Breeds To Be Wary Of

[Kirislin]

I'm wary of all dogs no matter what breed if my whippets and I dont know them. I go to an off lead park but I frequently put my dogs on the lead if I see certain dogs up ahead, it might be because I dont know them, or that I do know them, generally the latter is because my boys would chase their dogs given the chance.

I will soon be taking my Italian Greyhound puppy to the park and I dont know that I'll even let her off the lead at all. Certainly not for a while anyway.

That said, there's a regular group who walk there in the mornings and all the dogs know each other. You wouldn't see a more varied mix of dogs from tiny Poms to a Wolfhound cross and all walk off lead together. It's not unusual to see 25 dogs or more strolling along off lead in the group. The livelier playful ones peel off themselves to play with each other and the shyer ones just stay closer to their owners. I'll probably take my puppy along sometimes on those walks to socialise her.

[raineth]

For me I am wary of using generalised knowledge when it comes to real life encounters with individual dogs. I tend to take an individual approach.

This is for the following reasons.

1. Not all members of a breed express the traits and dispositions that breed is known for. Therefore there is no guarantee that the individual I'm dealing with will behave according to the model of that breed I have in my head. Therefore I tend to rely on what I'm seeing in terms of body language and behaviour.

2. Most of the dogs I come across are not pedigree. Some might be 'purebred' but the fact that they've probably not been bred with their breed standard in mind makes it even more about chance whether they have inherited the typical characteristics of their breed. When the dog is a cross, it is even less useful. It can be hard enough to know what breeds are even in the cross let alone what traits the dog inherited and/or whether due to the cross it has unique character traits.

3. Behaviour and personality is produced by interaction between genes and environment. As much as I have limited information about what temperamental genes a dog has, I also have limited information about the environment that has influenced the dog's temperament. I have no idea whether it was attacked as a puppy, whether it has just come from a highly stressful situation round the corner,whether a child has poked it in the eye at some point etc.

I find the generalised knowledge very useful and important for doing things like selecting a suitable breed for my lifestyle; but I find when it comes to interacting with a dog I'm best going off the individual dog's behaviour and body language at the time. As well as important knowing my dogs well and how they might respond to influence any interaction.

I do have a blanket rule which is no meet and greet with any dogs I don't know (which sometimes can't be helped if the other dog is loose) this is the best and easiest way to avoid problems, for sure.

[dogmatic]

I'm in NSW. I thought the rangers were trained to recognise American Pit Bulls. Aren't they listed as banned in NSW?

Nope, no training whatsoever. You can't train people to recognise APBT anyway -study after study has shown that visual breed ID is unreliable when you're looking at an unknown dog. Studies have also shown that animal professionals (Rangers, dog trainers, rescuers, shelter workers, breeders etc etc) not only fail miserably at visually ID-ing dogs of unknown heritage, they also can't even agree with each other on what the dog is.

The dog next door to you may have been a pure bred APBT (fairly unlikely) or it may have been a crossed APBT or simply a mixed breed dog which came out with the fairly generic appearance of an APBT.

They aren't banned, they're restricted. However the dog has to be either chipped as a pure bred APBT or identified as one through the official channels before they are subject to the restrictions.

Thanks for the info. At the time when I became concerned about the treatment and breed of the dog next door - Why would anyone leave a dog chained to a post for most of it's life? Should I offer to take it for daily walks? Would that be safe? - I read some information that said, for example, "It is an offence in New South Wales to sell, acquire or breed dogs on the restricted dog list." To me, a dog that's about a year old must have been acquired after the laws (or rules, or whatever) came into force and therefore there has been a breach. Maybe it's open to interpretation. I'll let the lawyers bash that one out.

At the same time I found a template for identifying a Pit Bull and assumed it was used by rangers. Can't find it now. It went into details such as breadth of skull, proportions to muzzle, etc. The dog next door seemed to fit. The template was not exactly something the average person could carry around to determine if a dog is one to be wary of. And that of course leads to another question, "If I am to be wary of such-and-such a breed, how do I identify that breed?" That lack of knowledge is reasonable for the average person in the street IMO, even though it might lead to prejudice against innocent parties. (Personally, I tend to disagree with the idea of painting certain breeds with broad brush strokes. During my year in the dog park, my young GSD was harassed by all sorts, and, like other posters, I'd say to beware of any strange dog.)

In any event, I now agree that the neighbours' dog was unlikely to have been a pure APBT. The head ranger, very experienced, saw the dog. The only part of the conversation that I heard was something like, "You've got 28 days..." and "If he's desexed, it costs ... blah, blah". It was none of my business, except to ensure my young and elderly dogs were safe, and to share the concern of the single mother next door with three children under 10 years of age.

Edited November 10, 2013 by dogmatic

[W Sibs]

Im not wary of other breeds but mindful of. I don't know the other dogs or owners but I know my dogs, so I focus on that.

I have a big samoyed dog and I know on appearance he can come off intimidating to other dogs.. with his coat, his tail and ears are always up and how he stands with his chest out. Not to mention that he is very excitable dog who likes to talk and can be in their faces. I can see why other breeds can be weird around him, so when introducing him to other breed dogs thats not a spitz is important.

That gives me a chance to watch how the other dog is taking it.. if they don't like it, I take Skeeter away. If the other dog invite play, then I allow the play. If the owners are idiots regardless, then there is no play.

[wuffles]

I teach a beginners obedience class and I most certainly go into breed characteristics not only in terms of training your dog, but also in dog interactions. I talk about dog parks and their positives/negatives and what people need to consider.

I have plenty of examples for them with my own dogs and they seem interested to hear. My female working breed doesn't interact with unknown gundogs as she has very strict "rules" about how things must be, and gundogs don't understand why she's not friendly when they get in her face. Not a fault with either dog, just different understanding. She doesn't interact off leash with unknown puppies or tiny dogs because she's likely to squash them by accident. She also doesn't go in with bull breeds unless I know them as she will defend herself rather than run away.

On the other side of the scale, I'm happy for her to interact with nearly all other working breeds. She's fine with smaller dogs. Hounds, fine. Older grumpy dogs, fine.

I then go on to say, does she have friends that are labs, goofy pups, tiny toy poodles, staffies and the like? You bet. But she has met them through controlled interactions and mutual understanding between owners.

The most important part is being an advocate for your own dog and not putting them in situations they are not equipped to deal with.

[fluff1234]

I am no expert but I totally agree with HW

Oh please. Are you suggesting that all breeds have the same predisposition to prey drive, territorial aggression, protectiveness, the same levels of reactivity and the same bite inhibition and thresholds?

OK... Oh please right back at you.

A dog is what we want it to be regardless of what it's been originally bred for.

Consider nature vs nurture.

Sorry, but that statement demonstrates that you clearly have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

It's nature AND nurture that make a dog. But nurture cannot change what nature has hardwired, nor can it add what isn't there. That's why you don't see Golden Retrievers doing protection work or working sheep. Or Whippets livestock guarding.

No doubt you think its always the fault of an owner if the dog has dog aggressive tendencies? Wonderful.

[fluff1234]

My breeder mentioned this with one of her pups, that the new family were saying it was agressive. NO, it was just trying to herd the kids... My pup does it to the kids and occasionally to me, I do pull him up on it as nipping our ankles is not acceptable, however, I also respect thats its 'normal' and he is just doing what comes naturally too him, like the yapping and the digging, totally normal sammy traits although I have been told on here that I shouldnt blame his 'breed' I dont understand that? as accepeting and understanding his breed, is the WHOLE point and explanation why he does what he does. All my other sammies did similar and I expected him too do also and he does.

He gets trained to fit in more with a family life, we steer him to acceptable behaviours and give him an outlet for his natural instincts, we accept his traits from his breed too.

:)

I feel your pain. I have the same thing with people contacting me because their pet working dogs are rounding everything up or exhibiting manic herding behaviour like circling or nipping the kids' ankles. And people don't want to listen when you start talking basic dog behaviour, they just want the dog gone. But that's another tangent...

Edited November 10, 2013 by fluff1234

[Aetherglow]

I'm in NSW. I thought the rangers were trained to recognise American Pit Bulls. Aren't they listed as banned in NSW?

Nope, no training whatsoever. You can't train people to recognise APBT anyway -study after study has shown that visual breed ID is unreliable when you're looking at an unknown dog. Studies have also shown that animal professionals (Rangers, dog trainers, rescuers, shelter workers, breeders etc etc) not only fail miserably at visually ID-ing dogs of unknown heritage, they also can't even agree with each other on what the dog is.

The dog next door to you may have been a pure bred APBT (fairly unlikely) or it may have been a crossed APBT or simply a mixed breed dog which came out with the fairly generic appearance of an APBT.

They aren't banned, they're restricted. However the dog has to be either chipped as a pure bred APBT or identified as one through the official channels before they are subject to the restrictions.

Thanks for the info. At the time when I became concerned about the treatment and breed of the dog next door - Why would anyone leave a dog chained to a post for most of it's life? Should I offer to take it for daily walks? Would that be safe? - I read some information that said, for example, "It is an offence in New South Wales to sell, acquire or breed dogs on the restricted dog list." To me, a dog that's about a year old must have been acquired after the laws (or rules, or whatever) came into force and therefore there has been a breach. Maybe it's open to interpretation. I'll let the lawyers bash that one out.

At the same time I found a template for identifying a Pit Bull and assumed it was used by rangers. Can't find it now. It went into details such as breadth of skull, proportions to muzzle, etc. The dog next door seemed to fit. The template was not exactly something the average person could carry around to determine if a dog is one to be wary of. And that of course leads to another question, "If I am to be wary of such-and-such a breed, how do I identify that breed?" That lack of knowledge is reasonable for the average person in the street IMO, even though it might lead to prejudice against innocent parties. (Personally, I tend to disagree with the idea of painting certain breeds with broad brush strokes. During my year in the dog park, my young GSD was harassed by all sorts, and, like other posters, I'd say to beware of any strange dog.)

In any event, I now agree that the neighbours' dog was unlikely to have been a pure APBT. The head ranger, very experienced, saw the dog. The only part of the conversation that I heard was something like, "You've got 28 days..." and "If he's desexed, it costs ... blah, blah". It was none of my business, except to ensure my young and elderly dogs were safe, and to share the concern of the single mother next door with three children under 10 years of age.

Poor dog :-( Visual identification of a dog's breed is fraught with difficulty. Rangers use a checklist of points for visual identification when a dog is formally assessed, which your ranger obviously didn't do with this dog. The checklist is fairly vague out of the context of a breed standard, which it was taken from, with phrases that have no obvious definition in some cases, and many breeds will fit some of the criteria, while some genuine pitties may not meet all the criteria - for instance, many Amstaffs are far bigger than their standard calls for. My family once owned a very solidly built boxer bitch that might have been in trouble in Victoria these days, if she hadn't had pedigree papers. Even a completely unrelated breed like the Australian Cattle Dog meets *some* of the criteria just by being a dog in the same general size range and having a fairly sturdy construction with decent muscles and a broad head. The dog you describe may have been a pit, may have been an Amstaff, may have been a crossbred or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, or may have been a boxer x Lab for all your ranger could tell by looking at it. It sounds like the ranger may just have been one of those who isn't gung-ho about BSL laws, that's all. To my mind the biggest concern about safety with this dog would have been its living conditions, not its breed per se, although a pitty-looking dog in those conditions *may* be more likely to end up dangerous than, say, a lab. But it looking like a pitty is no reason to be *extra* afraid.

Bulldogs are related to pitbulls. Pitbulls started out as a cross of the bulldog with terrier types to create a dog that was both strong and quick - at which the breeders succeeded admirably. Bulldogs were once a more athletic type of dog, too, although still a very strong, heavily built dog - they had to be, seeing as they were used to "bait" bulls and bears. Just to make things more complicated, the Amstaff IS a pitbull (never mind what the QLD government and ANKC have decided), just one from a lineage that is recognised by certain registries. It derives entirely from the Pitbull breed, as far as I know (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). You might call it the show line Pit Bull, in the same way as there are show line Kelpies and show line German Shepherds. There are dogs that are recognised as Amstaffs on one registry and as Pitbulls on another, particularly in the US.

The only dog which has ever seriously gone to bite me was a Pomeranian. The only person in my circles who has been seriously injured to the point of needing surgery for a dog bite was bitten by his own family's West Highland White Terrier. The most aggressive dog to ever try and "get at" my dog was a tiny miniature foxy, but my goodness, it was serious! I am learning all the time about managing my dog's interactions, including with dogs of her own breed, because while there may be a typical breed temperament not all dogs within the breed are the same. Learning to read dog body language and knowing the dogs and owners your dog may interact with are probably more important than avoiding an entire breed. I am careful with terrier breeds because they seem to often interpret my girl's upright ears and tail as aggressive, but she has had good interactions with some when carefully introduced. She also gets along well with and actively likes boxers, because she has known several from her puppyhood and knows that they're not scary :-)

[casowner]

I have livestock guardians, an anatolian shepherd and a central asian shepherd dog and regardless of all of the socialisation/nuture in the world once THEY come of age the true nature of what they were bred to do kicks in. I had a CASD that was socialised to the eyeballs but once he hit 3 there was no way he would tolerate anyone new on his property. I am always mindful of LGD breeds regardless of what their owners say.

Edited November 10, 2013 by behluka

[melzawelza]

I'm in NSW. I thought the rangers were trained to recognise American Pit Bulls. Aren't they listed as banned in NSW?

Nope, no training whatsoever. You can't train people to recognise APBT anyway -study after study has shown that visual breed ID is unreliable when you're looking at an unknown dog. Studies have also shown that animal professionals (Rangers, dog trainers, rescuers, shelter workers, breeders etc etc) not only fail miserably at visually ID-ing dogs of unknown heritage, they also can't even agree with each other on what the dog is.

The dog next door to you may have been a pure bred APBT (fairly unlikely) or it may have been a crossed APBT or simply a mixed breed dog which came out with the fairly generic appearance of an APBT.

They aren't banned, they're restricted. However the dog has to be either chipped as a pure bred APBT or identified as one through the official channels before they are subject to the restrictions.

Thanks for the info. At the time when I became concerned about the treatment and breed of the dog next door - Why would anyone leave a dog chained to a post for most of it's life? Should I offer to take it for daily walks? Would that be safe? - I read some information that said, for example, "It is an offence in New South Wales to sell, acquire or breed dogs on the restricted dog list." To me, a dog that's about a year old must have been acquired after the laws (or rules, or whatever) came into force and therefore there has been a breach. Maybe it's open to interpretation. I'll let the lawyers bash that one out.

At the same time I found a template for identifying a Pit Bull and assumed it was used by rangers. Can't find it now. It went into details such as breadth of skull, proportions to muzzle, etc. The dog next door seemed to fit. The template was not exactly something the average person could carry around to determine if a dog is one to be wary of. And that of course leads to another question, "If I am to be wary of such-and-such a breed, how do I identify that breed?" That lack of knowledge is reasonable for the average person in the street IMO, even though it might lead to prejudice against innocent parties. (Personally, I tend to disagree with the idea of painting certain breeds with broad brush strokes. During my year in the dog park, my young GSD was harassed by all sorts, and, like other posters, I'd say to beware of any strange dog.)

In any event, I now agree that the neighbours' dog was unlikely to have been a pure APBT. The head ranger, very experienced, saw the dog. The only part of the conversation that I heard was something like, "You've got 28 days..." and "If he's desexed, it costs ... blah, blah". It was none of my business, except to ensure my young and elderly dogs were safe, and to share the concern of the single mother next door with three children under 10 years of age.

The template you saw might be what is used in Victoria, or QLD. There is no such template for NSW. It's really just the officer's opinion.

The template is crap anyway. As Aetherglow said, Cattle dogs pass it. Even Chihuahuas pass it. Almost any dog that you apply the test to will pass it and be an APBT.

The dog next door may have been one, may not. At the end of the day he was just a dog, that's all that matters. I know there is perceived risk in having a 'pit bull' next door but really the dog should be treated with the same caution as any other dog kept in similar circumstances.

In the States pedigree APBT used for dogfighting are seized from huge busts - they have been specifically bred and trained for fighting and lived their lives on chains, yet most of them are absolute cuddle bugs with people and many of them can co-exist with other dogs too. The vast majority are rehomed with no problems :)

I'm in NSW. I thought the rangers were trained to recognise American Pit Bulls. Aren't they listed as banned in NSW?

Nope, no training whatsoever. You can't train people to recognise APBT anyway -study after study has shown that visual breed ID is unreliable when you're looking at an unknown dog. Studies have also shown that animal professionals (Rangers, dog trainers, rescuers, shelter workers, breeders etc etc) not only fail miserably at visually ID-ing dogs of unknown heritage, they also can't even agree with each other on what the dog is.

The dog next door to you may have been a pure bred APBT (fairly unlikely) or it may have been a crossed APBT or simply a mixed breed dog which came out with the fairly generic appearance of an APBT.

They aren't banned, they're restricted. However the dog has to be either chipped as a pure bred APBT or identified as one through the official channels before they are subject to the restrictions.

Thanks for the info. At the time when I became concerned about the treatment and breed of the dog next door - Why would anyone leave a dog chained to a post for most of it's life? Should I offer to take it for daily walks? Would that be safe? - I read some information that said, for example, "It is an offence in New South Wales to sell, acquire or breed dogs on the restricted dog list." To me, a dog that's about a year old must have been acquired after the laws (or rules, or whatever) came into force and therefore there has been a breach. Maybe it's open to interpretation. I'll let the lawyers bash that one out.

At the same time I found a template for identifying a Pit Bull and assumed it was used by rangers. Can't find it now. It went into details such as breadth of skull, proportions to muzzle, etc. The dog next door seemed to fit. The template was not exactly something the average person could carry around to determine if a dog is one to be wary of. And that of course leads to another question, "If I am to be wary of such-and-such a breed, how do I identify that breed?" That lack of knowledge is reasonable for the average person in the street IMO, even though it might lead to prejudice against innocent parties. (Personally, I tend to disagree with the idea of painting certain breeds with broad brush strokes. During my year in the dog park, my young GSD was harassed by all sorts, and, like other posters, I'd say to beware of any strange dog.)

In any event, I now agree that the neighbours' dog was unlikely to have been a pure APBT. The head ranger, very experienced, saw the dog. The only part of the conversation that I heard was something like, "You've got 28 days..." and "If he's desexed, it costs ... blah, blah". It was none of my business, except to ensure my young and elderly dogs were safe, and to share the concern of the single mother next door with three children under 10 years of age.

Poor dog :-( Visual identification of a dog's breed is fraught with difficulty. Rangers use a checklist of points for visual identification when a dog is formally assessed, which your ranger obviously didn't do with this dog.

True in other states but not in NSW, just FYI :)

There is no definition here for what is considered to be a pit bull, and how to identify one. The wording is simply if an authorised officer 'is of the opinion that' the dog is a restricted breed they can issue a notice. The dog then goes on to a breed assessment (which also does not follow any guidelines, it's just whatever the breed assessor says). This allows authorised officers discretion on how gung-ho they want to be with the BSL thing.

[blakkjackal]

Here's an interesting topic for anyone interested in how to recognise a pit bull terrier. http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/235004-what-constitutes-a-pit-bull-terrier/

[Dame Aussie]

In all honesty I think some people just need to take a chill pill.

The big bad pit bulls aren't going to eat you all up.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Aussie3

[Holmesy]

I am a bit skeptical about the authenticity of the OP. This to me looks like a bit of a troll post. Anyone who reads this forum knows that there are a couple of groups that are 'pro big dogs' and 'pro small dogs' and 'pro bully' as well as 'pro swf'

This thread was always going to go down the path that it has done.

You should be wary of any dog that is unknown to you. All dogs can be dangerous of all breeds and sizes etc.

[dogmatic]

I am a bit skeptical about the authenticity of the OP. This to me looks like a bit of a troll post. Anyone who reads this forum knows that there are a couple of groups that are 'pro big dogs' and 'pro small dogs' and 'pro bully' as well as 'pro swf'

This thread was always going to go down the path that it has done.

You should be wary of any dog that is unknown to you. All dogs can be dangerous of all breeds and sizes etc.

Thanks for the link, Hockz. However, it does tend to go on and on... and on. So many variables, that it seems easiest for some to simply take an extreme view. I agree with Holmesy, especially how the subject became focussed on one group of dogs which has yet to be adequately defined (AFAICS). However, there have been some sincere posts which I hope other readers might find useful.

[Aetherglow]

Poor dog :-( Visual identification of a dog's breed is fraught with difficulty. Rangers use a checklist of points for visual identification when a dog is formally assessed, which your ranger obviously didn't do with this dog.

True in other states but not in NSW, just FYI :)

There is no definition here for what is considered to be a pit bull, and how to identify one. The wording is simply if an authorised officer 'is of the opinion that' the dog is a restricted breed they can issue a notice. The dog then goes on to a breed assessment (which also does not follow any guidelines, it's just whatever the breed assessor says). This allows authorised officers discretion on how gung-ho they want to be with the BSL thing.

Nice to know that NSW haven't gone the same route. I worry every time I see my neighbour's staffy crossbreed, which I know is not registered and is often out and roaming, because he would be a dead dog if caught. I wish my neighbour were more careful of his dogs as well, but this dog is seriously the sweetest, most harmless old gentleman you could ever hope to meet. I hope one day Victorian politicians see some sort of sense :-(

[dogmatic]

In all honesty I think some people just need to take a chill pill.

The big bad pit bulls aren't going to eat you all up.

Aetherglow, Sorry. I was temporarily distracted by a sudden lowering of the tone of the discussion. Regarding your earlier post... brilliant. You said it so well that I didn't fall of my chair after all. Thanks to melzawelza as well. I learnt a lot.

[airlock]

I really wasn't expecting it to escalate the way it had, there has been some great advice that i will be taking on board. I did not intend to single out any particular breed as being bad, there simply rant any bad breeds i simply wanted to get an idea of what breeds are more predisposed to aggression in order to prevent any further problems. Unfortunately this seems to have focused on Bull breeds, Now having had my share of bad experiences with Large Bull type dogs i'm already pretty set on keeping my pup away from any unknown dogs of this type, not to be vindictive or try and persuade people that they are bad dogs who should be kept away from the public but simply to make sure that i have no more unpleasant encounters that could go badly.

As many people have pointed out many of these breeds get a real bad wrap simply because of the way they look and many dogs that don't look like they will cause problems actually do have a high potential for aggression, it was help understanding these that i was really looking for.

I have already taken advice concerning body language as well as getting some good insights into how to go about off leash walking.

And the most sensible advice that seems to have been given is to watch out for any unknown dog and that those bigger then mine could unwittingly cause the most damage so i will be trying to adapt my off leash walking habits to suit.

Once again thanks for all the replies and the help.

not to end the post on a bad note but it sounds like there has been another attack in the area, one of the pub dogs was apparently given a pretty hard time of it in the woods just below the main street .

[cannibalgoldfish]

How about I edit your original thread... Breeds to be wary of, those with teeth.

Like, er, like most Dogs.

When you talk about breeds to be wary of.. I was once bitten by a rabbit. Of course, said rabbit was wild and hurt when I tried to help it so it wasn't really a breed, Let's say species. Although, this being a small country town and all, the rabbit might have had a domestic rabbit somewhere in it's ancestory. So I'm gonna blame those domestic rabbits. Everyone knows they are bred to be bigger and more vicious. It might have looked all scrawny and agouti coloured but I can tell because it has 4 legs and long ears it must be untrustworthy... It probably had domestic rabbits somewhere in it's breeding, that's why it bit me.

Don't even get me started on hares....

[OSoSwift]

I am most catious about dogs that have the potential to cause my dogs the most or more harm. A large dog or heavily built dog ahs the most potential to casue my dog harm than a 4kg toy breed. Having said that all dogs are shown the door if they try to get close.

[trinabean]

I am most catious about dogs that have the potential to cause my dogs the most or more harm. A large dog or heavily built dog ahs the most potential to casue my dog harm than a 4kg toy breed. Having said that all dogs are shown the door if they try to get close.

Yes, this caution is particularly relevant if you have a pup, or a smaller or more fragile breed (Iggies spring to mind).

And I don't care if it's widely considered a 'friendly' breed as individuals vary within a breed. Slightly off-topic, but relevent in a way because it's about breed perception, was an incident this morning. I drive my kids part-way to school and then we walk the rest of the way, to fit a bit more exercise into their day. We parked in a suburban street and I was unloading kids, bags etc. when a chocolate Lab came barrelling towards us from a house diagonally down the street. Barking, hackles up, not looking 'friendly' at all. I called to the kids to get back in the car (they did) and was yelling at the dog as there wasn't time for me to get back into the car.

'Soft mouth' or not, I was preparing to throw a loaded school bag (don't laugh, they're bloody heavy) at him if necessary, when the owner called his dog back.

I told the owner his dog scared the hell out of my kids, and he said 'yeah, sorry about that, he's a bit territorial.' How's about keeping him in his 'territory' aka your yard then? I seem to live in an area where dudes need to work on their cars with gates and garage doors open, and their dogs are free to menace people.

Edited November 11, 2013 by trinabean