This is more of a rant, because I really feel powerless. I should say we live in France and the only solution I have to the problem would be calling the equivalent of the RSPCA, and, in the unlikely circumstances they would do anything, they would put the dog down, and I don't want this to happen.
So, the people opposite us have a lovely dog, who is perfectly pleasant whenever we run into her anywhere in the village, except just in front of her (and therefore our) house. She is allowed to run loose and on the rare occasions she is tied up it is generally in the sun with no water.
We have a lovely soft golden retriever that we always have on a lead when walking through the village (mainly coz he is really dopey where cars are concerned) and this dog crept up on us out of nowhere as we were walking past the house and bit him on the nose.
We went to see the owner and he was incredibly unbothered and said if we have to go to the vet his insurance will cover it!!!
I know she is being territorial in front of her house, and the owner's argument that she is loose with children at the local stables is reasonable. But she is aggressive with other dogs when they go in front of her house, and it has got to the point where to walk our dog we feel we have to put him in the car and take him elsewhere.
It's really unfair as we have wonderful walks straight from the house, but we are scared of him being attacked again.
She has even taken to coming across the street and growling at him through the garden fence, which isn't too bad as she can't get in, but it is not fair. It is a pure case of nice in general dog not being looked after by crappy owner and it makes me mad.
Our neighbours on the other side have said that they have had the same issue - she has attacked their lab as they walked past and she carries her small dog when she goes past as she is afraid for its life.
Sorry, long post, no-one has to answer, just wanted to vent. Rant over.