Bad dog owner rant

#1

So for the better part of 2 yrs I have dealt with a neighbors dog barking at me and chasing me and my 2 LEASHED dogs down the street. When it started he would stand in his yard and bark but not come out into the street until we had passed. Then he started coming out when he saw us…the people will sit on their porch and not react so I say - Can you get the dog please. The lady laughs and says - OH he won’t listen to us !!! Then one day it really scared me and she was out there so I screamed at her to get the dog and she did and I suggested she keep him tied up. Then one evening about a month ago
he came after the hubby, myself and dogs and nipped at us so I told the woman in no uncertain terms that she better tie the dog up. He hasn’t really bothered me for a month and then tonight he came after me 2 houses down from his both the start and finish of my walk. I was furious and called the Sheriff’s dept and would you believe that to make a complaint a deputy has to come out to MY house. NO - I don’t want to talk to the deputy I want the deputy to go talk to the people that won’t tie their dog up !!! The compromise was that they would have a deputy call me…never even asked about the address of the people with the dog to see if maybe there are previous complaints (I suspect there are b/c off and on he will be tied to the porch for a few weeks at a time).
Why do I feel like I am going to end up being the bad guy in this situation ?
I don’t want trouble or anything to happen to the dog - I just want them to tie it up. I know dogs can slip leads or scoot out doors - mine have done it (hence the new fence) and that’s not the case with this dog. He is out ALL the time.

AAUUUGGGHHHHH

#2

How about the Animal Control in your city? There are rules for confining and controlling animals…

#3

Forgive me if I’m dense, but wouldn’t the whole reason for having the deputy come and talk to you be to get the facts of the story so he can approach the offenders with knowledge of the incident(s)? Without interviewing you, there might be very little they can do. I mean, people call in phony complaints about people they’ve got a gripe with all the time (not insinuating you’re doing this, just giving a reason why they want to speak to you face to face as opposed to just over the phone).
If law enforcement or Animal Control won’t do anything, I’d suggest you get a copy of the city (or county, whichever applies in this case) ordinances about dogs running at large, and let the people know in no uncertain terms that unless they control their dog, you will consult an attorney. The threat of a lawsuit seems to make people sit up and take notice…

#4

Anytime you call the police, for a disturbance or any other such thing, they come to your house first before going to the offender’s house. That is routine, and I know what you mean. It is kind of tense b/c you do hope the neighbor doesn’t see and then drama ensue.

My suggestion is for you to call the Animal Control. I am sure there is a leash law and they are in violation on so many levels. They will usually come and pick the dog up, talk to the owners, and not go to your house. I have called them before in similar instances.

If it is happening in the evenings, when animal control is not in operation, perhaps you can complain to the homeowner’s assoc. and they can send out violations. Most neighborhoods have their own set of deed restrictions for this type of thing.

I know that is frustrating. I hope you can find some sort of solution because it certainly isn’t fair for you to not be able to walk your dog on a leash without being harrassed by their mongrel.

Oh, one more option. . . talk to your neighbors and see how they feel. If they are having problems too, maybe several ppl calling the police about it will get results; en masse can get lots more results. Maybe one of them wouldn’t be concerned with the police showing up at their house to talk.

When options ran out for me in a similar situation, and the dog was continually coming on to my front yard and trying to bite my son. . .I got the paintball gun out and shot him with it a few times. I know. . .I am probably going to get scolded by others for admitting to this, but the dog didn’t come back to my yard after that and I was pretty frustrated at that pont and had tried several times to deal with it in more non-violent constructive ways to no avail.

#5

Our old next door neighbor would leave her house on the weekends and leave her 2 yappy little dogs there with back door to the garage open. These dogs would bark at a fly never mind my dog, me or my kids in our backyard. I did not want to approach her, she was just a weird lady. I called animal control to see what they could do. I made a anonymus complaint and they sent a letter to her stating that a complaint had been made against her and she needs to address this problem. Those dogs were never left outside again. If they insist that they need to see you, can you go down there to the sheriff station and make the complaint there? I completely understand about you not want the sheriff to pull up to your house and then a couple doors down to theirs and they should too. They could be the type of people to retialite against you and the fact that you do not want to be attacked when walking by their house.

#6

That is totally unacceptable for those people to let their dog chase people. I can feel your pain as my neighbors have 3 yappy dogs who make my children’s lives miserable barking and trying to dig at the fence to get to our yard to bite us. When they moved in I brought them cupcakes and showed up at the door with my kids. I had a barky dog as a child so I thought their dogs were like her, bark when the door rings but not go attacking people. Well they opened the door and had to take the cupcakes so the dogs got out and immediately started attacking us. One bit my hand (so close to DDs little foot as I was holding her) and the other dog chased my then 4yo DS. My other DS ran home so fast I didn’t even know where he had been. I grabbed both kids picked them up and ran home. Needless to say my DS is still terrified of dogs, especially little ones. Their house has been for sale over a year and I have just been praying for them to sell.

Don’t feel bad calling anyone, you have a right to keep yourself and your family safe. they are in the wrong, not you.

#7

I swear they are making it harder to make complaints on purpose! We called someone… can’t remember now, but we would have had to fill out a form and then they needed 3 complaints or some such thing. It was ridiculous. We gave up and the dogs are somewhat better, but still annoying at times.

I would think that you could go down there and give them the address and it would be okay. Call to find out for sure though.

#8

Animal control would come out. There is a leash law, Many people dont know this but there is even a leash law on cats in florida equal to the law on dogs. If a dog did bite then it is an offense automatically and they have to provide proof of shots, if not then the dog has to be removed. I know here in our town if you go to hospital with a bite the police and animal control are called by the hospital and when I worked in a vet office if someone came in with a dog bite on themselves or their dogs by another dog, again domestic animal services which is our animal control are called and if shots are proven it is still a fine to the owners. Sadly sometimes it takes a fine for the owner to know better than laugh when someone walks past and to learn to behave responsibly. If no shot records are available then the animal is removed and well the whole rabies thing goes into effect. All animals here are required by law to have a county license both dogs and cats, if not a $500.00 fine and you get a license when you get your rabies shot and certificate, so it is kinda a sure fire way to make sure all animals have shots and are license to find their owners.
If you live in a development I know their are rules as well and that cant also involve a fine if not followed. No one should be afraid to walk anywhere in public with or without their pets.

#9

Sorry you’re having to deal with this nonsense. All it takes is common sense and this world would be a better place. I would call Animal Control tomorrow morning and file a complaint. I’ve done it several times for just my block and I’d say most have been taken care of and no one knew who called in the complaint. For us, the last few weeks this one tiny cute dog (who would get killed if a bicycle ran over it) comes running out in the street and goes after our dog - who does not like other dogs - I swear, she’d eat this dog for a treat it’s that small. DH finally got pissed off enough that he yelled at the owner and the dog hasn’t come out since. It’s amazing how we, the good dog owners of the world, are looked at as the bad guys when we just want to NOT be attacked by another dog.

Bottom line: People are stupid.

#10

Oh, I CAN feel your pain!

  1. At 11 y.o. I was bitten by a dog while riding my bike and had to have the rabies series.

  2. Another dog frequently chased me, snarling and nipping, while I was walking my dog. Told the owner that the next time I wouldn’t control my dog, and I didn’t. In MY yard, her dog took on my dog, and lost.She tried to send me the vet bills, so I had our lawyer send her a letter.

  3. Right now, living above me, is a family that leaves their stupid little yappy dog on the ‘terrace’ when they go out for an evening. They did it tonight. Tomorrow, they’ll be getting a notice to move, as I’m friends with the management company and they’ve had three warnings. It barked until well after midnight, which is why I’m up typing when I [B][I][U]was[/U][/I][/B] very happily asleep.

Call Animal Control, here, you can go and file a report.

I LOVE dogs, but absolutely loathe those owners who allow bad behavior.

#11

Oh, good grief. People can be so moronic. My little dog was outside for about an hour once and barked a little (it was noonish and the weather was just getting nice enough for her to be out for awhile and she was on a lead) and a cop showed up because someone called. People have to control their pets. You can’t just let them bark and disturb folks and you can’t ever let them scare anyone and you have to be able to keep them in your own yard. If you can’t do those things you should not have a pet. Period.