JGLI

When I take Chessie for her evening walk, we usually head up the street and turn at the corner. On our route nearly every house we pass has a dog inside or in the yard and it would be a rare thing to see one escape or ever loose in the street. Yards are fenced and most people here are extremely responsible with their pets. The dogs might come to the door or run to the gate and bark but it's more of a hello type of thing. Chessie does her little hello dance in the street in response and usually that is that and we just keep going. There is a house up the street on the curve that has me very worried though. The people who live in the house have a very large, and obviously untrained, rottie that is an accident or worse waiting to happen. When the dog is inside and you pass by the house, it hurls itself against either the front door (even when closed!) or the bow window in the livingroom barking like mad. If it is outside in the yard, it is 'contained' by a 3 ft. chainlink fence that I have no doubt it could clear with any kind of a running start. For that reason, when we go past the house I am careful to walk on the opposite side of the street with Chessie on the far side against the hedges. Tonight, we were taking our usual route, which I hate to change as we meet other people we know and Chessie's doggy "friends" along the way, and I heard wild barking when I was still about five houses away from the rottie's house. It just kept getting louder and more frenetic. When we were just before the house I saw why. The rottie was in the second floor window of the upstairs bedroom and flinging itself with its' full body weight against a half-closed screen! The second floor is actually a dormer so that the roof extends out under it just a bit toward the front of the house. The screen was bending out more and more with each lunge and more and more of the dog was sticking through. The barking was so loud and so frenzied that I just couldn't believe that no one in the house was coming to at least see what it was about. I was certain that at any second I was going to hear a horrible growl and yelp as the rottie broke through the screen and plunged to the ground. It was bent out a good eight inches from the window frame and the sides were hanging on by a thread. I could tell Chessie was unnerved by this as she stuck to my leg like velcro. Thankfully we were able to get past the house without incident... this time. My reaction was mostly one of anger and I am still angry. I'm angry that people could put any other person and/or dog walking by at risk like this, that anyone should have to be so apprehensive about walking past a house, that no one even bothered to see what the commotion was about or if their dog was safe. And I am angry that, along with every other potential consequence of these irresponsible people's behavior, they are reinforcing and contributing to the already negative perception many people have about what is a really nice breed of dog.

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Bigboy

That sucks Sorry but i don't think those people should own a dog atall let alone a rottie (nothing wrong with owning a rottie but you have to have your wits about you though!) Totay irresponsible in my book do you think the owners were in at the time you passed by? If they were then they are even more stuoid tah I thought. Like you say there's a serious accident waiting to happen as the dog in question does have big problems. ATB

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Bigboy

I think too many people still rush in to having a puppy thinking it will take a long time to get to adult hood, not true before you know it if NOT trained right you could easily have a out of control dog. just like the one described above. Sadly these type of owners should do more research first!

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Thanks Monkey! I been fleeced Thanks Skunkstripe. Dave

ATB!

Fede

You know, I hate when these things happen. People like that are also the ones who harm the reputation of some breeds. If that dog is involved in an accident it would just be another “proof” that the breed is “dangerous”. Which is not, it’s just a breed for the proper owner, like many others.

Ben Ryan

I have a similar situation going on at the moment. Theres a Rotty in the Garden nearby who used to scare the **** out of me when I walked Oskah past the house. The owners dont seem to care but the fence he jumps up on is very loose.

I was advised by another dog walker to go and say hello next time I walked by so I did. The dog stopped barking when I stroked him but as soon as I turned my back he started up again. I'm worried he might hurt himself on that fence when it goes....

Dogs should have to get a license in order to keep people like that!



Ben

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Monkey

Be careful with going and pet them Ben, my neighbor in massapequa has a black shep/lab/something mix. He will stop barking when you walk up to him, he'll stand perfctly still, just staring at you, when you reach over to pet him (he wont growl or anything) he will jump and bite you badly in the arm. THe owner Pete has told me about this, a dog that barks can either suffer from excitement, stress OR aggression. If it is the last part... Your hand isnt worth it trust me. What happens is a lot of dogs that dont get socialised they are behind windows and fences are happy as first, they see a stranger and they are happy, curious want to explore it, say hi, but can't, this creates frustration, frustration soon enough turns into a negative feeling(stress) that they realte to the people and dogs walking by. So a dog that was formerly nice can turn very aggressive. It is called Barrier frustration if you want to read up on it some more.

and for the dog JGLI envountered, sorry to say its just a matter of time. And even if the only thing that happens that the dog fall out the window and accidently kill himself its still such a sad thing. I just wish owners took more responsibility about their animals.

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PMR

That sounds like a complete nightmare! I think I would definitely change my route until something is done about the dogs behaviour. It really isn't worth the risk. I shouldn't imagine anyone (with or without a dog) would feel safe walking past that house.

Have you reported the problem to anyone, or seen the owners at all.

white cat lover

Poor dog.

Macey's that way. Thankfully we live in the country, I do think she has great potential to bite someone to protect her property.....but she was used as a guard dog prior to us getting her, so that's not surprising.

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Ben Ryan

Thanks Monkey but I'm pretty good at reading and using body language. I wouldnt have done it if I thought there was a risk of being bitten.

Cheers anyhow.



Ben

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KCat

That's disturbing. I recall years ago reading about a case like this. The owner was, in that case, desperate to deal with the problem because the dog had gone through the window twice. Once when she was not home - found a bloody and exhausted dog at home. It was just a matter of time before the dog killed itself if not someone else. I don't know what happened with that situation. This was at least 20 years ago I read this in a dog magazine. But it would scare me for the dog if for no one else. Too sad.

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KCat