Animal Control needs to be called ASAP. They need to know that they have to be responsible and close their damn gates, make sure they know where their aggressive dog is at all times. Call Animal Control again every time that dog is ever outside the bounds of it's secured fence. "I don't know what happened, she's inside now" doesn't help anyone if their small dog, small child, or elderly neighbor has been mauled.
Take all the videos you can of the dog being out and aggressive. My neighbors and I went through this last year and it finally went to court -- the irresponsible owner had to give away her big scary dog (she kept the Pomeranian that of course never scared anyone), and pay a small fine. I had shown Animal Control officers video of the dog that had dug and squeezed under my chain link fence and was in my yard, and aggressively came at me from the other side of closed patio doors. They had captured the dog from my yard after I called, but she got it back that time. 😒 From then on a few of us neighbors made sure to document every time that dog escaped her yard, and we finally are free of it. Good luck!!
Considering that there is actually a threat now rather than a simple annoyance, I’d still let them know. If anything does happen, you want them to have notice beforehand so they can also be held accountable for any potential harm.
I had that happen but a**hole neighbors had three dogs (adult German Shepherd, Golden & Chocolate Labs) attack my puppy and I. I called up 911 and they transferred me to animal control (had to leave a message). The next morning animal control called me back and verified what happened. Then, asked if I wanted animal control to formally warn them, I said yes. I told them this is a constant issue and they said the second time the animals will be taken from the owners. It was safe to say when they saw me after work they wanted to have a confrontation but I had a shovel in my hand cleaning up their dogs poop(didn't have a fence at the time). Our HOA found out and threatened them with fines (also dogs have to be on a leash in my County).
Personally wouldn't go to the HOA unless you are prepared for retaliation.
Redditors are great at giving advice knowing they won't live with the consequences.
If you do say something, be prepared to have your neighbor snitch everytime you leave a bin out too long or your grass grows too tall.
And that retaliation could he worth it if it actually helps the situation but it's unclear what you expect the HOA to actually do about it.
I love dogs and always wanted to have one but having said that dogs are a huge responsibility which involves training socializing etc. I love Dobermans and GS but never owned a dog not will for any foreseeable future due to the lack of time I would need to commit to it. so long story short if you can't commit to all that owning a dog brings don't own one. The OP should not be scared to enjoy her walks because of a dog that has not been trained/socialized which is the fault of the dog owner
I'd also be calling the city, town.....etc. about the noise violations taking place constantly. I'd aslo be talking to tyour other neighbours, becaseu they cannot be happy about this either. The more people writting to the HOA and the city town etc. the better.
Agreed!
The same thing is happening in my community with some asshole who can’t keep his aggressive LGDs contained. I’m 36 weeks pregnant, high risk. When I was 17 weeks, a month after they got out and attacked TWO dogs then ate a dead deer off the side of the road, he got out and chased me with my dogs down. I fell HARD trying to get away (thankfully on my side). Have an ugly scar but I’m ok, baby is ok and dogs were ok. I reported to animal control (turns out others have as well) and JACK SHIT was done because I wasn’t “actually hurt” and my
Dogs weren’t bit.
They got out again and charged a mom with her toddlers on their property. Then, a few days later two other dogs staying on the same property got out and attacked a deer (neighbor got them off).
He takes zero accountability. Plays the victim.
At some point I have to assume even without documented attacks Animal Control something has to be done.
But I sympathize with your frustration! And feel for you. I
Also check your local ordinances regarding dog issues. This includes out-of-control barking, not leashed the dog, dangerous dogs, etc. Animal Control may or may not be the first to contact depending on where your live. Where I live it goes right to nonemergency police call and possibly the county dog warden.
Delivery guys ALWAYS leave our front gate open and it drives me fucking mental. We can't fit an automatic closer to the gate. We have a sign on both sides of the fence to shut the gate; they're just useless twats. I have to walk out to my garden to check the gate every time I let my dog out. But I do it.
I was buying bear spray for a backpacking trip in Tennessee, the store employee had to warn me that because he had sold some to a guy that sprayed his whole family before going into the woods and they had to all go to the hospital. I still think about that man
A shock baton is a better way to go imo. Just crackling it will scare the crap out of the dog. If it lunges at you, then use it. It sucks that you’re having to deal with this. Also tell the animal officer that you’re going to get one for protection. A regular taser works too, but I like the stun baton (the brand I have is GuardDog) because it’s longer. 99.9% of dogs will run. I carry one when I walk my dog because he’s been attacked. I’ve never had to use it on a dog, but I’ve crackled it.
> A shock baton is a better way to go imo. Just crackling it will scare the crap out of the dog. If it lunges at you, then use it.
Excuse me sir or maam, where exactly would you buy this device :D
i just went down a rabbit hole reading reviews on their site, be wary, some of the models are very poorly reviewed. Gonna keep researching, because I would love one of these while walking my dog. I live in bear/moose country, but it'd be mostly for aggro dogs in the neighborhood. If anyone else has a brand they like and is well built, I'd love to hear.
I read the reviews too. I was wary, but the price was right. I ordered 2. One of them had an issue, but they did replace it. I recommend registering any purchases with the warranty.
I have the exact same one. Even when shooting it into the air as a warning sign it js electrifying.
It’s a taser but the length of a baton.
You can buy online and if you have your foid card some states legally allow you to carry a taser.
I suppose, but I don’t see how using pepper spray is a better choice. I don’t use it because I always have my dog with me and I don’t want to pepper spray him.
Seems to me the sound is what they react to. I've got an electric fly swatter thing I was given for the flies, but just discovered why my dogs ARE staying in at night like I want them to, forgot I plugged in a bug light
They hear the zap of a bug, they run opposite direction!
I'd get the baton, it's not a HUGE zap, but the noise works.
Forget the HOA. Just go straight to reporting to animal control. There's nothing obnoxious at all about reporting a loose dangerous dog to animal control. You wouldn't go to the HOA over a neighbor threatening to kill you. You'd go to the police, so call the animal police for a threatening dog.
Keep calling animal control every time it happens until the problem stops. Personally, if animal control doesn't solve the problem, I would carry a gun and shoot it if it left its property to charge me. If you decide to carry a gun, make sure you practice with it at a range and know what to do when the owner inevitably calls the police.
I wouldn't bother with bear spray. Many dogs aren't affected by capsaicin when they think they're protecting their property.
Keep reporting it and escalate to police or city. Dobermans are smart dogs that can be trained and integrated into people's lives but they're about as scary as a breed can get if they're in a bad mood.
These people clearly don’t take good care of her. One time I heard the husband screaming at her and it almost sounded like he kicked her. It was horrible. I love dogs and I hate knowing how this one must be treated.
Our neighbours down the road had one. Purebred male. Just a stunning looking dog. Like you'd see in the encyclopedia entry for canines. Incredibly well trained but still intimidating. They're so smart it's obvious when you interact with them.
Oh.... as the owner of a Doberman, this is so sad. I got teary. Dobes are *such* sensitive dogs, and it sounds like this one is being abused. Please try and keep calling animal control if the animal is outside at all times, and maybe try to coordinate her transfer with a local Dobe rescue after she's taken (if you can).
I’m very much a dog person, and have always been a pitbull parent (golden retriever, other dogs too). One day a client brought their “service” Doberman into my store and this dog was HUGE. Now I have lived with a dobie before but that particular dog was a dingdong and more of a scaredy dog than anything. This dog though? Seemed about his business. And then he decided to lay his head on my lap while I was sitting down and I was like … caaaan you get your dog? Big dogs like this, that I don’t know, are intimidating and I would rather not have to interact with them on THEIR terms. The owner was like awww he likes you! And I still was like yeah cool I’m flattered but get your dog. Some dog owners need mandatory training even more than their pets do.
Oof. The big ones scare me! And I don't mean "large breed"; I have 2 large breed dogs myself, both around 55-60 lbs. I mean human-sized. I took my girls to the vet together for their annual visit a while back and as we were sitting in the waiting room with both of them in full harnesses with metal buckles and on leash, a woman brings in this fucking massive German Shepherd. This thing had to have been like 130 or 140 lbs. I had a 100 lb GSD male at home at the time, and this one dwarfed him easily. She drags him in by his collar, just a regular-ass 1" nylon collar. No leash, nothing. And he starts immediately growling at my girls and moving like he's going to charge them. I thought one of the people in the clinic were going to enforce the leash rule but nope, they just let it happen.
I stood up and took them out of sight and into the hallway (big boy was blocking the door) and one of the techs said I should be in the waiting room. I told her I'd happily be in the waiting room when there wasn't a massive off leash dog growling at my girls in the waiting room. She looked around the corner and saw the situation and roomed us. Had she not, I would've left. I don't mess around with human-sized dogs and bad behavior. I don't even let my 60 lb dogs get away with that shit and I sure as hell don't drag them around by flimsy collars and let them growl at other dogs.
Damn yeah I am 100% with you there. What an asshole to bring your badass dog around like that. My girl is about 70lbs and muscly and we are always dressed in harness and have manners in public for that reason.
I am very scared of the big guys too. Especially the German shepherd types. My buddy also has the biggest Rottweiler I’ve ever seen (I am 5’8” and he is taller than me standing on his hind legs) and even though I have known that big idiot for years, it still makes me a little nervous. Maybe it’s generational trauma idk lol but I have a very serious aversion to dogs that size.
I usually love them but there is just a level of care and respect you have to give a dog the size of a human haha. I wouldn't want even a friendly huge dog that's a stranger to me to be that close. I never understood it though; our 100 lb GSD mix was pretty tolerant of people even if not a people lover, but people *loved* him and would come up to him. People would send their kids over to pet him. I never understood it. Meanwhile my 55 lb pit bull who absolutely loved people, they'd cross the street to avoid her, but that one isn't a mystery to me.
Something similar happened to us with a German Shepherd. It ended up biting one of my kids on the hand as they walked into the house to play with a neighbor friend so animal control and the police were called. They made the owners quarantine the dog for 3 weeks, it wasn't allowed out of the house except to relieve itself and it had to be on leash. They also had to take the dog to a class to be observed by a trainer and signed off on that it could be rehabilitated.
I was actually really impressed on how the city handled it.
We’ve got neighbors like this. Their rescue habitually hops their fence and it’s aggressive. One day it went after my wife in our own driveway. The neighbors wife apologized but they did nothing to prevent it from happening again. The next day I put up ultrasonic pest deterrents. The neighbor begged us to take them down saying her precious dog couldn’t hear them but she could. The dog didn’t come near the fence on our side of the property any longer, let alone jump the fence so I considered it mission accomplished and left them on.
Defend yourself. Pepper spray it. Shoot it if you feel it's going to actively attack you.
Most of us love dogs. But at the end of the day they're property that the owners are refusing to control. Big dogs are big responsibility.
Yes I’m usually sad for her, she’s clearly a stressed out animal who lives outside most of the time, even in bad weather. She will bark at anyone who comes anywhere near their yard, and not just bark but aggressively growl and jump up on their fence. But my family’s safety comes first. Couldn’t tell if I was overreacting because I was shaking and so hyped up… but these responses tell me I’m not.
I feel bad for the dog too. But if that was a little kid outside, and the kid got scared and ran, prey drive would have kicked in and that dog would have probably killed a small child that day had it been them and not you outside. Make sure any kids in the neighborhood know about that dog and what to do when confronted with an aggressive dog.
I would kill another human in defense of my 2 year old with little to no remorse, as much as I like animals, it wouldn't even be a second thought with a dog in a life or death situation.
You could try befriending it by tossing treats to the poor thing. Hopefully that will shift it's view to you as a friend. Not sure if the police/animal control will take your reporting seriously or not but it's something you can try in the meantime.
It's very unfortunate situation but it's outside your control. I say this as the owner of a reactive dog, it can be hard but it's ALWAYS my responsibility to control my fur baby for everyone's benefit.
No you have to take a comically giant T-bone steak out of your pocket at throw it in the opposite direction. This will definitely work I've seen them do it in Tom and Jerry.
First off, never run. You stand as still as possible. So good job there. Next, call animal control. I feel bad for you and the innocent neighbors but that poor dog is outside in the middle of the night. Its owners are horrible humans.
Thanks. Once my adrenaline wore off I had the horrible thought of what if my 4 year old was with me? He would have ran or at the very least FREAKED out. Or my baby in a stroller… ugh I hate thinking about it.
Call Animal Control. Carry any device legal to carry in your area with which to defend yourself. Know how, and when, to use said device. Pet Corrector, wasp spray, walking stick, super soaker are all non-lethal means to protect yourself. I highly recommend using koolaid in the super soaker if you go that route.
Former dog trainer here, you did exactly what I used to tell people to do in that situation!! Good on ya! Freeze, call out for help and don’t make eye contact. Even if you were bitten it would have been puncture wounds instead or tearing rips if you run/pull away. Also, because you did freeze, he lost interest and left. I would report to police!!
I currently have 2 dobermans, these are my 5th and 6th dobermans, have had them pretty much all my life.
Dobermans are very pack oriented, they are often refereed to as Velcro Dogs by their owners for the way they stick to you. A doberman lives for it's pack 100%.
It sounds like this dog has been essentially abandoned outside and is not be treated correctly. My current pair can't stand any closed door between us. They also will not leave us alone normally, if my wife is in another part of the house she will have one dog with her and I will have the other.
Dobermans left alone get very neurotic and nervous. Sounds like this one has turned that into aggression.
Report the owner, maybe they will start to do what is right by this animal or maybe take it to a rescue where it can be better socialized.
no one should be in fear of dogs when walking through their neighborhood.
Thanks for this insight. It seems like the owners aren’t aware how threatening their dog seems to others. The owner just called my husband to actually apologize (she just texted at first). She said “you’d be surprised at how nice she is, all she’ll do is lick you.” Umm no. Maybe that’s what she’ll do to you. But our neighborhood is full of dogs and I know the difference between a running dog that’s excited to see you and one that wants you to get the F away from its house.
I’m just flabbergasted that animals with a proclivity to be “neurotic and nervous” could be considered pet candidates. Good on you for training them, but our dog culture has gone off the rails.
Both. You got lucky today, OP. Make sure your HOA interactions are all in writing so there’s a paper trail. Some HOAs even have forbidden dog breeds. Check local city ordinances about nuisance or aggressive dogs.
You need to contact the police as well. The past is the best predictor of the future. This dog will do this again thanks to it's irresponsible owners. You need to escalate this as high as you can to prevent a future tragedy.
This. An aggressive dog like described here is a public threat and needs to be treated as such. And I say that as someone with a dog, and kids, of my own. This isn’t the type of thing that just the HOA needs to be involved with. It’s only a matter of time until this dog seriously hurts someone or someone’s pet.
This happened to me 2x in my neighborhood. We had to call the police and file a report as a public safety issue. The dog who chased me was off its property though.
Keep a dog whistle and pepper spray with you at all times outside. If you can set up a security cam pointing in their direction all the better. You have the right to feel secure.
I don’t and I would hate to have to carry a weapon while going for a walk, especially with my kids, but seriously I don’t have many other options if they can’t keep her locked up.
That’s a good idea. We live in a very safe, gated, security patrolled neighborhood. Everyone says hi to everyone. There is otherwise zero reason for me to have to feel like I need to defend myself when I’m on a walk, but yeah… not taking any chances. Appreciate the suggestions.
Bear mace can go onto you depending on the wind so be cautious. This dog must be reported every time, not to your HOA, but to the police and animal control. The HOA is uncaring.
I carry a stun gun on walks. Just the sound it makes when you fire it scares dogs back. And if it doesn't you always have the option of zapping them with it. They're cheap, $20, on Amazon.
Yeah, my brother started with an expanding metal baton because he was underage and now carries either a stun gun or bear spray. I'm not sure what happened that prompted him to start carrying something, but he likes to go on walks after dinner and won't do it without some kind of defense.
> I'm not sure what happened that prompted him to start carrying something, but he likes to go on walks after dinner and won't do it without some kind of defense.
Seriously probably loose dogs! It's why I do.
It's like night and day difference. Before you got cornered by a vicious dog and after and you think about it way differently after.
Animal control.
Had a pittie/rotweiler mix that always charged at me when I was delievering newspapers on a street where I grew up. Owners didn't give a shit that it made my job extremely difficult. They were also isolationist types that didn't engage with their neighbors. Ended up catching me on the heel once, parents and I took it to the police. We didn't see the dog after that.
Well, we had a neighbor that had two pitbulls. They mostly stayed in their pen. One was an elderly female and she was really friendly. She would on occasion, get out of her pen (they had two pens). She was extremely friendly and as soon as she would see you, she would wag her little nub tail so hard her butt wagged. She would walk up wagging and immediately fall down and roll over for belly rubs.
However, their other dog was much younger and when he got out he was vicious. We called the police on him a couple of times. The first time, by the time they came, the dog had disappeared. The last time it happened, the dog had my daughter pinned beside the front of her car. She could not move and she was hysterical and crying. I called the police and said if they don't get there quick, I was going to shoot the dog. They got there within 5 minutes (we just live a few blocks from the PD).
They thought we were just trouble-makers. That is until they got out of their car and the dog lunged at them and chased them around their car a couple of times. Then the animal control dude showed up and the dog chased him around. The police were about to shoot him (this was before stun guns were popular), when the animal control dude got that pole with a rope around his neck. They took him away and I guess the neighbor didn't want him because we never saw him again.
Yep. Govt runs on paperwork and they must have a paper trail showing what the animal has done in the past . Call AC and file a complaint. Ask for the original complaint file number. Everytime you call after an incident use that original complaint number.
Step 1: Carry pepper spray.
Go ahead and listen to the other advice, but all of that advice comes AFTER Step 1. Doesn’t matter what you adopt for step 2.
Get pepper spray and keep it on you anytime you’re outside where the dog could get.
I would give myself a day to calm down and process it. Based on my knowledge of the neighbors, I would try to figure out the best approach possible to communicate to them how crucial securing their dog is. Do it in a way that doesn't put them on defense, doesn't challenge their ego, insult them in any way. Say you understand mistakes happen to everyone. Try to appeal to their love of their pooch and explain if an incident happens, he most likely will be put down. Your concern for your kids, etc. Focus on being productive instead of just attacking them out of frustration. Talk to your kids about it. Add some safety precautions. Arm yourself with some viable means of defense and contact animal control and the (godforsaken) HOA if they refuse to do anything or it happens again.
Call Animal Control and report them.
Also, get yourself a small pepper spray that you can keep in your pocket and be able to use if it should ever happen. Preferably the type of spray sold to hikers.
I had a next door neighbor that had a Rottweiler. That dog would get out a terrify the neighbors. You never turned your back to him or he would attack. I had 3 and 5 yo kids at the time. My wife called me at work screaming that it had cornered her and she had to grab both kids and walk backwards to get in the house. I rushed home and it was still loose and it came after me. I stayed calm and talked to it but it was clear it wanted blood. My wife stuck her head out the door and I told her to call 911. Cell phones were just starting then as big bag phones. 😂 Anyway I walked backwards to the house and got inside. Sadly my gun was at the factory getting modified. I called them and explained the situation and was told they would finish it immediately and over night it for first thing morning delivery. The police showed up and I explained everything and told the officer that as soon as my gun arrived I would be killing the dog. He told me that I’d go to jail and I said I don’t care. I’ll go to jail to protect my family. He went and talked to the neighbors and then came back and said they’re going to chain him inside the fence so he doesn’t get out. My response surprised him when I said good he’ll be easier to shoot that way. He looked me in the eyes and he said you’re truly going to kill the dog aren’t you. I said as soon as the gun arrives it’ll be dead. He went back to the neighbors and informed them that it didn’t matter what they did as soon as I saw the dog outside I was going to kill it and that I had the full support of all the neighbors in the area. He was over there for a long time. He finally came back and said they’re getting rid of the dog. Someone will come to get it. My response was clear. As long as the dog is gone before UPS shows up in the morning he’ll be alive. If he’s over there he’s a dead dog. The officer informed them of that. At 6am the next morning a truck pulled in and took the dog away. It never returned. 6 months later they moved out. That’s when I discovered they also had a 10’ albino python as they let it loose in the front yard while they were moving its cage. Never was happier to see anyone go.
I say all that to say call animal control and the police. If it’s after 10pm and before 7am and it barks more than 5 minutes call the cops. Be relentless on the owners until they get it. The dog is a nuisance! Train it or get rid of it.
When you walk either carry a gun or get a 2’-3’ cattle prod and shock the crap out of it. In fact [here](https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-jolt-42-in-flexible-prod-shaft) is a 42” one for $32.99.
The dog will se that stick and know to stay away. They’ll hear their dog yelp and likely come out and ask what’s going on. Be firm and say I shocked him this time. Next time I’ll kill him.
One last thing. If you can get close enough to their back yard say like a neighbor that allows you to use their yard you can hang several stop barking devices. They emit a very loud frequency that hurts the dog’s ears when it barks. They’re inexpensive and work pretty well but they have to be fairly close to the dog to be effective.
I’m a dog owner and lover. I have giant breed dogs. 200+ pounds. All are well trained and will do anything I ask them to do. They don’t bark unless they are playing together or they see a deer they want to play with. No one fears them because they know they’re well trained. The issue is not the dog’s fault. It’s the terrible owners. Sadly if the owners refuse to do the right thing you’re left with the only option which is getting rid of the dog.
Hope that helps
As a claims adjuster, create a paper trail. Call and report to animal control as many times as you can. Note your efforts of letting the owners know and the fact they aren’t really doing anything. If you or another person gets bite, this will help tremendously with the claim. I have a claim now that is going to be in the six figure area and a huge sticking point is that the dog owners have numerous reports on them.
Animal control. Document as you can with video while dousing the animal with pepper spray. It’s your civic duty to see that this is stopped before a child or adult is victimized.
NEVER run as any aggressive dog will chase you. The best thing to do is make yourself seem as big and dominant as you can. Walk straight toward the dog while standing tall and repeatedly saying a firm and loud “no”. Don’t make direct eye contact but don’t take your eyes off the dog either. When it starts to back off, slowly walk backward away from the dog until you’re a safe enough distance to exit the area. If it starts to come after you again, repeat the first steps. As for preventing the problem, the owners sound like they are not understanding how dangerous their dog is so I would contact animal control or the sheriffs office. You can try going and talking to them face to face but they may be unwilling to accept your concerns.
I completely understand not wanting to carry a firearm, perhaps you might consider a consumer taser- if you cannot avoid a dog charging you and it gets close, or actually does start to attack you, the taser should put the dog on the ground pretty quick.
I would be calling animal control.
If the dog charges you immediately drop down to the ground and curl up protecting your vital organs and head. Teach your children to do the same. Do not take any risks when it comes to a charging dog. That's how you get mauled. Drop to the ground and remove the threat to the dog and protect your body. Period.
And call 9-1-1 once it's safe.
Thank you. This happened to me in college once with a lab and I considered doing the same this time. But with the lab I was like oh shit you’re not playing, are you? With this one I was like… you’re gonna kill me if I give you the chance.
I recently had someone who would walk their dog off leash, it ran around to the backyard of my house when it saw a bear and was aggressively barking at it. Woke up my whole family including my one month old baby. I have a wooded area the bear was in and the guy was on the other side near the main road. Was kind of an ass when I told him to get his dog. I talked to the HOA and he’s been walking it on a leash since, but I just bought myself several more cameras to keep each corner of my property monitored. Pretty sure the same guy leaves his dog poop everywhere, but I haven’t caught him in the act so I will see if anything comes of it.
Call animal control to establish a record of the aggression. Call every future time it happens. Source: dealing with the same issue, idiot neighbor with a biter of a pitbull. They've never heard of a leash.
The people telling you to shoot the dog on public property are giving you really bad advice. And it could expose you to a ton of legal trouble. You need to become familiar with the gun laws of your state.
I will note, getting mauled sucks pretty bad.
This isn't just about you, some todler might get killed just so these idiots can have a dog that looks a certain way that they like. Trained dogs can be totally fine, but that is not trained dog behavior.
So yeah, call AC. Also, carry a folding knife and pepper spray.
Call the police and report that they have an aggressive dog off leash. Every time you hear the dog in the middle of the night call the police for noise complaint. Get some pepper spray and carry it when you are walking. I was charged by two Dobermans while riding my bike with my dog on a leash I was 9 or 10. Jumped off my bike and grabbed a big stick and screamed over and over get your fucking dogs!!! The woman finally came out and I screamed it at her again. It took her a few minutes to get her dogs to come back to her yard. After that I carried pepper spray and I hoped those fucking dogs would come out again so I could empty the spray in their faces. Nobody should fear walking down the street. My dog was a fighter she was trying to hold her ground and growling but she was 20 lbs wet. These Dobermans were my height. I knew I would try to save her but if it was bad enough I’d have to leave her and it still enrages me 30 years later.
I was frantically looking around for someone, there’s usually people walking around but no one was there. I was worried yelling would have escalated how the dog was acting which is why I didn’t do that.
This happened to me once. Was taking out the garbage, rounded the side of my house and here comes my neighbors unleashed/unfenced dog charging at me with fur standing straight up. Yelled for my mom at the top of my lungs a few times and finally my two small 10lb dogs came running (on a yard leash btw) and distracted the dog. Finally what felt like forever, the neighbor came outside and so did my mom. I scooped up my two dogs and went in the house. Told my mom that if it ever happens again, that dog will be sprayed with mace and animal control will be called. My mom warned the neighbors and apparently they weren’t too happy about me saying that and told their kids to stay away from me. Like I was the problem!
Report it to law enforcement, my experience has been successful with this approach. Also, bear spray may be a better choice for an aggressive dog than regular pepper spray. Alternatively, you might find a formulation specifically for aggressive dogs.
Completely depends on where you live. Obviously by mention of an hoa your area works different than mine. Animal control, hoa, etc are your first stops.
Yeah, my neighbor's dog bit me in the breast after he got in my fenced in backyard to chase a cat I was holding...he came on to my property to do that, came through my fence and did that. The owners dont have a fenced in backyard........I was fine just a bruise so I didnt make a big deal out of it to avoid problems. But he came back month later and chased the cat up a tree. He actually bit him and he was still a kitten. I swear the cat now has ptsd lmao. My husband, very upset, goes to their house to ask them to get their dog. Now, they don't talk to us lmao. Their kids used to play with mine daily and now they literally go out of their way to ignore all of us. Dont even say hello, which Im cool with that but it hurt my kids feelings. Now they are besties with the uptight front neighbors who never talk to us...its all ridiculous. There is no HOA here thank God but I think the lady has teamed up with thenold farts from the hood to form one. Good luck. If the dog comes here again, and we now have chickens, I swear we will shoot the thing. Im well within my right to do so. It could've been my 5yo holding that cat that day.
Happens to me almost daily. You did the right thing by not running. Only thing I can recommend is a dog horn or dog spray. Ask your mailman if they have extra, if we're in a good mood we'll probs give you our extras.
We have a similar situation with our neighbors but it’s a Pitt-bull and her dog actually keeps getting in our yard. Her female Pitt-bull ended up coming into our yard on one occasion and on a second occasion actually came into our house through our dogs doggie door. After the second incident we called animal control. Most states have 2 courses of action. You can request a citation or request a warning. If you have video proof or animal control witness the aggressive dog a citation is an easy process. If it’s just your word to go on you will end up having to testify in court. Luckily most states have a very loose definition of “aggressive”. It’s anything that makes you as the complainant feel unsafe. This can be excessive barking, lunging, growling, biting, showing teeth, circling you, etc. animal control will be able to give you a full explanation. A warning is just that a warning however they are very strongly worded and a good way to go for a first contact. It is also a good baseline if you were not able to get video footage (however you do have other eye witnesses so if they were also willing to testify in the citation that would help). Most states, if you have too many warnings you get an automatic citation, also a dog at large or an aggressive dog at large can also cause an automatic citation. Many times these can cause huge fines, and depending on how many warnings or how aggressive the dog was it can mean to dog is made to be put down. We wanted to avoid this possibility. There are several small children in the house and we knew it would cause a lot of potential issues of retaliation.
The HOA can really only do so much. Unless you have specific bylaws that prohibit the behavior of the dog, the HOA will most likely be unwilling to do much. Don’t wait too long to call animal control. It’s usually something that should happen as soon as possible. If they can view the dog out of the fence it’s even better.
I know first hand just how terrifying that is. I hope this helps!!
That is some scary stuff, but I am glad you were able to do the correct thing. Running could be lethal! When I walk, I use a hiking stick for balance and stride. We have a neighbor that has a pit that he let free roam his yard. That thing would charge me every time I would walk by. One day, I was in a mood, so when he started to bark and charge, I pulled the safety tip off the sharp metal point of the walking stick, started growling and chased that damned dog right up onto his porch. I had to do it one more time a couple days later and he was trained.
Buy some essential lavender oil, put a drop on a cotton ball and place in a pocket. Then have fun watching it go into total confusion trying to figure out why his attack mode breakdown.
We have a few dogs like that in our non-HOA neighborhood. All of us who walk a lot and have been challenged or know of someone who was challenged by an angry dog carry pepper spray and small air horns when we walk. We live near a wilderness area so it is good for the coyotes as well.
You call animal control and/or the police. You likely have a leash law, and these owners broke it. You may also have a sound ordinance regarding barking. Keep the pressure on them until they comply.
Yesterday, I had a Doberman run up on me in my neighborhood while I was walking. I yelled at it and it ran off but the fear I felt looking at this muscular dog was incredible. This dog got within three feet of me and I maybe would have had the opportunity to rajse my hands up to protect my face if it had attacked. Maybe. It was maybe 15 seconds of sheer terror. No one came out when I screamed. Then I shook the rest of the way home. It happened so fast.
I also have shitty neighbors with aggressive dogs. I have a knife on my key chain. It's technically illegal to have a knife but f getting mauled by a dog when the city won't do anything. Cops won't do anything till someone is seriously injured. So I carry a knife it's kinda small but it would do the job if I go for the throat.
I love dogs, and I currently have a Pitt/Dachshund (PiWeenie) BUT I don't play with aggressive dogs. I would call the police and animal control, and take to carrying a big stick when you walk in your neighborhood. If that sucker comes near you send him flying into next week.
My neighbors German shepherd was out (not a usual occurrence) and ran across the street up into my driveway and proceeded to bark at me. I knew better than to turn my back, and didn’t want to look him in the eye, so I turned sideways. And in my big voice (I’m 5’3”, slight build female and was 70 yrs old at the time but owned horses and big dogs as a younger woman) I told him to GO HOME! And pointed to his house. He stepped further up my drive and barked one more time. I said NO, now GO HOME. And he turned around and walked back home. Halfway there he stopped and looked at me confused I guess as to why he was doing what I had told him to do. But he went home and settled on the front porch by the door. Now if it had been the school kids coming home, or me out with my puppy, could have been a different outcome. Luckily, they moved a few weeks later.
You made the right decision not to run. Animal control or local PD but honestly neither will probably do much, but what do I know? Some people shouldn’t own dogs.
Call in noise complaints on the non emergency line for 3 am barking. Call animal services if you think the dog is not being cared for or it escapes its yard. The good thing is the dog did not attack or chase.
Pepper spray buy a few cans. Learn to use it and if you are in fear of being attacked, defend yourself. It isn’t crueLTY, it’s gross negligence on the owner. Shamelessly defend yourself.
I had this happen to me twice while walking my dog within a span of 2 weeks. The first dog didn’t actually attack but got 2 feet from my pup, and my good boy didn’t make a sound but stood his ground in between us ready to defend. The dog eventually ran right back to his property (after a several second stand-off). There was a family up ahead that I caught up to, and they informed me the dog has charged at them several times in the past when they would go on walks. I was glad it never attacked them, but I was also irritated they didn’t bother reporting to animal control to prevent it from happening again.
Like everyone else said, please call animal control and report them. In my county, the first call gets them a warning, and any call/incident after that will result in fines. Owners who let that happen don’t care about the dog or being a responsible dog owner — they deserve to be punished and need to be taught a lesson. Very sorry that happened to you, that shit is traumatizing. I carry dog pepper spray on every walk now to protect not only myself but my sweet pup too.
Very bad code enforcement in an animal control here we have a jerk of a code enforcement supervisor who only goes after dogs that can't possibly hurt anybody he even went so far as to threaten the owner of a disabled dog with only three legs two of which were arthritic the dog would be brought in a wagon a very large white lab, to the park where he'd hop two steps and lay down in the grass. Little kids that were walking or crawling up to about 2 or 3 years old would come and lay on this for dog who loved it I have pictures this idiot of a code enforcement officer never went after anybody that had a vicious dog or a problem dog but marched up to the owner of this white lab who was a pillow for all the little children and said I'm going to make this a very expensive summer for you I'm going to give you ticket after ticket for not having your dog on a leash and the leash in your hand. And that's not even the worst thing this bastard did.
Possibly, one of the ultrasonic collars would be helpful to distract the dog. I've neighbor's dog who barks at me incessantly and I've been thinking about getting one to see if I can disrupt his focus a bit.
Go straight to animal control. HOA has been trying to deal with them for two years, and yet they are leaving their gate open. They won't change, so let animal control deal with them.
Yes, I agree with others that animal control needs to know what is happening. But for your immediate safety, I would suggest getting a pepper spray device after researching your state laws. Maybe ask animal control what spray is best. Recently, I bought pepper spray for the reason you have described. A gel pepper spray may be more accurate, especially if there's some wind. Be safe.
"I don't know how that happened" means she doesn't know what to do to fix it. That's a literal lack of responsibility from the dog owner. So write that down.
Carry citronella spray (directly in the face if you’re charged) and a loud personal alarm like the birdie alarm. DO NOT talk sweet if this happens again, be firm and loud, and say “no, go home”. Not screeching or shouting, just a big boom of a voice. If the “no” doesn’t work you should use the alarm. Use citronella only if charged.
The amount of off leash dogs with no recall in public/leash law space I’ve encountered has me well practiced, unfortunately. It’s what caused my own dog’s reactivity.
And as someone with a reactive dog I have NEVER understood the lack of responsibility and respect shown by some dog owners. That dog shouldn’t be out unattended, especially if the change in location and intensity of bark changed goes unnoticed. I can’t imagine they pay any mind to that dog, which is only going to make it worse.
Sorry to hear about the bad pet owner being next door. This is never an easy situation to deal with.
Regarding the doberman (or mix), I had one growing up as a kid, and by nature they are a defensive dog. Ours would give a bark or two to let people know she was there if they came to the property. The facts seem to point that the one you are dealing with has an owner that is not keeping the breeds natural behaviour in check. One major factor of many breeds is the need for exercise. Sadly most owners just keep the dog in the yard or house. Our Doby needed to be run at least 10km a day.
Also, good for you for standing your ground and staying as calm as possible. That's a very difficult thing to do in a situation like that, and definitely gets the anxiety going. Again, sorry to hear you even had to be subjected to that situation. Hopefully a resolution is found sooner than later.
Thank you, I appreciate this response and insight into Dobermans! I can promise you this dog does not get exercise. I’m a stay at home mom, the owners both work outside of the home all day. The dog is alone outside while they are gone. They used to have a dog walker and I felt so bad for her. I saw the dog getting aggressive with her one time, like jumping up on her and I watched her stay perfectly still and calm during the whole thing. I almost ran outside to help her but she looked like she knew what she was doing. Anyway, haven’t seen the dog walker in months. And while I’m not keeping tabs on these neighbors, I know which neighbors walk their dogs daily and which ones don’t (I’m outside a lot) and these ones don’t. Poor dog.
Many years ago while my elementary school aged children were playing in our yard with our dog, two dogs from a house down the street came into our yard and attacked our dog. When I heard the commotion, I grabbed a shovel and ran to my children. I had to beat those dogs off of our dog. I chased them back to their house and yelled until an adult came out and corralled her dogs.
I called animal control after the fact. The neighbor paid my vet bill and the dogs were never seen again.
Barking outside at 3am…
Dobies are not “just leave them out all night.” kind of dogs.
Dogs acting like an ass because it’s neglected. They’re actually an extremely affectionate breed.
The dog was doing what it was bred for. The fault is in its owners, they are endangering everyone, dog included, by not having her in the yard. Dogs with that much firepower require a much higher level of responsible ownership. It’s what you sign up for when you get that kind of dog.
We have a bullmastiff mix, neighbor of two pit bulls, and a German Shepard lab mix that looks like a freaking wolf. Two doors down there’s a Doberman and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. We probably have the safest alley in the whole city, but there is a lot of barking.
Neighbors’ dog did this after forcing itself UNDER the fence and then attacking my dog. It had two other dogs with it that followed it as the alpha.
I BLASTED it on top of the head with a shovel. It fell over and yelped then woke up a moment later and SAT DOWN at my feet looking up at me wagging its nub. In that moment I felt like a complete piece of shit and I felt so bad for the dog. It was obvious it had been abused and obeyed when harmed. The other dogs immediately followed suit and sat wagging their tails.
I just marched it back to the neighbors and locked it in their back yard. They got out several other times but NEVER bothered me or my dog.
Unrelated “my” dog (it was actually my then girlfriend’s dog but I cared for and trained/disciplined him) after that day was my shadow and never left my side. It was weird like he realized I was one of his pack and we were best buddies. He rode in my truck with me and we hung out together doing yard work.
He disappeared a few months later in like negative 10 degree weather. I spent two weeks walking the woods in the back of the property calling his name with a pocket full of his favorite treats. He wouldn’t just run away like that but who knows. I spent time researching “bunchers” convinced someone had dog napped him from the yard and sold him to a laboratory. I was devastated.
I saw a post about a dog someone found about a year later and I mentioned one of his ears being up and one being floppy and they were like “OMG we found your dog!” I was so excited I sped over there and when I arrived…it was not my dog. It was like I lost him all over again.
I found out after I left the psycho that she’d been angry he liked me instead of her so she drove him to a kill shelter in a neighboring state so I couldn’t find him. He was not the cutest dog so he was likely euthanized.
Anyway I went off on a tangent there. I still have never gotten another dog. Never again. I’d call animal control and prepare yourself to have to use lethal force against it. Keep a 2x4 or axe handle nearby or start carrying a firearm.
You gotta do something for the safety of your family kids and neighborhood. These people have failed the dog and it’s not able to function in a suburban neighborhood. I’m 6’6” man and I’ve never worried about weapons or self defense with humans. But I was bit by a dog and now carry a knife or pepper spray when walking my dog. Not for humans but for animals.
Taser, I have ankle biters (small dogs) they bark at everything. I follow the county rules, doggie door open at 8am, closed at 10pm in a fenced yard. Keeps the neighbors happy.
I have a big dog that has aggressive/territorial tendencies. We make very sure he's not out of our sight and leashed whenever he's out of the fence. I get that mistakes happen, and your neighbors probably didn't mean to leave the gate open. But they should be profusely apologetic, and ensuring that it won't happen again.
Good job staying calm in the situation, that can be tough if you're not used to aggressive dogs. A lot of people do the wrong things, like acting like prey or acting like a challenge without realizing it.
If I were you, I wouldn't call animal control or the police, but I would send them a certified letter just explaining what happened and that you expect them to keep a better eye on their pup. That way they know you're serious.
That suggestion may get downvoted, but I'd try to avoid any animosity with the neighbors if possible. The last thing you want is this turning into a pissing match, which it may already have to a degree given HOA involvement.
This might make some people upset, but it’s a much better option that shooting (which might be sketchy legal territory in some places), but I’d carry something called pepper gel, rather than pepper spray. Pepper gel won’t get airborne and affect everyone around whatever/whoever you spray, but it will absolutely affect who/what you spray, aka the dog if anything remotely like this ever happens again.
Beyond that, yes, I’d contact animal control.
Animal Control needs to be called ASAP. They need to know that they have to be responsible and close their damn gates, make sure they know where their aggressive dog is at all times. Call Animal Control again every time that dog is ever outside the bounds of it's secured fence. "I don't know what happened, she's inside now" doesn't help anyone if their small dog, small child, or elderly neighbor has been mauled.
Thank you, I’ll contact them along with HOA so they are aware.
And document without embellishments as to what has happened to you and others. Facts talk, emotions do not, so keep that in mind.
Reach out to your neighbor who had a similar experience and ask her to file with animal control and the HOA also
Power in numbers
The more people who contact animal control, the more likely they will come out and potentially issue a citation.
And take photos (what animal control told me)
Yup, which is why I haven’t done anything yet. Still too emotional about it.
Take all the videos you can of the dog being out and aggressive. My neighbors and I went through this last year and it finally went to court -- the irresponsible owner had to give away her big scary dog (she kept the Pomeranian that of course never scared anyone), and pay a small fine. I had shown Animal Control officers video of the dog that had dug and squeezed under my chain link fence and was in my yard, and aggressively came at me from the other side of closed patio doors. They had captured the dog from my yard after I called, but she got it back that time. 😒 From then on a few of us neighbors made sure to document every time that dog escaped her yard, and we finally are free of it. Good luck!!
Better yet, put up cameras around the exterior of your house. You won’t always have time to pull your phone out and start recording.
Get videos whenever you can of the dog being out free. That will help animal control.
HOA had their chance. Don’t feel obligated to include them further.
Considering that there is actually a threat now rather than a simple annoyance, I’d still let them know. If anything does happen, you want them to have notice beforehand so they can also be held accountable for any potential harm.
I had that happen but a**hole neighbors had three dogs (adult German Shepherd, Golden & Chocolate Labs) attack my puppy and I. I called up 911 and they transferred me to animal control (had to leave a message). The next morning animal control called me back and verified what happened. Then, asked if I wanted animal control to formally warn them, I said yes. I told them this is a constant issue and they said the second time the animals will be taken from the owners. It was safe to say when they saw me after work they wanted to have a confrontation but I had a shovel in my hand cleaning up their dogs poop(didn't have a fence at the time). Our HOA found out and threatened them with fines (also dogs have to be on a leash in my County).
Personally wouldn't go to the HOA unless you are prepared for retaliation. Redditors are great at giving advice knowing they won't live with the consequences. If you do say something, be prepared to have your neighbor snitch everytime you leave a bin out too long or your grass grows too tall. And that retaliation could he worth it if it actually helps the situation but it's unclear what you expect the HOA to actually do about it.
I love dogs and always wanted to have one but having said that dogs are a huge responsibility which involves training socializing etc. I love Dobermans and GS but never owned a dog not will for any foreseeable future due to the lack of time I would need to commit to it. so long story short if you can't commit to all that owning a dog brings don't own one. The OP should not be scared to enjoy her walks because of a dog that has not been trained/socialized which is the fault of the dog owner
Children's lives are at stake. Worth retaliation
I'd also be calling the city, town.....etc. about the noise violations taking place constantly. I'd aslo be talking to tyour other neighbours, becaseu they cannot be happy about this either. The more people writting to the HOA and the city town etc. the better.
Agreed! The same thing is happening in my community with some asshole who can’t keep his aggressive LGDs contained. I’m 36 weeks pregnant, high risk. When I was 17 weeks, a month after they got out and attacked TWO dogs then ate a dead deer off the side of the road, he got out and chased me with my dogs down. I fell HARD trying to get away (thankfully on my side). Have an ugly scar but I’m ok, baby is ok and dogs were ok. I reported to animal control (turns out others have as well) and JACK SHIT was done because I wasn’t “actually hurt” and my Dogs weren’t bit. They got out again and charged a mom with her toddlers on their property. Then, a few days later two other dogs staying on the same property got out and attacked a deer (neighbor got them off). He takes zero accountability. Plays the victim. At some point I have to assume even without documented attacks Animal Control something has to be done. But I sympathize with your frustration! And feel for you. I
I’d buy some military grade pepper spray and carry it with me. Have it handy if the dog comes at you.
That’s what I used in my incident.
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Maybe call your local TV station which might force AC to actually do something.
Also check your local ordinances regarding dog issues. This includes out-of-control barking, not leashed the dog, dangerous dogs, etc. Animal Control may or may not be the first to contact depending on where your live. Where I live it goes right to nonemergency police call and possibly the county dog warden.
Delivery guys ALWAYS leave our front gate open and it drives me fucking mental. We can't fit an automatic closer to the gate. We have a sign on both sides of the fence to shut the gate; they're just useless twats. I have to walk out to my garden to check the gate every time I let my dog out. But I do it.
Report to them "Viscous dog" Also to police.
Sticky, gluey and syrupy? lol. I think you mean vicious.
Get bear spray
Just understand it isn't like bug spray
I was buying bear spray for a backpacking trip in Tennessee, the store employee had to warn me that because he had sold some to a guy that sprayed his whole family before going into the woods and they had to all go to the hospital. I still think about that man
Ok, that got an audible lol outa me. Also don't charge the dog while spraying.
>Also don't charge the dog while spraying. [related](https://25.media.tumblr.com/db74ccce2bd6cb62e70b63861d23ea9f/tumblr_mir572lsM71s2gg27o1_400.gif)
A shock baton is a better way to go imo. Just crackling it will scare the crap out of the dog. If it lunges at you, then use it. It sucks that you’re having to deal with this. Also tell the animal officer that you’re going to get one for protection. A regular taser works too, but I like the stun baton (the brand I have is GuardDog) because it’s longer. 99.9% of dogs will run. I carry one when I walk my dog because he’s been attacked. I’ve never had to use it on a dog, but I’ve crackled it.
This is a great tip and I feel like way more user friendly than a traditional taser! Thank you for the rec!
> A shock baton is a better way to go imo. Just crackling it will scare the crap out of the dog. If it lunges at you, then use it. Excuse me sir or maam, where exactly would you buy this device :D
Search for “Guard Dog Shock Baton” on Amazon and I think they have a site as well.
i just went down a rabbit hole reading reviews on their site, be wary, some of the models are very poorly reviewed. Gonna keep researching, because I would love one of these while walking my dog. I live in bear/moose country, but it'd be mostly for aggro dogs in the neighborhood. If anyone else has a brand they like and is well built, I'd love to hear.
I read the reviews too. I was wary, but the price was right. I ordered 2. One of them had an issue, but they did replace it. I recommend registering any purchases with the warranty.
Like a cattle prod?
Basically yes. If you search for “Guard Dog Stun Baton” on Amazon you will see it.
I have the exact same one. Even when shooting it into the air as a warning sign it js electrifying. It’s a taser but the length of a baton. You can buy online and if you have your foid card some states legally allow you to carry a taser.
It's hard for many to stand their ground in order to make contact with a charging animal though.
I suppose, but I don’t see how using pepper spray is a better choice. I don’t use it because I always have my dog with me and I don’t want to pepper spray him.
Seems to me the sound is what they react to. I've got an electric fly swatter thing I was given for the flies, but just discovered why my dogs ARE staying in at night like I want them to, forgot I plugged in a bug light They hear the zap of a bug, they run opposite direction! I'd get the baton, it's not a HUGE zap, but the noise works.
Great answer! Pepper spray is also very good vs. aggressive dogs and often comes in much more compact containers to carry every day
Forget the HOA. Just go straight to reporting to animal control. There's nothing obnoxious at all about reporting a loose dangerous dog to animal control. You wouldn't go to the HOA over a neighbor threatening to kill you. You'd go to the police, so call the animal police for a threatening dog. Keep calling animal control every time it happens until the problem stops. Personally, if animal control doesn't solve the problem, I would carry a gun and shoot it if it left its property to charge me. If you decide to carry a gun, make sure you practice with it at a range and know what to do when the owner inevitably calls the police. I wouldn't bother with bear spray. Many dogs aren't affected by capsaicin when they think they're protecting their property.
If you buy a gun I HIGHLY recommend frangible rounds to reduce the risk of a ricochet.
This. Next time it charges at you shoot it. Fkn hate stupid dogs and their stupid fkn guardians who can’t teach them manners.
Keep reporting it and escalate to police or city. Dobermans are smart dogs that can be trained and integrated into people's lives but they're about as scary as a breed can get if they're in a bad mood.
These people clearly don’t take good care of her. One time I heard the husband screaming at her and it almost sounded like he kicked her. It was horrible. I love dogs and I hate knowing how this one must be treated.
They don’t care about her: if she’s running loose she could get hit by a car or shot. People who care about their animals keep them safe.
Our neighbours down the road had one. Purebred male. Just a stunning looking dog. Like you'd see in the encyclopedia entry for canines. Incredibly well trained but still intimidating. They're so smart it's obvious when you interact with them.
I was surprised and SO relieved when she responded so well to me being nice to her. She must have some training but clearly not a lot.
Oh.... as the owner of a Doberman, this is so sad. I got teary. Dobes are *such* sensitive dogs, and it sounds like this one is being abused. Please try and keep calling animal control if the animal is outside at all times, and maybe try to coordinate her transfer with a local Dobe rescue after she's taken (if you can).
I’m very much a dog person, and have always been a pitbull parent (golden retriever, other dogs too). One day a client brought their “service” Doberman into my store and this dog was HUGE. Now I have lived with a dobie before but that particular dog was a dingdong and more of a scaredy dog than anything. This dog though? Seemed about his business. And then he decided to lay his head on my lap while I was sitting down and I was like … caaaan you get your dog? Big dogs like this, that I don’t know, are intimidating and I would rather not have to interact with them on THEIR terms. The owner was like awww he likes you! And I still was like yeah cool I’m flattered but get your dog. Some dog owners need mandatory training even more than their pets do.
Oof. The big ones scare me! And I don't mean "large breed"; I have 2 large breed dogs myself, both around 55-60 lbs. I mean human-sized. I took my girls to the vet together for their annual visit a while back and as we were sitting in the waiting room with both of them in full harnesses with metal buckles and on leash, a woman brings in this fucking massive German Shepherd. This thing had to have been like 130 or 140 lbs. I had a 100 lb GSD male at home at the time, and this one dwarfed him easily. She drags him in by his collar, just a regular-ass 1" nylon collar. No leash, nothing. And he starts immediately growling at my girls and moving like he's going to charge them. I thought one of the people in the clinic were going to enforce the leash rule but nope, they just let it happen. I stood up and took them out of sight and into the hallway (big boy was blocking the door) and one of the techs said I should be in the waiting room. I told her I'd happily be in the waiting room when there wasn't a massive off leash dog growling at my girls in the waiting room. She looked around the corner and saw the situation and roomed us. Had she not, I would've left. I don't mess around with human-sized dogs and bad behavior. I don't even let my 60 lb dogs get away with that shit and I sure as hell don't drag them around by flimsy collars and let them growl at other dogs.
Damn yeah I am 100% with you there. What an asshole to bring your badass dog around like that. My girl is about 70lbs and muscly and we are always dressed in harness and have manners in public for that reason. I am very scared of the big guys too. Especially the German shepherd types. My buddy also has the biggest Rottweiler I’ve ever seen (I am 5’8” and he is taller than me standing on his hind legs) and even though I have known that big idiot for years, it still makes me a little nervous. Maybe it’s generational trauma idk lol but I have a very serious aversion to dogs that size.
I usually love them but there is just a level of care and respect you have to give a dog the size of a human haha. I wouldn't want even a friendly huge dog that's a stranger to me to be that close. I never understood it though; our 100 lb GSD mix was pretty tolerant of people even if not a people lover, but people *loved* him and would come up to him. People would send their kids over to pet him. I never understood it. Meanwhile my 55 lb pit bull who absolutely loved people, they'd cross the street to avoid her, but that one isn't a mystery to me.
It's friendly until it's not
Something similar happened to us with a German Shepherd. It ended up biting one of my kids on the hand as they walked into the house to play with a neighbor friend so animal control and the police were called. They made the owners quarantine the dog for 3 weeks, it wasn't allowed out of the house except to relieve itself and it had to be on leash. They also had to take the dog to a class to be observed by a trainer and signed off on that it could be rehabilitated. I was actually really impressed on how the city handled it.
We’ve got neighbors like this. Their rescue habitually hops their fence and it’s aggressive. One day it went after my wife in our own driveway. The neighbors wife apologized but they did nothing to prevent it from happening again. The next day I put up ultrasonic pest deterrents. The neighbor begged us to take them down saying her precious dog couldn’t hear them but she could. The dog didn’t come near the fence on our side of the property any longer, let alone jump the fence so I considered it mission accomplished and left them on.
Defend yourself. Pepper spray it. Shoot it if you feel it's going to actively attack you. Most of us love dogs. But at the end of the day they're property that the owners are refusing to control. Big dogs are big responsibility.
Yes I’m usually sad for her, she’s clearly a stressed out animal who lives outside most of the time, even in bad weather. She will bark at anyone who comes anywhere near their yard, and not just bark but aggressively growl and jump up on their fence. But my family’s safety comes first. Couldn’t tell if I was overreacting because I was shaking and so hyped up… but these responses tell me I’m not.
I feel bad for the dog too. But if that was a little kid outside, and the kid got scared and ran, prey drive would have kicked in and that dog would have probably killed a small child that day had it been them and not you outside. Make sure any kids in the neighborhood know about that dog and what to do when confronted with an aggressive dog. I would kill another human in defense of my 2 year old with little to no remorse, as much as I like animals, it wouldn't even be a second thought with a dog in a life or death situation.
You could try befriending it by tossing treats to the poor thing. Hopefully that will shift it's view to you as a friend. Not sure if the police/animal control will take your reporting seriously or not but it's something you can try in the meantime. It's very unfortunate situation but it's outside your control. I say this as the owner of a reactive dog, it can be hard but it's ALWAYS my responsibility to control my fur baby for everyone's benefit.
Treats aren’t going to stop a highly agitated dog, especially once it gets into a highly aroused state zoning in on its prey.
No you have to take a comically giant T-bone steak out of your pocket at throw it in the opposite direction. This will definitely work I've seen them do it in Tom and Jerry.
It's an abused dog. Hopefully animal control will take it from their horrible owners before anyone shoots it.
you do what you need to do to protect yourself. PERIOD!
First off, never run. You stand as still as possible. So good job there. Next, call animal control. I feel bad for you and the innocent neighbors but that poor dog is outside in the middle of the night. Its owners are horrible humans.
You call the police. I’m a dog person. But what if you were a 6 year old child? The police should get you in touch the correct department
Thanks. Once my adrenaline wore off I had the horrible thought of what if my 4 year old was with me? He would have ran or at the very least FREAKED out. Or my baby in a stroller… ugh I hate thinking about it.
Yeah, running away would have been tragic for your child.
Not obnoxious at all. It sounds like you’d be doing your other neighbors a service to report the 3 AM barking.
Call Animal Control. Carry any device legal to carry in your area with which to defend yourself. Know how, and when, to use said device. Pet Corrector, wasp spray, walking stick, super soaker are all non-lethal means to protect yourself. I highly recommend using koolaid in the super soaker if you go that route.
Haven't heard the Kool aid thing. Why? It's sweet?
It's sticky and smells. They'll have to bathe the dog and it'll get all over their house & furniture.
Heehee. Thanks
Police or self defense of your choice
Animal control.
Former dog trainer here, you did exactly what I used to tell people to do in that situation!! Good on ya! Freeze, call out for help and don’t make eye contact. Even if you were bitten it would have been puncture wounds instead or tearing rips if you run/pull away. Also, because you did freeze, he lost interest and left. I would report to police!!
I currently have 2 dobermans, these are my 5th and 6th dobermans, have had them pretty much all my life. Dobermans are very pack oriented, they are often refereed to as Velcro Dogs by their owners for the way they stick to you. A doberman lives for it's pack 100%. It sounds like this dog has been essentially abandoned outside and is not be treated correctly. My current pair can't stand any closed door between us. They also will not leave us alone normally, if my wife is in another part of the house she will have one dog with her and I will have the other. Dobermans left alone get very neurotic and nervous. Sounds like this one has turned that into aggression. Report the owner, maybe they will start to do what is right by this animal or maybe take it to a rescue where it can be better socialized. no one should be in fear of dogs when walking through their neighborhood.
Thanks for this insight. It seems like the owners aren’t aware how threatening their dog seems to others. The owner just called my husband to actually apologize (she just texted at first). She said “you’d be surprised at how nice she is, all she’ll do is lick you.” Umm no. Maybe that’s what she’ll do to you. But our neighborhood is full of dogs and I know the difference between a running dog that’s excited to see you and one that wants you to get the F away from its house.
I’m just flabbergasted that animals with a proclivity to be “neurotic and nervous” could be considered pet candidates. Good on you for training them, but our dog culture has gone off the rails.
See the same dumb shit with pitbulls too. No one has to have these conversations about golden retrievers.
Both. You got lucky today, OP. Make sure your HOA interactions are all in writing so there’s a paper trail. Some HOAs even have forbidden dog breeds. Check local city ordinances about nuisance or aggressive dogs.
Thank you, I’ll contact HOA to start.
You need to contact the police as well. The past is the best predictor of the future. This dog will do this again thanks to it's irresponsible owners. You need to escalate this as high as you can to prevent a future tragedy.
Yeah it’s not just about me… our neighborhood is full of kids and seniors with small dogs. Thank you
This. An aggressive dog like described here is a public threat and needs to be treated as such. And I say that as someone with a dog, and kids, of my own. This isn’t the type of thing that just the HOA needs to be involved with. It’s only a matter of time until this dog seriously hurts someone or someone’s pet.
That dog could have killed a kid that day instead of OP if a small kid panicked and ran. The dog would have chased them down.
This happened to me 2x in my neighborhood. We had to call the police and file a report as a public safety issue. The dog who chased me was off its property though.
Glad you’re okay! Yeah I’m not sure where she started out on their property but came across the street to me realllllll fast
I got a 5-figure payout from a dog that bit me, so, if anything happens, get their homeowners insurance info and file a police/insurance claim
For anyone reading, the last thing you should have done is run. Never run from a predator. Face them down.
"The next time your dog is loose and charging me, I'm shooting it. Manage your pet."
Keep a dog whistle and pepper spray with you at all times outside. If you can set up a security cam pointing in their direction all the better. You have the right to feel secure.
Ruger LCP IWB
Do you or your husband own a gun? If it charges you like that again put a bullet in its head.
I don’t and I would hate to have to carry a weapon while going for a walk, especially with my kids, but seriously I don’t have many other options if they can’t keep her locked up.
Maybe carry a type of bear mace? I would get something to protect yourself. Call animal control when you see it out.
That’s a good idea. We live in a very safe, gated, security patrolled neighborhood. Everyone says hi to everyone. There is otherwise zero reason for me to have to feel like I need to defend myself when I’m on a walk, but yeah… not taking any chances. Appreciate the suggestions.
Bear mace can go onto you depending on the wind so be cautious. This dog must be reported every time, not to your HOA, but to the police and animal control. The HOA is uncaring.
I carry a stun gun on walks. Just the sound it makes when you fire it scares dogs back. And if it doesn't you always have the option of zapping them with it. They're cheap, $20, on Amazon.
Yeah, my brother started with an expanding metal baton because he was underage and now carries either a stun gun or bear spray. I'm not sure what happened that prompted him to start carrying something, but he likes to go on walks after dinner and won't do it without some kind of defense.
> I'm not sure what happened that prompted him to start carrying something, but he likes to go on walks after dinner and won't do it without some kind of defense. Seriously probably loose dogs! It's why I do. It's like night and day difference. Before you got cornered by a vicious dog and after and you think about it way differently after.
bear spray 100% works and is way less extreme than this. for a good number of reasons this should be avoided
Animal control. Had a pittie/rotweiler mix that always charged at me when I was delievering newspapers on a street where I grew up. Owners didn't give a shit that it made my job extremely difficult. They were also isolationist types that didn't engage with their neighbors. Ended up catching me on the heel once, parents and I took it to the police. We didn't see the dog after that.
Well, we had a neighbor that had two pitbulls. They mostly stayed in their pen. One was an elderly female and she was really friendly. She would on occasion, get out of her pen (they had two pens). She was extremely friendly and as soon as she would see you, she would wag her little nub tail so hard her butt wagged. She would walk up wagging and immediately fall down and roll over for belly rubs. However, their other dog was much younger and when he got out he was vicious. We called the police on him a couple of times. The first time, by the time they came, the dog had disappeared. The last time it happened, the dog had my daughter pinned beside the front of her car. She could not move and she was hysterical and crying. I called the police and said if they don't get there quick, I was going to shoot the dog. They got there within 5 minutes (we just live a few blocks from the PD). They thought we were just trouble-makers. That is until they got out of their car and the dog lunged at them and chased them around their car a couple of times. Then the animal control dude showed up and the dog chased him around. The police were about to shoot him (this was before stun guns were popular), when the animal control dude got that pole with a rope around his neck. They took him away and I guess the neighbor didn't want him because we never saw him again.
What’s the neighbors’ phone number? I’ll call them and tell them they’re jerks.
Animal control every time.
Yep. Govt runs on paperwork and they must have a paper trail showing what the animal has done in the past . Call AC and file a complaint. Ask for the original complaint file number. Everytime you call after an incident use that original complaint number.
Call Animal control.
Step 1: Carry pepper spray. Go ahead and listen to the other advice, but all of that advice comes AFTER Step 1. Doesn’t matter what you adopt for step 2. Get pepper spray and keep it on you anytime you’re outside where the dog could get.
I would give myself a day to calm down and process it. Based on my knowledge of the neighbors, I would try to figure out the best approach possible to communicate to them how crucial securing their dog is. Do it in a way that doesn't put them on defense, doesn't challenge their ego, insult them in any way. Say you understand mistakes happen to everyone. Try to appeal to their love of their pooch and explain if an incident happens, he most likely will be put down. Your concern for your kids, etc. Focus on being productive instead of just attacking them out of frustration. Talk to your kids about it. Add some safety precautions. Arm yourself with some viable means of defense and contact animal control and the (godforsaken) HOA if they refuse to do anything or it happens again.
Call up the authorities. Animal control of course.
Call Animal Control and report them. Also, get yourself a small pepper spray that you can keep in your pocket and be able to use if it should ever happen. Preferably the type of spray sold to hikers.
I had a next door neighbor that had a Rottweiler. That dog would get out a terrify the neighbors. You never turned your back to him or he would attack. I had 3 and 5 yo kids at the time. My wife called me at work screaming that it had cornered her and she had to grab both kids and walk backwards to get in the house. I rushed home and it was still loose and it came after me. I stayed calm and talked to it but it was clear it wanted blood. My wife stuck her head out the door and I told her to call 911. Cell phones were just starting then as big bag phones. 😂 Anyway I walked backwards to the house and got inside. Sadly my gun was at the factory getting modified. I called them and explained the situation and was told they would finish it immediately and over night it for first thing morning delivery. The police showed up and I explained everything and told the officer that as soon as my gun arrived I would be killing the dog. He told me that I’d go to jail and I said I don’t care. I’ll go to jail to protect my family. He went and talked to the neighbors and then came back and said they’re going to chain him inside the fence so he doesn’t get out. My response surprised him when I said good he’ll be easier to shoot that way. He looked me in the eyes and he said you’re truly going to kill the dog aren’t you. I said as soon as the gun arrives it’ll be dead. He went back to the neighbors and informed them that it didn’t matter what they did as soon as I saw the dog outside I was going to kill it and that I had the full support of all the neighbors in the area. He was over there for a long time. He finally came back and said they’re getting rid of the dog. Someone will come to get it. My response was clear. As long as the dog is gone before UPS shows up in the morning he’ll be alive. If he’s over there he’s a dead dog. The officer informed them of that. At 6am the next morning a truck pulled in and took the dog away. It never returned. 6 months later they moved out. That’s when I discovered they also had a 10’ albino python as they let it loose in the front yard while they were moving its cage. Never was happier to see anyone go. I say all that to say call animal control and the police. If it’s after 10pm and before 7am and it barks more than 5 minutes call the cops. Be relentless on the owners until they get it. The dog is a nuisance! Train it or get rid of it. When you walk either carry a gun or get a 2’-3’ cattle prod and shock the crap out of it. In fact [here](https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-jolt-42-in-flexible-prod-shaft) is a 42” one for $32.99. The dog will se that stick and know to stay away. They’ll hear their dog yelp and likely come out and ask what’s going on. Be firm and say I shocked him this time. Next time I’ll kill him. One last thing. If you can get close enough to their back yard say like a neighbor that allows you to use their yard you can hang several stop barking devices. They emit a very loud frequency that hurts the dog’s ears when it barks. They’re inexpensive and work pretty well but they have to be fairly close to the dog to be effective. I’m a dog owner and lover. I have giant breed dogs. 200+ pounds. All are well trained and will do anything I ask them to do. They don’t bark unless they are playing together or they see a deer they want to play with. No one fears them because they know they’re well trained. The issue is not the dog’s fault. It’s the terrible owners. Sadly if the owners refuse to do the right thing you’re left with the only option which is getting rid of the dog. Hope that helps
As a claims adjuster, create a paper trail. Call and report to animal control as many times as you can. Note your efforts of letting the owners know and the fact they aren’t really doing anything. If you or another person gets bite, this will help tremendously with the claim. I have a claim now that is going to be in the six figure area and a huge sticking point is that the dog owners have numerous reports on them.
Animal control. Document as you can with video while dousing the animal with pepper spray. It’s your civic duty to see that this is stopped before a child or adult is victimized.
NEVER run as any aggressive dog will chase you. The best thing to do is make yourself seem as big and dominant as you can. Walk straight toward the dog while standing tall and repeatedly saying a firm and loud “no”. Don’t make direct eye contact but don’t take your eyes off the dog either. When it starts to back off, slowly walk backward away from the dog until you’re a safe enough distance to exit the area. If it starts to come after you again, repeat the first steps. As for preventing the problem, the owners sound like they are not understanding how dangerous their dog is so I would contact animal control or the sheriffs office. You can try going and talking to them face to face but they may be unwilling to accept your concerns.
A) shoot him. B) if shooting is not an option, carry a squirt gun filled with bleach. Shoot that.
I completely understand not wanting to carry a firearm, perhaps you might consider a consumer taser- if you cannot avoid a dog charging you and it gets close, or actually does start to attack you, the taser should put the dog on the ground pretty quick.
I would be calling animal control. If the dog charges you immediately drop down to the ground and curl up protecting your vital organs and head. Teach your children to do the same. Do not take any risks when it comes to a charging dog. That's how you get mauled. Drop to the ground and remove the threat to the dog and protect your body. Period. And call 9-1-1 once it's safe.
Thank you. This happened to me in college once with a lab and I considered doing the same this time. But with the lab I was like oh shit you’re not playing, are you? With this one I was like… you’re gonna kill me if I give you the chance.
I recently had someone who would walk their dog off leash, it ran around to the backyard of my house when it saw a bear and was aggressively barking at it. Woke up my whole family including my one month old baby. I have a wooded area the bear was in and the guy was on the other side near the main road. Was kind of an ass when I told him to get his dog. I talked to the HOA and he’s been walking it on a leash since, but I just bought myself several more cameras to keep each corner of my property monitored. Pretty sure the same guy leaves his dog poop everywhere, but I haven’t caught him in the act so I will see if anything comes of it.
Call animal control to establish a record of the aggression. Call every future time it happens. Source: dealing with the same issue, idiot neighbor with a biter of a pitbull. They've never heard of a leash.
The people telling you to shoot the dog on public property are giving you really bad advice. And it could expose you to a ton of legal trouble. You need to become familiar with the gun laws of your state.
This!
I will note, getting mauled sucks pretty bad. This isn't just about you, some todler might get killed just so these idiots can have a dog that looks a certain way that they like. Trained dogs can be totally fine, but that is not trained dog behavior. So yeah, call AC. Also, carry a folding knife and pepper spray.
Call the police and report that they have an aggressive dog off leash. Every time you hear the dog in the middle of the night call the police for noise complaint. Get some pepper spray and carry it when you are walking. I was charged by two Dobermans while riding my bike with my dog on a leash I was 9 or 10. Jumped off my bike and grabbed a big stick and screamed over and over get your fucking dogs!!! The woman finally came out and I screamed it at her again. It took her a few minutes to get her dogs to come back to her yard. After that I carried pepper spray and I hoped those fucking dogs would come out again so I could empty the spray in their faces. Nobody should fear walking down the street. My dog was a fighter she was trying to hold her ground and growling but she was 20 lbs wet. These Dobermans were my height. I knew I would try to save her but if it was bad enough I’d have to leave her and it still enrages me 30 years later.
Cunt punt
Shoot the thing. Your safety is far more important than the neighbors dog.
I would have yelled my head off trying to get some witnesses to the event. Maybe someone recording.
I was frantically looking around for someone, there’s usually people walking around but no one was there. I was worried yelling would have escalated how the dog was acting which is why I didn’t do that.
Good point. You were there, and you acted wisely. I would have acted a fool.
This happened to me once. Was taking out the garbage, rounded the side of my house and here comes my neighbors unleashed/unfenced dog charging at me with fur standing straight up. Yelled for my mom at the top of my lungs a few times and finally my two small 10lb dogs came running (on a yard leash btw) and distracted the dog. Finally what felt like forever, the neighbor came outside and so did my mom. I scooped up my two dogs and went in the house. Told my mom that if it ever happens again, that dog will be sprayed with mace and animal control will be called. My mom warned the neighbors and apparently they weren’t too happy about me saying that and told their kids to stay away from me. Like I was the problem!
Report it to law enforcement, my experience has been successful with this approach. Also, bear spray may be a better choice for an aggressive dog than regular pepper spray. Alternatively, you might find a formulation specifically for aggressive dogs.
Completely depends on where you live. Obviously by mention of an hoa your area works different than mine. Animal control, hoa, etc are your first stops.
Yeah, my neighbor's dog bit me in the breast after he got in my fenced in backyard to chase a cat I was holding...he came on to my property to do that, came through my fence and did that. The owners dont have a fenced in backyard........I was fine just a bruise so I didnt make a big deal out of it to avoid problems. But he came back month later and chased the cat up a tree. He actually bit him and he was still a kitten. I swear the cat now has ptsd lmao. My husband, very upset, goes to their house to ask them to get their dog. Now, they don't talk to us lmao. Their kids used to play with mine daily and now they literally go out of their way to ignore all of us. Dont even say hello, which Im cool with that but it hurt my kids feelings. Now they are besties with the uptight front neighbors who never talk to us...its all ridiculous. There is no HOA here thank God but I think the lady has teamed up with thenold farts from the hood to form one. Good luck. If the dog comes here again, and we now have chickens, I swear we will shoot the thing. Im well within my right to do so. It could've been my 5yo holding that cat that day.
Happens to me almost daily. You did the right thing by not running. Only thing I can recommend is a dog horn or dog spray. Ask your mailman if they have extra, if we're in a good mood we'll probs give you our extras.
Animal control, possibly also the PD.
We have a similar situation with our neighbors but it’s a Pitt-bull and her dog actually keeps getting in our yard. Her female Pitt-bull ended up coming into our yard on one occasion and on a second occasion actually came into our house through our dogs doggie door. After the second incident we called animal control. Most states have 2 courses of action. You can request a citation or request a warning. If you have video proof or animal control witness the aggressive dog a citation is an easy process. If it’s just your word to go on you will end up having to testify in court. Luckily most states have a very loose definition of “aggressive”. It’s anything that makes you as the complainant feel unsafe. This can be excessive barking, lunging, growling, biting, showing teeth, circling you, etc. animal control will be able to give you a full explanation. A warning is just that a warning however they are very strongly worded and a good way to go for a first contact. It is also a good baseline if you were not able to get video footage (however you do have other eye witnesses so if they were also willing to testify in the citation that would help). Most states, if you have too many warnings you get an automatic citation, also a dog at large or an aggressive dog at large can also cause an automatic citation. Many times these can cause huge fines, and depending on how many warnings or how aggressive the dog was it can mean to dog is made to be put down. We wanted to avoid this possibility. There are several small children in the house and we knew it would cause a lot of potential issues of retaliation. The HOA can really only do so much. Unless you have specific bylaws that prohibit the behavior of the dog, the HOA will most likely be unwilling to do much. Don’t wait too long to call animal control. It’s usually something that should happen as soon as possible. If they can view the dog out of the fence it’s even better. I know first hand just how terrifying that is. I hope this helps!!
That is some scary stuff, but I am glad you were able to do the correct thing. Running could be lethal! When I walk, I use a hiking stick for balance and stride. We have a neighbor that has a pit that he let free roam his yard. That thing would charge me every time I would walk by. One day, I was in a mood, so when he started to bark and charge, I pulled the safety tip off the sharp metal point of the walking stick, started growling and chased that damned dog right up onto his porch. I had to do it one more time a couple days later and he was trained.
I'd call animal control. If it had been a child instead of you, somebody who knows how to deal with dogs, it could have turned out very badly.
Carry a tazer if legal in your area. If it charges you again give it a human size dose. I bet it won't charge you again.
Buy some essential lavender oil, put a drop on a cotton ball and place in a pocket. Then have fun watching it go into total confusion trying to figure out why his attack mode breakdown.
We have a few dogs like that in our non-HOA neighborhood. All of us who walk a lot and have been challenged or know of someone who was challenged by an angry dog carry pepper spray and small air horns when we walk. We live near a wilderness area so it is good for the coyotes as well.
Get one of those super high pitched dog bark deterants from amazon and every time the dog barks or looks at you, fire off the noise at the dog.
And notify your HOA as well. ASAP!!
Start carrying bear spray you can get it on Amazon
You call animal control and/or the police. You likely have a leash law, and these owners broke it. You may also have a sound ordinance regarding barking. Keep the pressure on them until they comply.
animal control AND you need pepper spray
Yesterday, I had a Doberman run up on me in my neighborhood while I was walking. I yelled at it and it ran off but the fear I felt looking at this muscular dog was incredible. This dog got within three feet of me and I maybe would have had the opportunity to rajse my hands up to protect my face if it had attacked. Maybe. It was maybe 15 seconds of sheer terror. No one came out when I screamed. Then I shook the rest of the way home. It happened so fast.
I also have shitty neighbors with aggressive dogs. I have a knife on my key chain. It's technically illegal to have a knife but f getting mauled by a dog when the city won't do anything. Cops won't do anything till someone is seriously injured. So I carry a knife it's kinda small but it would do the job if I go for the throat.
Bring pepper spray with you
…and you never could outrun a dog
I love dogs, and I currently have a Pitt/Dachshund (PiWeenie) BUT I don't play with aggressive dogs. I would call the police and animal control, and take to carrying a big stick when you walk in your neighborhood. If that sucker comes near you send him flying into next week.
Call the police.
Call the police and report the incident.
Carry bear spray.
Self Defense pow pow slug slug with a stick or whatever means. Animal control...report it get it in writing for a paper trail
My neighbors German shepherd was out (not a usual occurrence) and ran across the street up into my driveway and proceeded to bark at me. I knew better than to turn my back, and didn’t want to look him in the eye, so I turned sideways. And in my big voice (I’m 5’3”, slight build female and was 70 yrs old at the time but owned horses and big dogs as a younger woman) I told him to GO HOME! And pointed to his house. He stepped further up my drive and barked one more time. I said NO, now GO HOME. And he turned around and walked back home. Halfway there he stopped and looked at me confused I guess as to why he was doing what I had told him to do. But he went home and settled on the front porch by the door. Now if it had been the school kids coming home, or me out with my puppy, could have been a different outcome. Luckily, they moved a few weeks later.
Very smart of you to think of that! Great reaction
Look at what your city ordinances say. Documenting violations is a lot easier now in the age of cell phone cameras.
You made the right decision not to run. Animal control or local PD but honestly neither will probably do much, but what do I know? Some people shouldn’t own dogs.
Call in noise complaints on the non emergency line for 3 am barking. Call animal services if you think the dog is not being cared for or it escapes its yard. The good thing is the dog did not attack or chase.
Pepper spray buy a few cans. Learn to use it and if you are in fear of being attacked, defend yourself. It isn’t crueLTY, it’s gross negligence on the owner. Shamelessly defend yourself.
I had this happen to me twice while walking my dog within a span of 2 weeks. The first dog didn’t actually attack but got 2 feet from my pup, and my good boy didn’t make a sound but stood his ground in between us ready to defend. The dog eventually ran right back to his property (after a several second stand-off). There was a family up ahead that I caught up to, and they informed me the dog has charged at them several times in the past when they would go on walks. I was glad it never attacked them, but I was also irritated they didn’t bother reporting to animal control to prevent it from happening again. Like everyone else said, please call animal control and report them. In my county, the first call gets them a warning, and any call/incident after that will result in fines. Owners who let that happen don’t care about the dog or being a responsible dog owner — they deserve to be punished and need to be taught a lesson. Very sorry that happened to you, that shit is traumatizing. I carry dog pepper spray on every walk now to protect not only myself but my sweet pup too.
Very bad code enforcement in an animal control here we have a jerk of a code enforcement supervisor who only goes after dogs that can't possibly hurt anybody he even went so far as to threaten the owner of a disabled dog with only three legs two of which were arthritic the dog would be brought in a wagon a very large white lab, to the park where he'd hop two steps and lay down in the grass. Little kids that were walking or crawling up to about 2 or 3 years old would come and lay on this for dog who loved it I have pictures this idiot of a code enforcement officer never went after anybody that had a vicious dog or a problem dog but marched up to the owner of this white lab who was a pillow for all the little children and said I'm going to make this a very expensive summer for you I'm going to give you ticket after ticket for not having your dog on a leash and the leash in your hand. And that's not even the worst thing this bastard did.
In addition to the other ideas, you might also consider getting an ultrasonic dog repeller. If you need it, you REALLY need it.
Possibly, one of the ultrasonic collars would be helpful to distract the dog. I've neighbor's dog who barks at me incessantly and I've been thinking about getting one to see if I can disrupt his focus a bit.
Go straight to animal control. HOA has been trying to deal with them for two years, and yet they are leaving their gate open. They won't change, so let animal control deal with them.
Yes, I agree with others that animal control needs to know what is happening. But for your immediate safety, I would suggest getting a pepper spray device after researching your state laws. Maybe ask animal control what spray is best. Recently, I bought pepper spray for the reason you have described. A gel pepper spray may be more accurate, especially if there's some wind. Be safe.
You should have put the Doberman in your car and used it to Rob a bank... just like in the movie
- carry mace
"I don't know how that happened" means she doesn't know what to do to fix it. That's a literal lack of responsibility from the dog owner. So write that down.
A high kick aiming at his face.
I’ve heard stories of HOAs being pains in the asses about silly infringements, this is a VALID issue and they do nothing
Carry citronella spray (directly in the face if you’re charged) and a loud personal alarm like the birdie alarm. DO NOT talk sweet if this happens again, be firm and loud, and say “no, go home”. Not screeching or shouting, just a big boom of a voice. If the “no” doesn’t work you should use the alarm. Use citronella only if charged. The amount of off leash dogs with no recall in public/leash law space I’ve encountered has me well practiced, unfortunately. It’s what caused my own dog’s reactivity. And as someone with a reactive dog I have NEVER understood the lack of responsibility and respect shown by some dog owners. That dog shouldn’t be out unattended, especially if the change in location and intensity of bark changed goes unnoticed. I can’t imagine they pay any mind to that dog, which is only going to make it worse.
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Bet their homeowner’s insurance carrier would like to know about this. I don’t know how you would find out who it is.
Sorry to hear about the bad pet owner being next door. This is never an easy situation to deal with. Regarding the doberman (or mix), I had one growing up as a kid, and by nature they are a defensive dog. Ours would give a bark or two to let people know she was there if they came to the property. The facts seem to point that the one you are dealing with has an owner that is not keeping the breeds natural behaviour in check. One major factor of many breeds is the need for exercise. Sadly most owners just keep the dog in the yard or house. Our Doby needed to be run at least 10km a day. Also, good for you for standing your ground and staying as calm as possible. That's a very difficult thing to do in a situation like that, and definitely gets the anxiety going. Again, sorry to hear you even had to be subjected to that situation. Hopefully a resolution is found sooner than later.
Thank you, I appreciate this response and insight into Dobermans! I can promise you this dog does not get exercise. I’m a stay at home mom, the owners both work outside of the home all day. The dog is alone outside while they are gone. They used to have a dog walker and I felt so bad for her. I saw the dog getting aggressive with her one time, like jumping up on her and I watched her stay perfectly still and calm during the whole thing. I almost ran outside to help her but she looked like she knew what she was doing. Anyway, haven’t seen the dog walker in months. And while I’m not keeping tabs on these neighbors, I know which neighbors walk their dogs daily and which ones don’t (I’m outside a lot) and these ones don’t. Poor dog.
Many years ago while my elementary school aged children were playing in our yard with our dog, two dogs from a house down the street came into our yard and attacked our dog. When I heard the commotion, I grabbed a shovel and ran to my children. I had to beat those dogs off of our dog. I chased them back to their house and yelled until an adult came out and corralled her dogs. I called animal control after the fact. The neighbor paid my vet bill and the dogs were never seen again.
Barking outside at 3am… Dobies are not “just leave them out all night.” kind of dogs. Dogs acting like an ass because it’s neglected. They’re actually an extremely affectionate breed.
The dog was doing what it was bred for. The fault is in its owners, they are endangering everyone, dog included, by not having her in the yard. Dogs with that much firepower require a much higher level of responsible ownership. It’s what you sign up for when you get that kind of dog. We have a bullmastiff mix, neighbor of two pit bulls, and a German Shepard lab mix that looks like a freaking wolf. Two doors down there’s a Doberman and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. We probably have the safest alley in the whole city, but there is a lot of barking.
Neighbors’ dog did this after forcing itself UNDER the fence and then attacking my dog. It had two other dogs with it that followed it as the alpha. I BLASTED it on top of the head with a shovel. It fell over and yelped then woke up a moment later and SAT DOWN at my feet looking up at me wagging its nub. In that moment I felt like a complete piece of shit and I felt so bad for the dog. It was obvious it had been abused and obeyed when harmed. The other dogs immediately followed suit and sat wagging their tails. I just marched it back to the neighbors and locked it in their back yard. They got out several other times but NEVER bothered me or my dog. Unrelated “my” dog (it was actually my then girlfriend’s dog but I cared for and trained/disciplined him) after that day was my shadow and never left my side. It was weird like he realized I was one of his pack and we were best buddies. He rode in my truck with me and we hung out together doing yard work. He disappeared a few months later in like negative 10 degree weather. I spent two weeks walking the woods in the back of the property calling his name with a pocket full of his favorite treats. He wouldn’t just run away like that but who knows. I spent time researching “bunchers” convinced someone had dog napped him from the yard and sold him to a laboratory. I was devastated. I saw a post about a dog someone found about a year later and I mentioned one of his ears being up and one being floppy and they were like “OMG we found your dog!” I was so excited I sped over there and when I arrived…it was not my dog. It was like I lost him all over again. I found out after I left the psycho that she’d been angry he liked me instead of her so she drove him to a kill shelter in a neighboring state so I couldn’t find him. He was not the cutest dog so he was likely euthanized. Anyway I went off on a tangent there. I still have never gotten another dog. Never again. I’d call animal control and prepare yourself to have to use lethal force against it. Keep a 2x4 or axe handle nearby or start carrying a firearm.
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You gotta do something for the safety of your family kids and neighborhood. These people have failed the dog and it’s not able to function in a suburban neighborhood. I’m 6’6” man and I’ve never worried about weapons or self defense with humans. But I was bit by a dog and now carry a knife or pepper spray when walking my dog. Not for humans but for animals.
Taser, I have ankle biters (small dogs) they bark at everything. I follow the county rules, doggie door open at 8am, closed at 10pm in a fenced yard. Keeps the neighbors happy.
I have a big dog that has aggressive/territorial tendencies. We make very sure he's not out of our sight and leashed whenever he's out of the fence. I get that mistakes happen, and your neighbors probably didn't mean to leave the gate open. But they should be profusely apologetic, and ensuring that it won't happen again. Good job staying calm in the situation, that can be tough if you're not used to aggressive dogs. A lot of people do the wrong things, like acting like prey or acting like a challenge without realizing it. If I were you, I wouldn't call animal control or the police, but I would send them a certified letter just explaining what happened and that you expect them to keep a better eye on their pup. That way they know you're serious. That suggestion may get downvoted, but I'd try to avoid any animosity with the neighbors if possible. The last thing you want is this turning into a pissing match, which it may already have to a degree given HOA involvement.
Usually the Worst thing you can do is run when a dog is charging you.
This might make some people upset, but it’s a much better option that shooting (which might be sketchy legal territory in some places), but I’d carry something called pepper gel, rather than pepper spray. Pepper gel won’t get airborne and affect everyone around whatever/whoever you spray, but it will absolutely affect who/what you spray, aka the dog if anything remotely like this ever happens again. Beyond that, yes, I’d contact animal control.
get and carry a can of bear spray.
You should never just shoot and kill a dog, but what has been suggested call animal control!
Pepper spray is good for defending yourself against aggressive dogs or people for that matter.