational sign up and they are the type of person who delights in trying to be confrontational and appear hard.

Jenasaurus · 20/08/2018 17:44

I am terrified of dogs, even tiny ones, its my fear and I know all dogs are not angry bitting machines, but if my neighbour had a sign like that and a scary looking dog, I would feel nervous too. Mind you I was once chased down the road by a friendly daschaund, nearly into the path of a car so I am not a good person to ask.

Once my son was driving with me in the passenger side, he stopped as he saw his friend with his rottweiler, he rolled down my window to talk to him, I rolled it up, he rolled it down and so it went on and on...my son laughed about it as apparently he was a softee but in my mind he was a werewolf wanting to jump in and eat me.

I also always check if there are dogs in any situation, eg viewing a property or visiting someone for the first time, I have to plead for the dog to go in another room so I do understand on those grounds if you are as scared of dogs as I am, interestingly my 3 children have no fear of dogs so I havent passed it on, but they are terrified of birds which I love

Karen49 · 20/08/2018 18:05

Unlike the USA where a sign like this would protect the owners from being held liable if their dog injured someone, in the UK putting up a sign like this is admitting that you know your dog could be dangerous and make you liable if it happens. I suggest you photograph the sign and keep it (just in case) then maybe show your neighbours this link
quincysdogs.com/dangerous-dogs-act-signs-home and suggest they alter the wording - or not, depending upon how well you get along with them

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