Snarling, Growling Dog =/= Nice Puppy.

[ralerin]

I have beagles (you can see one in my avatar ) and one of the beagles can be rather vicious. (Not my fault, when he was a puppy kids from the high school a block away would come into our yard and kick the dog. We never were able to catch the fuckwits doing it but now, the male can be horribly vicious. Not to mention the female in my avatar is a yippy, highstrung half savage thing who's afraid of everything and when she barks, he will bite).

Our yard is strung up with HUGE signs with NO TRESPASSING and BEWARE OF DOG. Said yard is also fenced, though not properly. The back fence is a huge wood picket fence about 6 feet tall but the other two fences don't properly fence the yard. The chicken wire fence has a hole in it the dogs can easily crawl under and escape out the front yard of the church next door. The front fence is an antique cast iron fence about three feet high from Civil War times that does not fence the yard in properly, because, duh, it's an ornamental fence. Therefore the beagles are leashed when they go outside so they won't run off. You would NOT believe how often idiot teenagers think that growling, snarling dog with a muzzle on and hackles raised in a yard on a leash = "Ohhh, nice puppy! Wanna play?"

1. Nighttime, the dogs are out and snarling their warning barks. I go out and see a teenage girl wandering right up to them and about ready to pet them.

"GET THE EFF OUT OF MY YARD!" I'm screaming.

"...Can I pat your dog?" She innocently asks.

"NO. GET OUT. THE DOGS WILL BITE YOU AND YOU ARE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. CAN YOU NOT SEE THE SIGNS?"

"Geez, ok, ok, i'm sorry!" She doubles back to her group of friends.

"But why can't I pet them?" they ask.

"Because they are VICIOUS. DOES THE SIGN NOT TELL YOU THAT? YOU IDIOTS!"

" But...!"

"OFF BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE."

They run off.

2. Said kids from the high school have discovered a new trick-throwing snowballs at my dogs will make them bark for hours. I caught them on our sidewalk throwing snowballs at them and when I yelled after them to "STOP IT" they started with their howling monkey laughter and walked off.

3. Now the snowball thing has passed on to the little brothers of the highschoolers. I'm walking the dogs and pass by a group of kids, about 9 or 10 ish. The ringleader says, "Heh, dogs looks nice." I'm about 50 feet away from them when PAF. A snowball lands near us. PIFF. There's another. The dogs aren't barking for their credit, they just look a bit deer in the headlights.

I whip around. The ringleader looks at me and says with a shit eating grin, "Can I help you?"

I snap, "yeah, can you stop being an asshole and throwing snowballs at my dogs?"

"But I wasn't!"

"I don't care who was or who wasn't, I want you to STOP."

They shrug and walk off and I continue my walk unmolested.

For the love of God. *sigh*

[Buzzy]

Wow, you think those stupid kids would know better. I bet they wouldn't like it if they were the dogs, and kids were throwing stuff at them... but apparently, people don't think that way. Good for you on telling them to knock it off! Maybe they'll learn their lesson someday, or maybe not.

We had the same kind of situation when I was younger. Our family had a couple of Boxers, and the neighbor boy would constantly wander over and stand by the fence and taunt them. One of the dogs didn't really care that the kid was doing it, but the other one became so vicious that he had to be kenneled anytime people came into our house. I really think he would have hurt someone if he had ever escaped.

[blas]

And if you hadn't been out that night that the little Jessica Simpson wannabe was trying to play with your dogs, and had she got in and gotten mauled by the dogs, you can bet you'd answer the door to papers alerting you that you're being sued.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

And if you hadn't been out that night that the little Jessica Simpson wannabe was trying to play with your dogs, and had she got in and gotten mauled by the dogs, you can bet you'd answer the door to papers alerting you that you're being sued.

And the dogs would be put to sleep.

Life ain't fair, I tells ya.

[bainsidhe]

Hmm, regarding the snowballs....I wonder how legal it is to walk the dogs in mid-winter while carrying (and potentially using) a super soaker? For some reason that came to mind, though retaliating isn't the answer and will only cause more problems later. These kids are a-holes.

[Seshat]

For the dogs' sake, I'd put properly fencing in the back yard high on the priority list. With opaque fences, and fences from house to side fences to block the dogs into the back yard.

Give the dogs a safe space to run around in where the local idiots can't see them to taunt them.


No, you shouldn't need to do that. But it looks like you do.

[RetailWorkhorse]

2. Said kids from the high school have discovered a new trick-throwing snowballs at my dogs will make them bark for hours. I caught them on our sidewalk throwing snowballs at them and when I yelled after them to "STOP IT" they started with their howling monkey laughter and walked off.

PAINTBALL GUN!

Although, I'd do the Super Soaker thing, too.

But then I'm VERY protective of my wee Littermates.

[Amethyst Hunter]

PAINTBALL GUN!

Seconded. Lie in wait for those little fuckers and then nail them. One tag from a paintball, they'll be screaming for their mamas (Never been whacked by a paintball, but I hear it hurts like an EFFING BITCH, even with protective padding).

As an alternative, perhaps an investment in a security camera is in order? Won't stop the little bastards from throwing stuff initially, but the Lawsuit Card works wonders.

[wraiths_crono]

Got a good one: trick leash, looks short until dog jerks it, then double in length (great for giving the cretins a reason to change underwear, AND leave the dog alone.

[sixums]

I would second the fence. If you can't trust kids to stay away, it'd be for the best to make sure that the yard is secure and safe for your dogs. Those kids aren't going to learn their lesson until one of them gets bit.

[ralerin]

I should probably note: Boy Beagle is already claimed as a vicious dog because he apparently bit someone already. He is not vicious because we maltreat him, he is vicious because he's scared and also highly territorial and Girl Beagle has got him whipped to do the dirty work of biting for her because she barks and runs away. If he's in the house, he's usually fine so long as we introduce Girl Beagle to people first and people talk to both of them when he comes out and that people are taught to leave them alone if they don't want to be petted. (I had to teach that to my five year old cousin because she would harass Girl Beagle, who was starting to bark and Boy Beagle was looking a little angry). But yes, Boy Beagle has bitten and if he bites anyone again he has to be killed. =/

Long story short-idiot teenage daughter of one of the former tenants of the apartment building decided it would be a fun idea to traipse through the yard while the dogs were out. (This was before we had the signs up and the muzzle on). Even though the dogs were snarling, mouths open showing off SCARY MEAN SHARP TEETH, barking full tilt, hackles raised, etc, idiot girl opens the gate of the picket fence in the back, which the dogs are closer to rather than the gate of the ornamental fence in the front. Boy Beagle lunges, girl draws off with a "YIPE!" and slams the gate shut. We never saw what happened, we only heard the snarling/barking and the scream.

Idiot Mother bangs on our door later that night (since we own the building and live in it) and yells that "OMG LAWSUIT!!! DOGS ARE VICIOUS!!! GIRL IS IN HOSPITAL WITH BRUISES AND TRAUMA AND PRACTICALLY DYING!!!!!!!!! WE SUE YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!" Idiot Teenage Daughter later has her leg bandaged up to THERE. Apparently she was bruised, but if it was from the gate banging on her or the dog I don't know, because I never saw the bruise.

So therefore, signs and muzzle. I want my parents to fix up the fences so the dogs can have a place to run anyway because being leashed when outdoors all the time is not good. But I guess i haven't impressed that need upon them satisfactorily enough. *sigh*

[jedimaster91]

Riiiiiiiiiight. Her idiocy of ignoring the dogs' OBVIOUS warning signals is all your fault. And if I'm reading this correctly, she decided to cut through YOUR FENCED YARD. Honestly, she got what she deserved. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but Boy Beagle was only protected his turf and his lady. I think I would have demanded pictures of the injury, because I doubt one nip from Boy Beagle would have necessitated her entire leg being bandaged. Even with the typically more aggressive breeds, I don't buy that every time a dog bites a child (or other stupid person) that it's because the dog is aggressive. I'm much more likely to believe that the child/stupid person was irritating the dog in some way, and the dog had enough. Urgh. I need to calm down before I march down there with the woodchipper.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I should probably note: Boy Beagle is already claimed as a vicious dog because he apparently bit someone already. He is not vicious because we maltreat him, he is vicious because he's scared and also highly territorial and Girl Beagle has got him whipped to do the dirty work of biting for her because she barks and runs away. If he's in the house, he's usually fine so long as we introduce Girl Beagle to people first and people talk to both of them when he comes out and that people are taught to leave them alone if they don't want to be petted. (I had to teach that to my five year old cousin because she would harass Girl Beagle, who was starting to bark and Boy Beagle was looking a little angry). But yes, Boy Beagle has bitten and if he bites anyone again he has to be killed. =/

Long story short-idiot teenage daughter of one of the former tenants of the apartment building decided it would be a fun idea to traipse through the yard while the dogs were out. (This was before we had the signs up and the muzzle on). Even though the dogs were snarling, mouths open showing off SCARY MEAN SHARP TEETH, barking full tilt, hackles raised, etc, idiot girl opens the gate of the picket fence in the back, which the dogs are closer to rather than the gate of the ornamental fence in the front. Boy Beagle lunges, girl draws off with a "YIPE!" and slams the gate shut. We never saw what happened, we only heard the snarling/barking and the scream.

Idiot Mother bangs on our door later that night (since we own the building and live in it) and yells that "OMG LAWSUIT!!! DOGS ARE VICIOUS!!! GIRL IS IN HOSPITAL WITH BRUISES AND TRAUMA AND PRACTICALLY DYING!!!!!!!!! WE SUE YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!" Idiot Teenage Daughter later has her leg bandaged up to THERE. Apparently she was bruised, but if it was from the gate banging on her or the dog I don't know, because I never saw the bruise.

That's fucking bullshit. ANY dog will bite if you piss it off enough. When did we decide that the only dogs who bite people are savage, bloodthirsty monsters anyway?

Some people shouldn't be allowed near animals. Idiot girl is one of them.

[RootedPhoenix]

So therefore, signs and muzzle. I want my parents to fix up the fences so the dogs can have a place to run anyway because being leashed when outdoors all the time is not good. But I guess i haven't impressed that need upon them satisfactorily enough. *sigh*

Your dog is going to be killed if he bites someone again, and your fences aren't enough to keep idiots away. This isn't enough of a reason? Wow. *blinks* I don't get why they think that.

I don't get how people see a snarling dog and think "Ooh, nice doggy. This one won't bite!". I mean, I get that you'd want to pet the dog, but I'd much rather keep my hand clear (and whole self, really) of a snarling dog. Snarling dog =/= dog in friendly mood. And as for the taunting idiots? Grr.

[One-Fang]

Yeah I don't get that either. There's a very strong likelihood Boy Beagle is going down one day thanks to one of these idiot kids. There's not much you can do, even sometimes if you're holding the leash they get closer to the fence than you'd realised or something ...

Sucks that it appears to be parental property and not your own, therefore not your call. But do try to strongly impress upon them the need to create solid fencing NOW. Before Boy Beagle has to pay for ... well .. being A DOG.