<p>This is NOT our fault. I take no blame for the situation…this is life in the city.</p>
<p>This all goes back to our first golden Elle. She loved people and dogs UNTIL Rocco moved into the neighborhood. Rocco, the scamp barked at Elle, and then our rescue 1. So, our gentle (perfect) goldens started barking at Rocco. (The poor dog was an “outside” dog, ergo issues.) Elle passed on, much too young from cancer. Rescue 1 was sad. We got Rescue 2, another golden…small (75 pounds) who was abandoned in the desert. Small, tough, and the body guard for our other, much bigger dog.</p>
<p>Game on! Our goldens love all people, including the babies out in their strollers with cookies in their hands. Dogs…fagetaboutit! I think it has something to do with being adopted, insecure, and…territorial. My husband and daughters have to hide behind cars when other dogs go by.</p>
<p>The biggest menace in the neighborhood? A tiny mutt mix who saunters by our home EVERY morning at 6 a.m. S/he screams at our dogs. And ours…well, they bark right back.</p>
<p>This is the city…this is life…these are golden stories.</p>
<p>Lawyer puts up bloody photo. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my clients told the babysitter to take the baby for a walk. Jenny put little Caden in the stroller and hooked up King’s leash. The next thing Mr. and Mrs. Neighbor knew, they were getting a call from Mercy General…” And some old lady in the back gasps, puts down her knitting while she mentally adds zeros onto the figure she thinks the jury should award.</p>
<p>Public roads are public. You don’t get to pick where someone else goes for a walk. Moreover, now that you know that your dog is not always gentle you are responsible for controlling him, even if strangers go for walks in your neighborhood.</p>
<p>Reading through this thread and it’s very interesting. We have a very sweet goofy…and OLD yellow lab. He is a dear with the babies and kids in our family. And just LOVES people. But he really doesn’t like one of ds’s friends. This friend happens to have a habit of just walking in our house without knocking. In fact, I saw him in my peripheral vision in the kitchen today and thought it was ds! Well, this kid was nipped by our dear gentle lab a few years ago when he just sauntered in as he usually does. And DD still growls at him. Makes me nervous. I told him to knock but he doesn’t listen. </p>
<p>Anyway, what I’m taking from this thread is that dogs…even the most gentle ones… are NEVER completely safe. Some things set them off. And it’s hard to predict. We all need to be extra cautious…and perhaps not have blind trust that all will be OK. It’s not just pit bulls that cause trouble. Plenty of lab and retriever bites out there…</p>
<p>I’m kind of speechless at the lack of boundaries displayed by your child’s friend. We live in a big city, so keeping the doors locked is a way of life. He would be frustrated here if just walking into peoples’ homes without knocking was something he expected to be able to do. It would not be tolerated…perhaps your community is much more open.</p>
<p>Well, if you want to see a representation of the idiots that live in our neck of the woods (let it be known that the guys whose dog got out is doing nothing to deal with the problem) and the idiot commenters, check out this story in our local newspaper:</p>
<p>Evidently there is quite a bit of documentation from the vet of the wounds brought on by the attacking dog to corroborate the story, yet the guys continues to deny it.</p>
<p>I had to chuckle when I read about Toneranger’s son’s friend. I grew up in an area like that. My kids still are amazed when we visit relatives and just yell “hello” and open the door but that is what everyone there does. I also can believe momofthreeboys story. We live in a small town and I can see that people could respond like that. The people involved probably didn’t think it was a big deal and wanted to avoid dog problems. I am sure the officer didn’t say they couldn’t walk down the road, he probably suggested that it would be good for all concerned not to go down that way. I know if I had a dog come charging through a door, I would take an alternative route. Why hassle with legal stuff, if that is all you have to do.</p>
<p>Funny my toy poodle (12) can be the sweetest thing… when she wants to be. She has an evil streak that is a mile long. She LOVES to sneak up behind you and cold nose you and such. She is a talker as well. Its quite easy to tell the diffrence between her barks, growls, what have you noises. She is only agressive to other dogs (and any grooming appliances that get in the way lol). </p>
<p>Funny thing is she used to get along with other dogs until her best buddy, my grandmothers dog, died. After that she would have nothing to do with them.</p>
<p>We’ve tried training her out of it, but it doesn’t work. So when we do have to go somewhere we just scoop her up in our arms and away we go.</p>
<p>I love dogs and I used to have my own dog until he was old and died. I thought he ran away. But after a week I found his body in a remote are of my big garden.</p>
<p>And I thank the dog owners that let my kids pet their dogs on the beaches, the parks,…
There are 2 things I would like the dog owners to do:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Be careful in guarding dogs. Dogs are friendly to owners and family members but they are not always friendly to strangers. That is the nature of dogs. My niece was bitten by a dog once when her parents brought her to visit their friends’ house. The owner said the dog was friendly but she was bitten when playing upstairs with the other kids while the parents were downstairs.</p></li>
<li><p>Use leash when walking dogs in parks, trails,… where there are joggers. A lot of times I see people let the dogs run 100 yards or more ahead of them even when there are posted signs about leash. My day is ruined when a dog comes to sniff on my body when I am walking.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My son, who is now 25, was mauled by his best friend’s dog when they were both in the second grade. My husband and I had just flown across the country for a business trip and our son was staying with his friend. The family had two chows and my son had been there often and loved the dogs. The only difference this time was that the boys had spilled some perfume or something like that…but when they went outside, the younger of the two dogs attacked my son…had him down on the ground and was on him, going for his neck. He had his arm up to protect his face, and he managed to get up and run away. Son had stitches in his arm and his leg and a terrible scratch on his belly that took a while to heal. He was terrified of dogs for quite a while after, naturally. He felt awful that the family had the dog that attacked him put down that afternoon. It was all so very surreal…and we were not even able to get home for several days.</p>
<p>It looks like I over-stated Charly’s “ticket”. It is called a Notice to Comply and says “This is a Warning, Not a Citation”. The box checked is “Running at Large” and the handwritten portion refers to receiving a complaint that you (we) are not complying with the above marked TN state law. Please comply to avoid any criminal charges being filed. Description of animal is “Dog”. Nothing talks about aggression or the other dog.</p>
<p>My H got a warning instead of a citation for failing to stop long enough at a stop sign when the officer saw his military ID with his license. Did Charly do the same? ;)</p>
<p>As for walking a different route in the neighborhood, I don’t get why some posters are making this a big deal. If I were walking my dog and I knew there was an unfriendly dog in one direction, I would surely walk a different way. No one needs to ask/tell me to do that. Sure its my “right” to walk any way I please, but why not take an easy way out? No need to make a mountain out of a molehill or overcomplicate things. Another option- maybe Sid’s owners could call MOWC when they are heading out for a walk so that MOWC can redirect Charly away from the window or tie him up or something. Its really not that complicated. Sure it might be a tad inconvenient, but its neighborly. Its a nice thing to do rather than to stir up confrontation and send the cops.</p>
<p>Lets take a quick poll. If you were Sids owner, what would you do? I am not asking what the law allows-- I am asking, what would you do? Me, I’d be conflict avoidant and for the short time I was still in the neighborhood til the house sold, I’d walk a different way.</p>
<p>OK - I’m Sid’s parents. NO WAY would I call every time I wanted to go for a walk. But I probably would walk a different way. Or take my dog to a park (I like to do that with our pup because I like soft trails and river views on my long walks with him :)) And, no I wouldn’t feel put upon by doing this. </p>
<p>What I DID hate was the approach used by the parents of the dog who used to attack my dog. They regularly let him off leash. He came charging out of nowhere and attacked my dog…more than once. Once, my ds who was about 12 at the time picked the dog up and threw him off our dog…more than a few feet. That too could be very dangerous. </p>
<p>As for my s’s friend and his tendency to just walk in…I believe this is his family’s influence (they encourage everyone to just walk in THEIR HOUSE). And yes, our neighborhood is pretty open, we only lock our doors at night. Anyway, our sweet old lab has taken to just ignoring this friend…won’t even get up to greet him. And he greets just about everyone with a huge wagging tail. So I think we’re OK but I have to watch what I wear in the kitchen again That empty nest we had for a while is starting to look good again… </p>
<p>MoWdog, I really really recommend watching the dog whisperer. Find them online, the library or on the TV and watch a lot of them. I know some people find him contraversial, but he deals with problems like you have a lot. Your dog sounds like a wonderful dog except for Sid. Caesar Milan has had this very same problem several times on his shows (can you tell I’ve seen them a lot…my younger S used to love to watch them with me!). He actually advocates lots of excercise for all dogs. A tired dog is less likely to misbehave. Do you run with Charley? He would also say that you need to show Charley that you don’t want this behavior. So, practice with Sid walking by and you are in the house and you reprimand him and have him sit away from the window. Practice this a lot. Then, be in the garage (with a leash on Charley) and practice with Sid walking by and you repremanding him again. then, closer. The dog whisperer also talks about recognizing that point at which your dog goes from normal to about to do something bad…the dog body language. If you can see that then you can redirect your dog before anything happens. A little knowledge may help you fix this problem!
I wish you the best of luck! Afterall, if you can get your WildChild to graduate from an Ivy League, then you can teach your WildDog to leave Sid alone!</p>
<p>Sid’s usual walks are very early in the morning, so it isn’t that easy to plan the teaching moments. My husband just got back from a walk with Charly and they met a black lab and Charly was very friendly to it. I know this dog/owner and actually saw them while I was out running, too. So-it doesn’t seem to be all black labs.
I don’t run with Charly. It was too hot in Dallas and Charly is a little big to be a real running dog. Charly has had 2 ACL repairs and I have had my share of injuries. We will jog a little when I am the one walking him, but Charly likes to stop and sniff every bush, so it doesn’t really fit in with my training.</p>
<p>I suspect Sid will be avoiding our street and we will avoid his, and we ought to be able to spot him from a distance otherwise. We have trails and great neighborhood sidewalks. At this time of year many of us avoid the wooded trails because we have a real tick problem here.</p>
We do keep it latched now! Would you believe the person who walked in was not a friend? It was an unexpected visit from someone we barely knew. But the dog did nip her, so we paid the medical bills. Once she got medical attention, there were procedures that had to be followed and the dog now has a record. If he were to bite someone in the family in our house and we seek medical attention the city has the right to take the dog. He is a vicious, mean dog, but he never bit anyone except that woman and he is not known to the neighborhood because we have a fully fenced in yard with a very high fence. But he is a nasty, snarky, sarcastic dog. I didn’t realize before I met him that a dog could love one person and resent everyone else for not being that person, but that’s him. There is a beagle in my future, though, I’m telling you!</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re careful in the heat with your dog. So many dogs get hurt by well-meaning runners taking their dogs on a jog. I would do an early morning run by myself in the summer and then come back and give my dog a walk while it was still somewhat cool. Unfortunately, we lost our lab to a form of cancer and my travel schedule makes it completely unfair for us to have a dog at present. </p>
<p>I do get the sense from some of your posts that your dog is dying to get out of the house and be active …</p>
<p>This morning I was amazed to see a woman jogging at a vigorous pace while her tiny dachsund trotted along. Never thought of a dachsund as a running companion. </p>
<p>MOWC, our lab also had a tendency to stop, plant all four paws, and have a lengthy sniff. It wreaked havoc with our walks and they were not enjoyable as I was hurting my arm tugging on the leash, trying to pull a muscular 125 pound lab from a particularly enjoyable (to him) spot. </p>
<p>Spend some time with Charly working on his training. He’ll be happier, you’ll be happier. You may never know why he doesn’t like Sid- heck I don’t like some people and I don’t know why. But at least you’ll have a calmer, more peaceful existence until Sid moves on.</p>
<p>Happily I work in insurance defense so no danger of you mugging me. </p>
<p>Good luck with Charly. It’s very, very easy to spoil a wonderful companion and I’ve been guilty of it. But a little discipline/obedience training really will make you both happier.</p>
That empty nest we had for a while is starting to look good again… </p>