To think that XL bullies should be muzzled if left at any time in their front garden?

[Chocolatestrawberry123]

My neighbours a few doors down have an XL bully, and on occasions it's left outside in the front garden to relax.
The dog is muzzled when he's taken for a walk , but it unnerves me that when he is in the front garden (although he's mostly in the back garden, which isn't so concerning due to the high fences and gate), he could easily jump the roughly 4ft gate if he wanted to, and potentially attack someone.

He's quite a friendly dog, but obviously his breed is dangerous and who knows if and when he could turn if he wanted to, and I'm concerned for not only myself and my family, but also other people and dogs who could be attacked if the XL escaped the garden.

What's more, there's a School nearby, and so there's often Children walking in the area too when the dog's outside.
I know that XL bullies legally have to be muzzled in public, but does the same apply if they're in their front gardens, where the gate is probably low enough for the dog to jump over, or obviously just walk out of if the gate's accidentally left open?

I know the postman got the fright of his life he told me, when he walked into the garden and the dog ran towards him, even though it was being friendly.

Would prefer them all to be put to sleep personally.

I think a front garden is private property and therefore you are free to have your beast dog and unmuzzled.

Well the law is that an XL bully must be kept in a secure location that prevents it from escaping, which it doesn't particularly sound like this garden is.

It doesn't seem right though, being able to have them unmuzzled when they could escape the garden with such ease.

Exactly what I thought, anyone could leave the gate open, but also the gate is not particularly high either.

The responsible thing to do would have it restricted to the back garden but most owners of these dogs don’t seem to do responsible. There’s no reason for it to be in front garden and they surely can’t expect postmen, tradesmen etc to enter! I wonder if there’s someone you can raise it with- community police officer or council dog department- who could have a word with the owners and give them some guidance about what’s appropriate.

What worries me is this. If a dog is in attack mode a muzzle isn't going to neutralise this feeling. It's not going to think, "Well, I was going to have a good old chomp, but oh dear, I have a muzzle on. I'll just amble away then, ho hum" ( in the voice of Ricky Gervais). You'd still have 10 stone of maniac dog knocking you down and scrabbling its claws in you, shoving said muzzle in your neck ~ and how securely fastened is a muzzle when a maniac dog is trying to get through it?

Poor thing. They all need to be put to sleep. It’s all horrible.

Do you know this neighbour, and are they approachable?

If so you could try a friendly chat and say you’d heard of a horrid story where your ‘cousins’ neighbour had a lovely natured XL which jumped their gate and so was out unmuzzled and ended up destroyed even though it had done nothing wrong. Just that you’d noticed their gate was practically the same, you couldn’t rest til you’d told them that putting in a higher gate could potentially save their much
loved dog’s life…

I'd personally like them to all be humanely euthanized. Know people cry crap like "Oh but its how you raise them! Mine's just a softie!" - I think each individual one is just a ticking timeomb. It's literally in their dna.

They are approachable, but I don't think they'd listen to anything I said regarding the dog. It also concerns me that their 6 or 7 year old grandchild is often around the house and in the garden playing with the dog.
I can't understand the mentality of people who have these dogs at all.

I agree, a time bomb just waiting to go off

I live in a fairly rough town and I’d say the majority of XL Bullies I see aren’t muzzled in public. Their owners couldn’t give a toss.

If you say they're approachable, maybe go round there with a treat for the dog and say what a nice dog he is but you're concerned about the secureness of the garden. Frame your conversation as if your concern is about how you'd hate for them to lose their dog due to the law, especially as they comply with the muzzle and lead when in public.

Yeah this. They all need PTS. Society does not need fucking XL Bullies!

A front garden may constitute a public place - as might your car - its somewhere there is an assumed right of access, for people to get to the front door/deliver things/emergency services access.

You also run the risk, with dogs in a front garden with a low fence, that people may reach in and be bitten - it is up to the dog owner to ensure their dog cannot make contact with people.

I'd be very surprised if this isn't a breach of their dogs exemption certificates, but even if it isn't, it is bloody reckless and foolish.

I recommend no one leaves dogs unattended or gives dogs, of any kind, free access to a front garden where people may enter in order to deliver/knock on the door. The risks are too high, and even for dogs who wouldn't dream of doing anything untoward, you're still putting them at risk of people accusing them of biting/nipping over the fence, still putting them at risk of people stealing them, of them being repeatedly wound up and frustrated (which is a big factor in territorial and barrier aggression)...

It is not worth whatever benefit the dog owner thinks there is (and that is usually just convenience for them).

Try to speak to them, but if you think they won't be receptive, anonymous report to police or dog warden (or both) saying you think this breaks their exemption certificate.

No dog should be unattended in a front garden imo, let alone an XL

Even if we leave aside the temperament of the dog, random members of the public can’t be trusted not to feed it, tease it or let the gate open. Accident waiting to happen

Exactly. Any dog can turn at any moment