I am not sure what to tell you. As a pibble owner, I am angry that you have to experience this. It’s this type of owner who makes the pibbles look bad and this why people are afraid of them. Mine is super sweet and loving but guess what? I’ve spent an unknown amount of time and money training her and working with her and socializing her. She actually does really well with any dog that’s smaller than her and the only dogs who seem to have a problem with her are the snow dogs: huskies, malamutes, samoyeds, you know. Fluffy snow-loving dogs.
Anyway, this pit/lab needs training. And you cannot force your neighbor to get that training. I really really hate to say it, but I suggest involving animal control. They can go talk with the neighbor, evaluate the dog’s temperament and go from there. An uncontrolled, strong, powerful dog is a danger – what happens when it gets loose and somebody’s little kid wants to rush up and pet it? I can’t even think about that too long.
I’m terrified for the dog as well. Here’s another story: I had a neighbor who had some sort of mutt – maybe it might have had a little pittie in it, but she was small and fluffier than a pit. But they didn’t leash-walk her and their yard wasn’t completely fenced in. They’d just walk her around in the yard to pee/poop, but didn’t take her anywhere. It was clear there was no training going on.
One lovely Easter Sunday morning, I’m innocently minding my own business, using my push mower to cut the grass. Next door, I hear my neighbor open her back door to let Chloe out. Chloe apparently made a beeline for me, because I looked up and there she is, crashing through the bushes. Neighbor is calling her but Chloe gives no fucks. Her belly was to the ground, tail tucked down, ears laid back… this damn dog was coming for blood. And that’s what she did. She ran around the push mower (I stopped the minute she crashed through the bushes) and trotted right up to me and bit the shit out of my ankle. Took a chunk out. I holler over to the neighbor, “Hey! Your dog just bit me!” Neighbor calls Chloe again, and now that her mission was accomplished, she happily crashed back through the bushes to her owner.
I go into the house to check the damage because I’m bleeding into my sock. Neighbor bangs on the door to check on me, sees this chunk missing out of my leg and is totally horrified. Offers to take me to the ER, pay for everything, etc. I tell her that I’m just going to the Doc-in-a-box to have it cleaned out and I’ll let her know what’s up. I go over there and the minute the nurse heard “dog bite” she was legally required to call the County Health Department. If Chloe hadn’t had her shots, I could’ve been exposed to rabies. Chloe was required to be quarantined at the animal shelter for ten days and the owners had to produce proof of rabies vax.
I return from the doc-in-a-box and bang on the neighbor’s door. they apologize again to me, and again offer to pay for everything. I tell them that I had a credit there (because I’m accident prone apparently), and so the doc visit didn’t cost me a penny, so they were off the hook. They gave me a huge vase of flowers and a bottle of wine. I told them that the medical staff there had to contact the County Health Department and I was sorry about that, but them’s the rules, and did they have proof of vax? The owner’s boyfriend looks me in the eye and said, “That dog is an asshole. We just took her to the shelter and dropped her off to be put down.”
Dang. Poor Chloe.
But these people knew fully well they were in over their heads. They claimed to have tried all kinds of things, but Chloe wouldn’t allow herself to be walked and she wasn’t having proper socialization and I don’t think these two people had much in the way of resources to get professional help with Chloe. So poor Chloe had to die because her well-intentioned owners couldn’t train and socialize her to not bite people. And I have a horrible ugly scar that makes me think of poor Chloe every single day. I am a die-hard dog lover but I think those owners did the right thing.
Best advice: I would ask your vet for help when you get your dog checked out. Perhaps they can involve Animal Control and you won’t have to confront your neighbor at all. The most important thing is to make sure this out-of-control dog is UTD on its shots. And, I hate to say it, but any time you see this dog get loose, have the number to animal control preprogrammed into your phone and call them. In my town, after Animal Control hours, you call the non-emergency cops.
I really hate to recommend that, but. This is exactly why I spent so much time and energy and effort and money training my dog. Some people have to learn this lesson the hard way.
