Dangerous dog

[Catsansan]

My 5-year-old and I were walking when he noticed a garden statue in the neighbour’s unfenced front yard and stopped. That’s when the neighbour’s dog came running out through the door and growled. It was one of those short-haired, muscular breeds. The owner’s teenager came out and called it back, but the dog didn’t listen until an adult appeared. It all lasted only seconds but felt like forever. I was a few steps ahead and rushed back — I think seeing an adult might have stopped the dog. My DC who adores dogs was terrified and obviously so was I of what could have had happened. Is that dog dangerous?

But the dog growled....so something DID happen....it was basically warning of its desire to attack.And the fact it sounds like a bully breed makes it all the more worrying.
Be very careful OP!

@momager1 Thank god you lived in Canada. It appears in the UK people would be demanding she was PTS for defending her home from intruders. 🙄

Your dogs are adorable, by the way. 💖

NO. a dog growling is giving a warning. It is saying back off. . most dogs will calm down if you walk away. If a dog is on THEIR property, respect them and walk away.. if it is in a park...different opinion from me...do not take a dog in public that is a menace...but their own property, they really DO see it as their job to protect..so a growl (without agressive chasing barking) is not an issue...just keep walking past

It wasn't warning of it's desire to attack you weirdo. If it wanted to attack it would attack. Vocal dogs should be listened to and praised they're saying you're doing something I don't like and you need to back off.

A growl is not an attack. It is a warning.
The same as us telling someone to go away or leave alone.
A dog that growls is a safe dog. You are getting fair warning, its telling you something you need to listen to. A dog that doesn't growl is the dangerous one.

Dogs don’t ‘look’ aggressive , you’re being ridiculous .
I have a Rottweiler , couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag , despite his size , stance & the way he ‘ looks ‘.
He may well growl or bark if you approach our house though , it’s what most dogs do .

lmao bugalugs45 my friend has a rottie... also a yorkie.. rottie is terrified of yorkie is she gets mad... he is a big fucking marshmallow...looks scary but soft as shit

thank you so much.. our police force were so FANTASTIC and could see from the moment i let them in..that my dogs are well trained.. they also saw the cut in the screen window.. and realized my dog stopped me from harm.

A “desire to attack”? Seriously?

desire to attack??? no.. a warning...to get away from their home..their safe place... not a desire to attack ffs

thank you.. they both now live with us in punta cana.. never been any more issues since that day..standard poodles look fluffy and cute..but can be very very protective

My brother brought home the cutest German Shepherd puppy you ever saw.
Then his break at uni was over and he went back to school.
It fell to me to walk her every day after school, which was fabulous when I was little and she was a puppy.
But then we both grew up - and I got an after school job and it more difficult to fit the dog into my busy days.
One afternoon we were walking and she had to be about 6 - and we turned the corner and there were my friends, chatting and laughing, so we stopped to say hello. We were 17 and the boys were big.
My friend M said something funny and silly and I said “oh M” and brushed the back of my hand across his arm — and that’s all it took: the next thing we knew my sweet German Shepherd had M by the chest of his tee shirt. She had a mouthful of tee shirt - but she had lunged at him just because she watched me touch his arm.
We were all so shocked!! I pulled the dog off M and M was fine — but we were ALL STUNNED.
They had grown up with my puppy, too.
After that, I was very careful with our girl around other people.
Because you just never know about dogs.

NO.. dogs are smart.. my muttsos are in the top two breeds for intellignce. smarter than us.. standard poodles...only dog smarter is a border collie. alot of dogs are smarter than people.. stupid owners do not know how to train. . Mine went in to burger king punta cana with me this morning..as I really need the bathroom.. I bought them an 8 pack of chicken nuggets after i left the bathroom. They sat on finger click command and waited (they went crazy for them in car though lol) but they have manners...dogs are smarter than most give them credit for.

sorry for spelling errors.. my glasses ae upstairs in bedroom where husband is snoring and i do not want to wake him as he feels like shit

No, it isn't dangerous: it didn't attack you or even attempt to. It growled ie it gave you a warning to go away. Look it at it from the dog's point of view, you had stopped on the edge of its terrority and were looking into its yard. The dog doesn't know the reason for you stopping, it only knows that a stranger was stood there who shouldn't have been. It's the dog's job to not only tell you to go away but also to alert the owner to your presence. Some dogs do this by barking, others by growling. I am surprised at the lack of fencing, however.

"Desire to attack" - what?!

The dog was giving OP a warning to go away whilst also letting the owners know there was a stranger on the edge of its terrority.

come to my house right now.. I have two dogs...watching out our front window.. they are happy to SMILE (yes they do) at the security on patrol.. but...stranger danger.. they will alert very loud.

I have 2 rotties and I’ve never met a horrible one!

love rotties...they are such big softies

A dog that growls is a safe dog?! Never heard such rubbish....a dog that growls is being aggressive! (And yes I have owned a dog)

You have owned a dog? Clearly you know more than the experts then
A growl IS a warning not aggression - and that is not based on my having owned a dog (several actually) that is based on expert opinion from vets and behaviourists
A growl is communication and not always aggressive, there are actually different growls as well

Play growls. Grumbles. Threat growls. Pain growls. Sleep growls. Warning growls.
All a normal part of dog communication which you'd think humans would be well versed with considering we've lived with dogs for over 6000 years and are the sole reason they exist in the first place.

If you walk past a house and there are dogs in the garden they're going to bark and possibly growl at you. It's what dogs do because they are territorial. I know several dogs that bark and growl like mad at the gate but then run away if you actually go in!
Dogs can look scary though, I used to live in a village with a dobermann and it definitely looked scary when it was barking. Just reassure you son that the dog is just barking to let it's owners know there's somebody at their house as the main thing is you don't want him to be terrified of dogs.