dog lovers

[gene]

Seems to be a few dog lovers on this forum.

Tonight I'm walking my 11 year old yellow lab, blind with cataracts. He's on a leash. It's dark outside and a few houses from home a new neighbor's dog comes running out of their yard and attacks my dog. I hear a big thud as the other dog collides with my dog. I yell. The neighbor lady yells. The dog runs back to it's house. The lady takes the dog in the house, shuts the garage door, and all the lights get turned off.

Nice neighbors. Yep, new to the neighborhood.

I call the police. My dog is OK. Big wet spot on his side where the attacking dog hit him with his head. No bites or cuts. The policeman takes my info and says he'll go and talk to the neighbors and give them a citation. I hate to hear that but hey, if you can't control your dog and obey the law then don't have a dog.

And if you are going to be an a$$hole neighbor, I can't do anything about that.

First offence is a fine payable through the mail. Second offence in my neighborhood and you have to go to court to pay the fine.

My adrenaline went sky high because I hear the toe nails on the dark street behind me as the dog came running at us and I thought I was going to get it in the back of my legs.

gene

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Glad your dog is OK!

Too often, I have had dogs come flying out of nowhere at either Jim & I (13 and is developing cataracts plus lousy hips) or Joe & I (just turned 1 but still thinks that he can kick every other dog's @ss -- no matter how big that other dog).  I have my own issues with dogs charging me due to having a nice reminder of how it feels when a dog takes a chunk out of your leg but funny thing is when the dogs come charging at us, I am more concerned with how our dogs will react.  So far we've been lucky and the dogs have just been curious.  Jim absolutely freezes which is the best reaction he could have.  Joe has always tried to drag me with him towards the dog and I'm yelling at the other dog to stop and go home.  Fortunately, the owners have always heard and quickly responded to get their dog back into the confines of the yard, garage, house or whatever.  Last time with Joe though it was a pit mix and I was just sure we were toast.  Joe took a page of out Jim's playbook and just stood there.  I firmly told the dog to stop and then to go home and much to my amazement, he turned tail and went back towards his/her yard.  I'm thinking it was because I now can use my "command" voice thanks to obedience training.  WHO HOO!!!

I do not understand why people even want their dogs to run loose to begin with.  #1 is the chance of their dog getting hit by a car or truck.  Dog usually always loses.  #2 is a fight with a bigger/more aggressive dog is which case, their dog is going to lose.  #3 is that it could bite a small child or an adult.  Again their dog is going to lose.  When I was bitten (dog also bit the Sheriff who came to investigate as Alda doesn't have a police force), animal control visited me in ER to take pictures and get my statement.  The AC Officer told me that they would represent me in court so I didn't have to go through the trauma of talking about the incident again.  Their recommendation was going to be that the dog be declared "vicious" and she assured me that since it bit twice in the space of 30 minutes, it would be declared vicious.  The owners would have the choice of euthenizing or building an enclosed area.  Area had to have concrete slab (forget the thickness that was required) as well as a cage with a top on it.  When the dog was out of the caged area, it had to have a muzzle on it.  Owners opted to put the dog down, a wise decision since they had a newborn at home.  Anyway, none of these three scenarios seem like a good time to me.

Glad to hear that neither you nor your dog suffered any injuries from the dog's behavior.  And I totally agree, if you can't control and obey the laws don't have a dog.

Just curious, what is the law concerning picking up poop while walking your dog in your neck of the woods?  We always do, just because I get annoyed by those that let their dog crap on my manicured lawn.  We have a witch a couple of blocks away from us who called AC on us because she found a small particle of dog poop on her yard (Jim had loose stools and short of pulling the grass up, I couldn't get anymore of his stool up).  She told AC that I "never pick up".  I invited the AC officer into our kitchen and showed him my stash of poop bags/gloves that go on walks with me and then explained what had really happened.  What he told this lovely individual was that you have to have video of the incident.  First two offenses are fines and the third time, they remove the dog from you (not sure if permanent or just for a period of time).  I walk our dogs on the other side of the street so that she can't possibly say anything.

Virginia

[sofadoc]

In the early days of the family business, my mother kept her dog (a Cocker Spaniel that was rather large for his breed) at the shop all day.

She loved that dog more than she did any human. Problem was, the dog would for no apparent reason, and quite randomly lunge and growl at some customers when they walked in. I've heard it said that breed can tend to be temperamental.

One day the dog did this to a woman as she came in through the front door. She was so startled, that she fell backwards down the steps and hit her head on the concrete sidewalk.

My mother could not possibly have been any less concerned about the woman. She only rushed to comfort her dog. The 2 women then engaged in a shouting match, in which my mother accused her of not only faking a fall for a possible lawsuit, but being the aggressor in the incident.

Surprisingly, nothing else came of the altercation (other than we lost a customer).

We've all heard stories in the news about some vicious breed of dog mauling a child, and the dog's owners are fighting to keep from having him taken into custody, or put down.

Gene's neighbor may very well be one of those kind of people that value an animal's life to the exclusion of all others.

[brmax]

Hey Gene totally understand that and not looking for anything here and do respect seeing your dog support. The cheer to it reminds me, I always said out loud daily for the last two years walking ours. My girls dog but mine now? Beagle was ya got a seeing eye human what do ya think about that, lucy!. Several years ago realized and had my nephew take a look and decided surgery so then only 1 and of late 6 months ago and absolutely no ability to see light or dark. This last month was not a good month totally and now we are moving on slowly.

Good days there you all
Floyd

[kodydog]

When we lived in McAlpin I noticed people thought, when you move to the country you can just let your dog run free. Then when the dog turns up missing there all like boo-hoo.

My idiot neighbor across the street was warned by several neighbors about his loose dogs. He refused to even put a collar on them. Something about being free spirits. The dog caused one neighbor riding her horse to fall off. She went to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder.

One day Rose was getting the mail, the dog came from around the corner, bit Rose on the elbow and continued on his way. The bite was bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.

At first the idiot neighbor offered to pay the hospital bills but later he claimed the dog didn't bite her. He said the dog was just playing. We had pictures, the hospital bill and two eye witness. So we sued him. And we were compensated by his insurance company. He was supposed to keep the dog quarantined for 10 days. But five days
later they were out running again. This made Rose very nervous and one reason we no longer live there.

I wonder, when you sell your house do you have to disclose your neighbor is an idiot?

[byhammerandhand]

I sure hope not.   Seems like we've always had one odd-ball living next door.

I wonder, when you sell your house do you have to disclose your neighbor is an idiot?

[gene]

The last house I sold I disclosed that I was an idiot. They bought the house thinking the neighborhood would be a better place with me gone.  :)

I live in a small incorporated town just north of Cincinnati. You have to pick up dog poop or you will get fined. The city is very big on trying to get folks to be responsible for their dogs. He said she said can easily go against the dog owner.

Our neighborhood is like most others. There is the street, then a strip of grass, then a sidewalk, then the front yard of the houses. I do not let my dog go into the front yard of the houses. I let him walk of the strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk.

A few years ago a homeowner came down from his house and told me to keep my dog off his grass. My dog was on the grass between the street and sidewalk. I told him my dog was not on his grass. This strip of grass is owned by the city, and the homeowner is required to maintain it. He told me I was crazy. I agreed with him. He then made a move toward my dog. I made a very big move toward him. I actually had my teeth showing and I made a growling sound. He cursed at me and walked back to his porch.

I don't think I would do this today. Too many folks carrying concealed weapons who shouldn't be carrying concealed weapons.

gene

[gene]

One more thing:

I am absolutely convinced that people who walk their dog and do not pick up their dog poop, have dried dog poop all over the inside of their house. If they do not respect themselves or their neighborhood, they do not respect their home. Oh the stench!

I bet it was these folks here in Ohio who wanted to legalize marijuana. Staying high is one way to deal with the stench.

Voters said nope to dope here in Ohio! (Voters said no to legalized marijuana in Ohio.)

gene

[kodydog]

The last house I sold I disclosed that I was an idiot. They bought the house thinking the neighborhood would be a better place with me gone.  :)

gene

Gene, you are a genius. It took us 9 months to sell our house. I bet if I had used your tactic we could have sold it in half that time.  ;D

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Yup, I just don't get people who don't pick up their dog's poop.  It is not that big of a deal.  Probably 80-85% of the time, my guys use the park we walk through which I prefer because there are big trash barrels there so I pick up and drop in a barrel and off we go.  If they don't poop on the walk, they are in my back yard and I do "poop patrol" there.  I think I prefer the walk pick up as it's over and done with and you aren't searching the whole yard looking for poop.  Sometimes it is hard to find it.  Sheesh.  Too much info there, Virg.

I have Joe trained that "Sidewalk" means he keeps his cute little four paws on the sidewalk.  He is actually very good with the "Sidewalk" command.  With the crappy lady, I walk Joe and Jim down the middle of the street, even though I know the grass between the sidewalk and the street is actually city property.  Just want it to be common knowledge that my guys walk in the street so if another dog leaves something in her yard, her neighbors know that Joe & Jim walk in the street there.  Anyway glad to know that responsible pet ownership extends to other cities.  Lived in Leavenworth, KS for almost 25 years and had dogs the entire time we lived there and had no clue what the city's position was on dog poop left by irresponsible pet owners.  Walked our dogs the entire time we lived there and they never did more than hike on trees and shrubs so it was never an issue.

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Damned if I didn't have nearly the same experience walking Joe this morning.  A brindle colored mastiff or great dane type dog 2 houses down on the opposite side of the street streaked over to where Joe & I were.  I darn near went down and Joe was just frozen.  Dog did a U-turn and almost took me out again.  By now, I am screaming my fool head off as I am completely terrorized.  Finally owner comes out of his house, whistles and the dog trots off home.  Told hubby that what really torqued me was no apology, no asking were Joe & I ok.  Just collected his dog and shut the door.  In Grand Island, animal control has to witness the animal running at large before any citation is issued.  Anyway, Joe and I motored on back home no worse for the wear but I definitely could have lived without the experience.

Virginia

[Darren Henry]

what really torqued me was no apology, no asking were Joe & I ok.

That would be my reaction as well. Dogs get loose---it happens,but I want to see half a leash dragging behind it and /or an out of breath owner trying to catch it up. Once they did I would expect some show of responsibility like that. To just hide like that tells me that either A) the dog does this so often they are afraid of  by-law enforcement getting involved/law suit etc... or B)  because they free range their dog, everyone else can just accept that as their RIGHT.