So I live on a cul de sac of a suburban neighborhood.
I have a young child that plays in our driveway, there are several young children in the cul de sac, one of them an autistic child that rides his bike in a circle around the cul de sac for hours a day.
New neighbors move in and let their giant poodle roam the neighborhood. It chases my car as I drive off to work and chases me into my driveway and barks at my car so I have to close my garage before I can get out of the car.
This has led to noone letting their children outside to play. Several people have complained to the owner of the dog but the dog is perpetually prowling the cul de sac.
One of my neighbors has threatened to shoot the dog if it corners him in his garage again (the dog chases a lot of cars into their driveway) and I really cant blame him.
WTF is wrong with dogowners like this? What is their psychology? Its not like the dog is jumping the fence or digging under it, they just leave the fence open so he can roam around. They have another dog that doesn’t leave the property.
That is un-freakingbelievable, Damuri. We’re having a dog problem in my neighbourhood this summer, too - just yesterday we saw a guy walking his pitbull-type dog off-leash on the sidewalk - all dogs are required to be on-leash in Calgary everywhere except designated off-leash areas. I don’t go anywhere without my dog pepper spray these days, and I suggest you and all your neighbours get some, too - I got mine at a Bass Pro Shop. Getting cornered by someone’s dog in my own garage - way beyond acceptable. I’ve called the bylaw officers in town about 10 times this summer for off-leash dogs - I would never stop calling them for a neighbour’s dog just running loose.
You carry dog pepper spray with you wherever you go? You know, my entire life, I’ve been all kinds of places with all kinds of dogs and I’ve never once been bitten or attacked. It wouldn’t even occur to me to carry dog pepper spray. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s one of the strangest things I’ve read on this board in a long while.
That said, OP, your neighbor is a dumb dumb. Everybody is unsafe in this situation, so I would definitely let the police know. A citation or two might get your neighbor’s ass into gear.
Poodles and cocker spaniels. I hate to be breedist, but those are some mean fuckers.
I love dogs, but earlier this year I was attacked by one. If the monster’s teeth had shifted just a couple of millimeters, it would have been a horribly traumatic incident for me (is there such a thing as a vulvaectomy?) Stupid dog-owner would have been seeing me in court, and I would have milked his ass dry.
For some people, shit has to actually happen before they really see how stupid they are being.
After taking 3 dogs to the pound and anonymously letting him know that was where they were, i don’t have a problem with my neighbor who let his dogs loose anymore. Of course that was because i just got tired of scraping them off the highway in front of my house.
Do the new neighbors have kids who leave the gate open? Sounds like a self-closing mechanism is in order.
But make it clear to the neighbors that, although you love animals, they can’t let their dog run loose. Give them a week or so to fix the problem, and if they don’t, call animal control whenever the dog is out again. If they have to pay a fine or something, that might be the motivation they need.
Hardly a week goes by when there isn’t a dog attack story on the news here. I walk a lot, and I see unleashed, uncontrolled dogs nearly every time I walk; I didn’t feel safe until I got the pepper spray. If I never have to use it, great; I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
People who don’t have a middle ground are often mentally ill, especially those who threaten gun violence. You may want to keep an eye on this neighbor.
If the problem is big as you say, 10 calls a day from the same neighborhood about a single dog should bring swift action. I find it hard to believe that rather than pulling out an iphone and getting a few quick vids of this free range kid chasing garage cornering dog and then calling animal control, people are hiding in their houses and threatening to shoot the dog instead. You know who the dog belongs to and with the multitude of daily incidents you describe … but no one can document them and get animal control to take action???
When I lived in San Antonio, I carried pepper spray every time I went out on my bike. Fat lot of good it did on dogs who eat hotter table scraps; just makes them hungry.
There are leash laws in Virginia but people don’t seem to care a whole lot until the dog actually bites someone.
I’m not the one that is threatening to shoot the dog but if a big dog came into my garage as I was getting out of my car then I might shoot it too.
No, its an elderly woman and her daughter. They insist their dog is friendly. :smack:
I don’t particularly love animals. I don’t anthropomorphize them and I find people who do so a little bit silly. Theoretically, you can be arrested for an off leash dog, in practice, nothing seems to happen. Animal control came and went and the dog was out in the street again the next day.
Hmm, sounds like a gun ad.
Threatening gun violence towards a dog that is cornering you in your own garage is mentally ill? Whats the middle ground, we’ve already talked to the owners, what next? Negotiate with the dog?
If a dog (and giant poodles are BIG) cornered me in my garage and was barking at me, I’d shoot it too. I think he displayed a lot of restraint by getting back in his car and waiting there until the dog left.
Until someone gets bit, it doesn’t seem to bring very much action at all. Fairfax animal control doesn’t seem too eager to take someone’s dog out of their back yard.
I didn’t say he chased kids but noone here seems to want to take the chance. Do you blame them? Like I said, animal control won’t come by and take a dog out of someone’s back yard unless they bite someone.
UPDATE: I haven’t seen this dog in the street since my neighbor threatened to shoot it. Its only been a day but I am hopeful that the owners are taking this more seriously.
So what you are saying is that not one single person who had this happen to them was able to pull out their phone and get this on video to help substantiate an escalated complaint with the police or animal control … but they are able to pull out a gun and shoot a dog? And this sounds rational to you?
The middle ground is calling the police and animal control, and your city council member and whomever else you have to call to get some action.
Maybe you missed it but we have talked to the owner, we have called animal control. They can’t/won’t do anything more than talk to the owner unless they catch the dog unleashed or someone gets bitten.
And YES if a dog is in my driveway barking at me as I get out of my car then I think it is entirely rational to shoot it. I see no need to wait for the dog to actually bite me or any member of my family before I put it down. What would you do, try to reason with it?
In this case, the neighbor extended the dogowner the courtesy of a warning, something that neither the law nor common courtesy requires in that situation.
You make it sound like my neighbor threatened to hunt down the dog and shoot him. He’s talking about shooting a dog that is threatening him, the dogowner would be lucky not to get in trouble in that situation.
That being said, if a dog cornered me and attacked me, I am going to do what it takes to fight the dog off, including hurting or killing it. I would only pull out a phone and shoot video if I was relatively safe at the time, like cornered inside my car or house.
And when misses ricochet off the driveway and strike a child playing across the street, what then?
You and the neighbors need to get together to force action against this stupid, irresponsible dog owner (embarassing do-nothing officials by going to local news media is one option) but firing weapons on a suburban cul-de-sac is not the answer.
The dog hasn’t attacked anyone and the dog owner insists he is friendly but he doesn’t bark like a friendly dog.
So I should just let the dog bite me? WTF, are you talking about?
If we’re going to dream up nightmare scenarios, let me give it a try.
And when the dog eats all the children in the [strike]neighborhood[/strike] universe because people were so squeemish around guns that they couldn’t bring themselves to shoot the dog, what then?
Have you ever even fired a gun outside of a firing range?
Here’s something you might try. Tell the owners that you’re worried the dog might get hit by a car. “And you know how awful the drivers are in this neighborhood. I know how much Poodle means to you. I’m sure you’d just feel terrible if your wonderful, friendly dog got struck by a car.” (Even if everyone in the neighborhood drives less than ten MPH, people often believe that they drive like maniacs.)
This has the advantage of being true. If it’s roaming loose, it just might get hit.
There are actually middle grounds between letting yourself be bitten and pulling out a gun.
Spray bottle/super-soaker of ammonia.
Air horn. Loud noises can be very startling and can act as a deterrent and reprimand of sorts. Diffuses the aggression (which may actually be fear, of a sort)
-Handful of dog cookies - toss them well away from you. Also diffuses aggression, and shows the dog that you are not to be feared. Scared dogs can look a lot like aggressive dogs (but can also be dangerous if cornered). Making friends with the dog rather than shooting it will also go a long way towards a happy neighborhood. Neighbor wars are worse than barking dogs.
-Call the owners EVERY time the dog is off his own property.
-Call the police and animal control if you are seriously worried. Keep calling.
Just because a dog is barking doesn’t mean he’s about to attack. Dogs bark from excitement, from fear, some just are mouthy and have to announce everything. Ask your neighbor to bring the dog by (on a leash) to be introduced to your kids. Poodles as a rule are not super aggressive, and they are extremely smart and trainable. It would be good to teach your kids too to respect dogs but not fear them.
Hope the owners have gotten a clue and keep the dog contained.