Tabs,

Good point. All I can say is whenever I go to the pound to see the unfortunate pups I carefully read the observations. Some have the "will not sociallize well with other animals". I think this one fit's into this category as he shows no aggression towards people. (At least from what I've observed)....and I don't want to be the first to find out.

Most dogs who are aggresive are just not well socialized. I have a friend who is a very serious dogsled racer (has won north american sprint championships) as well as a veterinarian and a 914 racer(!). Anyway, he has a kennel of about 40 sled dogs and whenever he has a new litter he makes a point of taking them (with mom for first 9 weeks or so, just them after that) out to parks and other locations so they can interact with strange people, strange dogs, and strange areas. The dogs grow up to be very well socialized and they know how dogs are supposed to act with other dogs and people.
There are however some breeds that just tend toward nastiness. poodles come to mind.

Those Dam Frencies again....is anyone surprised that it's a French dog thats nasty.

You guys are funny. :D FWIW, there are several large, (standard), Poodles in my area that are nice and sociable. I think that they're cool dogs, pretty fast on their feet.

Rick, with your post about the owner, he does seem like a good guy and it can be frustrating training a dog. Sometimes there is only so much you can do, it's 50/50 between training/genetics, just like people. ;) You must impress upon him the importance of keping the dog controlled, (restrained). At least he is the type of neighbor that you can talk to, not some nut.

Also, FWIW, the dog is exhibiting fairly normal behavior for a *herding breed* dog, they consider it their duty to protect the "flock", (in this case the owner and his family), from intruders in his "territory". The problem in a city is that this dog, unrestrained, considers his yard+ quite a bit of area around it his turf. When you walk by w/ your large dog, he thinks that his job has been outsourced to a Golden Retriever, and that you are delivering the new, "immigrant labor" that works for less chow. This quite understandably enrages him and damages his pride, leading to his loss of control. :D

*I had to write this as a card-carrying liberal, you know, "rationalising the criminal's behavior". * ;)

my brothers black lab got ruffed up a bit by some freeranging blue heeler. the lab was sorta depressed for a few weeks. is your golden OK? the black lab, bishop, didnt even understand what was going on. the cutie never let go of his toy, a mini basketball! i wanted to kill that heeler, but i didnt. lets say, i got some pent up issues. mean dog owners need to be more responsible. have anyone of you ever noticed how many pitbull-like dogs are up for adoption?

I agree, with all the "marking" going on between the two there is quite a "Pissing Match"... :).

UnFixed (Hmm, interesting ID for this discussion... ;)),

Miles is fine. Unfortunately he was totally unaware that the other dog was charging towards him. That and my wife not knowing what to do he was literally backed against a wall (Hope my wife doesn't read this, lol). My dog isn't immune to acting on instinct. Once a smaller dog wandered onto <i>our</i> property and I looked to see what where he/she went. I found that Miles had the other dog's head in is mouth. He didn't seem pissed but rather like he was playing with a toy. I never saw the other dog again.

I have been "attacked" three times but never bitten. I take the offensive and I guess I've been lucky. The dogs sure weren't.

The first event was when I was in my 20's. The dog had a history and that was the end of the line for him even though I won the fight. It was a large German Shepard male. As I said, I was lucky, but I did happen to have a stick which was too much for the dog. I beat the crap out of that dog.

The second dog happened to be too near a gate and I used the gate to knock the crap out of him. I actually became 'friends' with this dog, at least he respected me. It was a Dalmation.

The 3rd was a heinz little POS that wanted a piece of me as I jogged by. I punted the pooch right thru the goal posts. It was hilarious as the dog spun backwards end over end just like a football when kicked. It just got up an ran away. Tough little *****.

My luck/skill will run out someday, I'm sure. But that will be the last day of any particular dog's life if I get bitten. Thanks for the choking advice, that's what I will do, I just won't let go until it's dead.

All this braggadocio leads up to some sanity. Report the dog. Really, the animal control folks are the best people to handle ANY situation. I hope to have no problems with dogs and I'm on the phone with AC with little provocation.

As a contractor visting dozens of houses a year, I can tell you most people don't deserve to have any pet. I don't like dogs, but I will tell you that it seldom is the dog's fault. Properly trained and loved, I'm sure they make great companions.

BTW, I didn't say I never owned a dog. I've had 3 and walked them, fed them, groomed them and saw to their veternary care. I would say that 2 of them were my wife's dogs. I didn't like them much, but that's no reason to abuse them. We got along fine.

Denis, at no time has anyone ever brought up the behavior of the animal as "right" or "wrong," so it does not need to be rationalized. The animal does not know what the hell it is doing!

It is the behavior of the OWNER that we are concerned with here. Despite your card-carrying status I know you have the good taste to not justify that. It's interesting that in this debate, nobody has attempted to justify his keeping the dog, or said it's not his fault. The consensus seems to be that it's his PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

On another note, here in the Peoples Republic of New York State, the legislature is evaluating a bill that will require all dog owners to purchase INSURANCE to cover DAMAGES done by dog bite!

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/22862.htm

"O brave new world, that has such people in't!"
-Billy S

My wife mentioned this on our way back home last night. However, doesn't Homeowners' insurance cover such incidents?
In fact I've heard that some insurance companies will drop your policy or not renew if you have a pet with a "record".

LOL, your discription is too funny.

I knew two people with Dalmations. One was the most destructive dog I've ever seen in my life, the other was the meanest. First was probably the result of poor breeding the second was abused.

Rick,

It COULD be covered, however I would read the policy carefully to determine whether it provides liability insurance, and what the scope of the coverage is, e.g., torts occurring on the premises may be covered, but off-premise might not be.

Some folks purchase umbrella coverage which can provide some peace of mind in today's tortious environment.

Then again there are the vast uninsured who could care less.

Look at what the ASPCA had to say:

http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=15907&security=2220&news _iv_ctrl=1400

Good stuff here!

http://www.dogbitelaw.com/index.html

So much for my plan to raise chickens in The City.

It's my understanding that if an attack includes any open or puncture wounds, someone should worry about rabies, whether the dog had shots or not. The health department or animal control people, once notified, will either impound the animal or instruct the owner to quarantine it for X days to make sure it isn't carrying the virus.

All the suggestions are good ones, although I'm not sure I'd pack a sidearm around the neighborhood; a Louisville Slugger might be too overt; an 8 or 9 iron would be sufficient. But that's you. What if you're not there when your wife or kids are walking around? If the offending dog has attacked before, there's a good chance it will do it again. How can you or the dog owner guarantee it will always be under leash? If it happens again, after-the-fact settlements and blame cannot turn back the clock. MHO.

Sherwood

John, You can't possibly be dense enough to have taken my last post in all seriousness, right? :)

And FWIW, the dog knew exactly what he was doing. He's not a potted plant. In the area of *how to be a dog*, he would beat you in an IQ test. :cool:

There is a saying in the lesser populated areas of the west: "Shoot, shovel, shut up." It refers to those animal species that endanger livestock...

There are far too many dogs and too few responsible owners. Personally, I let the Police do their thing as often as necessary. I have a village idiot as a neighbor with a Rhodesian Ridgeback that jumps the fence on a regular basis. I just call the cops. If the dog evermakes the mistake of jumping the common wall fence, I will shoot the bastard and drop its carcass in the community trash container in the alley.

Give me some time, I'll work on it.

Denis, you have evoked one of the all-time great lines of history, from the Oliver North hearings before congress, spoken by Brendan Sullivan on July 9, 1987:

"I'm not a potted plant. I'm here as the lawyer. That's my job."

Are you certain you wouldn't like to join our side? We could, ahem, use a few bright, humorous people.

I will take the compliment and simply say, "Thank you, sir". :)