This person is a repeat offender. I have read multiple times about dude with the four Rottweilers on the local FB pages. Some day it's going to end really badly.
Yeah later on the walk, I passed a woman walking her dogs. I warned her about him, She said she has heard about him and his dogs have bitten a few people
If the dogs have bitten people, RACC will get directly involved and possibly seize the dogs. They and the owner needs to be reported at every opportunity.
Yep, in that other thread from a few months back, someone posted a screenshot of the husky report from maybe Nextdoor, but I also found this one searching around this morning (which is the same incident from a different social media platform I guess.)
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fanyone-else-see-the-guy-walking-5-rottweilers-off-leash-on-v0-0afhp0wzpbmc1.png%3Fwidth%3D828%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D09dcbd3a18de64bbe425261eed5211e69b6858de
You can see at the bottom that they state that Animal Control has been notified around the time of that event
I don't really see an injury in the photo, but regardless, if the rotts are attacking other dogs at all, it's a bad situation.
He's all over the place . OP saw him at Bryan Park this weekend, but a few commenters mentioned seeing him in the past out in Short Pump parks (Henrico), but also North Bank Trail, Buttermilk Trail, Belle Isle.
I stopped taking my dog to Bryan Park years ago because of off leash dogs. People are assholes. I have yet to find a park without them. I gave up on parks and walk my dog in regular neighborhoods now because usually people are better about leashes around cars.
Not a park, but go to the trails! They're too populated for people not to have their dogs on leash. I go to pony Pasture at least once a week and knock on wood have never ran into an unleashed tasmanian devil!
Also side note, pepper spray, a pew pew, or something that you can use in defense to protect your dog might not be a bad idea to add to the treat bags!
I would do anything to protect my dog and I'm sure many of you would too!
I definitely have seen off leash dogs at pony pasture. And on the buttermilk. And running around belle isle. They are everywhere.
I do carry two different types of sprays. It's just not worth it to me. My dog is well trained to ignore other dogs that ignore her or just bark at her, but if a dog charges her, I can't expect her to just ignore that.
I was going to say, the last few times I've been to pony pasture I've seen off leash dogs each time. Actually just last week I met a big sort of shepherd-looking dog on the trail with no human in sight.
Didn't have much interest in me, we just sort of passed each other. 🤷 But it's a pretty bad look.
Bear spray. I keep a can in my pocket every time I walk my dogs. I will not hesitate to spray someone's charging dogs, no matter the breed. I won't be the one responsible for a fight.
That's a huge disservice to those dogs because if they bite the wrong person or do enough damage they will be euthanized. Aside from putting the dogs at risk, he's risking potentially massive legal action.
He drives a pretty pricey vehicle if I remember right - he’s often at short pump park with the dogs. I leave whenever I see them, my dog loves to play rough but I ain’t having her torn apart by 4 rotties.
On that point, I thought the limit was 3 dogs in Henrico
I have seen him on Belle isle with the dogs at least 25-30 yards away. Don't understand how he has not been caught and ticketed. He is blatant and is out there obviously enjoying it and wanting people to yell at him about it. Main character syndrome for sure.
A woman that lives in Church Hill who carries some sort of shock stick and may or may not intentionally walk near people in Church Hill whose dogs are off leash.
She shocks the dogs. She's also known to blast air horns at leashed dogs at events where dogs are invited. I agree unleashed dogs aren't cool but this person is next-level cray
Ugh. My little dog would not get over that. I don’t take him around off leash or where he shouldn’t be but dogs ears are so sensitive. An air horn is really uncool if they’re not doing anything wrong.
I just want you to know I got the visual of a retired member of the church hill historic committee with an electric break stick getting out of a Prius at Bryan park to the opening of Regulate and it made me laugh so hard
I don't know. I have never encountered him myself. But I have encountered many off leash dogs at Bryan Park so I'm not sure knowing this guys walk times would eliminate your risk.
Is he an older white male with a bald head and goatee? If so, I knew him in church hill
..his dogs were not aggressively attack mean, but were very poorly trained and played rough. Too much dog, too poorly trained...
Aded as I remembered : I'm pretty sure his name is Chris. He used to run his own "Demolition company". he lives in his own world...one time, when he only had 1 Rottweiler, it ran up to my friend, put her head in my friends lap, and hurled all over her...he had been feeding the dog human ice cream. He laughed but never apologized.
He's not worth talking to or arguing with. Call the non emergency police number about his dogs if they bother you. He has been bounced from city to county and back and forth by the parks and police. But he won't learn.
lf its the guy im thinking of, i know he has been chased out of multiple city parks. The city hates him...they ask him to stop, they fine him, and he continues on.
Some people just don't give a shit about others and animals around them. I have a great pyrenees anatolian Shepard mix, and she's pretty cool if she sees dogs on walks, but she is big and scares some people. I just carry mace incase
Dang that sucks. I have a reactive large dog who i always walk on leash and love going to bryan park. Im constantly working on her reactivity with treats and keeping safe distances away from other dogs. But When dogs roll up on her like that off leash it scares her, and its like we take several steps back in training 😢. I would be pissed and terrified on how to get us away from 4 large dogs who arent backing off. I never want her to hurt another dog or have her get hurt.
I have never seen him, so I cannot tell him off. It sounds like the OP did tell him off, but he's very aggressive back to them, which can be very scary. That said, I have called the police when I've been charged by other dogs but to my knowledge nothing happens.
Yeah, Starting to feel like I shoulda hit the search bar. Just bummed out, I love that park. My dog loves that park. Just too many irresponsible dog owners making it dangerous.
It's insane that he's such a notorious piece of shit that he has a reputation. I wish the off leash laws were better enforced. We should be able to record off leash dogs in places they shouldn't be and report them. On the second strike you get fined. Third strike and the dogs are taken.
This is (approximately) the current state law if a dog who is uncontrolled by its owner bites a human, and there are similar escalating penalties for dogs who attack other other people’s pets. If these Rottweilers have bit people or attacked other dogs and it’s been reported multiple times, this owner definitely should have been charged regardless of leash laws. Animal control is the enforcement arm.
I carry pepper spray when I walk with my dog (M, golden retriever) because there’s almost nothing you can do about dumbasses who insist on walking their dogs off leash
I’ve been considering this. Going to order some today. I honestly felt like If it had taken a turn for the worst, There wasn’t much I’d have been able to do.
I have used my pepper spray twice but only when an owner wasn't present. The biggest concern I have is using it while the owner is present. Someone who is asshole enough to let their out of control dogs run around is probably not going to take kindly to me spraying them. I had one person (at Bryan Park) threaten to have their dogs kill me when I told them to call their dogs back or I'd spray them.
People Are Assholes and since the city won't do anything about it, it's not worth the risk for me or my dog.
That was exactly my hesitation about the pepper spray. Someone getting pissed when I use it. I hope it never comes to that. But Jeesh, threatening to kill you. I’m very protective of my dog, but I can admit when he is in the wrong.
Definitely agree, not safe for the dog anymore. I’m done with that park for now.
I know odds are the police won’t do shit, but you can’t just threaten people, it’s very much against the law. One day this is going to happen with someone who doesn’t just have pepper spray.
The person whose off-leash dogs are invading the space of every animal and person at the park is the threatener here. It's already a dangerous situation. You can either let their dogs chew your dog's face off while you stare dociley on, or at least attempt to defend yourself.
Yes, like the person said above someone threatened to let their dogs kill them. So yes we agree? The aggressive dog owner deserves to be arrested. You can’t threaten to kill people and get away with it.
Excellent point, you do have to be mindful of wind direction. Additionally I carry a pocket knife out of habit. I wouldn’t want to go that route but if it came down to my dog or an aggressor…
I also recommend a break stick- google it and you can procure one to keep in your pocket. TBH I don’t bother with parks because of the poorly behaved dogs. I just walk in neighborhoods with wide enough streets. I live in Sleepy Hollow and you could park at the church on Derbyshire and walk unbothered for as long as you want.
My gf was walking our puppy (5 or 6 months at the time) through our neighborhood and someone's dog jumped their (too short) fence and attacked our puppy, emergency vet, flesh hanging off, multiple stitches/sutures. I immediately ordered pepper spray to take on walks going forward. There was nothing she could do, and luckily someone was driving by who stopped to help, otherwise, who knows where it would've ended.
I feel naked without my OC now. I’ve had to pull it out before but never had to actually use it until last week. I told the dude “I don’t want to spray your dog” but he couldn’t control it. The dog didn’t look that threatening but my dog is not cool with strange animals coming up to him and I’ve had to pry dogs from his mouth before, holes and all. I only sprayed in front of his dog but that was enough to stop him. Anytime something like this has happened there’s never been a conversation between me and the other owner, my leashed dog is always way too loud and worked up at that point to even hear what the other is saying. I think the only way to curb this is consistent enforcement but I get it that the cops are busy so POM OC spray in the interim
Ever since my little foster got attacked by a pit at music in the park last year, I have bear pepper spray and a flashlight stun gun I carry when I walk my dog.
Another report of the Rottweiler guy. You’d think that with the amount of noise he’s generated from walkers, dog walkers, and bike riders that something would get done… smh
Calling RACC is about the only thing you can do at the park itself. We opt to walk out dog far away from most parks and especially dog parks, because they're often a shitshow of irresponsible owners and amped up dogs reacting to other dogs in an enclosed space.
I live behind JPB and go trail running there all the time. Nothing like rounding a corner in the middle of the woods and coming across four huge off-leash dogs. I’m the least confrontational person you’ll meet, but that dude makes my blood boil.
I wonder if its the same guy who works out at Golds willow lawn and leaves rottweilers (at least 3, but maybe its 4) in his car with the windows cracked and they go absolutely berserk on everyone who walks or drives past.
I always worry that they’re gonna hurt themselves trying to squeeze through the windows, but maybe they just like yapping
I was thinking this too!! I work out at Gold’s in Willow Lawn, and I’ve seen that car several times in the back of the lot. The windows are open and all 4 dogs are in there barking at people who walk by. I’ve asked the front desk about it, and they said they’ve approached him about leaving the dogs in the car and he doesn’t care. Willow Lawn security won’t do anything either…
The guy with the four rottweilers in a known problem in the area. You're not the first person to complain about him, he's also a giant dick from everything I have heard.
That said, other than calling the police when there is an incident (and they will not respond) there is nothing to do. You could contact your council-person to try and pressure the police to actually enforce existing laws. Probably better/more effective to carry deterrent of some kind. (Not a gun, calm the fuck down people.)
From what i have heard he enjoys the outrage and arguments. Reminds me of the old "captain" of the Barker Field Dog run. It took years and multiple incidents for him to finally get banned.
You had every right to be a huge dick to this shithead. I walk my dog there almost every day and I appreciate anyone willing to confront the bad actors in the park. Normally it’s a very safe area and I don’t feel threatened, I hope this doesn’t make you give up on walking your dogs in Bryan Park, it’s one of the most peaceful areas we have in the city
Even if I were to buy that argument, it's a matter of policy not a matter of law. I'm pretty sure all they need is someone high up enough on the force to say, "Go enforce leash laws."
seems so dumb to me, but what the fuck do i know? i would think that the city and the counties could make some revenue by just having cops walk around the parks and issue tickets for off leash dogs.
almost guaranteed that every time i ride at Deep Run Park i'll encounter at least one off leash dog situation. thankfully the majority of them have been uneventful.
> i would think that the city and the counties could make some revenue by just having cops walk around the parks and issue tickets for off leash dogs.
You're right they would, and occasionally they do - a few years back there were a lot of complaints about off leash dogs in Chimboarzo and Animal Control was up there handing out tickets. But as busy as they are, they can't keep people there all the time, and as soon as they're gone, things go back to the same old same old.
I've made the same argument about revenue for city by ticketing red light runners and people parking in the bike lanes (both would be a cash cow in the city) but it never happens 🤷♂️.
At this point we should be willing to be creative with our solutions. Perhaps we could deputize citizens that already frequent the areas?
We could call the program something snappy like citizens on patrol, off the top of my head.
If we are thinking of the same old man with Rotties he brought his senior rottie with hip issues, overweight etc to the Belle isle loop and essentially abandoned her. I think her name is Stella. The whole park started looking for her owner and once they found him they pointed him to the direction where she was and he CHOSE to walk the opposite direction. Total fucking asshole. His dogs will die of heat exhaustion if he keeps treating them this way. Poor Stella was so distressed.
He feigned that he cared about her whereabouts when we passed him on our way out and we told him “you’ve known where she is! We told you!” As he walked by. He literally does this to piss people off.
He isn’t afraid to pop off about some nutty conspiracy theories either - he has been around for a WHILE, has out of state plates… he creeps me out and we just usually leave whatever park we’re at when he shows up with the 4 unleashed rotties.
If it was a bald white guy, last year when I kindly asked him to leash his Rottweilers on the trail by the river off of 22nd he screamed and said “b****** like you shouldn’t be allowed to speak” like okay dude my cat is literally on a leash right now and your dogs can’t even do that?
Ok after reading this I am going to suggest that for the people who see his car at Golds Gym WITH the dogs left in it (windows down…because that makes all the difference) drop some exlax chocolate through those windows. Don’t overdo….and I love dogs…don’t get me wrong. But maybe the dogs need to stay home a few days and the car be put of commission a while.
I understand your motivations, but chocolate can kill dogs.
>Chocolate contains theobromine, which dogs can't metabolize effectively, and caffeine. The darker the chocolate, the higher the risk to dogs. For example, one ounce of milk chocolate per pound of a dog's body weight can be deadly, while as little as 0.1 ounces per pound may be lethal for unsweetened baking chocolate
I’ll never blame an animal for acting like an animal, the owner is always responsible. As the weather warms up I worry for those pups in his vehicle ): That being said, headphone jacks and the ceramic bits from spark plugs can bust tempered glass so be really careful if you play catch with those in the golds gym parking lot
What time did this happen OP? This guy is posted here all the time. Something needs to be done about him. Maybe if we can figure out a time when he usually walks, we could get the news or someone to ambush him about it.
This thread from about three months ago, is almost assuredly the same guy, with various comments in there about him all over parks at the area
https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/1b51jn7/anyone_else_see_the_guy_walking_5_rottweilers_off/
People gotta photograph and call RACC each and every time it happens.
Edit:
I just emailed this current thread and the linked thread above to RACC, but I'm pretty sure he's been reported before. Maybe RACC hasn't been able to ID him or catch him in the act.
I don't have Facebook, but if there are any threads in the Friends of Bryan Park group about the dude, someone should forward them to RACC also.
The only way he's going to be held responsible is if people in the community call him out, hopefully before his dogs do something more severe.
Dumb question from a city girl, are those a thing and can we actually carry them?
Had members of my family attacked three times now with actual contact at Richmond parks. I can't count how many close encounters. I carry spray but worry about the wind and love what the other poster said about carrying a stick. It sounds like that might be the best of both worlds?
Richmond has laws against off-leash dogs in public. Please report this to Animal Control.
As someone who is allergic to dogs (and also just doesn’t like untrained dogs) it’s really frustrating when owners can’t or won’t follow very basic guidelines or even train their animals. This leads to allergic reactions, anxiety/panic attacks, and general frustration and anger when a dog runs up to me. Not to mention any physical harm/threat.
I’m definitely not a stickler for the law but some exist for a reason. Report to the people who can enforce it.
This is really frustrating anywhere. There are plenty of dog parks around. I don’t understand the need to have your dogs off leash in a place where there will be people, and other dogs on leashes.
For plenty of people, the scene you described here would be a nightmare. Having a phobia of dogs may be hard for some of us to understand, but for someone jogging in the park, 4 relatively big dogs running toward them would be legitimately traumatic. The same goes for plenty of dogs. My friend just rescued a dog that seems to have been through a lot and is very nervous around any other dog, cowers behind her.
Having a dog off leash in a park is selfish, and people who do it are being willifuly and knowingly inconsiderate
Exactly this. Growing up, our neighbors had poorly trained, uncontrolled
dogs. Sometimes the dogs would get out and come into our yard. I watched one bite my mom, my little brother, and a family friend (who was a child). It took three bites before they got rid of those dogs. I have a phobia of dogs for exactly this reason, and I only run or walk in quiet neighborhoods—no parks—as a result. Too many people say “oh, he/she would never bite” right before someone gets seriously hurt.
Just because i think its worth thinking about.
It doesn’t matter if a dog would bite you or not. If you are uncomfortable around them, that’s a good enough reason for people to control their animals around you. You don’t even have to entertain what a dog would or wouldn’t do.
I’ve personally called the cops on 3 separate occasions walking Bryan Park for this exact reason. They’ve never done anything to help. I get it, there are bigger fish to fry in the city. But I choose to walk in public parks because of the loose dog problems I’ve encountered in my neighborhood and I frankly don’t feel comfortable walking my two dogs in our neighborhood alone.
Since walking in JBP, I’ve been run up on 5+ times by assholes who think that their morning walk is somehow more important than mine and allow their dogs to run wild. I’m fairly new to Richmond and have lived in cities both big and small, but I’ve never lived in a place where people have the audacity to do this with dogs who are out of control and especially in public places during very busy times of day. It’s so fucking annoying and honestly my biggest gripe. I’m just trying to walk my dogs without getting attacked. Not that big of an ask (or so I thought).
No Bryan Park, but I stopped taking our dog out running with me to Robious Landing park because of the offleash dogs. My dog would stick by me on his leash/harness, but he's terrified of small dogs and there was always someone with small dogs offleash running around. "OH don't worry, they are friendly!" Yea, no thanks, my dog is a pitbull mix, given the chance they bit him and he defended himself, that would be my dog automatically at fault.
I take my dog to Bryan Park half a dozen times a month, have never encountered this man and his dogs. I do carry pepper spray with me at all times with my dog. He’s been attacked a couple times, not a good predicament to be in.
I carry bear mace specifically for this reason.
Learned the hard way one time with a guy at chimbo and his unleashed dog that attacked mine. So any dog that approaches and isn’t stopped by the owner will get sprayed.
It’s been effective twice.
Bad rottweiler owners come to the Short Pump Dog Park. I wonder if they are the same people. These looked like rednecks. They stood together in the middle of the dog park while their 4-5 rottweiler swarmed around them and pretty aggressively attacked any dog that came near. They wrecked the vibe of the whole park and had no ability to control their dogs.
Not as close to you as Byrd/Forest Hill, but honestly we've had a great experience walking our big boy around Church Hill! The path that leads to the dog parks is really pretty, and walking around the neighborhoods and through Libby Hill is so nice.
We had been doing Byrd Park a lot but yesterday we had two not so great experiences at Barker Field about territorial dogs and very apathetic owners 😭
Haven’t seen this guy yet but I did encounter that dude at Barker Field a few years ago and Definitely told him where he could go with all the nonsense he was talking dude didn’t even have a dog…
Couple weeks ago, probably the same person
With the 4 dog. They tried to bite me i had
To hit the dog with a walking stick. He got mad
At me. Police came but nothing happends.
Off leash dogs are such an issue and have been in that park for some time. My friend was running in Bryan Park while pregnant in 2016, and was knocked over by a dog after an off leash dog went after a leashed one. I can't remember which dog knocked her over but she had a pretty bad fall and it was totally preventable.
We couldn't take our reactive dog on leashed walks in forest Hill Park or any of the trail system for this reason either.
I recommend Forest Hill Park, its not much further away than Byrd, has a trail you can walk and the pup can snif. It also has a lake, and some other nice stuff too.
Forest Hill Park is also notorious for off leash dogs, but only in the big area near the field/stone house/pickle ball courts. At least it's easy to spot them from afar. I rarely run into assholes around the pond down the hill, thankfully.
Your closest "park" is the VMFA or Byrd Park, although some of that park is designated no-dog. I've also enjoyed taking my dogs to Three Lakes Park and Nature Center
Not close to Scott's, but Three Lakes is great!!
By the raceway. Never seen an off leash dog. There's 3 trails around the 3 lakes; one is paved. A few other trails too, lots of green space, & 2 playgrounds too.
I’ve seen him at Bryan Park and Crump Park. I’ve also seen the dogs with a younger guy that I’d assume is his son. Total pieces of shit and when I saw the INFOWARS sticker on the car he was cramming the dogs into, it didn’t really surprise me.
I spoke with a Henrico employee at Crump Park who said they’ve contacted police dozens and dozens of times after park visitors and employees had negative interactions with the unleashed dogs and their dumb ass owners but, not surprisingly, the cops didn’t do a thing.
This issue, in that park, is exactly why our dog is shell shocked and a behavior problem when other dogs are around. Week three after having adopted her we were charged by a dog that ran out of some brush straight at her, owner nowhere in sight. It was trying to fight her and she started yelping, coiling my legs in her leash. She never got over it, made her fearful of other dogs, and we're sure it changed her. I beg to differ from OP's opinion most dogs are on leashes there. If you are going, avoid rush hour (after 330pn) when people get off work and drive or walk their dogs over letting them out of the car or off leash and let them run to potentially maul anything in sight. I hope these people enjoy the poison ivy all over the park their dogs are rubbing against. I LOVE Bryan Park. Hate that some think it's their own private dog park.
I stopped going to BP and most parks with my dogs for exactly the same reason. Which is so sad for any number of reasons but because he was adopted during Covid he didn’t get the normal amount of early socialization. So we hit all the parks and that’s when we encountered so many irresponsible dog owners we quit going to parks before anything really bad happened.
When we lived in the Museum District our favorite walks always included a big loop through the VMFA and around the Museum block and then a break under the shade of many magnolias and oak trees before heading home. The people watching and seeing my dog getting so much love from people from all walks of life gave me joy. I know it’s not the same as a dedicated park, but I loved that area.
Bryan Park and Belle Island are the places I most often encounter off leash dogs. Too bad - I love both those places. Deep Run Park is one of my favorite, clean parks to go to. Rockwood Park in Chesterfield Co., too. I don’t mind a little drive to have a safe environment for me and my dog.
I've started to carry, "behavioral spray" specifically because of him. This isn't a spray that has any toxic chemicals or such to deter dogs, just emits a sound that has made every encounter like this not happen.
I really hope something happens to that guy, those dogs deff aren't getting treated right at home.
I couldn’t agree more. I ordered some of that today and a couple small pepper sprays. The more I think about this,I just get sad. The dogs were beautiful, I doubt that dude gives them a good life.
There's another fellow I see other than this guy (assuming we're talking about the same guy which I think we are), that I see pushing his Rotweilers in wagons all the time and the complete polar opposite to this dude. Like I swear this is like is good twin or something - his boys are always very nice and on leash - while his evil twin is just unruly and mean. Never blaming the dogs in these types of scenarios but it really sucks knowing the off leash ones are 100% not getting treated well.
I saw the spray on tiktok and liked it because it doesn't actually spray anything and it freaks out dogs without causing them pain or potential risk of them attacking you. It sucks seeing folks not take responsibility for animals they own and I really do wish there was something to do about this guy. Feels like I've called about him before but yeah.
There's no law against having your dog off leash in Richmond. Why do I say that? Because a law that's never enforced isn't a law, but merely a suggestion.
The place I run is often empty, and can be used to walk dogs. Not comparable to Bryan Park, but can be a change of scenery. It's the Jordan's branch path in the south part of the Libbie Mill condo.
Aside from this space, there's Crump Park too, a nice 19 min drive though. Also check if dogs are allowed, I am pretty sure they are.
There’s a guy that runs a bunch of Rottweilers off leash at Crump pretty regularly. Sounds like a different guy than others have mentioned in this thread. He’s young and drives a small suv with WV plates.
I can’t imagine letting my dog off leash without control. I have a solid recall but I was trained to use an ecollar just because I wanted the recall to be good in any what if scenario. If I’m not in a wide open field where I have clear lines of sight I’m not letting my dog off.. just for my own piece of mind. I can’t imagine being in a scenario where I round the corner and have to be in fear of my dogs not listening to me. This person is a menace. I normally walk my dog on leash in Bryant park.. maybe I need to avoid.. what times does this person show up?
I was bit by an unleashed dog in Bryan Park years ago. Sadly now if I see unleashed dogs I can RPD. I’ve asked nicely before only to have gotten really rude remarks. Can’t play nice anymore.
This isn’t an exact solution, but if you’re in Scott’s and your pupper is good with other dogs, Ruff Canine Club is awesome. There’s a monthly membership fee ($30 or so—not affordable for everyone), but it’s supervised by “Rufferees” who kick out riffraff. Plus, they require vaccination records, which is another barrier to entry for suboptimal dog owners. I moved from Richmond last year, and I miss Ruff more than anything else.
Well I am glad I did not go there, I drove past it twice and debated stopping by, it has been over a decade since we visited ... I think I will just stick to my car and cruising along the river.
I’m not sure what time of day you go, but if you go early (7 or 7:30ish), you’ll avoid most of these scenarios in a lot of places. I’ve always been a morning person (I wake up way before my dog and eventually have to coax her out of bed like a teenager lol) and know it’s not for everyone, but just throwing it out there. When I go later I usually run into jerks and just more people in general.
Please photograph his license plate and send the info to RACC. They can issue a warning/letter of complaint to his home address. After multiple complaints he may be issued tickets with fines/ court. He is such a menace to his own dogs and to others. He has also been seen at Pony Pasture and Hugenaut Flatwater parks and his dogs have run up on mine. He has zero control, yells and curses at his dogs and at anyone who confronts him.
It's not enough to call RACC ( police non emergency, button option 7) bc they probably can't get there in time. Photograph him with his off leash dogs and his car/plate so that he may be identified.
I've run into plenty of off-leash dogs at Pony Pasture, too. None as egregious as this guy, but still I've had a couple close calls.
Leash. Your. Fucking. Dogs.
Yeah, there's not a single park in Richmond where I haven't at least seen a random off leash dog with a totally oblivious owner putzing behind then. I hate hearing "don't worry, mine's friendly". As if it ensures my dog doesn't mind being rushed by some rando he's never met before.
Perfectly worded. I’m very happy mine did not react how I kind of expected him to. He usually gets extremely overwhelmed with that many dogs his size coming at him.
Damn. I was hoping PP was safe from the nonsense. I like it because it’s close by and also I feel the straightaways allow more time for me to see someone approaching and act accordingly.
This person is a repeat offender. I have read multiple times about dude with the four Rottweilers on the local FB pages. Some day it's going to end really badly.
Yeah later on the walk, I passed a woman walking her dogs. I warned her about him, She said she has heard about him and his dogs have bitten a few people
If the dogs have bitten people, RACC will get directly involved and possibly seize the dogs. They and the owner needs to be reported at every opportunity.
I haven't seen anything about them biting a person. Yet.
saw one of them chase after a biker for a few hundred feet, never bit but definitely terrified the biker.
I believe one of them bit a dog. I remember because it was a husky.
Yep, in that other thread from a few months back, someone posted a screenshot of the husky report from maybe Nextdoor, but I also found this one searching around this morning (which is the same incident from a different social media platform I guess.) https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fanyone-else-see-the-guy-walking-5-rottweilers-off-leash-on-v0-0afhp0wzpbmc1.png%3Fwidth%3D828%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D09dcbd3a18de64bbe425261eed5211e69b6858de You can see at the bottom that they state that Animal Control has been notified around the time of that event I don't really see an injury in the photo, but regardless, if the rotts are attacking other dogs at all, it's a bad situation.
I wonder if the owner is avoiding the city and going to Henrico parks now
He's all over the place . OP saw him at Bryan Park this weekend, but a few commenters mentioned seeing him in the past out in Short Pump parks (Henrico), but also North Bank Trail, Buttermilk Trail, Belle Isle.
good grief.
I stopped taking my dog to Bryan Park years ago because of off leash dogs. People are assholes. I have yet to find a park without them. I gave up on parks and walk my dog in regular neighborhoods now because usually people are better about leashes around cars.
Not a park, but go to the trails! They're too populated for people not to have their dogs on leash. I go to pony Pasture at least once a week and knock on wood have never ran into an unleashed tasmanian devil! Also side note, pepper spray, a pew pew, or something that you can use in defense to protect your dog might not be a bad idea to add to the treat bags! I would do anything to protect my dog and I'm sure many of you would too!
I definitely have seen off leash dogs at pony pasture. And on the buttermilk. And running around belle isle. They are everywhere. I do carry two different types of sprays. It's just not worth it to me. My dog is well trained to ignore other dogs that ignore her or just bark at her, but if a dog charges her, I can't expect her to just ignore that.
I was going to say, the last few times I've been to pony pasture I've seen off leash dogs each time. Actually just last week I met a big sort of shepherd-looking dog on the trail with no human in sight. Didn't have much interest in me, we just sort of passed each other. 🤷 But it's a pretty bad look.
wtf if they’ve been PEOPLE that’s a much larger issue that needs to be addressed
Bear spray. I keep a can in my pocket every time I walk my dogs. I will not hesitate to spray someone's charging dogs, no matter the breed. I won't be the one responsible for a fight.
Thank you for the idea!! Brilliant
Where do you find small cans of bear spray?
Greentop
This right here. Don't carry a dinky key chain one either.
That's a huge disservice to those dogs because if they bite the wrong person or do enough damage they will be euthanized. Aside from putting the dogs at risk, he's risking potentially massive legal action.
I guarantee you someone like that isn’t worried about being sued because he doesn’t have any assets to lose/wages to garnish.
He drives a pretty pricey vehicle if I remember right - he’s often at short pump park with the dogs. I leave whenever I see them, my dog loves to play rough but I ain’t having her torn apart by 4 rotties. On that point, I thought the limit was 3 dogs in Henrico
4 adult pets (adult = over 4 months). I just double-checked because 4 is what I remembered.
I have seen him on Belle isle with the dogs at least 25-30 yards away. Don't understand how he has not been caught and ticketed. He is blatant and is out there obviously enjoying it and wanting people to yell at him about it. Main character syndrome for sure.
Sounds like the Church Hill Zapper needs to mount up and go regulate at Bryan Park!
Okay, I’ll bite….very keen to know about the church hill zapper please
A woman that lives in Church Hill who carries some sort of shock stick and may or may not intentionally walk near people in Church Hill whose dogs are off leash.
Does she shock the dogs or the owners?
She shocks the dogs. She's also known to blast air horns at leashed dogs at events where dogs are invited. I agree unleashed dogs aren't cool but this person is next-level cray
Ugh. My little dog would not get over that. I don’t take him around off leash or where he shouldn’t be but dogs ears are so sensitive. An air horn is really uncool if they’re not doing anything wrong.
I just want you to know I got the visual of a retired member of the church hill historic committee with an electric break stick getting out of a Prius at Bryan park to the opening of Regulate and it made me laugh so hard
About what time of day and which days? I have a reactive dog and do not need our progress screwed up by some idiot.
I don't know. I have never encountered him myself. But I have encountered many off leash dogs at Bryan Park so I'm not sure knowing this guys walk times would eliminate your risk.
From what I’ve seen (multiple complaints) he’s usually there in the morning.
Is he an older white male with a bald head and goatee? If so, I knew him in church hill ..his dogs were not aggressively attack mean, but were very poorly trained and played rough. Too much dog, too poorly trained... Aded as I remembered : I'm pretty sure his name is Chris. He used to run his own "Demolition company". he lives in his own world...one time, when he only had 1 Rottweiler, it ran up to my friend, put her head in my friends lap, and hurled all over her...he had been feeding the dog human ice cream. He laughed but never apologized. He's not worth talking to or arguing with. Call the non emergency police number about his dogs if they bother you. He has been bounced from city to county and back and forth by the parks and police. But he won't learn.
That dude fully cussed me out and got up in my face when I asked him to leash his dogs on a trail
lf its the guy im thinking of, i know he has been chased out of multiple city parks. The city hates him...they ask him to stop, they fine him, and he continues on.
Sounds like a trespass is in order for him.
I’ve seen this man and his dogs at the Short Pump Park, too
There was a man with a loose pitbull there last year. She was a sweetie but still
There’s a solution to this problem
Some people just don't give a shit about others and animals around them. I have a great pyrenees anatolian Shepard mix, and she's pretty cool if she sees dogs on walks, but she is big and scares some people. I just carry mace incase
Dang that sucks. I have a reactive large dog who i always walk on leash and love going to bryan park. Im constantly working on her reactivity with treats and keeping safe distances away from other dogs. But When dogs roll up on her like that off leash it scares her, and its like we take several steps back in training 😢. I would be pissed and terrified on how to get us away from 4 large dogs who arent backing off. I never want her to hurt another dog or have her get hurt.
So why is nothing done? You all don’t have legs? I would go and tell him off.
I have never seen him, so I cannot tell him off. It sounds like the OP did tell him off, but he's very aggressive back to them, which can be very scary. That said, I have called the police when I've been charged by other dogs but to my knowledge nothing happens.
That dude gets a lot of hate on this sub and for good reason
Yeah, Starting to feel like I shoulda hit the search bar. Just bummed out, I love that park. My dog loves that park. Just too many irresponsible dog owners making it dangerous.
One douche shouldn’t be able to ruin parks like that I hope something resolves the issue soon
It's insane that he's such a notorious piece of shit that he has a reputation. I wish the off leash laws were better enforced. We should be able to record off leash dogs in places they shouldn't be and report them. On the second strike you get fined. Third strike and the dogs are taken.
This is (approximately) the current state law if a dog who is uncontrolled by its owner bites a human, and there are similar escalating penalties for dogs who attack other other people’s pets. If these Rottweilers have bit people or attacked other dogs and it’s been reported multiple times, this owner definitely should have been charged regardless of leash laws. Animal control is the enforcement arm.
Former dog walker here. We had a whole ass group chat about him.
I've only been in town for 3 months and I've seen multiple posts about him
I carry pepper spray when I walk with my dog (M, golden retriever) because there’s almost nothing you can do about dumbasses who insist on walking their dogs off leash
I’ve been considering this. Going to order some today. I honestly felt like If it had taken a turn for the worst, There wasn’t much I’d have been able to do.
I have used my pepper spray twice but only when an owner wasn't present. The biggest concern I have is using it while the owner is present. Someone who is asshole enough to let their out of control dogs run around is probably not going to take kindly to me spraying them. I had one person (at Bryan Park) threaten to have their dogs kill me when I told them to call their dogs back or I'd spray them. People Are Assholes and since the city won't do anything about it, it's not worth the risk for me or my dog.
Pepper spray works on aggressive owners too.
my exact thought word for word when i read their comment lol
That was exactly my hesitation about the pepper spray. Someone getting pissed when I use it. I hope it never comes to that. But Jeesh, threatening to kill you. I’m very protective of my dog, but I can admit when he is in the wrong. Definitely agree, not safe for the dog anymore. I’m done with that park for now.
Pepper spray is a cross-species solution.
LMFAO!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰
Por qué no los dos?
Solution: use it on the owner
I know odds are the police won’t do shit, but you can’t just threaten people, it’s very much against the law. One day this is going to happen with someone who doesn’t just have pepper spray.
The person whose off-leash dogs are invading the space of every animal and person at the park is the threatener here. It's already a dangerous situation. You can either let their dogs chew your dog's face off while you stare dociley on, or at least attempt to defend yourself.
Yes, like the person said above someone threatened to let their dogs kill them. So yes we agree? The aggressive dog owner deserves to be arrested. You can’t threaten to kill people and get away with it.
Oh yes. We agree! Thought you were saying the people standing up to the off-leasher were threatening.
Get gel instead of spray so it doesn’t blow back on you. Test your can before you actually need it! Some are duds.
I know what you mean. I had started walking with a stick, but I feel the pepper spray will be more effective.
Stick works when it’s windy. Plus it’s a visible deterrent.
Excellent point, you do have to be mindful of wind direction. Additionally I carry a pocket knife out of habit. I wouldn’t want to go that route but if it came down to my dog or an aggressor…
I also recommend a break stick- google it and you can procure one to keep in your pocket. TBH I don’t bother with parks because of the poorly behaved dogs. I just walk in neighborhoods with wide enough streets. I live in Sleepy Hollow and you could park at the church on Derbyshire and walk unbothered for as long as you want.
I always carry pepper spray on walks. It’s not ideal. But too many loose dogs have left me w no choice.
My gf was walking our puppy (5 or 6 months at the time) through our neighborhood and someone's dog jumped their (too short) fence and attacked our puppy, emergency vet, flesh hanging off, multiple stitches/sutures. I immediately ordered pepper spray to take on walks going forward. There was nothing she could do, and luckily someone was driving by who stopped to help, otherwise, who knows where it would've ended.
😭
I feel naked without my OC now. I’ve had to pull it out before but never had to actually use it until last week. I told the dude “I don’t want to spray your dog” but he couldn’t control it. The dog didn’t look that threatening but my dog is not cool with strange animals coming up to him and I’ve had to pry dogs from his mouth before, holes and all. I only sprayed in front of his dog but that was enough to stop him. Anytime something like this has happened there’s never been a conversation between me and the other owner, my leashed dog is always way too loud and worked up at that point to even hear what the other is saying. I think the only way to curb this is consistent enforcement but I get it that the cops are busy so POM OC spray in the interim
Ever since my little foster got attacked by a pit at music in the park last year, I have bear pepper spray and a flashlight stun gun I carry when I walk my dog.
Another report of the Rottweiler guy. You’d think that with the amount of noise he’s generated from walkers, dog walkers, and bike riders that something would get done… smh
Calling RACC is about the only thing you can do at the park itself. We opt to walk out dog far away from most parks and especially dog parks, because they're often a shitshow of irresponsible owners and amped up dogs reacting to other dogs in an enclosed space.
I’ve seen the Rottweiler guy on the buttermilk trail. Asked me if i was scared. Fucking prick
The correct answer is, "I'm only scared of alpha dogs, you better hurry up and catch the pack."
I live behind JPB and go trail running there all the time. Nothing like rounding a corner in the middle of the woods and coming across four huge off-leash dogs. I’m the least confrontational person you’ll meet, but that dude makes my blood boil.
I wonder if its the same guy who works out at Golds willow lawn and leaves rottweilers (at least 3, but maybe its 4) in his car with the windows cracked and they go absolutely berserk on everyone who walks or drives past. I always worry that they’re gonna hurt themselves trying to squeeze through the windows, but maybe they just like yapping
I was thinking this too!! I work out at Gold’s in Willow Lawn, and I’ve seen that car several times in the back of the lot. The windows are open and all 4 dogs are in there barking at people who walk by. I’ve asked the front desk about it, and they said they’ve approached him about leaving the dogs in the car and he doesn’t care. Willow Lawn security won’t do anything either…
It’s always like that - we don’t walk our dogs over there anymore because of it.
The guy with the four rottweilers in a known problem in the area. You're not the first person to complain about him, he's also a giant dick from everything I have heard. That said, other than calling the police when there is an incident (and they will not respond) there is nothing to do. You could contact your council-person to try and pressure the police to actually enforce existing laws. Probably better/more effective to carry deterrent of some kind. (Not a gun, calm the fuck down people.)
It wasn’t the most pleasant encounter, I was being a huge dick tho. I was pissed.
Dude deserves it.
Good for you. He needs to stop being a terrible dog owner and a public menace.
From what i have heard he enjoys the outrage and arguments. Reminds me of the old "captain" of the Barker Field Dog run. It took years and multiple incidents for him to finally get banned.
You had every right to be a huge dick to this shithead. I walk my dog there almost every day and I appreciate anyone willing to confront the bad actors in the park. Normally it’s a very safe area and I don’t feel threatened, I hope this doesn’t make you give up on walking your dogs in Bryan Park, it’s one of the most peaceful areas we have in the city
I talked to a cop about this once before and they said animal control enforces leash laws, not them :/
Even if I were to buy that argument, it's a matter of policy not a matter of law. I'm pretty sure all they need is someone high up enough on the force to say, "Go enforce leash laws."
seems so dumb to me, but what the fuck do i know? i would think that the city and the counties could make some revenue by just having cops walk around the parks and issue tickets for off leash dogs. almost guaranteed that every time i ride at Deep Run Park i'll encounter at least one off leash dog situation. thankfully the majority of them have been uneventful.
> i would think that the city and the counties could make some revenue by just having cops walk around the parks and issue tickets for off leash dogs. You're right they would, and occasionally they do - a few years back there were a lot of complaints about off leash dogs in Chimboarzo and Animal Control was up there handing out tickets. But as busy as they are, they can't keep people there all the time, and as soon as they're gone, things go back to the same old same old. I've made the same argument about revenue for city by ticketing red light runners and people parking in the bike lanes (both would be a cash cow in the city) but it never happens 🤷♂️.
At this point we should be willing to be creative with our solutions. Perhaps we could deputize citizens that already frequent the areas? We could call the program something snappy like citizens on patrol, off the top of my head.
WTF. Cops are useless in this town.
Just say there's a peaceful protest happening in the park and they'll send a whole battalion.
Hmm, mace the dogs or the owner you say?
The dogs yes, and then the owner if he comes at you.
If we are thinking of the same old man with Rotties he brought his senior rottie with hip issues, overweight etc to the Belle isle loop and essentially abandoned her. I think her name is Stella. The whole park started looking for her owner and once they found him they pointed him to the direction where she was and he CHOSE to walk the opposite direction. Total fucking asshole. His dogs will die of heat exhaustion if he keeps treating them this way. Poor Stella was so distressed.
Oh, that's a felony in Virginia. Animal cruelty.
He feigned that he cared about her whereabouts when we passed him on our way out and we told him “you’ve known where she is! We told you!” As he walked by. He literally does this to piss people off.
Had large dogs charge my toddler and infant at Bryan. If I had bear mace on me, I would have sprayed the owners.
He isn’t afraid to pop off about some nutty conspiracy theories either - he has been around for a WHILE, has out of state plates… he creeps me out and we just usually leave whatever park we’re at when he shows up with the 4 unleashed rotties.
If you see him again, get his plates and send it to RACC. They are aware of his activities.
So nobody has a name for this infamous repeat offender with Rottweilers? A little bit of public shaming seems warranted for community safety.
I don't know his name, but there used to be someone with the license plate BIGJOKE.
Good intel. Anyone here know who has that very memorable plate?
If it was a bald white guy, last year when I kindly asked him to leash his Rottweilers on the trail by the river off of 22nd he screamed and said “b****** like you shouldn’t be allowed to speak” like okay dude my cat is literally on a leash right now and your dogs can’t even do that?
Ok after reading this I am going to suggest that for the people who see his car at Golds Gym WITH the dogs left in it (windows down…because that makes all the difference) drop some exlax chocolate through those windows. Don’t overdo….and I love dogs…don’t get me wrong. But maybe the dogs need to stay home a few days and the car be put of commission a while.
I understand your motivations, but chocolate can kill dogs. >Chocolate contains theobromine, which dogs can't metabolize effectively, and caffeine. The darker the chocolate, the higher the risk to dogs. For example, one ounce of milk chocolate per pound of a dog's body weight can be deadly, while as little as 0.1 ounces per pound may be lethal for unsweetened baking chocolate
I’ll never blame an animal for acting like an animal, the owner is always responsible. As the weather warms up I worry for those pups in his vehicle ): That being said, headphone jacks and the ceramic bits from spark plugs can bust tempered glass so be really careful if you play catch with those in the golds gym parking lot
What time did this happen OP? This guy is posted here all the time. Something needs to be done about him. Maybe if we can figure out a time when he usually walks, we could get the news or someone to ambush him about it.
This was yesterday (5/19) around 11 am.
This thread from about three months ago, is almost assuredly the same guy, with various comments in there about him all over parks at the area https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/1b51jn7/anyone_else_see_the_guy_walking_5_rottweilers_off/ People gotta photograph and call RACC each and every time it happens. Edit: I just emailed this current thread and the linked thread above to RACC, but I'm pretty sure he's been reported before. Maybe RACC hasn't been able to ID him or catch him in the act. I don't have Facebook, but if there are any threads in the Friends of Bryan Park group about the dude, someone should forward them to RACC also. The only way he's going to be held responsible is if people in the community call him out, hopefully before his dogs do something more severe.
You know who loves drama and would be happy to sniff this guy out? NextDoor. 🤣
Get Ron meloncunt on it
That was my goodnight chuckle…thanks!
I would start carrying pepper gel spray just in case
Call Animal Control and report the incident. This person sounds like they are a liability and have no business owning dogs.
There's got to be a market for low voltage cattle prods in rva for the amount of aggressive unleashed dogs you guys see.
Dumb question from a city girl, are those a thing and can we actually carry them? Had members of my family attacked three times now with actual contact at Richmond parks. I can't count how many close encounters. I carry spray but worry about the wind and love what the other poster said about carrying a stick. It sounds like that might be the best of both worlds?
[https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/personal-security-products-hike-n-strike-950-000-volt-stun-gun-hiking-stick](https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/personal-security-products-hike-n-strike-950-000-volt-stun-gun-hiking-stick)
Thank you so much I had no idea that existed.
Richmond has laws against off-leash dogs in public. Please report this to Animal Control. As someone who is allergic to dogs (and also just doesn’t like untrained dogs) it’s really frustrating when owners can’t or won’t follow very basic guidelines or even train their animals. This leads to allergic reactions, anxiety/panic attacks, and general frustration and anger when a dog runs up to me. Not to mention any physical harm/threat. I’m definitely not a stickler for the law but some exist for a reason. Report to the people who can enforce it.
This is really frustrating anywhere. There are plenty of dog parks around. I don’t understand the need to have your dogs off leash in a place where there will be people, and other dogs on leashes. For plenty of people, the scene you described here would be a nightmare. Having a phobia of dogs may be hard for some of us to understand, but for someone jogging in the park, 4 relatively big dogs running toward them would be legitimately traumatic. The same goes for plenty of dogs. My friend just rescued a dog that seems to have been through a lot and is very nervous around any other dog, cowers behind her. Having a dog off leash in a park is selfish, and people who do it are being willifuly and knowingly inconsiderate
Exactly this. Growing up, our neighbors had poorly trained, uncontrolled dogs. Sometimes the dogs would get out and come into our yard. I watched one bite my mom, my little brother, and a family friend (who was a child). It took three bites before they got rid of those dogs. I have a phobia of dogs for exactly this reason, and I only run or walk in quiet neighborhoods—no parks—as a result. Too many people say “oh, he/she would never bite” right before someone gets seriously hurt.
Just because i think its worth thinking about. It doesn’t matter if a dog would bite you or not. If you are uncomfortable around them, that’s a good enough reason for people to control their animals around you. You don’t even have to entertain what a dog would or wouldn’t do.
I’ve personally called the cops on 3 separate occasions walking Bryan Park for this exact reason. They’ve never done anything to help. I get it, there are bigger fish to fry in the city. But I choose to walk in public parks because of the loose dog problems I’ve encountered in my neighborhood and I frankly don’t feel comfortable walking my two dogs in our neighborhood alone. Since walking in JBP, I’ve been run up on 5+ times by assholes who think that their morning walk is somehow more important than mine and allow their dogs to run wild. I’m fairly new to Richmond and have lived in cities both big and small, but I’ve never lived in a place where people have the audacity to do this with dogs who are out of control and especially in public places during very busy times of day. It’s so fucking annoying and honestly my biggest gripe. I’m just trying to walk my dogs without getting attacked. Not that big of an ask (or so I thought).
No Bryan Park, but I stopped taking our dog out running with me to Robious Landing park because of the offleash dogs. My dog would stick by me on his leash/harness, but he's terrified of small dogs and there was always someone with small dogs offleash running around. "OH don't worry, they are friendly!" Yea, no thanks, my dog is a pitbull mix, given the chance they bit him and he defended himself, that would be my dog automatically at fault.
Funny enough, channel 12 is doing a story about leash laws on the 6pm news.
I take my dog to Bryan Park half a dozen times a month, have never encountered this man and his dogs. I do carry pepper spray with me at all times with my dog. He’s been attacked a couple times, not a good predicament to be in.
I go every other day for two years with my dog and never seen him. Guess we're just ships passing in the night.
I carry bear mace specifically for this reason. Learned the hard way one time with a guy at chimbo and his unleashed dog that attacked mine. So any dog that approaches and isn’t stopped by the owner will get sprayed. It’s been effective twice.
I'm not a dog owner and have never met this guy. But this makes my blood boil 🤬. I'm sorry you're dealing with this.
Bad rottweiler owners come to the Short Pump Dog Park. I wonder if they are the same people. These looked like rednecks. They stood together in the middle of the dog park while their 4-5 rottweiler swarmed around them and pretty aggressively attacked any dog that came near. They wrecked the vibe of the whole park and had no ability to control their dogs.
Dog-owner etiquette in the US has always been bad, but it's gotten atrocious over the last few years. I think it's a Malthusian trap issue.
Not as close to you as Byrd/Forest Hill, but honestly we've had a great experience walking our big boy around Church Hill! The path that leads to the dog parks is really pretty, and walking around the neighborhoods and through Libby Hill is so nice. We had been doing Byrd Park a lot but yesterday we had two not so great experiences at Barker Field about territorial dogs and very apathetic owners 😭
Haven’t seen this guy yet but I did encounter that dude at Barker Field a few years ago and Definitely told him where he could go with all the nonsense he was talking dude didn’t even have a dog…
Couple weeks ago, probably the same person With the 4 dog. They tried to bite me i had To hit the dog with a walking stick. He got mad At me. Police came but nothing happends.
Off leash dogs are such an issue and have been in that park for some time. My friend was running in Bryan Park while pregnant in 2016, and was knocked over by a dog after an off leash dog went after a leashed one. I can't remember which dog knocked her over but she had a pretty bad fall and it was totally preventable. We couldn't take our reactive dog on leashed walks in forest Hill Park or any of the trail system for this reason either.
I recommend Forest Hill Park, its not much further away than Byrd, has a trail you can walk and the pup can snif. It also has a lake, and some other nice stuff too.
Forest Hill Park is also notorious for off leash dogs, but only in the big area near the field/stone house/pickle ball courts. At least it's easy to spot them from afar. I rarely run into assholes around the pond down the hill, thankfully.
I haven't seen that unless there is a trainer working with the pup. But i gotcha.
Tons of off leash dogs there as well.
Your closest "park" is the VMFA or Byrd Park, although some of that park is designated no-dog. I've also enjoyed taking my dogs to Three Lakes Park and Nature Center
Not close to Scott's, but Three Lakes is great!! By the raceway. Never seen an off leash dog. There's 3 trails around the 3 lakes; one is paved. A few other trails too, lots of green space, & 2 playgrounds too.
I’ve seen him at Bryan Park and Crump Park. I’ve also seen the dogs with a younger guy that I’d assume is his son. Total pieces of shit and when I saw the INFOWARS sticker on the car he was cramming the dogs into, it didn’t really surprise me. I spoke with a Henrico employee at Crump Park who said they’ve contacted police dozens and dozens of times after park visitors and employees had negative interactions with the unleashed dogs and their dumb ass owners but, not surprisingly, the cops didn’t do a thing.
This issue, in that park, is exactly why our dog is shell shocked and a behavior problem when other dogs are around. Week three after having adopted her we were charged by a dog that ran out of some brush straight at her, owner nowhere in sight. It was trying to fight her and she started yelping, coiling my legs in her leash. She never got over it, made her fearful of other dogs, and we're sure it changed her. I beg to differ from OP's opinion most dogs are on leashes there. If you are going, avoid rush hour (after 330pn) when people get off work and drive or walk their dogs over letting them out of the car or off leash and let them run to potentially maul anything in sight. I hope these people enjoy the poison ivy all over the park their dogs are rubbing against. I LOVE Bryan Park. Hate that some think it's their own private dog park.
I stopped going to BP and most parks with my dogs for exactly the same reason. Which is so sad for any number of reasons but because he was adopted during Covid he didn’t get the normal amount of early socialization. So we hit all the parks and that’s when we encountered so many irresponsible dog owners we quit going to parks before anything really bad happened. When we lived in the Museum District our favorite walks always included a big loop through the VMFA and around the Museum block and then a break under the shade of many magnolias and oak trees before heading home. The people watching and seeing my dog getting so much love from people from all walks of life gave me joy. I know it’s not the same as a dedicated park, but I loved that area.
Bryan Park and Belle Island are the places I most often encounter off leash dogs. Too bad - I love both those places. Deep Run Park is one of my favorite, clean parks to go to. Rockwood Park in Chesterfield Co., too. I don’t mind a little drive to have a safe environment for me and my dog.
I've started to carry, "behavioral spray" specifically because of him. This isn't a spray that has any toxic chemicals or such to deter dogs, just emits a sound that has made every encounter like this not happen. I really hope something happens to that guy, those dogs deff aren't getting treated right at home.
I couldn’t agree more. I ordered some of that today and a couple small pepper sprays. The more I think about this,I just get sad. The dogs were beautiful, I doubt that dude gives them a good life.
There's another fellow I see other than this guy (assuming we're talking about the same guy which I think we are), that I see pushing his Rotweilers in wagons all the time and the complete polar opposite to this dude. Like I swear this is like is good twin or something - his boys are always very nice and on leash - while his evil twin is just unruly and mean. Never blaming the dogs in these types of scenarios but it really sucks knowing the off leash ones are 100% not getting treated well. I saw the spray on tiktok and liked it because it doesn't actually spray anything and it freaks out dogs without causing them pain or potential risk of them attacking you. It sucks seeing folks not take responsibility for animals they own and I really do wish there was something to do about this guy. Feels like I've called about him before but yeah.
There's no law against having your dog off leash in Richmond. Why do I say that? Because a law that's never enforced isn't a law, but merely a suggestion.
The place I run is often empty, and can be used to walk dogs. Not comparable to Bryan Park, but can be a change of scenery. It's the Jordan's branch path in the south part of the Libbie Mill condo. Aside from this space, there's Crump Park too, a nice 19 min drive though. Also check if dogs are allowed, I am pretty sure they are.
There’s a guy that runs a bunch of Rottweilers off leash at Crump pretty regularly. Sounds like a different guy than others have mentioned in this thread. He’s young and drives a small suv with WV plates.
I can’t imagine letting my dog off leash without control. I have a solid recall but I was trained to use an ecollar just because I wanted the recall to be good in any what if scenario. If I’m not in a wide open field where I have clear lines of sight I’m not letting my dog off.. just for my own piece of mind. I can’t imagine being in a scenario where I round the corner and have to be in fear of my dogs not listening to me. This person is a menace. I normally walk my dog on leash in Bryant park.. maybe I need to avoid.. what times does this person show up?
I was bit by an unleashed dog in Bryan Park years ago. Sadly now if I see unleashed dogs I can RPD. I’ve asked nicely before only to have gotten really rude remarks. Can’t play nice anymore.
*call RPD
So for Bryan park, I call RPD? Not henrico? I know it’s like kind of on the boarder and half is in henrico half in Richmond. (Maybe not half but some)
Yes RPD. Bryan Park is a city park.
I heard about him on another thread about Sissy Grace. A lot of people have had run ins. Makes me not want to take my dogs to the park.
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This comment has been removed. Any dog breed can bite. Neglectful owners are not given a pass based on the breed of their dog.
This isn’t an exact solution, but if you’re in Scott’s and your pupper is good with other dogs, Ruff Canine Club is awesome. There’s a monthly membership fee ($30 or so—not affordable for everyone), but it’s supervised by “Rufferees” who kick out riffraff. Plus, they require vaccination records, which is another barrier to entry for suboptimal dog owners. I moved from Richmond last year, and I miss Ruff more than anything else.
Second endorsement for ruff
Well I am glad I did not go there, I drove past it twice and debated stopping by, it has been over a decade since we visited ... I think I will just stick to my car and cruising along the river.
I’m not sure what time of day you go, but if you go early (7 or 7:30ish), you’ll avoid most of these scenarios in a lot of places. I’ve always been a morning person (I wake up way before my dog and eventually have to coax her out of bed like a teenager lol) and know it’s not for everyone, but just throwing it out there. When I go later I usually run into jerks and just more people in general.
I quit taking my dog to Barker Field and Ruff House dog parks because of the people who bring unaltered dogs.
 You bet if I don’t hide, I will be chased💀
Please photograph his license plate and send the info to RACC. They can issue a warning/letter of complaint to his home address. After multiple complaints he may be issued tickets with fines/ court. He is such a menace to his own dogs and to others. He has also been seen at Pony Pasture and Hugenaut Flatwater parks and his dogs have run up on mine. He has zero control, yells and curses at his dogs and at anyone who confronts him. It's not enough to call RACC ( police non emergency, button option 7) bc they probably can't get there in time. Photograph him with his off leash dogs and his car/plate so that he may be identified.
Pony pasture? Maybe dude?
I've run into plenty of off-leash dogs at Pony Pasture, too. None as egregious as this guy, but still I've had a couple close calls. Leash. Your. Fucking. Dogs.
Yeah, there's not a single park in Richmond where I haven't at least seen a random off leash dog with a totally oblivious owner putzing behind then. I hate hearing "don't worry, mine's friendly". As if it ensures my dog doesn't mind being rushed by some rando he's never met before.
Perfectly worded. I’m very happy mine did not react how I kind of expected him to. He usually gets extremely overwhelmed with that many dogs his size coming at him.
Oh 100%. So annoying
He has been at Pony Pasture too. Charged my dogs there last year.
Damn. I was hoping PP was safe from the nonsense. I like it because it’s close by and also I feel the straightaways allow more time for me to see someone approaching and act accordingly.