to wonder why the hell people NEED such big scary dogs :(

[superv1xen]

there is a HUGE alsatian dog that lives nect to me and it scares the shit out of me. it is literally about 6 foot when it stands up. (which it regularly does, up the fence barking at everything)

i have a paranoia that it could get over the fence (i reckon our fence is about 4 foot) and have heard so many horror stories about dogs attacking kids, i don't even like my DS (4 YO) playing out, even though our garden is lovely, safe and enclosed).

earlier on i was outside putting some fertiliser stuff down on my lawn and as i was walking up n down the lawn putting it on, the dog was, kind of, following me up and down the garden (from their side), growling ominously, omg it really shits me up.

the maddest thing is is that the family have got 3 little kids, aged from about 1 to about 6 or 7 i would say. i just would NOT have a dog like that never mind with little kids in the house.

AIBU?

YABU - maybe the poor dog has a growth disorder.

there was a big alsation on the end house here when i was little. it used to bark like mad at jump up at the gate growling as we walked by. man's best friend ?

It was a joke. I still think she's BU.

.....the size of a mans dog is inversely related to the size of his penis!

I've got a large german shepherd. And 2 kids. And we're all fine. I was also badly bitten as a child by a tiny jack russell. So it's not necessarily size that is the aggressor.

It's about being sensible and responsible owners.

I didn't mean to be sarky - it's just that the size of the dog is I think irrelevant if someone is scared of dogs in general.

There's a dog at my park - a Newfoundland x Great Dane - he's bloody humungous - but I'm a dog person so I'm not scared. Equally there's a lady in my building who shakes with fear when she sees my Jack Russell x Poodle.

Alouiseg, DH has a pug

YABU - but the fact you have including "scary" in your title akes me wonder if you're scared of dogs in general?

We lost our German Shep nearly two years ago, and I miss her so much. She was very big, but very bright, and a bit sop, really.

Personally I find smaller, yappy dogs more irritating worrying, as they seem to ready to nip. Generally I think it comes down to the control of the owner / the way the dog has been brought up. If its a rescue dog then its a whole 'nother bundle of trouble...

I can see why your scared if it growls,
When we moved in we had a big alsation at the back of us, we had a small fence and bushes and it used to growl and bark but we couldn't see it so I used to hang the washing out and run in because I was half expecting it to leap over!

I have 3 dogs, but all toy breed. I do like big dogs but only if on a lead and with good owners, If I saw a big dog off lead I would crap myself!

YANBU, I find big dogs intimidating full stop!

It's very common to read in those horror stories of dogs attacking children the owners saying "so out of nature/he's never done it before/never shown previous aggression" Sometimes it's just too little too late

I particularly hate it when dogs come up and pester my DC, while the owners are all "oh he's just saying hello" while DC are screaming in terror

But like others have said, it's mainly down to the owner.

Well, noone NEEDS a "big scary dog", but there are loads of things that we don't actually need and that could potentially hurt children that we have anyway because we want them (cars, hair straighteners, ponds etc etc)

To YOU he is a "big scary dog" to them he is a family pet, a member of the family. He is probably very different with them than he is with you, a stranger on the other side of the fence. I would think if he is regularly up at the fence barking he would have been over it by now if he was able, so it's more than likely he can't get over (alsations/ GSDs have lots of hip problems!) Can you have a word with the owner re the growling? Tell them it is making you uncomfortable? If they are sensible approachable people its likely they will be sensible about the dog too.

YABU.

No one needs dogs at all - we just like them. And I happen to like big ones.

Irritating

i live in a rough area too. my estate is full of people with big dogs. their owners walk around with them as the dogs are practically dragging them along i doubt the owners would be able to control them if they got off the lead or anything.

i am not scared of dogs per se (my parents are dog lovers and i grew up with having dogs in the house) but i am scared of the big ones, ie, alsatians, german sheperds, rottweilers and the like.

and i do agree that small dogs are just as likely to attack as big ones. but obviously big ones would potentially cause more damage!

dispite being attacked and having my leg ripped open by a dog, i don't want people to ban dogs etc,
I do however think you should have a license and be made to do and complete a training course.
Responsable owners have my respect ( although you can not tell who is when your walking through a park ) so i just steer clear and cross the road etc if its the same breed as the dog that attacked me.

Its too easy for unresponsable people to get hold of any animal these days, and a lot of them seem to be extremely uneducated about a dogs behaviour and responses to small children.

I would like to have a dog in the future, but i don't want to entertain the idea until DS is old enough to understand how to treat a dog etc.

oh and i also hate seeing children being dragged around by a dog that clearly hasn't been trained, because their parents can't be bothered to walk it themselves.

some of them can't even stop them from crossing the road, sooooo dangerous.