Reporting a dangerous dog...

tinyjiney

...is there any point...Was walking my dog today in a park in Sallynoggin when from behind me i heard an approaching growling, looked behind to see a Rothweiller coming at speed...i pulled my dog close and stood between them....he circled a bit, while i shoo'd him away....his owner , tracksuit bottoms and no top ,on the phone, pushing a pram :rolleyes:...called him back.....
No leash and no muzzle.....
I'd be worried more for someone who might be really afraid of these dogs...
Should i report it or is there any point without any proof...

catch me if you can

how can you report the dog? do you know where the owner lives?
If the dog just ran up and didnt actually bite I dont see what you would be reporting?

kennyw

OP, I understand you may have been fearful for you an your pets well bein which may be making you over react..

As an owner of 2 rottie's myself, If that dog was as you said in your heading

dangerous

he would have made short work of you and your dog..

But as you also state, you were able to shoo him away

shoo'd him away

it goes to show that the dog had not got the intention of harming either you or your pet.

I agree with catchme if you can

If the dog just ran up and didnt actually bite I dont see what you would be reporting?

But I am however highly annoyed at the fact that it is indeed this owner who does not have the dog under control to stop his pet free roaming off lead that causes people to brandish these amazing friendly loyal animals as a Beast off lead..

does it make a difference if this was a family man with a merc in the drive or suit on his back, or as you state

tracksuit bottoms and no top

, would of made a difference to you.. The fact is that the owner did not have the dog on a lead which would have stopped this.

When i walk my 2 girls, i have to bring them to an industrial estate or end of the beach when there is noone around to get "scared" of the 2 soft tongue dangling beasts running around.. I do respect other peoples fears of dogs, even if they own there own toy breed or other wise smaller dog.

I was only last night met with a gang of about 6-8 youngsters of mixed age an sex outside my local soccer pitch where i walk my 2 big rotties, on leads, and they all got a rub an pet an lick from my dogs,, it was a nice change to usual approach i get form there older generation in the area, where they would normally cross the road or change footpath when they see me walking with my 2 pets..

DBCyc

Irresponsible owner, but not so much a dangerous dog

If you report it, the warden might pay a visit to the area to see if it happens again. I doubt that they can or will do anything more

aisher

You could report it as this may be a regular walking area for this man and his dog. This dog should have been on a leash and should have had a muzzle. Regardless of the dogs intentions towards you it should not have been running free off leash. I really dont see the point of having rules in place in relation to dogs if dog owners just do what they want!

tinyjiney

aisher wrote: »

You could report it as this may be a regular walking area for this man and his dog. This dog should have been on a leash and should have had a muzzle. Regardless of the dogs intentions towards you it should not have been running free off leash. I really dont see the point of having rules in place in relation to dogs if dog owners just do what they want!

Tanx for the un-biased reply...i'll report it..it might save some dogs life..

Sorry for upsetting the others....very touchy subject i suppose...

kennyw..i'm not afraid of ANY dog, been around and love dogs all my life,i wasnt afraid at all......I dont think a guy in a merc (unless he sells drugs) is going to let this type of dog run free, tracksuit man wouldnt waste beer money on a muzzle...;)

Cú Giobach

I'm just curious OP, in what way was the dog dangerous?

Sorry for upsetting the others....very touchy subject i suppose...

Reporting a dog as dangerous if it's not, is indeed quite touchy for a lot of people.

catch me if you can

dont think a guy in a merc (unless he sells drugs) is going to let this type of dog run free, tracksuit man wouldnt waste beer money on a muzzle

Woa! that is such a bigoted thing to say I dont even know where to begin.
I think you need to calm down , the Dog ran up to you, you shooed him away. He did not hurt you.
Yes the owner should have had him on a lead, but it hardly makes the owner a criminal mastermind.
I dont understand why you would want to create such drama in your life over nothing.....

ISDW

tinyjiney wrote: »

Tanx for the un-biased reply...i'll report it..it might save some dogs life..

Sorry for upsetting the others....very touchy subject i suppose...

kennyw..i'm not afraid of ANY dog, been around and love dogs all my life,i wasnt afraid at all......I dont think a guy in a merc (unless he sells drugs) is going to let this type of dog run free, tracksuit man wouldnt waste beer money on a muzzle...;)

Why is it going to save some dogs life? That doesn't make any sense.

'this type of dog'? what, a dog that came near to you and then went back to its owner without doing anything wrong?

You really do have issues with stereotypes don't you. If you want unbiased replies, how about putting up unbiased threads?

are you serious

tinyjiney wrote: »

his owner , tracksuit bottoms and no top ,on the phone, pushing a pram

This statement has hit a nerve, I for one have a child, a moile phone and also A rottweiler. When I choose to take my son with me when walking the dog I take him in his buggy, I ear tracksuit bottoms every time I walk my dog like almost every other person I've ever seen walking theirs or the odd one or two in shorts...

Ive been known to take a phone call olso while all this was going on, multitasking I like to call it :rolleyes:

This "dangerous" dog done nothing wrong except probably give you a fright, he didn't do it on purpose, and if he did he certainly wouldn't have "shoo'd away"

Gotta go get myself some respectable dog walking clothes now, any suggestions on what to wear? :rolleyes:

antocann

op if that dog was any where near dangerous it would of made chew toys of your dogs , for the owner to have a kid with them also shows the dog is friendly


and you shoo'd it away , make it even more tame as it went
you would honestly be wasting your time reporting it

Allgäuerin

garkane wrote: »

This statement has hit a nerve, I for one have a child, a moile phone and also A rottweiler. When I choose to take my son with me when walking the dog I take him in his buggy, I ear tracksuit bottoms every time I walk my dog like almost every other person I've ever seen walking theirs or the odd one or two in shorts...

Ive been known to take a phone call olso while all this was going on, multitasking I like to call it :rolleyes:

And you also have your dog off leash??? :mad:

I can fully understand the OP!!!! This time they got a fright, the next time maybe the dog will be hurt!

are you serious

Allgäuerin wrote: »

And you also have your dog off leash??? :mad:

No, when did i say that?

Ive got a long field leash for my dog, its a 10 meter line he's never let off the leash unless I'm walking him in the early hours after I finish my night shift.

I'd like to add I also dont walk around topless not unless I'm on holiday :rolleyes:

Zapperzy

If it had been a labrador would that make any difference?

Ok completely disregarding the restricted breeds list I don't see what this guy done wrong. His dog approached you, you shoo'd it away, he called his dog back and it returned. Did the dog growl or raise his hackles or show any sign of aggression? Ok according to the law a rottweiler should be on a lead and muzzled at all times, that law is utter rubbish and you'l find a lot of people here disagree with it, whether all restricted breed owners should adhere to it is another arguement, if the dog is friendly and under control regardless of what breed it is why should they have to keep their friendly dog on a lead ?

I'l put it this way. I might start a thread later to get opinions on this. I'v just come back from a walk on the beach. At the end of the walk I seen a woman with an offlead greyhound coming towards me, as she got closer her dog approached my dog, she told me her dog was very gentle and friendly, I told her my dog was not so friendly. My dog was on a short lead, her dog on no lead. My dog lunged and barked at her dog. Should I report her because she had an offlead dog on a beach where there is a sign up saying all dog should be under effectual control? Obviously I'm not going to report her but it's the same as your experience, her dog offlead approached me and my dog onlead, just this dog was a greyhound and not a rottweiler.

ISDW

Allgäuerin wrote: »

And you also have your dog off leash??? :mad:

I can fully understand the OP!!!! This time they got a fright, the next time maybe the dog will be hurt!

Why, what are you basing that on?

Taltos

Maybe to put this in perspective.

I always keep my two on the leash - however when they see other dogs they want to play with they do go a bit nuts - and sometimes do the weirdest kind of growl depending on the dog.

However - they are complete softies.

In terms of the rottie you met - since you were able to shooh away - this bodes well. However - their owner does need a slap on the wrists. That dog may not have met someone like you - instead they could have met someone who reacted out of fear and caused the situation to escalate.

Either way - well done on dealing with a potentially stressful situation so well.

Allgäuerin

ISDW wrote: »

Why, what are you basing that on?

I'm basing this on my experience for having/walking dogs now over 15 years. Dont get me wrong I dont have anything against "big" dogs if they well behaved. This dog was obviously not "friendly" or how would you explain the speeding up and then growling at the OP & dog?[COLOR=#000000 ! important][/COLOR]

piperh

I'm struggling where to start on this. I have to agree with some of the others and say i'm missing the part where the dog was dangerous.

He ran up to you and from what you've said returned to the owner when called. Well thats more than an awful lot of dogs and i'm sure its not the first time you've been confronted by an unleashed dog approaching yours and barking or growling, I wonder if you have reported them??

I think you are stereotyping the breed the same as you are stereotyping the owner. I'm not saying the situation wasn't scary as i'm sure it was and the owner was irresponsible for allowing his dog off the leash and letting it approach you and your dog.

ISDW

Allgäuerin wrote: »

I'm basing this on my experience for having/walking dogs now over 15 years. Dont get me wrong I dont have anything against "big" dogs if they well behaved. This dog was obviously not "friendly" or how would you explain the speeding up and then growling at the OP & dog?[COLOR=#000000 ! important][/COLOR]

How do you know the dog wasn't friendly? Reread what the OP said, he/she heard growling behind them, then a rottie came charging at them. The OP doesn't say that the rottie was growling as it charged at them, or that it growled at any time when he/she was shooing it away.

From my perspective, how could they have heard the dog growling if it was so far away that they "looked behind to see a Rothweiller coming at speed"? Growls don't usually carry that far. How do they know it was the rottie that was growling at all, if indeed there was growling?

If this dog was not "friendly" then how come it allowed a complete stranger to shoo it away with no reaction? What bit of this dog's actions was not friendly?

Allgäuerin

@ISDW ok you right. I must have interpret all these years dogs wrong who chased me and my dogs up with growling at us! And now, I see the scar on my leg, after one of these dogs bit me, completly diffrent. He just wanted to play with me :rolleyes:

jam_mac_jam

No, there is absolutely no point in reporting this. In fact you would be wasting time of people who have to deal with real dangerous animals. I wonder if the man was not in a tracksuit or if this had been a labrador would it all have been as "dangerous". Maybe the man was a good dog owner who was distracted for a minute, made a mistake. The dog didnt even growl or bark at you or your dog, what exactly is dangerous here?

jam_mac_jam

Allgäuerin wrote: »

@ISDW ok you right. I must have interpret all these years dogs wrong who chased me and my dogs up with growling at us! And now, I see the scar on my leg, after one of these dogs bit me, completly diffrent. He just wanted to play with me :rolleyes:

Did the dog in the op bite? or chase them?

antocann

i think in all honesty the op's post should realy say ,

" i heard a noise , look behind their was a dog sniffing, its a rottie so it has to be dangerious , should i report it "

ISDW

Allgäuerin wrote: »

@ISDW ok you right. I must have interpret all these years dogs wrong who chased me and my dogs up with growling at us! And now, I see the scar on my leg, after one of these dogs bit me, completly diffrent. He just wanted to play with me :rolleyes:

Roll your eyes all you like. Nowhere does the op say that the dog growled at her, he/she heard growling behind them. Rotties often actually do make a noise like growling when they're playing, so maybe your expertise isn't all that you imagine it to be. I can't actually understand what your point is though in the post I've quoted, it doesn't make sense.

lrushe

OP as the owner of a Rottie I can tell you that they are a very vocal breed & what might sound like a growl might not be a growl in the agressive sense. I am very wary of letting my girl meet strange dogs, not because she is dangerous (she is v.social) but because she tends to approach other dogs like a bull in a china shop & frighten owners who don't know better.
Personally I don't see any point in reporting this dog, as others have said if this dog was indeed dangerous wild horses wouldn't have stopped it from attacking you or your dog.
Also just for the record I hope to be walking my Rottie while pushing a pram next year, I also wear a tracksuit for comfort, I hope I don't get judged for that.

Bullseye1

catch me if you can wrote: »

how can you report the dog? do you know where the owner lives?
If the dog just ran up and didnt actually bite I dont see what you would be reporting?

The dog should have been on a lead and muzzled. Also the clown should have been reported to the fashion police:D

Shammy

The same thing happened to me today , i went to the park with my kids and dog (on a lead) , this over weight lab came running over to my female gave a little growl then started to sniff . The owner came along a few mins later to call his dog ......should i report him ? (he too was wearing a tracksuit bottoms, but then again so was I )


What really annoyed me was the fact that if it had been my bitch off the lead running over to another dog giving a growl , it would have been a case of another dangerous gsd .

Dogs like playing with other dogs , clearly this rottie was not an aggressive dog he was just curious , granted he should have been on a lead , and i can see how you got a fright to see him running up behind you . But this wasnt a dangerous dog .

Bullseye1

What if the dog had bit the OPs dog or the OP? The owner was irresponsible and as an owner of a RB should have known better. The Rotties owners negligence could have gotten the Rottie into trouble. It's funny how this point is lost on alot of people in this section.

ISDW

Bullseye1 wrote: »

What if the dog had bit the OPs dog or the OP? The owner was irresponsible and as an owner of a RB should have known better. The Rotties owners negligence could have gotten the Rottie into trouble. It's funny how this point is lost on alot of people in this section.

But it didn't bite anybody or anything, so how is it a dangerous dog? Yes, obviously by law the dog should have been muzzled and on a lead, but that is because it is on a restricted breed list, not because it is a dangerous dog. Why is the assumption made that just because its a rottie its going to bite?

If it was a labrador in this story instead of a rottie, would you and others be talking about it biting? Yet it could well be an off lead labrador running up to somebody, running around them, and then going back to its owner when called. Yes, an annoyance definitely, dangerous dog? No, no matter what breed it is.

Oh, but a labrador wouldn't have an owner in tracksuit bottoms pushing a pram whilst on the phone obviously.:rolleyes:

aisher

Bringing up other breeds of dog is pointless - last I read a Lab was not on the list of restricted breeds so making comparisons is pointless. If you own a restricted dog you have added responsibilities even if you disagree or feel its unfair. Had the dog bitten the OP it would have been another story of how 'dangerous' these dogs are - like it or not if a Chihuahua did the same it would be passed off as a 'nip'. Irresponsible owners have turned a perfectly decent dog into a feared 'dangerous' dog. I sympathise with the OP and I dont see how anyone can defend the owner of the dog since he was not doing the responsible thing.

Oranage2

The person is well in their rights to report a restricted breed un muzzled and un leashed, whether the dog is dangerous or not is irrelevant.

Its up to you to report this crime or you can just hope the dog doesn't mame a child and you didn't do anything about it.