If you don’t want to start a cold-war with your neighbours, here’s what I would do:
Go knock on their door.
Say “Hi, I just wanted to chat about our encounter the other day. You say your doggie was just trying to be friendly, but can I let you know I am deathly scared of dogs? I appreciate you might not understand how I feel [insert fake laugh here] but for me it is a real fear. So when your lovely doggie (and he IS a handsome fella isn’t he??) rushes up to me, I have a bit of a panic attack. It’s no reflection on YOU or your doggie, it’s my fear…but as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t been able to overcome it yet. Can I ask if you could help me by keeping your lovely doggie on a leash when out and about? I’m trying REALLY hard to deal with my doggie-fears (and yours is SUCH a gorgeous doggie too) that maybe we can get along better doing it this way? Just asking for your help neighbours.”
Yes, you shouldn’t have to do this, but sometimes asking for their consideration works better than going the hard-arsed route and calling in the authorities or using mace spray. Ask them to work in co-operation with you, and any normal person will hear your issues and understand.
God forbid you tell the kid to knock it off; you’ll get a huge dose of “YOU can’t disicipline my child!” and “How dare you!” and so on.
Never mind that they probably should be apologizing to you for whatever crap their annoying little shit did, and be embarrassed for not keeping them in line.
Depends on the state. In my state, it’s a 300 dollar fine and up to 90 days in jail. (Don’t ask me why I know.) The jail time is almost never given for neighbor disputes. You do open yourself up to a civil suit though. Typically that’s how it’s handled on the rare occasion when they can prove that you were the one who shot the dog.
Hashtag, grew up in a rural community where it was (and still is) commonplace for dogs to run loose. It’s also commonplace for them to end up dead. Typically they end up dead after the owner has been told that they’re a problem and need to be kept in and they still don’t do it. Usually the problems aren’t aggression and more of the ‘tearing up my garden’ or ‘chewing up stuff on my porch’ complaints. Usually such things don’t go to court unless there was already bad blood between the people involved. Most people know that if they were told to keep their dog in and they don’t, then getting shot is a risk that they are running. They aren’t happy about it and they might exchange some words, but it usually blows over.
I had a boxer that kept jumping my fence and chewing up the neighbor’s stuff. We got into a bit of an argument and he ended up pulling his pistol on the dog. I cooled down later and apologized and told him that if he had to shoot her to just give me a call and I’d come over and get the body. It never came to that since I felt bad enough that I stopped letting her run in the yard without me being there.
Often dogs can read body language, and tend to be more aggressive towards those who are fearful, especially if they are poorly socialized. The responsibility for preventing the dog from doing this is 100% on the owner, and 0% on the person who is afraid of dogs. Nobody should have to change their behavior because of someone else’s dog.
If the dog got loose and scared you because he wanted to play, that’s the owner’s fault. If the dog got loose and scared you because he wanted to attack you, that’s the owner’s fault.
There’s a person in my neighborhood who is afraid of dogs. If I see her out when I am walking my dog, we cross to the other side of the street and I order Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] back to Heel and keep an especially firm grip on the leash. And he is required to stay in Heel until we get far enough away that we don’t scare her.
Make a recording of the events.
This can be used for all sorts of legal leverage, as a loose dog is of at best dubious legality and allowing that loose dog to “attack” someone is full-blown criminal. And yes, a dog jumping up on you can be considered an attack, of sorts.
Be sure to make the recordings only on your property or on true public property, else they can wrangle it against you.
The lady’s husband did nothing illegal, he is just an asshole. Don’t let him rattle you, don’t snipe back. Frankly, make like his taunts are as significant to you as the sound of leaves blowing in the wind. You will be surprised at how quickly he can lose interest in teasing you if you ignore him.
I believe he meant the the OP, herself, should be standing on her own or public property while making the recordings. To record while on the neighbor’s property could be spun as trespassing.
This is how adults with good social skills should act. Be considerate of other people. It wouldn’t surprise me if the dog owners IN THIS EXAMPLE were embarrassed and defensive over their dog running loose. It’s their puppy/baby, Regardless, their response was not considerate of the op. But it’s not what I would call bullying.
By the Op’s own admission there is an irrational fear of dogs driving his/her perception of the situation. That’s a separate issue that can be dealt with independently . I think it’s important to acknowledge that this is influencing things and to avoid escalating it unnecessarily. Without knowing the dog owners this could turn nasty. Put another way, if you go looking for crazy then eventually you’ll find it.
Think in terms of road rage. No matter how right you are in a traffic situation it isn’t helpful to escalate it into a war. If you honk your horn excessively and flip someone off then you’re literally inviting a potential problem with a crazy person. We’ve all see the results on the news.
The op is perfectly in the right to object to a strange dog approaching. Calling the police is a legitimate response. But knowing this dog is not a threat means you’re really calling the police over act-of-puppy.
My dog will never bite anyone. I have complete confidence in that.
That does not mean that everyone that she encounters knows that, or has any reason to have confidence in that. A dog running up to someone who does not know that dog is a threat, even if the dog doesn’t mean it as a threat, even if the owner doesn’t think of it as a threat. The person who the dog is charging has every reason to feel threatened by this.
I worked as a cable tech for a while, and even as a dog lover, I cannot tell if a dog running up to me is being friendly and playful, or threatening and aggressive, not until it has gotten close enough to be a threat if it is going to be one. Someone less familiar with dogs has even more reason to be concerned.
If my dog ever went after someone, even playfully, that didn’t know her, and that person harmed her in defending themself, well, I would be upset, sure, because I don’t want my dog hurt, but I would not be upset with the person who only didn’t want to be hurt themselves.
Speaking as a person with a dog phobia, it’s entirely unreasonable to ask such a person to divine the intentions of a charging dog. The most apt comparison I can think of is if a person were to point a gun directly at your face. That’s right, I’m not kidding, directly at your face.
“But I wasn’t going to shoot!”
“It’s unloaded, I swear!”
“My gun hasn’t ever hurt anybody, it’s really a sweet gun!”
Yeah, that’s nice and all. Get your damn gun/dog out of my face.
As for the OP, I have no recommendations. The asshole wielding the dog will make your life miserable, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Sorry.
The dog is only a small fraction of the problem here. Now that he knows you have a sore spot and that he can tweak it easily, this ass wipe is going to enjoy watching you squirm constantly. The solution is obvious, you hire someone to beat his ass. Preferably someone competent at ass-beating, so the job gets done right the first time.
