It's not the dog's fault. The owner is extremely irresponsible.
Try to talk to the owner if you haven't already. If he doesn't respond, call the police and get pepper spray just in case.
We have two neighbors on our street that have Mastiff's. One is our nextdoor neighbor's dog. He was an adult rescue. The other neighbor lives down the street, he got his as a puppy. Both dogs are extremely dog aggressive and between them have attacked at least 7 dogs in the neighborhood. The one nextdoor broke through the front window and attacked a dog who was taking a walk with his owner. The owner dislocated his shoulder pulling the Mastiff off of his dog and another time it took two men to pull him off another dog. Last week a girl was walking with her shepherd mix and her baby in the carriage and the Mastiff down the street, broke through their storm door and attacked that dog, it took two men to pull that dog off the shepherd mix and the girl was hurt because of her dog's leash around her wrist. Two weeks ago Barney was in our yard with the girls and our neighbor came out with his dog who bolted towards our dogs. We have a chain link fence, but his dog got a hold of Miia's snout through the fence. Our neighbor broke his finger while prying his dog off of Miia.
Everyone in the neighborhood is very wary taking their dogs for a walk. Tonight while walking with our three and a neighbor and her dog. The Mastiff down the street was in it's back yard barking at us and trying to break through their vinyl privacy fence. The people got their dog in the house, but he immediately jumped up in their bay window and was barking like crazy. I really thought he was going to come right through that window after one of our dogs.
I've never known any Mastiffs before, are they all like this? How can we protect our dogs from them if they get out again? We would walk a different way, if we could, but we have to go by both houses, and, in fact, we wouldn't walk at all, if our girls could get exercise in our back yard without worrying about that dog getting out again. I know both owners love their dogs, but it's hard for the rest of the neighborhood to be at ease with them around. So, what do we do or is there anything we can do?
It's not the dog's fault. The owner is extremely irresponsible.
Try to talk to the owner if you haven't already. If he doesn't respond, call the police and get pepper spray just in case.
Cookie Black Snowflake
July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.
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I'd be carrying a stun stick if I were you.
I agree with Elena...total irresponsibility....and animal control should have been involved long before now, given their history.
The police have been called a couple of times. Our neighbor has gone to court for one instance. They both know that they need to be super vigilant with their dogs, but both get pretty lax at times and that's when there is a problem.
Well just look at them, Mastiffs were originally bred for protection, of people, things and livestock. Improperly trained and managed any dog can show traits bred into it years before. But I agree, it's mostly an owner's fault. Police would be involved, where I live. People are in danger, call the Police. Very few places have laws or bylaws to protect dogs from other dogs.
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Hi Nancy, I would probably advise at least always taking pepper spray with you. It is awful to have neighbors with aggressive dogs. I hate any kind of neighbor conflicts & really have never had any problems with neighbors until a few years ago our neighbor next door & his girlfriend had 4 big dogs who would come out running & charge & snarl at us any time they saw us come out of our house. It was awful. They started out with 2 Golden Retrievers who were sisters, & nice dogs, although one was pretty stand-offish. They lived in another town for awhile at the girlfriend's, & while they were away, the man bragged that the dogs had both gotten pregnant & they had 22 puppies at the same time......they kept 2 & moved back here, so they had a family "pack." The 2 puppies were unaltered males, big dogs that looked like maybe part German Shepherd or something--they had pretty long, fluffy coats. When they grew up they were quite aggressive--they would come into our yard & growl at us. When I would try to take Lab Molly down the road for her walks, if the people let the dogs out, all 4 would come charging all the way down the road to lunge & snarl at us. I tried to make friends with the dogs, but they would have none of it. I tossed treats to them, but then the next time I'd see them, it was like they didn't remember that I meant them no harm. One day when I walked over to our mailbox to get my mail, one of the young ones ran over & bit me behind my knee. The lady came over crying & said it would never happen again & they would build a big fenced in area to keep the dogs in--trouble was, the dogs weren't always in there, & the next summer the other young dog ran over & did the exact same thing. I finally ended up calling our animal control, which is essentially the sheriff's dept, but they didn't really end up doing anything but coming out & talking to the people. They finally moved although the man still owns the house, but rents it out now.
Some people are very irresponsible--after I got bit, I asked if they had the rabies vaccination records, & they said no, because their kids are "medical people" & gave the dogs all their shots. My vet said then they haven't been vaccinated for rabies, because only a licensed vet can give those. So I worried about it out for a couple of weeks, & when my doctor heard about it, he wasn't too happy with me for not jumping on it right away & starting rabies shots. I was fine, & I felt bad for reporting the people, etc, but for awhile there we couldn't feel safe at all going outside our house. Mastiffs are such huge dogs they could really do a lot of damage, so I hope the owners will take this seriously. You shouldn't have to worry about taking your dogs for a walk......
I have only known a couple of mastifs they were both loving big babies, but their owners were responsible in getting them out training and socalizing them too. I would carry pepper spray or a big stick incase they came at me. The police should have done more since there have been injuries and a baby on the scene of one incident/attack.
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I'm shocked that these dogs haven't been confiscated by animal control and put down by now. These dogs should be reported EVERY time they charge or attack. I'd carry bear spray or hornet spray. Both can spray at a great distance before the dog(s) get(s) to you.
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Pepper spray is more of a nuisance than a deterrent. You want something that will break the dog in mid attack. The bear spray projects a stream some distance... and distance is your (and your dog's) best friend, since you will need to run away.
In your position, I would have a cattle prod in one hand and a can of bear spray in my pocket and I would be very conspicuous about it. You can talk yourself blue in the face to animal control and the dogs' owners, but let them observe your resolve, and it might begin to get through to them.
I'd also find out what the animal control statutes are in your county. Maybe Mike can speak to a LEO's frame of reference on this, but if a dog owner is in violation... seems to me, a ticket ought to be issued. We're obviously in public safety territory here, not just a barking dog PITA. Furthermore, if I had called animal control, and my concerns were not addressed adequately, my next call would be to the county commission. Do you know the name of the commissioner for your area?
And, if you know your other neighbors reasonably well*, I'd find out if any others would throw in a few $$ with you to get an attorney to write the negligent dog owner(s) a letter explaining that they are already causing you (individually and collectively) damages in inhibiting your free use of your property and of the public thoroughfares. It goes without saying, that anything you can get on video only strengthens your campaign.
* Our neighborhood has a "Facebook" type site where this type of thing gets discussed fairly robustly.
Beth C (06-26-2018)
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