Neighbors dog problem?

Question

Hi yahoo,

Just some Background: I live between houses (with my bf and with my mom) and we have a GSD that lives with my mom whom I go and visit several times a day to train, play with and exercise (6am is the earliest I go over there).

In my moms neighborhood several people have small dogs, and very few of them fenced yards, so I often see the dogs out in the front yards unleashed and sometimes unsupervised. A family a couple houses down from us lost some of their chihuahuas because they were hit by passing cars, so it's made me extra vigilant about all the dogs in our neighborhood - mine or not - because I dont want another incident like this.

One house over from my moms a neighbor has a small group of small dogs, and I think one lab, but mostly there is one small dog I see outside a lot in the mornings. In the summer he used to sit on the property between us (I think that house is owned by relatives of the first house) and bark and me and my dog while we played, but he'd never come over. I never see anyone out there with them, and their driveway goes right up to the main street and the dogs go very close. Only once when I walked by their house did I notice a man staring out the window watching them, but I have no idea if their supervised all the time.

This morning while I was driving to my moms house at 6am, I very nearly ran over the small dog. She/He was out in the street, and since theres little to no sunlight yet I just avoided her in the dark. Naturally I'm upset by this, even if it isnt my dog I still care about it's well being but I'm also unsure what, if anything, I should do about it. I dont want to cause problems, and even if I left an anonymous note I'm the only one out with my dog at this hour, and it would probably be easy to point the finger at me. Since I also have my dog out a lot, even though she's always leashed or tethered and supervised, I dont want this to become a huge deal or to have it thrown back in my face. As far as I know there are no breed laws in our area (several people own Bully breeds) but having a GSD (a breed many people think of as aggressive) makes me extra cautious about saying anything to other dog owners.

Should I do anything about this? Or should I just let it go?

Answer 1

Go over ring the door bell - introduce yourself and say that you wanted to let them know that their dog (give description) that you have noted in the past stays on their property was out in the road. It started you but you were able to avoid hitting it - but that you wanted to let them know about it - so they would know that his training to stay in the yard is slipping and you don't want him to get hurt.

Just be a friendly neighbor looking out for their dog with NO criticism of how they treat of handle their dogs and it should be fine.

Answer 2

Sounds like you're one of my neighbors- that's my neighborhood described to a t, and I have the GSD....you can try to say something, but honestly in my experience It isn't going to make a difference. I've explained to 2 sets of neighbors, who I'm friendly with too, that my dog does not like other dogs, especially females, and they need to stop letting their dogs wander towards my house, I don't want them getting hurt. They have chihuahuas, who try to go under my 6 ft fence into my yard. Their female got in, , my GSD got a good piece of her, they still let the dogs wander, so I gave up. Calling animal control doesn't work, even if they show up ( which is rare) they just give the dogs back with no punishment. I'd say something to them once, nicely as you can and show you are just concerned about the dogs..,but be prepared for nothing to change. Best you can do is make sure your dog can handle the loose ones running all over, mine is great on a leash and when working, but anything coming into the yard- well I've learned to look at it as its their problem not mine, my fence is 6 feet and the gate is double locked ( county rules for my dogs bc of their training) as long as my dog is on my property or on a leash, not my problem. It's sad, but there's o ly so much you can do, and you can't fix stupid dog owners,.,,,

Answer 3

i agree with the other poster.

be friendly and let them know what happened and you just wanted them to be aware.

maybe recommend those leads they have that stick in the ground so the dog can run around but cant leave the yard. maybe even offer to pick one up fot them?

Answer 4

u should do something one of these dogs are gonna get killed because of their owners stupidity