Animal ControL was called on my babies

[BigWillie]

I am outside today and animal control pulls up.  There is this guy that walks his dogs by our house and sometimes when we let the dogs out they see him before we do and run out into the street.  Bella barks at him and his dogs but has never bitten them or even attempted to.  We have never had collars on them (they are both 4 next month) and I am not starting now.

I understand he is frustrated because this has happened at least 6 times over the past 4 years but why not say something to us instead of calling animal control?

Thanks for letting me vent!

[mtc]

The "Demons" !! 

Doesn't the guy say anything to you when your dogs go out to "greet" him and his dogs?  What'd the AC officer say?


BTW - your "Demons" are gorgeous!

[ksdstny]

Maybe he is afraid hes gonna lose his s**t if he confronts u. Alot of people dont like confrontation and maybe he choose the ac way as the path of least resistance.

I get that u dont want collars on ur dogs but imo ur first priority is that ur dogs r safe. If they run into the street they are not safe.

Steeler and i were attacked when he was a baby by an off leash dog so i dont have much sympathy for your plight. My dogs are always on leash and it frankly bugs me when i have to deal with other dogs who r off leash invading our space.

Poor brumzoo was on the phone with me during the beg of the attack and she can verify it was horrible.

[winwinsmom]

I totally agree with Kim.

[MattyGit]

Ditto.

[BeachBullyPC]

A few months ago, I was walking MB on a leash.  Out of nowhere, comes an off-leash husky that attacked him in a way that I was positive he'd be dead. I couldn't get MB out from underneath, and I didn't want to reach for the husky, since he was clearly in full attack mode and I didn't want to be the next victim.  The owner? Leisurely walking towards us, saying that his dog has never done that.   

I was livid.  Luckily, MB was fine but extremely shaken up.  I'm so thankful that I had only him, since PC would have tried to defend himself and probably made the situation worse. MB just cowered and screamed like I never heard before. I have zero tolerance for off-leash dogs in places where they should be leashed.  You may know your dog is friendly, but the other person does not.  I dread walking mine around our new neighborhood, since no one leashes their dogs here (even near busy streets) and I would hate for mine to be attacked because people aren't following laws.  On our first walk in this new 'hood, we had several off-leash dogs run up to our leashed dogs and that is not cool.

Not saying your dogs are aggressive, but you never know how the other dog will react to yours.  After my experience, I freak out anytime an off-leash dog comes near us since I really don't want to re-live that experience. 

[Superhero Mom]

Also, you don't know that this leashed dog hasnt been agressive before... Maybe he's concerned that one of these times your dog is going to get attacked and you will try to press charges against him.  Safety first IMO, and round up the dogs if you see someone walking one...

[ksdstny]

Good point sh mom!

[Shell]

Also, you don't know that this leashed dog hasnt been agressive before... Maybe he's concerned that one of these times your dog is going to get attacked and you will try to press charges against him.  Safety first IMO, and round up the dogs if you see someone walking one...

This is exactly what would happen if a dog came running up to Rita. She usually doesn't have a problem with dogs that are calm, but when they are excited and barking at her then she gets a nasty attitude. Even more so if she's on a leash and their not. I would also be concerned about my dog running out in the street about the same time a car may be coming.

[Susan & the bullies]

Yes, that's what worries me about unleashed dogs -- if they approach us and get anywhere near Violet she will go bezerk.  The unleashed dog may be friendly but mine is not--and it makes it very stressful.

[hoegaandit]

Ummm ... well first poster shouldn't have let the dogs run out like that (although calling Animal Control is real overkill). Less usually we were sunning ourselves in the front yard over the past weekend and our boy ran out to the road when one of his bete noires (skateboarder) went past; he got roundly told off for that behavior which is clearly unacceptable. And I fully understand peoples concerns about their dogs being attacked.

But ... it concerns me that this leads to an environment where dogs may always be on lead, and never free to explore environments outside the home. I'm particularly surprised at pictures I see in the US of dogs on lead at the beach or at parks. We walk 95% of the time off lead (including on suburban streets). I think this more relaxed environment helps dogs learn how to interact with each other. When he was little our boy (who was the only one in his litter and so had less experience with what is acceptable dog on dog behavior) would be too keen to meet new dogs and get nipped for his enthusiasm. Now he is pretty good and even an exemplar about how to calm other dogs down (last night on our walk there was a younger dog on lead who was just barking at everything; our boy tried to calm him down on meeting, although in the minute or so available could only do so much, but the owner of the other dog seemed quite grateful).

It's like the prohibitions that have started to come in over the years on kids climbing trees or onto the roof or jumping from a height into a river. It's better for kids to learn by experience (allied to parental guidance) what they had better not do, rather than for there to be excessive prohibitions. It's clearly better in my view for dogs to learn themselves (with some assistance from their guardians) how to freely interact with other dogs. Maybe I see things with rose tinted spectacles, but when I was a kid dogs ran around freely and I don't recall any real fights. And we walk off lead and there have been no significant incidents. In our local beachside suburb, which is the only place in my city dogs run around freely, I have never seen one incident.

[Susan & the bullies]

I agree to an extent. There are so few places I can actually bring my dogs, on leash, forget about off leash.  It is not a dog-friendly country.  I was shocked on vacation in Spain to see SO many dogs, off leash and well behaved--walking through cities at their owners side with no leash. 

I live near a 26000 acre state park that has about 10 lakes.  Dogs are not allowed off leash anywhere in the park. And they are not allowed on the beaches at all. I took the dogs to one of the beaches in the middle of winter-- without another soul in sight and within 5 minutes a park ranger was there telling me I had to leave. It's very irritating to have no where to take them.   

[mtc]

I at least have the "Blue Hills" to take Meaty for a park walk - but it's a 20 minute ride and he's usually nauseous by the time we get there.  He's allowed ONLY on a leash - anywhere. (that's all dogs)

So I bring the 15' extendy leash so he can explore at least a little.

[winwinsmom]

I think that if I were walking down the street with my dog and two dogs came running out of a house at me and my dog, I would go into a panic mode.  I think it is just a normal reaction. 
I think the guy could have talked with you first, expressing his concern since it had happened before, if this guy didn't know you or your dogs.   
Plus so many of us live in neighborhoods where there are so many cars with the zoomies, racing down the streets.  I just cringe every time someone races down our street.  I worry about a dog or cat getting loose or a small child that slips from it's parents hold for two seconds.