Advice Needed

Keep a long story short, I have a neighbor that has a large male pitbull that has now twice charged at me. The first time, my dog,a Corgi-MiniPoodle got in the way and somehow managed to not be harmed. The second time happened tonight when I stuck my head out of our garage. He came barreling toward me growling and barking, not a friendly dog and after our last incident not something I want to play with unless I have one of our guns in my hands.
We live in the country and I have 3 little girls and a just about 3 year old little boy. I am tried of worrying about them being outside and having that piece of shi…coming at them! I also dont want to make the neighbors mad but enough is enough!! Any advice on how to handle the situation(outside of my yard, Ill take care of it if he comes close enough), would be greatly appreciated!

I can’t speak from first hand experience but I would put making your neighboors mad the very last priority and your family (including your kids) number 1.

If it were me, I would call the police and document the situaion. This way, it should require your neighboor to take some action. I would not wait until a 3rd incident.

Don’t get mad. Just report it to the authorities. Let your neighbor know your feelings and what you are doing and don’t expect him to understand or agree. Stay calm in your exchange with him. It is rare for a dog owner in a situation like this to acknowledge the potential danger. Having you or a family member maimed or worse to prove your point is not a good course of action.

Is it possible they are unaware that the dog is aggressive towards you? Simply commenting about it to your neighbor might be enough. Pit owners are fully aware of the type of scrutiny they are under, and most will not take it lightly. If they blow you off, well then, they’ve been warned. My sister owns a Pit that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen, but the she still takes precautions to appease the neighbors. It’s part of being a responsible dog owner and a friendly neighbor.

Authorities only will do something AFTER an incident. Seems completely fruitless to give them anything. I have 3 lil girls myself and maybe it is bc they are all girls we get a little more protective. One day it is a dream of my wife and mine to live out in the country away from all the crap of the big city and when that day comes last thing I want to worry about is a neighbor who doesn’t know how to train a dog. You can deal with a mad neighbor but can you deal with a scarred daughter? I sure as ell couldn’t. Plenty of ways to get rid of nuisance animals.

If it was me, I would go over to your neighbor’s house and calmly have a conversation with him about it. Don’t threaten him, just tell him you are very worried about your safety since it has already charged you twice. He likely will not believe you and tell you the dog will not hurt you. Just tell him you understand, and that as much as you hate doing it.. your family’s safety comes first and if the dog attacks again you will have to take action. Be sure to tell him it is not something you WANT to do, don’t want him getting all mad and saying you are threatening to shoot his dog. But make it clear that if it HAS to be done, you will do it. This will either urine him off to no end, or open his eyes and hopefully keep it on a leash or get rid of it.

The police will not do anything since nobody has been hurt, yet. The most they will do is send someone to talk to him and tell him there has been a report of a vicious dog. If he knows it is you and thinks you are going behind his back to get his dog taken away this might really urine him off.

The last thing I would ever want is to live out in the country and have my neighbor pissed off at me.

This should be all the information you need.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States#Fatalities_reported_in_2013

Already 11 American deaths from pit bull attacks this year.. not even 1/3 of the way through the year yet!!! The very, very last thing you want to do is wait for a third attack. I dont have any experience with this, but I would sit down with your family and the owners of the pit bull and have a talk about it. Don’t point fingers, just simply tell him how you feel and if he isnt willing to do anything about it, I would then contact the police right away.

If the owners have any decency what-so-ever they would control the problem, especially with all the little ones you got running around. Hope this helps, and i really hope you can get this situation figured out.

I had almost the exact situation.

Although It was my fenced in dogs I was worried about. The neighbors dog that happened to be a pit would come over frequently. Lucky never when my dogs were outside. My dogs aren’t friendly to other dogs and because they were just little guys, a pit would eat them for a treat.

To top it off, my Favorite Wife and Daughter would not hesitate to jump in between the dogs to try to “break up” the situation. This is were Priority number 1 kicks in. Protect your family first.

What I did.

Called the neighbor twice. First time explained my concerns and inquired why their dog was loose.

The second call was more about what I would do to protect my family (and dogs), which started with talking to the dog catcher and sheriff and ended with shooting the dog if I felt there was a threat to my family (of course the dog would have to be on my property to feel threatened). I made it clear that shooting anyone’s pet was the last thing I would want to do…ever.

The third time I called the sheriff. He explained my rights for discharging a gun in town and protecting my family. I asked if he would stop by and talk with them.

Shortly after that they put the dog to sleep.

Not the outcome I was expecting or hoping for. Now I just watch for yotes.

Shoot it.

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Shoot it.

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You would think it could be that simple. Was a little surprised to hear that it is a felony to shoot another persons pet. How in the heck can a person do jail time for shooting a animal?

Not if it’s on your property and you are protecting your family or pets.

That law might have changed Mike.

Yep. Still wouldn’t think twice about dropping one to protect my family no mater where it was.

What about some pepper spray?

Times have changed and as much as I believe any mean animal should be dispatched, there can be severe consequences now days. There is NO need for a mean animal I don’t care what anyone says. I’d recommend a call to the neighbor asking them to restrain the animal. I would also inquire with the Sheriff so you know your rights. Then, if the dog shows again in an agressive manner, dispatch it.

Dogs don’t have tear ducts so the result is minimal. Now if you had a Taser….

Now that I’ve had my coffee….

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Minnesota Statutes Annotated . Agriculture. Chapter 35. Animal Health. Chapter 346. Stray Animals; Companion Animals. Chapter 347. Dogs and Cats. Regulation of Dangerous Dogs.

35.69. Unmuzzled dogs not permitted at large

The owner or custodian of a dog may not permit it to be at large, either on the premises of the owner or elsewhere, within any city or town covered by a proclamation made under section 35.68, during the time the proclamation is in force, unless the dog is effectively muzzled so that it cannot bite any other animal or person.

Any person may kill a dog running at large on the public streets or roads in violation of sections 35.67 to 35.69. The owner of the dog has no claim against the person who kills the dog.

Peace officers and agents of a board of health as authorized under section 145A.04 shall file a complaint concerning any known violation of sections 35.67 to 35.69.

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Shoot it.

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You would think it could be that simple. Was a little surprised to hear that it is a felony to shoot another persons pet. How in the heck can a person do jail time for shooting a animal?

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Shoot it quietly.

It is possible that the owner has no idea it is getting loose and scaring you. The dog could be the nicest thing ever at home and then mean when it gets loose. You could really screw up your relationship if you just shot it and then told the neighbor it was acting mean when the neighbor has never seen it be anything but nice. If that happened to me, I would not let that go lightly and the person responsible would have some explaining to do at the end of my gun. Yeah, I am that kind of guy. My pets are family. If someone was to tell me my dog was mean when it got loose I would double the height of the fence and put it on a leash inside the fence. If they just shot it I would be PISSED and probably do something very stupid.

A conversation is your best weapon here.

Long story short. I had 2 dogs. I live in a small town & have a fenced back yard. Both gates have signs that say (Dog on Premises). Dogs would make a heck of a racket when the meter reader would go in our yard. Talked the guy and asked if he has problems with other dogs. His answer was “I just smack in the nose and they leave me alone”. This guy is about 6’3″ and 250lbs. Well I contact the city and tell them that I have 2 dogs that sometimes are loose in the back yard and when he reads the meter to check with us before going through the gate because the dogs are not loose if we are gone. Well he skips checking with us and lo and behold He turns his back my Vizsla–Reba (Rest her soul) nails him in the calf. 2 months and several letters AND phone calls, 1 vet visit for dog evaluation/health check city insurance company and I settle 50/50 on the Doctor bill. I bet to this day sometime he nailed my Vizsla and she never forgot & got her revenge. Sorry about the long story but if someone just shot my dog and I knew nothing about the previous incidents I would be PO’ed. On the other hand an owner that lets his dog run loose all over the neighborhood needs to be straighten out. Dogs need to be trained because many are smarter than their owners and some people don’t deserve a dog.