Untrained neighbour dog. WWYD?

[ERest]

Hello, thought I would get some opinions on the below scenario but not enabling voting as a twofold question. I live a few doors away from a family with one of those small cutey dogs, not sure what breed. It is however very fierce and frequently gets away from its owners to harass people. It has stopped me from getting down from my car before, after appearing from no where and running round my car while barking continously till the lady eventually emerged 5 minutes later to get it. That was not the first time either. This week however, it has chased my sibling twice on their way to work (she lives with me at the moment). We were all standing by the door as she left, 3 adults and my little one, so saw the entire scene unfold. The lady was walking the dog with her two kids. The older child, probably 6 or 7 was holding the dog. As soon as my sister got to street level and the dog sighted her, it tore after her and dragged the child down till she tripped. My sister had to take refuge on a car further down the street to get away from the dog! The owner just said: "the dog is just a baby, it won't bite" in a dismissive manner. This was really annoying to hear as this is a repetitive issue! To make things worse, the car owner has just come round to check if my sister was alright, but also to say her car has a scratch and it is due to be collected on Monday as it has been sold. She is planning to come back later with her husband as she is worried the buyer would not want it now. So for my AIBU which is twofold:

1. What can be done about neighbours dog, especially if the same happens again? Can we report a dog for terrorising neighbours?
2. If the car owner presents a bill for car scratches, who should pay it, my sister or would she be unreasonable to pass it on to the dog owner?

1. Carry a stick.

The dogs an issue but why on earth would your sister think its reasonable to jump on someone's car . Of course your sister will have to pay for the cars damage, she made the choice.

The dogs an issue but why on earth would your sister think its reasonable to jump on someone's car
Because she was trying to avoid being attacked by a dog, didn't you read the OP?

your sister should pay for the car damage

Your sister jumped ON a car?! Yeah that’s nuts. Dog owners not good owners either though.

I think you need to get a grip, it's a dog, not a tiger!!!

1. carry a small water pistol to fend off the dog

2. Your sister should 100% pay for damage if she was "on" someone's car! You can't tell me she couldn't have got back in the house or somewhere else rather than on someone's car.

And yes, OP, perfectly reasonable to pass the bill to the dog's owners. I think it would be prudent to report the incidents to the police in case the car owner sues your sister; the incident being reported should make it easier to commence a third-party claim against the dog owner.

PS. I've been attacked by a random dog before and if I could have escaped it by jumping on a car, I absolutely would have.

You're probably better off going somewhere other than AIBU for legal advice, tbh.

Do you have any experience with dogs at all - even just being around them? What do your other neighbours think of this dog?

I'm wondering if you're misinterpreting what the dog is doing - for instance, dogs often bark as part of play, because they want something (e.g. they want their ball thrown), or quite frankly just for the sake of it. Not all barking is aggressive.

There just seems a huge mismatch between your perception of the issues and the owner's perceptions - which is what made me think.

The dog's owner should be keeping it on a lead when by the roadside, and could certainly do with some more training around things like not pulling on the lead, but it does sound like jumping on a car was a huge overreaction.

There just seems a huge mismatch between your perception of the issues and the owner's perceptions - which is what made me think
Isn't that basically the case with every dog owner who fails to control their dog? "Don't worry he's friendly!"; " He's never done anything like that before!", etc.

If a dog is out of control, barking at people for minutes at a time and chasing them, you can hardly blame the victim for not wanting to chance whether the dog is just being playful.

Of course your sister should pay for the damage to the car! She caused it!!!!

Call the police if there is a dangerous, out of control dog.
As for your sister jumping on a car...well, that's all on her I'm afraid.

Thanks for the replies so far. For those asking why she would jump on the car, she was already past my door, so could not run back in and short of knocking on another door while the dog had a go at her, the car must have been the obvious choice in the heat of the moment. There are no shops around here as purely residences and a park in front of the houses. The owner did not even bother to run after her dog and walked sedately to get its lead while it ran round thhe car barking constantly.

Do you know what sort of dog it is ? I know you say it makes a lot of noise but has it bitten anyone ? Of course the owner should have it under control though.

Of course your sister should pay for the damage to the car! She caused it!!!!
And what caused her to cause it?

@ERest

Thanks for the replies so far. For those asking why she would jump on the car, she was already past my door, so could not run back in and short of knocking on another door while the dog had a go at her, the car must have been the obvious choice in the heat of the moment. There are no shops around here as purely residences and a park in front of the houses. The owner did not even bother to run after her dog and walked sedately to get its lead while it ran round thhe car barking constantly.

She’s still responsible for any damage to the car

Tbh, in response to posters saying OP is over reacting - I would say that many owners of small dogs seem to find their behaviour funny instead of concerning! If my (large oaf) dog behaved like many small dogs do I would be accuse of owning a dangerous dog and have the police called...the works! Yet I encounter many, many people out and about whose toy/small dogs bark, chase, snap and snarl at both people and my dog whilst owners stand there laughing!

My young large dog (walked on lead) is frequently growled/snarled at/followed/snapped at by small dogs - he doesn't react because I've take extra care to socialise him well however if he were to one day get the hump with a dog snapping at him etc he will be blamed, not the instigator!

@DewDew83

Of course your sister should pay for the damage to the car! She caused it!!!! And what caused her to cause it?

Oh don't be silly. She caused the damage. It doesn't matter that it was an accident while escaping a tally dog. She still caused the damage!

Let's say you're driving a car, when another car comes speeding down the road in the wrong direction. You make an instant decision to swerve out of the way to avoid a head on collision but, in doing so, you crash into somebody else's parked car.

Yes, you caused the damage, but you only did so because of the car that was going the wrong way. If you got sued for the damage to the parked car, you (or your representatives/insurer) would claim against the other driver, for indemnity.

Same principle here.

Bloody hell, what's it like inside some of these posters' heads?

How big is the dog that a person has to jump on a car to escape? A cutesy small dog could just been pushed away with a foot, maybe?

@Blueuggboots

I think you need to get a grip, it's a dog, not a tiger!!!

😂

She jumped on a car? That's not a normal reaction to being 'attacked' by a small yappy dog.

The owner is an idiot but really, jumping on someone's car is an over-reaction.

There wasn't a car crash though DewDew. A woman jumped on it. Completely incomparable situation. Dog is a red herring.