I need help with an aggressive dog?

Question

My neighbor has a male rottweiler, and in the afternoon when I get my kids off the bus this dog sits at the end of his driveway and barks and growls at me. He is a very mean dog. We live in an area with no leash laws. We have spoken to him many times and even called the police. They told me I could only shoot him if he comes into my yard. Can anyone please give me some advice on what I should do.

Answer 1

I know exactly how you feel we have the same problem. Most people here don't realize that Rottweilers have a very agressive personality and kill dozens of people each year. My Neighbour has a vicious rottweiler.
Low and behold the dog tried to ATTACK me on my property and I ran into my house.

I hate to say it but it's only a matter of time before that dog gets free and attacks someone.

I would recommed that you first drop off an anonymous note into there mailbox with your concerns.

Do not break the law. You must be seen as the victim in the eyes of the law. Prepare for a lawsuit and make it obvious so they know as well, Video tape the dog intimidating everone.
Gather evidence as proof of viciousness. Many
states have a one bite law. However you can sue if you can prove viciousness.

Make sure it's licenced in your town. Report any legal infraction in regards to this caninie beast.

Report there dog to all homeowner's insurance companies. Most insurance companies will flat out deny coverage to owners of rotts and pit bulls. No insurance -> no mortgage-> no jerk neighbour.


Get a taser, peperspray or even 9mm glock.

Might sound like too much, but a good mother will do whatever it takes to defend your children.

Be a good mother, prepare for battle. I wish you luck, and pray for your victory.

Answer 2

Try the ultrasonic dog repeller, only thing I can think of with this kind of circumstance.This is a device you can use on the dog, even if the dog is his own yard. It will train the dog to stay away from you and your kids if used right.

http://www.1stlinesecurity.com/dogdeterrent1.html

If it was me, I'd be ordering some of the pepper spray too, just in case the dog gets out of the yard some day when you are getting the kids off the bus. It's a shame that the neighbor is such a jerk he won't teach his dog to behave, but hopefully this will help.

Answer 3

Carry pepper spray or mace. If the dog comes after you off of the owner's property, you have the right to defend yourself.

Do kids walk by the dog? If so, notify the school and see if they can change the pick-up/drop-off location. There is no need to put the kids at risk if they can avoid the dog by being picked up across the street.

Also, don't give the dog any reason to attack. Some dogs are protective of their yards and their people. It doesn't mean that they will come after you, as long as you aren't on their property. My 12 pound dog growls at people who come to the door and occasionally even at guests. It doesn't mean she's going to attack them, it just means that she's warning them not to cross her (although, I think she'd run and hide if they tried anything, lol).

Lobby your city to get them to instate leash laws. Call your local city office and ask how you would go about doing this. It may just be a matter of getting 1000 signatures from registered voters and turning them in, along with statistics from http://www.hsus.org on various matters.

Good luck and I hope this helps a little.

Answer 4

If the neighbor doesn't have a problem letting you come over to visit this dog and get to know it, I would definately do it, cause some dogs are just territorial even the ones that are placed as aggressive, so if you get to know the dog it may calm down, but if that is out of the question because it's definately not territory issues, then make sure that you keep close eyes on this dog at all times, make sure that your property is well fenced about six to eight feet high and heavily protected.

Answer 5

First, this dog may just have a "territory issue" like a lot of other dogs. So if you don't cross his line, he won't cross yours. He may never attack, he may just be showing his "dominance".

That being said, you need to protect your children. First, if it is a male, is it neutered? It has been shown that a large majority of dog attacks are from un-neutered male dogs. So if not, could you ask your neighbor to get his dog neutered? Second, you may only be able to "shoot" the dog if it comes on your property, but just like anything else, if you were attacked (whether it is your property or the public property) you ALWAYS have the right to protect yourself and your children. I would suggest buying pepper spray and a taser. It sounds mean, but wouldn't you rather be prepared in the case of an attack?

Answer 6

Well, this is a very hard subject. One, it's not your dog who is not on your property. You could get sued if you do anything harmful to the dog, when it is not on your property. Maybe try walking around the dog. Switch sides of the street so you don't feel nervous walking near the dog. Maybe, if you are good friends with the owner or know them, ask if you can give the dog a treat. (This may cause the dog to follow you when he's done.) Or ask them to put him in the backyard because you feel the dog is a threat. Hope this helps!

Answer 7

This dog isn't a mean dog. A mean dog wouldn't just sit and bark at you, he would be chasing you and trying to bite you. Pretend like you are ignoring the dog, don't look directly at him, and don't show any fear reactions to him at all. Tell your kids to do the same, and tell them not to approach the dog when you aren't around them. Call a shelter, the Humane Society, a pet store, a vet, or Animal Control in your area, and ask if they know of any classes in your area that will teach you and your kids how to act around dogs, and classes to teach you canine behavior. I believe that once you learn about dogs, and are taught how to apply this knowledge when confronted with dogs, you will see a noticable difference in how this dog acts towards you. Also, ask your neighbor to introduce you to his dog(with a dog expert present if that will make you feel better), that might help too.

I'm a little lost here. I was just checking out some of the questions you have answered, and you answered a question someone had about "pit" bulls(very positively, I might add). You stated that you owned "pits", so my confusion comes from the fact that you have owned dogs with a reputation for aggression(not saying I believe it, just stating what is), but yet you don't know what to do about an "aggressive"/"mean" dog. If you do own dogs that have the potential to be dangerous(let's face it, dogs like "pits", rotties, GSD's, and other large dogs have that potential, but I'm not saying that they are dangerous), how in all that is Holy and Dear to you can you not know how to handle a situation like the one you presented in your question?

Answer 8

Carry pepper spray, DO NOT let your children by there without you. Ask the school to change the bus stop, contact the pound/animal control for your recourse. This is ridiculous!!! YOUR CHILD COULD BE HURT SERIOUSLY by a large animal like this. Don't get me wrong. I am an animal lover, I have a 70 lb Lab, but if it came down to someone else's child or my dog.. their child's life and safety is more important. If you need to (if the dog charges at you), pepper spray the dog, it IS humane and you may have to spray more than once. I had to carry it when I read meters for the electric company and I know it saved me from getting bit more than once!

Answer 9

If the dog hasnt bitten you or threatened you in any other way than barking and growling, loosen up, he is just doing his job, letting strangers know that this is his territory. I had one woman yelling and screaming at me in front of hers and mine kids about my 'dangerous, feral dogs that should be shot'. She was yelling at me from the other side of my 5 foot fence that my dogs are safely behind. As a result my dogs now bark at her every time she walks past just because they see her as a threat now coz she abused me. BTW, the only reason my dogs barked at her in the first place is because her 'feral' kids were running sticks up and down my fence.
Does this rotty growl at any one else or just you, has he ever gone outside his territory. Do you know enough about dog behaviour to know if he is being really aggressive or just barking coz someone is walking past. Do any of the other neighbourhood kids tease the dog to make it nasty. Is he only there after school or does he sit there all day barking at people. The only thing you can do is approach the owner and talk to him. Or take a different route home.

Answer 10

OH DON`T KILL IT!It can get help!Ok you need like a spray of water to spray it if it ever growls at you.Punish it if it does something bad.A dog can`t controll you.But dog can harm people so if it starts getting mad at these things you need professinals.Because it could do something bad if it gets mad.But if it backs away and leaves for good.Youre good to go!