Should I be worried about this dog and if so, what should I do about it?

[Homelyhome183]

I live in a horse shoe of houses with a grassed area at front. My DC are teens but lots of little ones play out together.

One of my neighbours has acquired an XL bully type of dog. It's huge. I've never seen a dog like it before. He walks it on a standard lead attached to its collar. He's a slightly built man and this dog is obviously very strong. It's yanks him as he crosses the road and he generally looks like the dog is walking him rather than the other way around!

There's a rumour that this dog has killed a neighbours cat.

Am I right to be worried? I love dogs and I've never been scared of them but this one makes me really anxious. His front door leads straight onto the grassed area, no fencing or anything.

Is there anything is could/should do or am I being silly?

What is it that you're worried about? I see plenty of labs and golden retrievers pulling their owners along. Plenty of little terriers would try to kill a cat (if that's even true). Have you seen any evidence that this dog poses a risk to people more than a strong lab or a prey-driven terrier?

Well this is what I'm asking, should I be worried? I've never seen such a huge, powerful dog before. It's jaw and leg muscles are massive! I've never heard anything in the news about labs or goldens killing children. That's my ultimate worry and that this man hasn't got good control over it.

I think you are right to be nervous. It sounds like a bad combination but I suspect, apart from avoiding going out when they are out and about, there is nothing you can do. There is certainly no legislation applicable here.

If the dog is well contained and always on lead I wouldn't worry about it. If it roams I'd be more concerned. Not because the dog is necessarily a problem but because we don't know if dogs we aren't familiar with are friendly or could be aggressive.

Whilst I can understand you being worried, from what you've said there's no real proof that the dog poses any risk to anyone (or animals, if we are not sure if the whole cat rumour is true) I know two huge dogs, very built and can give a good pull on the lead and they are the softest most sweetest dogs.

With that said there's never any harm in being cautious. But other than that not sure there's much more you could do at this stage.

I would be concerned.

I agree that all dogs can bite but XL Bully dog will cause more damage than a terrier.

I would be worried. It's a powerful dog with the potential to kill grown adults. If it's dragging him around he hasn't trained it, and if he hasn't trained it then he isn't taking the risk his dog poses seriously. What can you do though :( :( :(

A couple of years ago my dog got chased by a neighbours dog that had escaped from his house. It was one of 'those' dogs and although my dog wasn't physically harmed it was shaken (as was I!) I phoned the police to see what they could do and they offered a sort of welfare check. They went informally to have a word with the owner about being responsible for his animal and make sure it's insured. Also this is logged so if there are any future incidents, the dog may be removed.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll just be cautious.

The thing is, it doesn't look well contained. Yes it's on a lead but it's not under good control at all. It looks like it could slip its collar and pull the bloke over. There's another large bully that lives locally which doesn't make me nervous at all. It wears a muzzle, its on a double lead (not sure what you call it, it has a lead at the front and the back) and it walks to heel.