[notfarnow]

That sucks, but fortunately it sounds like you and your neighbor handled it like reasonable adults. Sad for your kids to see that, and I hope they don't think you don't have a "bad dog". It's just instincts.

It's great to live in an area where neighbors and and animals can wander around freely. I grew up in a neighborhood like that. Our dog went to one neighbor right after breakfast, and took her afternoon nap on another neighbor's couch.

One year the neighbor got bunnies for his 10yr old daughter, who would occasionally forget to close the cage. Our dog killed 2 of the bunnies one morning, brought them back to our house to display proudly. Everyone was pretty upset, but dealt with it reasonably. We promised to not let the dog wander anymore, but they wouldn't hear of it. After 10+ years, it was their dog as much as ours.