Neighbors dog attacked me, then neighbor threatened to beat me

[J8D]

I think the bigger concern is the woman and her son. A dog comes out barking and growling (usually) but has no thumbs to clutch a baseball bat or pistol grip with. The son on the other hand can come up behind you while you are adding your 30 min hop addition and crack your skull with a hammer. Dumb and/or angry people are dangerous people.

So unless you intend to move, or hire an assassin, or know the neighbors are moving, or build a moat, you have to live with the people next door. It would suck to spend the next year, let alone five or ten having to keep looking over your shoulder or being concerned with the people next door.

With that in mind you have some steps to take:
1. Dump some coin on a camera system to document any future activities of the dog or son.
2. Establish a way to defend yourself/family against a physical attack from a human. This would include the purchase of a weapon of some sort, educating your family on the threat, and some changes to your security posture.
3. Establish a way to defend yourself/family against a physical attack from the dog.
4. Speak with some of the other neighbors then all of you make contact with the woman (not the son) in a caring/thoughtful manner regarding the collective concern over her dog’s aggressiveness and explain how you don’t want to see it destroyed.
5. In regards to the son, do some posturing and appear as a hard target. This may mean donning a couple MMA t-shirts or perhaps having your brother-in-law come over and hang his dead deer on the side of your house. Coming home wearing cammies and carrying a shotgun into the house when the guy is outside can change his boldness towards you.
6. I would use General Mattis’ method in dealing with the son. You should hope to quell the hostility so it doesn’t escalate with the shedding of blood, you getting a restraining order against him, or him getting arrested. With that in mind “…be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet…”

 

[rawlus]

Was this part necessary? Try to control my dog, and I'll show you just how bad dog people can really be.

Would I take out a dog that threatened my kids or myself? Of course. Would I potshot someone just because they choose to own a particular pet (or for any other decision they make)? Never.

If you control your dog, then I won't have to.

I don't care about dogs, I don't anthropomorphize them. I don't give them human qualities or see them as equals. I don't often hear dog owners say "I thought my dog was vicious and was going to attack that child/adult/animal unprovoked and he/she sure did!"

What I usually hear from almost every dog owner is, "my dog would never do that, it's the most wonderful, best behaved, teddy bear cuddly innocent intelligent magical dog of all...". Until something happens.

Forgive me if I don't trust you. Not only do I not trust dogs, I trust their owners even less in these situations. A "well-trained, well-behaved" dog can be both an offensive and defensive weapon to its owner. you confront someone with a trained dog at your side, might as well be holding a knife or pistol - so expect to be treated as such in those situations.

Not pot-shotting anyone. Dogs injur or kill people every single day at a rate higher than most other "pets" and I'm not sure owners take that seriously enough. As a citizen I deserve the right to never have to deal with your dog if I don't want to.

If a dog attacks me, I will defend by any means necessary. I don't get into the semantics of whether or not it's a bad dog or a bad owner thing since the threat is the same regardless... I don't know what the solution is, I'm a small govt type person so I'm not looking for more laws or regulation. Maybe private sector will step in by way of insurance, causing owners to bear a larger burden/financial responsibity... Though I don't know if that would ultimately be effective.

What happens in modern society is this... For our own personal safety, we have to assume any dog is potentially dangerous, since there is no way to separate the responsible owners and non-aggressive pets from the alternatives... We can see some owners manifesting proper behavior and responsibility by being extra attentive with their pet when in public, having it always leashed and under their complete control. But then there are examples of those who let their dogs run free, without physical control and claim their dog is gentle and incapable of aggression. How do I or anyone else know that? Do we deserve assurances? Or do we assume the best and prepare for the worst?

Have you ever met anyone who's been viciously attacked by a dog? Perhaps permanently, physically scarred? This isn't something you get over. You seek comfort in generalizations ( assume every gun is loaded ). I've seen this happen to a few people over the years. It's sad when someone's right to "own" an animal creates such physical and psychological risk to someone else. Maybe the "love pitbulls" crowd should be policing their own ranks, identifying the bad owners like deadbeat dads and humiliating them on a website or something.... I'm not sure there's enough outrage in the dog owning community for 6'oclock news events, I mean, theres outrage at the media for reporting on a pitbulls attack, but all the owners seem to come up with is "my dog is cuddly wuddly" and complaints that the news is picking on their dog breed.

Here's a challenge, instead of mounting PR campaigns to try and convince me pits are gentle lovers, use that energy to go after bad owners... Sponsor criminal legislation for behaviors that lead to increased dog attack risks, invite legislation that requires owner training and liability understanding to purchase these pets. I am sure there are a lot more things the dog people could be doing to ensure their animals are treated as humanely as possible and to ensure they are respecting the other citizens of society too.

Since it may be tough to really regulate or control the behavior of dog people and their pets, perhaps we need better ways for the potential victims to defend themselves... And the legislation to allow a reasonable level of self-protection against animals that are clearly capable of inflicting grievous bodily harm. As has been mentioned, pepper spray, tasters and firearms all have their negatives... Since the general public can rarely count on the dog owners themselves to take extreme measures to keep their "family member" from injuring someone else, the rest of society needs a better way to defend against unprovoked attacks. Something that any child or elderly person could use, which doesn't require brute strength or lightning reflexes and which could be available and at hand any time.

Like I said, if the dog is attacking me on my property, I don't care if you think it's a great dog and I don't care if it's never done anything like this before. First I'm dealing with the current situation with whatever means necessary or available and hope I survive, then I'm dealing with the dog owners stupid ass for not taking their responsibity seriously, which would likely be a court matter, but I wouldn't shed a tear if the sentence were extremely severe.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Sweet Onion Chutney! And I thought my rants were wordy!

 

[rawlus]

It's an interesting thing to ponder. Would a dog owner be upset or offended if a friend of acquaintance asked to have the dog kept in th house at a cookout or something? If I trust you, does that mean I explicitly trust your ability to control the dog as well? Most parens can't seem to control their kids, dogs should be easier, but do you trust them? Do you assess your risk? Little dog vs big dog? Has a friends dog ever concerned you, made you Ill at ease or wary/cautious? did you point it out to them? What did they say/do?

 

[rawlus]

Sweet Onion Chutney! And I thought my rants were wordy!

Lol

 

[oakbarn]

I am sorry but that would be a dog that is no longer a problem if it was up to me. If the dog actually bit you without provocation on your own property, it should be removed. Labs and Retrievers can be problem dogs and the image that they are all loving is wrong. Some are, some are not.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

"As a citizen I deserve the right to never have to deal with your dog if I don't want to."

I stopped reading at this, honestly.

 

[headbanger]

Assuming you can do so where you live, get your concealed carry permit if you don't already have it and, of course, a good reliable firearm. If he, or his dog, threatens you again, or even if you only feel threatened, defend yourself.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Be careful here, use of force when you merely FEEL threatened is a good way to wind up on the 10pm news. Not to mention prison....

Assuming you can do so where you live, get your concealed carry permit if you don't already have it and, of course, a good reliable firearm. If he, or his dog, threatens you again, or even if you only feel threatened, defend yourself.

 

[runningweird]

an update:

the neighbors have reinforced their fencing, seem to keep a very close watch on the dog, and all of them scuttle inside(they are stoop sitting folk) if I drive out of my driveway, or go out for a run.

so far so good.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Glad to hear it is turning out better than it started.

 

[jmendez29]

... I don't know what the solution is, I'm a small govt type person so I'm not looking for more laws or regulation.

Here's a challenge, instead of mounting PR campaigns to try and convince me pits are gentle lovers, use that energy to go after bad owners... Sponsor criminal legislation for behaviors that lead to increased dog attack risks, invite legislation that requires owner training and liability understanding to purchase these pets.

 

[GulfCoastGirl]

an update:

the neighbors have reinforced their fencing, seem to keep a very close watch on the dog, and all of them scuttle inside(they are stoop sitting folk) if I drive out of my driveway, or go out for a run.

so far so good.

Short of them selling the house or getting rid of the dog, that is the best possible outcome.

 

[scubakevdm]

No problem taking out a threatening dog. Dog people are the worst. Control your dog or I'll do it for you. No second chances. People rank higher than dogs, period.

No, obnoxious butt holes are the worst. I'd pitty the guy that abuses my pooch. The dog is sweet. Beware the owner.

 

[motobrewer]

i like caravans more

 

[david_42]

A few years back, one of the renters in the neighborhood had 4-5 pits. Momma pit was a cow chaser. Soon a dead cow chaser. Owner got upset. Owner got incarcerated. Don't mess with farmers or cattlemen.

Hope you have a resolution soon.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Looks like it's resolved. Let's end it before it gets out of hand.