Why do people do this?

[TeaTeaLotsOfTea]

Walking down my street today going back home after the village easter egg hunt.

Walk past a neighbours house and his giant Rottweiler (sp) is in the front garden.

Instantly it growls and pounces jumping up at the wall. It could easily have got over so DS and I run past. DS is terrified nearly in tears, he's 10yo so not a baby. The dog is easily bigger than him.

This is not the first time this has happened but with a different dog.

So my question is, why do people put there unfriendly, frankly ferocious dogs in their front garden to terrorise passers by?

Agree, colditz. I meant allowing/encouraging your dog to bark at passersby in the front garden (when you have a perfectly good back garden).

Although I would like my terrier to stop guarding us from killer Tesco bags caught in trees, so if anyone knows of any way to stop dogs from barking at one particular sound and not all sounds I'd be grateful

Well it's 4,10 in the morning and I'm up as the dog is in my neighbours bedroom window (which is open) barking at the wind!
I don't live in a rural area I live imam urban street.

I'm not scared of the breed at all.

I'm not scared of any dog.

I actually saw it before it saw me and because I know the owner and his dobermans (I've never seen him walking the Rottweiler only the Dobermans) so I assumed it was as friendly as them.

Then when it saw me it growled and launched forward.

I'm sorry but DS nearly screamed with fright so natural reaction was to leg it. We do only live a few doors down. It was up against the garden wall and watching us.

I understand the guarding bit but why not have it on a long lead so it can't get out. Then again I may not have seen the lead and still thought it was going to jump over.

Also it didn't bark. It growled!!!

In my experience a barking dog isnt going to bite but a growling dog is warning you that it might.

I really do sympathise. I love dogs but I am wary around the guard dog breeds. I know they are beautiful and intelligent animals but they are so strong that that power in itself frightens me.

However, I was guilty of having a very "talkative" dog who felt the need to inform me whenever someone walked past, sneezed, breathed ... I adored my dog but it was quite annoying even for me! She used to bark incessantly if someone knocked on the door but then she would stop when they came in and try to get them to be her best friend. Like a previous poster, my dog was very little and so clearly not aggressive people found it funny as a rule.

My Rottweiler (one of them anyway!) barks/growls at people passing the front door (we have no front garden), to me this is perfectly normal dog behaviour, and not a bad thing at all. I like it that he alerts me to the fact someone is there (and alerts the person outside that there is a big dog in the house!).

I would not leave him unattended in a garden where he could jump the fence/wall though. Not because I think he's a danger to anyone (despite all the noise/posturing!) but for his own safety really.

We'd never dream of putting our extremely unfriendly dogs in the front garden.