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.

Nope. Sorry .it's not like living next door to a tiger. It is an animal that is legal to keep.

I feel for the neighbour if she feels terrified like @ilovegranny says she would. I really do.

But since OP is doing everything she should be ( and this has been backed up by visits from the RSPCA & Police ) The choices are stark

Move house or
Work on not being as afraid

Every time we leave our house there is a risk of harm. Given the amount of women and children that are harmed, sometimes fatally at the hands of a male spouse, we don't even need to leave our homes to be at risk. I'm absolutely not denying that a large powerful aggressive dog would overpower most of us, I'm just pointing out that while people are phoning the local authorities Monday to Friday every single week, moving house and living in fear they are statistically much much more likely to be harmed by a male person.

Look at the male aggression going on just now in parts of the country.

I know it’s not like living next door to a tiger but I was trying to think of something that would be ‘worse’ than living next door to a dog that you believe to be dangerous.

As long as your house and garden are secure (as they should be anyway), then your neighbour’s pets are of no threat to you.

As long as your house and garden are secure (as they should be anyway), then your neighbour’s pets are of no threat to you.

I would add that as long the OWNER was responsible and treating their animal correctly ( food, training, exercise ) the risks are much lower.

And OP is doing that.

Why get that dog fgs?
I'm on your neighbours side.
And your poor kids

Presumably because the OP felt she could offer an animal in need of love and care a good home.

Also, children are more likely to be harmed by the men in their lives than they are the dogs in their lives.

At what cost though? We sacrifice humans to keep dangerous dogs alive because not all of them attack? It's such an unreasonable risk, to me. I wouldn't mind so much if they only attacked their owners, but that's not the case.

As any dog can bite should all dogs be muzzled? The state the world is in at the moment I would have thought that a well behaved dog would be the least of anyone's worries. Dogs don't go around rioting, looting, setting fire to hotels and trying to murder as many people inside as they can, irrespective of who they are. Further afield they also don't go marching into neighbouring countries and bomb, kill and destroy. They don't carry knives with the expressed intention of inflicting harm on others. If you want to be frightened of something then be frightened of human beings. They are the planet's biggest killers, killing more than all the other mammal species combined. They do it for sport? for dominance, for food, for pleasure and just because they can. Humans kill anything and everything, yet we are supposed to be the most advanced species on the planet with higher cognitive power than any other, the ability to reason and make rational, informed choices and what choices do we make, but to do our best to destroy all before us.

Leave this dog alone, it has done no harm to anyone. It had to be rehomed at a few months old because its previous humans didn't care enough to look after it properly. How about innocent until proven guilty. If people were treated on the basis of what they might possibly do sometime in the future, although not actually specified, then there would be an even greater overcrowding problem in prisons than there currently is.

It is the sort of mass hysteria shown on here, based on no evidence whatsoever, just supposition, that started all the recent riots. People being whipped up into a frenzy of hatred with no interest in the truth. Question everything and try looking for actual facts as opposed to believing what you are told.

No, I don’t believe so; I’ve owned dogs and I have friends with dogs that am comfortable with. But I am terrified of these dogs (including XL Bullies) having read about fatal attacks, and I question the need and motivation for anyone to keep them.

It might be worth you talking to someone about it. Your reaction is very very extreme. If your house and garden are secure, I don’t see how a neighbour’s pet has any way of hurting you.

Even if the dog had escaped, unbeknownst to you, and you walked outside to your car, the chances of it running up to you and attacking you unprovoked is infinitely small.

There’s always some form of provocation in these attacks, even when it’s not immediately obvious.

We keep all human beings alive because not all of them attack. At a much higher and fatal rate than dogs do.

From the ones I’ve met Cane Corsos are lovely friendly dogs, just big. I’d be worried she’d poison it if she got the chance so I’d check she doesn’t throw something over the fence. I’d be worried too - have you spoken to the police about harassment etc?

Agreed. That dog has no place in a home with a child. I would not want to have conversations with someone who thinks it a good idea to have a dog like that.

There have already been several cases of these dogs getting out of their owners’ gardens and attacking people on the street. I would not want to live anywhere near one of them.

Yes - that is a very sensible view. I know a vet who questioned the need for a ban - until starting work on neutering them. The way these dogs behave is unbelievably frightening leading to other dog owners in the waiting room clearly being very scared of them after witnessing extremely aggressive behaviour.

I have met a Cane Corso twice. Once waiting outside a Country House whilst his lady owner was inside visiting. Her husband was waiting with the dog.

We chatted about the dog. He asked If I would like to stroke her which I did. She was such a calm and beautiful dog. All the time intently waiting for her human.

There is another that walks in my local park occasionally always on the lead. Another very quiet dog. My smaller dog is quite reactive to large dogs so we avoid.

If you have had dogs @ilovegranny you would realise that your neighbour if it was OP, ( since that's who we're talking about ) was a conscientious owner . You'd know that by how quiet the dog was and the regular walks.

Your calls to the authorities would eventually go unheeded after they had initially reassured you that nothing untoward was found.

I think you'd be OK tbh.

Guessing that "its a lovely dog and wouldn't do anything to harm anybody" how many times have we heard that from dangerous dog owners, before they have gone on to attach.

The 'provocation' for an attack can be as difficult to predict or avoid as: someone standing up faster than the dog would like; a sensory cue like a smell or sound; eye contact; moving away from the dog; entering what the dog perceives as its space to defend; etc.

An animal that is experiencing fear aggression can behave aggressively towards anyone or anything it perceives as a threat, and its criteria for classing things as threats can be very broad indeed.

All animals can experience aggressive episodes, and training can be used to mitigate that. Temperament is also a factor in how much risk is present. However, protection breeds are bred with a focus on the animal responding to potential threats with assertive and aggressive behaviour, and a large breed with a strong bite force is capable of doing significant damage. Forcing these dogs into unsuitable roles and settings isn't fair on anyone, including the dogs.

From what I've read OP trains dogs & understands them - but does she understand people? - or even care?

Exactly this. Also ANY dog can become aggressive if it's ill/in pain, so throw in the mix a dog with a huge bite force and there's going to be issues.

Years ago I had to remove my little ones from a play park as there was a family there and yes they were one of THOSE families, with a huge mastiff type, off lead running about. I ignored at first but then it was waiting at the bottom of a tube slide and I had visions of one of the kids surprising it by popping out or catching it with a foot as they came down, so we left.

I don't agree bad dogs are always the result of bad owners, dogs are animals after all and no amount of training can make them 100% safe. However let's just put that to one side and say it IS down to poor training/owners. Not allowing these dogs to exist will make it harder for the dickhead owners to have one. Cane corsos aside, check out the UK stats of dog attack deaths, they are almost ALL bull breeds and a few mastiffs in there. I know thousands of people have staffies for example and they're lovely dogs and will go through their whole lives displaying zero aggression, but it's not a coincidence bull breeds appear so often in the list. (Derailing the CC thread I know, but talking about dog attacks in general and pointing out that most dogs of a certain breed can of course be lovely, until one day they might not be).

Just to add... I found this a bit funny, it's not really, it's awful, more bizarre I guess. I checked out if a poodle had killed anyone and found out one had actually killed 3 people. It fell out of a 13th storey window, killed the woman it landed on. A man was crossing the road and stopped in shock and got hit by a bus and killed. Another man was watching the whole thing and had a heart attack and died 😱

I did relay this story to my 10 year old whose only question was: "did the dog die?" . 🙃

Did it? That's the first thought I had too!

Just checked... died instantly apparently. I did have visions of the story being told to Renton in Trainspotting, ending up with his friend saying "the dog was fine" ( like the Tommy/cat story) but alas, it wasn't to be.

😿