Dog Community

A Dog Charged my Mom - What to do?

Posted : 11/16/2006 6:20:34 PM

First let me say hello. I haven't been on the forum for quite a while.

Tuesday, my Mom came to visit. She parked the car outside, gathered whatever trinkets and whatnots that y'all ladies like to carry, and closed her car door.
At this time a 65lb ish Labrodoodle charged her from across the street in a very aggressive manner, barking loudly the whole time. The dog did stop when it got a few feet from her (she froze). I was inside and did not know this was going on. When my inner alarm went off I ran out and the dogs owner was yelling at the dog and pulling him by the collar.
My Mom was scared and probably very nervous.

More Info:

This dog belongs to my neighbor. They live directly across the cul-de-sac. The dog is Not on a leash quite often and while it Does bother me I have not said a word because my wife doesn't like to cause friction. That and before now I chalked it up to me being to anal.[sm=angry.gif]

Now I am in an interesting situation. I have already been arguing with my wife about this. I have not approached the neighbor yet. I am confident that no matter what your advice, No matter what other advice I get and No matter what plan of action I take - I am the loser.[sm=sad.gif]
I need not worry about that because I have already lost and it will not get better.

If It Matters:

We get along fine with these neighbors. Our kids play with their kids and things are (were) o.k.

Also, they recently got a second dog. About a month to 45 day ago. The two dogs seem to get along fine but what do I know. Both of her dogs get along with my dog, but then again, my dog is loved by all. [sm=biggrin.gif]

Please - Keep you answers focused on what I should do and how I should proceed. This is very important and extremely timely.

Thank you in advance for all you great input.

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Posted : 11/16/2006 6:43:06 PM

I'd say next time you see him approach in a friendly neighborly way. Say something like "hey ya know your dog really scared the hell outta my mom the other day, a couple of neighbors have commented how its never on a leash maybe you should rein him in so as not to attract more attention"
Its hard with neighbors becasue if ya piss em off then the kids cant play, the wives cant gossip and plus hte holidays are coming and you want everything to be cool. Heck my neighbors have to poms that NEVER stop barking and they start at 6:45 in the morning. Rory is in awe of them, she's probaly thinking "what the heck is their problem" casue she'll just stare at our ajoining fence with her head coked, ha ha.

marynh

Posted : 11/16/2006 7:49:59 PM

same situation here - except I'm the wife who has a husband who doesn't want me to get involved.
Pooh on that [:-] I gotta live in the neighborhood too and I'm not going to just live with other people's dog either charging people in my driveway, getting into my trash in my garage, crapping on my lawn, or anything else that is considered a nuisance.
My dog stays home....I expect my neighbors to respect my territory I pay taxes on as much as I respect theirs.
So after they all got hit up with fines for nuisance dogs - they fenced in their yards or did what they had to do to keep their dogs home.
It's all about respect - if you don't care, they won't care. Nothing will change unless they know it bothers you. You don't have to be rude or snarly about it....but if that dog ends up biting the next person the message to them is going to be a lot worse than a friendly neighbor who is actually a friend letting them know.

inne

Posted : 11/16/2006 9:04:16 PM

I agree with Sheprano. By bringing it up in a non-confrontational, helpful manner, you're not only protecting people in the neighbourhood, but you might also save that dog's life. You could even include something about how worried you are about the dog being hit by a car or stolen while roaming around like that, which will make them think you're concerned about them and be more receptive to your advice.