Neighbour HATES my dog!

[Canecorsomummy]

Hi everyone!

I’ve lived in my house for over 9 years now, have owned a poodle cross for 8 of those years. April last year I got a Cane Corso puppy, spoke to this certain neighbour informing her, gave her my number and told her if there was any problems with barking etc, especially if I’m not home, then go please let me know so I can resolve it but she has done nothing but cause me problems ever since.

Last year I was taking rubbish to the bins and the CC followed me out and was being fussed over by my neighbour on the other side of my house. 24 hours later the other neighbour put a computer typed letter through my letterbox stating the car park is not a place to walk a dog, it is illegal for her not to be on a lead and if she sees it happening again she is going to report me for having a out of control dog and her being a dangerous breed!! I sent her a text message explaining the law very basically for her and explaining under no circumstances will she be putting notes through my letterbox over something which could be dealt with by an adult conversation.

Well, since April this year she has made numerous reports to RSPCA claiming I’m neglecting her, abusing her and now a report to Social Services claiming I’m not only neglecting my CC, but she is a dangerous breed and I have a young child in my home!

I have absolutely had enough now!! My back door is normally open 24 hours as I have an enclosed garden but I’m petrified to allow the dog to be able to go in and out at her free will because of this neighbour, petrified I’m going to be approached by rspca/police when I’m out walking her ….

I just don’t know what to do now.

Well she clearly does. Just because you’d be too lazy to do so doesn’t mean the next person is.

I get people being wary or concerned of dogs, I think we all should be, but the hysteria here is crazy.

It really isn't.

It's offensive to call it 'hysteria' and 'crazy' when you see the terrible injuries which victims of dog attacks have been left with.

"Even if we were unlucky enough to be living next to a paedophile (and I agree you can never know though our neighbours seem nice), the most they're going to be able to do is take some dubious padding pool photos of my kids in the garden (at which point I'd get the police involved). They're not exactly going to jump into my garden and start tearing my children to shreds and savaging them, are they?"

1. You don't seem to understand the risks pedophiles pose.

1. You know that they can and do, do that, right? Kids can be murdered by people as well as dogs!

There are more pedophiles than dangerous dogs out there.

But you could say the same for living next to people.

You've told us an awful lot about the CC on this thread. Its exercise needs, what it was bred for, what its genetic health conditions might be, you've clearly looked into the definition of what fits the 'type' of a dangerous dog and what doesn't, so you've obviously done plenty of research on the breed. You are telling us all of that and yet somehow it has completely passed you by that they have a reputation for being aggressive and have attacked and killed people numerous times?

What kind of internet research do you do, that manages to conveniently filter out all of that? Or are you one of those people who sees it and stubbornly ignores or dismisses it as just uninformed, hysterical rubbish and ploughs on regardless?

As the mother of a young child, what part of your brain thinks it's more important to defend and champion a breed of dog with a fearsome reputation, than to say 'Oh well, as much as I want to believe that this particular dog is not going to be a danger, I won't take the risk, just to be on the safe side. I have a child, after all. I'll leave the 'weapon dogs' to the people who have less to lose if it goes wrong.'

I was aware that Cane Corsos were being discussed as aggressive, unsafe and unstable dogs to own 12 YEARS AGO. That was long before I'd ever even heard the term XL Bully.

Again, a paedophile is not going to leap into my garden and start savaging my children.

Besides, it's not an 'either/or' choice. Regardless of the risks posed by paedophiles, children are much safer not living in a house with or next to dangerous breeds of dog.

You could say the same about travelling by car. Very dangerous.

@PuddlesPityParty really resorting to name calling now.
I'm being realistic, most people would simply start to think, oh I'll only be a second. It happens

When I made my kids breakfast this morning I had to leave the room three times (only for a few seconds at a time). It's real life. I just wish people would be honest about it

"Again, a paedophile is not going to leap into my garden and start savaging my children."

They can and they have been known to. It's probably as likely... I.e. not very!

@GoFigure235 if you're whipping up a frenzy about dogs, at least have the decency to do the same about other "risks".

We license people to drive to try to ensure that the roads are as safe as they can be.

You don't need a license to own a dog.

Given all of of this, why are you scared that the RSPCA are going to knock on your door? You sound confident in your ability to look after your dogs. I reported a neighbour to the RSPCA for a cat that frankly could have had the starring role in the RSPCA's christmas appeal and as far as I can tell, the poor bloody thing was still left to die of a combination of exposure and whatever illness it had on their front porch. And that was 7 years ago. These days, they don't have time to respond unless you're using live puppies for firewood. If an RSPCA officer turned up on my door step because a neighbour maliciously reported me, I'd cheerfully walk them through my dog's daily life and fully expect them to be just as bemused as I would be.

I am not anti-dogs. Not all dogs are dangerous, though of course none should be left unsupervised around children/strangers. I have never heard of a basset hound or a whippet killing anyone, for example. I imagine you could count the number of fatal incidents involving spaniels on one hand, if indeed there are any.

I disagree with people keeping dogs that they could not control or stop if the dog lost it and decided to go for someone.

So you’d probs utilise a baby gate or something like most people. Listen, I do it day in day out. It’s easy when you use your brain a little bit and utilise things to help such as baby gates. Just because you wouldn’t want to or can’t comprehend it for some reason doesn’t mean people don’t do it. Just because I can’t do a backflip doesn’t mean it’s not possible to do one.

@PuddlesPityParty

I asked if OP feared that the neighbour would harm her dog in some way or let it out or steal it and she said no. She could only look at it from an upstairs window.

The only harassment from the neighbour as such, is threatening to report the dog. Her neighbour has a right to complain about the dog to the authorities if she thinks it’s a dangerous banned breed. They will inform her that she is mistaken as, according to OP who seems to know her stuff, the dog isn’t a banned breed at all and has thus far, been well trained and is obedient. That doesn’t stop the neighbour being scared.
Equally, if the OP feels the neighbour is a problem to her, she could go out of her way to really listen properly to the neighbours fears and try to reassure her, or if she feels the neighbours actions amount to harassment, she is perfectly free to report that to the police.

At the moment, as far as we can tell, we have two neighbours each scared of the other. One scared because of a perceived fear of large breed dogs, the other scared of being approached by the authorities while out on a walk with her child and of a welfare check which has been asked for by the neighbour.

I simply don’t see why the OP is petrified if the dog is not on the banned breed list and if she is properly safeguarding the child and safeguarding the public while she is walking the dog and if she is meeting the needs of the dogs. What is there to be so scared of then if she knows the neighbour won’t harm the dog.

OP already knew that the neighbour was scared of large dogs when she agreed to home the large breed puppy that had been poorly treated, - in a terraced house with a small child and another already established dog. It was already a risk even though the OP seems to have done all she can to mitigate against anything going wrong.

But OP must also accept that some people will always be scared in spite of good training because they know that even the best trained pet dogs are unpredictable and can easily over-power an adult, especially if they are very large and heavy.

In my opinion, that risk comes with the territory of owning such a dog in close proximity to neighbours.

Alot of what you have said, doesn't scream responsible owner so I can see why others don't believe you.

'I'm well experienced with dogs' but let a 5 month old Cane Corso off lead.

'I never leave my child unattended with my Cane Conso, other than when I go to the toilet' so you do leave them alone together, multiple times a day?

'I use a baby gate to separate my dogs' how can a waist high gate keep a Cane Corso secure? If you believe this is securing a Cane Corso how secure is your garden really?

'I have a young child, a poodle Cross breed and a neglected Cane Corso'.

'My neighbour was talking to the dog in our cul de sac' so presumably you live in a small house with a small garden?

'I'm well experienced in dog training but my poodle Cross growls at anyone that passes the front door and will not let anyone sit next to me until she has sussed them out'. That is probably the biggest issue with the neighbour. Your older dog isn't well trained and has probably growled at her when passing so why would she trust you?

No one is going to come on here and claim to be anything other than a responsible dog owner, but some of your judgments show you could be doing much more.

Well they would say that wouldn’t they? Your neighbour sounds frightened, rightly so. This is an extremely large and powerful dog that has previously been mistreated according to your previous posts. You keep saying you’re an experienced and responsible dog owner. If you were you would know that despite all your training the previous mistreatment could cause unpredictability in your pet.

I am an experienced and responsible dog owner. I’m appalled that you had the dog outside your house off leash in any circumstances. Your neighbour is right to complain and should continue to do so.

My neighbours could only see my dogs from their upstairs window and they started throwing things into my yard. I was worried they’d escalate to targeting the dog or throwing something in that could harm them. Why is it only okay for OPs neighbour to be scared??

@PuddlesPityParty how exactly is a baby gate going to stop a dog that size

FGS I have a Doberman and a baby gate stops her pretty easily! Use a tall one and fit it properly - easy.

if your thinking it’ll knock it - WHY would the dog unprovoked want to charge through the gate? If you’re that scared of dogs go to therapy, seriously.

Shall I show you some of the injuries my ex left me with and we can all see whether a dog is any more dangerous than a man? And we all live quite happily with them….

@GoFigure235 of that neighbour was following the required laws regarding having said things in their garden and it was not illegal to have them on their property then no it’s not their responsibility to continually tip toe around your feelings/fear

@GoFigure235 and there you have it. All dogs are dangerous. So you think you can only count spaniel fatalities on one hand so they don't matter? Those up to 5 people wouldn't be happy you said that! It's also not just about fatalities, it's about life changing injuries.

There is a girl in instagram who had her nose bitten off by a spaniel. There will be many others.

If that dog turned on your child do you honestly think you’d be able to get it off them

Your dog is 18 months old now, isn’t it? Just coming into the full grown adult stage.

@PuddlesPityParty I too have a Doberman! No baby gate needed now.

But Dobermans are the best! Photo for attention!