Opinions on a dangerous dog?

[Lauries]

Hello all,

just wanted to see what other mothers opinions are on the following situation:

When walking up my street to a summer fete with my mother and my little one (16 months)a neighbour was gardening with his two springer spaniels.

As we walked I thought at the time the dogs were staring at us a little too intently...

As we approached the house the two dogs started barking and ran down towards us barking constantly, the owner did nothing. My mother is terrified of dogs and stood there frozen screaming.

The dog on the left just stared at us barking but the one on the right stared straight at my son and growled. A really deep belly growl. The dog was really stiff, barking and growling, inching closer to the buggy. With all the noise, the owner tried to call the dogs back whilst saying oh don't worry they won't hurt you! He called at least three times before they ran back. Do friendly dogs growl and snarl at babies?!?!

I had visions of jumping infront of the buggy, stamping on this dogs head and crawling home with half an arm!!

After talking to mother, she said these dogs have jumped on her and my aunt before!

I think these dogs are dangerously out of control no? I strongly suspect that despite the owners assurances the one dog was actually going to take a bite out of my son..

What do I do? Should I report this guy? I think these dogs are going to bite someone at some point...

Speak to the dog warden / local community police officer.

Can you do that anonymously?

Or would it better to speak to the owner first and tell him if it happens again I will report him?

I don't want to get on the wrong side of people.

phone up your community safety police -safer neighbourhoods team i think they are called. not sure if these are only a london thing, but our ones are great - tactful, discrete, everything you need - with most people a visit from a police officer is all it takes to get them to sort themselves out!

If you report anonymously, then no action would be taken. If you report to the PCSOs and tell them why you feel the dogs are dangerous, then you stand mor of a chance of having any action taken. Dogs growling and barking is not dangerous in itself, it may be they have a word with the owner and advise him.

Did the dogs come out of the garden at all? Whilst your mum was obviously scared and so were you, dogs will act to defend their territory, that's what they do. If the dogs came bounding out of the garden onto the path or road, their owner was failing to control them as as such could be out of control. From you described it does not sound like they were dangerously out of control. However, if they have jumped on your mum before, she should report those incidents to the council or police.

Maybe the dogs were freaked out by your mother screaming?

Were the dogs on the owners property the whole time?

I only ask because even soppy dogs are teritorial sometimes. Ours barks and growls like mad if someone comes to our front door and then licks them to death when we open it even if she's never met the person before.

As a responsible owner, I think he should be aware that not everyone likes dogs and should have kept them under closer control. When we take ours to the woods we put her on the lead if people look nervous - not because she'd do anything, but other people have the right to enjoy their walk without feeling scared.

Personally I wouldn't report on this occassion, but you might want to try talking to the gentleman if you feel confident enough.

Your local environmental health dept should have a dog warden you could talk to for advice if you're still worried.

call the dog whisperer

use techniques yourself

teach your son the techniques

get neighbour to watch it

no touch no talk no eye contact

here, he is AMAZING

I am a dog owner, and think you should report.

here too

Oh yes, they ran out the garden and into the street!

I appreciate dogs do like to defend their territory however I really feel I should be able to walk down the street and feel safe.

These dogs took a while to respond whilst the owner was calling them, surely it can't be acceptable to allow two big dogs to run down to people walking and snarl at their children?

CrystalQueen - No, the dogs were staring at us as we walked and ran over acting (I think) quite aggressively. Mum screamed as the one ran straight toward the buggy and was growling. We both thought this dog was intent on attacking my son and I strongly feel he would have been bitten had the dog not returned (bloody close to the buggy at this point I add!)

A friend of the family trains rescue german shepherds and she would never stand for a dog growling at passers by.

Friendly dogs don't snarl at people surely?

CrystalQueen it doesn't matter one jot whether the dog was freaked out by the woman screaming

if the dog was displaying aggressive bahviour then it shouldn't be around people, and if it must be out it should certainly have a muzzle and a strong lead on at all times

people who keep dogs which are blatantly dangerous are twisted, or dim

Lauries, report it to the police if that is what happened.

of course you should be able to feel safe

arm yourself with knowledge about dogs to protect you and yours

it is unacceptable, and yes, it might be appropriate to report but in the mean time and for future, you can take responsibility and empower yourself

your mum screaming would not help

owners should absolutely not stand for their dogs growling at passers by but this is clearly a crapola owner

you can turn your back on a charging dog i think to protect and deflect

not nice for you though

Talk to the owner, it really isn't very neighbourly to go round reporting someone after one incident. Maybe they should have been locked in the house but the door got left open by accident.

JUst be diplomatic and say you dont want the dogs barking and growling at you in the street, and if it happens again you will have to consider reporting it.

Two incidents.

Mother said the dogs have jumped on her and my aunt before but yes, I appreciate what you're saying and you are probably right.

Ruby - 'arm yourself with knowledge about dogs to protect you and yours'

It's not the public's responsibility to go out and learn about dogs just so that they feel safe walking down the street come on really?

If this is what happened, the dogs were clearly not being controlled properly by their owner.

I would report it too.

I'm a dog owner and would not be happy if dogs I didn't know came out of their garden and growled at me or my children.

Whether or not the dogs did mean any harm is besides the point. They scared you and that's anti-social and the owner is responsible. It's his responsibility to make sure that people are safe around the dogs and that the dogs are safe. I don't think that being able to get out of the garden and possibly near a road is keeping his dogs safe either.

In your position I'd get DP to call round and let him know that you're not happy and that you're considering contacting your local police if it happens again.

Would fencing be an option for his garden?

I may just do that

To be honest, I'm not sure, springers are fairly large dogs the fence would have to be pretty high. Not everyone would want that for their front garden.

We're having a picket fence put in on Friday and specifically stated we wanted it around 2ft because we didn't feel comfortable having a really high fence all the way round.

firstly - don't attempt any of cesar whatisface's methods as suggested below. you shouldn;t ever try to train or handle a dog you don;t own unless you're a professional. and certainly not on the basis of watching a you-tube vid! cesar-jobby is quite controversial and some of his methods are hotly debated and roundly disliked by other dog professionals

secondly - it's totally not acceptable to let a dog run at people like this (I'm a dog owner). just calmly ask the owner not to let them do this - as HowAnnoying suggests. possbly even knock on the door, without your mum and dc, so you can calmly talk.

breed of dog is not, or course, a guaranteed guide to behaviour - however springers are reknowned for being boisterous but non-aggressive and the owner was probably correct in saying they wouldn;t hurt anyone. I'm not defending the dog, or the owner, - a far more appropriate response would have been to not let them run at you in the first place, and failing that, to get them away from you. and apologise - profusely, perhaps adding, as a post-script only, that they wouldn't have harmed you. owners do have a habit of saying this - it's often read (and, I admit, sometimes meant) as "my dog's behaviour is acceptable because it wouldn't have resulted in harm". Sometimes, however, the intent isn't to justify the behaviour, rather it's well-meaning, but possibly misguided, reassurance

I love dogs. I own two.
I would have been bloody scared if I were you.

Greensleeves, that's a little harsh saying people who keep dangerous dogs are twisted or dim.

I am neither, but there are people on my estate who class my two dogs as dangerous. Not because they are people aggressive but because they are occasionally dog aggressive. It varies from dog to dog, and who has yelled at them first.

My Dalmatian was dumped at the rescue centre for 'attacking' a 10yr girl who took it into her head to climb over the garden fence where he'd been shut in for over a year. No blood was drawn, he simply bowled her over with sheer enthusiasm. Despite this, he is the most gentle and easy-going dog round the house, to the point where my 7yr old can sit on him, and he doesn't flinch. He was also bitten very badly as a puppy, and I suspect this may contribute to his problem he has with other dogs. It's just random dogs in the park he's unsure about.

I've had the Dal for over 2.5 years now, he is fitter than he's ever been in his life, and we are constantly working on his dog aggression. But because I do not trust him, he is never allowed off the lead at any point in time. I cannot guarantee that he'll not behave.

The Jack is also a rescue dog, from the same centre, but he's all mouth and no bite (partly cos he has next to no teeth left). His 'aggression' comes from recognising how uncomfortable the Dal is when other dogs come barrelling up to him, so he tends to guard the Dal, and chase off the other dog. He does this with dogs that know the Dal, let alone strange dogs. I can, however call him back immediately, regardless of the situation.

I walk my dogs to the school every now and again, and I am continuously frustrated by the 3 or 4 parents out of the hundreds there who find offence to me walking through the park in front of them on the way to school, or complain to the school about me tying the dogs up 5 yards away from the gates (how dare I?!) yet herd their kids in a wide berth round them as though they are at full stretch on the lead, lunging at all and sundry walking past. They are not. They are usually stood or sat quietly, more bothered about sniffing the bushes nearby than the 300 kids filing out of the gates. If anyone has a problem with my dogs, I'd much rather they come up to me and tell me rather than leave it to the dragon on reception to grumble at me.

I do like it however, when I get some lovely children coming up, with their parents, asking if it's ok to pet the dogs. This shows respect and the dogs enjoy it too.

I agree with the OP's concern however. They can be intimidating, and I can appreciate how the situation must have distressed the OP. I do think you should have a chat with the owner though. Speaking from an owner's perspective, I think they'd appreciate it better rather than a hammering on the door from the local police.

Hatwoman - I dislike Cesar Milan intensely! His methods remind me of Barbara Whitehouse and her infamous if it doesn't do what you want it to strangle it methods...

Regarding springers being boistrous but not aggressive - as far as i'm concerned staring intensely into the face of a small child whilst barking and growling deeply with teeth exposed, snarling, with its body rigid and inching towards a buggy is aggressive behaviour.

I'm sorry but I just don't see how this dog's actions could have been anything except aggression. I used to have a golden who was food aggressive and acted the same way.

Hand on heart I just cannot accept that this dog would not have harmed us whatever its owner may claim.

And yes, I do agree with all the previous comments to speak to the owner first.

It probably wouldn't be acceptable to just complain without talking to him first

*Woodhouse? Not Whitehouse