So about 4 weeks ago Jude and I were on a walk and the dog two houses down (german shepherd mix? about 60 pounds- about twice the size of Jude) got into a confrontation with Jude. The dog was on one of those reel leashes and as we walked by- the 50 year old guy standing with his wife and the dog on the leash asked if Jude could say hi to his dog. I said sure, and as I walked over the guy said, "Wait is it a boy?" I said yes and he suddenly said, "Oh no no no no!" as his wife released the little button on the reel leash.
The dog charged at Jude and tried to chomp at him, and I managed to yank Jude away and the wife managed to press the button on the reel before he got to Jude. Jude was just barely missed. They laughed and said their dog was not good with other male dogs. They thought Jude was a girl. I told them that we should stay on opposite sides of the street while we walked our dogs. About 6 minutes later I heard the husband and wife running around the street yelling for their dog. You could see him at the top of the block off the leash and the husband grabbed him and put him back on the leash.
In another story, a dog has been going to the bathroom in my driveway and front walk. I did consider this dog, but not seriously. Well today we watched the same dog we saw on the walk come off leash to our yard and crap in our yard. Fun. Jude barked at him from the window when he saw and then the dog charged the window with it's teeth bared growling before running back to his own house two houses down.
Another neighbor of mine started to follow the dog and I stood outside and heard the other neighbor yelling at the dogs owner. He said the dog goes to the bathroom in everyone's yard and front steps, and the owner still won't pick it up. He told the woman, "Your dog is out again." And she said, "I know" and then closed the door on him. He said he's spoken with the woman reasonably a bunch of times and she is unresponsive.
So of course now I'm a bit nervous. We live in a 1950's like neighborhood- working class- houses on 1/4th-1/8th of an acre each right next to each other, and we love taking walks in the warm weather. It's such a part of our routine. Now I'm really scared this dog would be off leash when we're walking and one of my dogs (especially worried about the little tiny dog since he's so small) would get into a fight with him.
Should I make a call to the authorities or animal services? I'm not sure if that does anything. Should we stop taking walks or start driving to other neighborhoods to do our walks? Should I take walks but carry some kind of defense on us? This is my first time dealing with a roaming dog situation in my life and I just want to make sure my dogs are protected since the guy said that his dog isn't friendly with males.
Thanks in advance...
The dog charged at Jude and tried to chomp at him, and I managed to yank Jude away and the wife managed to press the button on the reel before he got to Jude. Jude was just barely missed. They laughed and said their dog was not good with other male dogs. They thought Jude was a girl. I told them that we should stay on opposite sides of the street while we walked our dogs. About 6 minutes later I heard the husband and wife running around the street yelling for their dog. You could see him at the top of the block off the leash and the husband grabbed him and put him back on the leash.
In another story, a dog has been going to the bathroom in my driveway and front walk. I did consider this dog, but not seriously. Well today we watched the same dog we saw on the walk come off leash to our yard and crap in our yard. Fun. Jude barked at him from the window when he saw and then the dog charged the window with it's teeth bared growling before running back to his own house two houses down.
Another neighbor of mine started to follow the dog and I stood outside and heard the other neighbor yelling at the dogs owner. He said the dog goes to the bathroom in everyone's yard and front steps, and the owner still won't pick it up. He told the woman, "Your dog is out again." And she said, "I know" and then closed the door on him. He said he's spoken with the woman reasonably a bunch of times and she is unresponsive.
So of course now I'm a bit nervous. We live in a 1950's like neighborhood- working class- houses on 1/4th-1/8th of an acre each right next to each other, and we love taking walks in the warm weather. It's such a part of our routine. Now I'm really scared this dog would be off leash when we're walking and one of my dogs (especially worried about the little tiny dog since he's so small) would get into a fight with him.
Should I make a call to the authorities or animal services? I'm not sure if that does anything. Should we stop taking walks or start driving to other neighborhoods to do our walks? Should I take walks but carry some kind of defense on us? This is my first time dealing with a roaming dog situation in my life and I just want to make sure my dogs are protected since the guy said that his dog isn't friendly with males.
Thanks in advance...