Neighbors got a pitbull

[dingbat]

....

 

[MTboatguy]

See now that is where I would use the pepper spray on the neighbor!

:lol:

 

[nwcove]

i would contact the school, contact parents of the kids that walk through and any other close neighbors. state your concerns, and ask them all to call local authorities. there is strength in numbers. i am a dog lover, have an old, near blind german sheperd, and i know that any dog of any breed can be aggressive, but pitbulls were/are bred for that reason....they were never bred to be a house pet, deadly aggression is in them all ..(jmo kinda )
as for other posters saying " move out".....thats totally ridiculous.

 

[achris]

...as for other posters saying " move out".....thats totally ridiculous.

Moving out is always an option. I have similar neighbour problems. My wife and I have put our house on the market and are looking for a new one...

 

[keith2k455]

In my old house, the neighbors two doors down had a pit bull and no fence. They also thought the dogs tail was a leash. This dog got out all the time, the were driving around looking for him at least once a week. The dog always barked at people from the driveway. One time the wife, our pug, 6month old in the stroller and I were walking back from the ice cream stand and the dog came out down the driveway. I told the wife to slowly back away with the kid and I would charge the dog at the last minute, but then all of a sudden they came down and pulled the dog back in to the garage. All said, there were many close calls, calls to animal control and authorities, but nothing happened to the owners or anyone else for that matter. Honestly, other neighbors had a dalmation that got out and ended up in my fenced yard....I was more scared of that dogs behavior than I wasof the pit, but I just crossed the street, told them I has their dog and they apologized profusely and got her.

I feel your pain here, but at least it obeys the invisible fence. May be worth making friends with it sincd it does seem somewhat obedient, and hey if the dog listens to you and decides to go after someone some day, you could probably get it to stop charging.

 

[64osby]

There are many suggestions here. Gathering information, contacting the proper authorities, discussing with the neighbors, and pepper spray all sound reasonable.

If your neighbors are not reasonable and choose to not train or contain the dog, then you have to act accordingly.

The easiest solution could be to put up a fence. Guns, spray or other self defense tools are only good if you can access them. Will everyone in your house remember to carry them at all times?

I like dogs and have always had one or more as an adult. I have been threatened by many dogs over the years, but never been attached or bitten. I always stand my ground.

We once tried to adopt a Staffordshire Terrier, very close to a Pitt Bull Terrier. We determined that the dog was too aggressive for our kids and returned it. Two weeks later it bit the host in the face. They put it down.

It sounds like they made a poor choice for a companion / protective dog from your description. We have a Shepherd / Collie mix now who is fantastic and tons of fun for us and friends. Others who visit certainly don't feel the same until we "call" the dog off.

Best of luck to you.

 

[LippCJ7]

Good lord not again....

I will tell you that as someone who has been pepper sprayed DIRECTLY, if you choose to use spray please practice it, remember that wind plays a very vital role in the use of pepper/bear/OC spray, if you have never felt the effects of it and then have to use it and take a good hit, you may be incapacitated, you will not be able to breathe, see, smell and possibly curl up like a little baby, ask me how i know!

I highly recommend you protect yourself, either via a personal sidearm, or spray. In either case practice, if you feel so inclined go ahead and spray yourself, you have no idea what it will do to you so you may as well know for sure that way if you do get hit you will be better prepared when it happens, that is why LEO's do it, not because its fun, we have to fight through it, if you have to use it you will likely have to fight through it also.

Bear spray is pretty much the only type of spray that compares to LEO strength and in actuality from what I know Bear spray is typically more powerful then LEO Strength OC, it effects different people differently, some can fight through it while others go full panic, check out youtube, plenty of comedy available. Practicing also allows you to know the range and spray/stream of the product you purchase, both would be important to you if you have to use it. As LEO OC is an intermediate weapon, non lethal, with our firearm the next level in force, if you decide to confront this animal, I highly recommend that you have a firearm in case you need to escalate the situation, better to have and not need then to need and not have, I do not believe you will need it but....

All of that being said, my first recommendation is to move, but I understand and agree that you should not have to because of your neighbors actions, but in reality, in your situation, that may be the best advice you have.

FYI, I stood in a cold shower for 40 minutes after I took my hit, holding my eyes wide open the entire time, I got out of the shower about 5 minutes into it and found out that gravity sucks, especially when you have just gotten OC'd, yeah the man parts....

Anyway I wish you luck and hope you got a laugh out of the last part of my post, it wasn't funny then but now it is LOL!

 

[bruceb58]

Not that it helps your situation any but could be another issue, is the reason she got that type of dog is that she is worried about the person who abused her going to come around?

 

[ezbtr]

same thing with my neighbor a few mos ago, I called the pet folks, and they did indeed put a notice on their door, the dog is still aggressive but I only see the son walk him after school, so I hope that will stay in place, she did charge one of my buddies 7 year old son, but stopped - I swear the owners wife let dog out while kids were playing around outside, and then called dog back in - these folks are educated but stupid in common sense, if it happened again, I'd shoot or beat the dog and then maybe them - they ARE aware they have an aggressive dog (sure a pit mix, and mine is a 2 yr old pit, wayyyy mutt mix who sleeps with the cat and the kids) but Spike just never had the heart to bite anyone , he'd rather lick em to death or sleep on them

 

[Fun Times]

I highly recommend you protect yourself, either via a personal sidearm, or spray.
As LEO OC is an intermediate weapon, non lethal, with our firearm the next level in force, if you decide to confront this animal, I highly recommend that you have a firearm in case you need to escalate the situation, better to have and not need then to need and not have, I do not believe you will need it but....

Due to some recent high profile cases about dogs "thought" to be aggressive, Law Enforcement agencies are starting to come up with better ways of retraining officers to think differently/opposite when it comes to dogs versus aggressive humans.

Maybe it's possible you could be proactive by looking into something similar for your department?

Due to this,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/second-video-dog-shooting_n_3536658.html
Change is hopefully around the corner for all LEO.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/governme...havior-in-wake-of-2013-hawthorne-dog-shooting
http://www.inquisitr.com/1466169/te...o-lower-the-number-of-dog-deaths-by-shooting/

Personally in this situation, I'm with gm280 in post # 18. I'd try with then without the owners help to make friends with the dog and see how it goes... Or maybe it's best you set up a video surveillance camera so you're able to show the dogs behavior towards you and the kids walking by.

 

[keith2k455]

One other point, if you harm the dog you could find yourself charged for cruelty as well. I totally agree with protecting you and your family, but there may be unintended (possibly unfair too) consequences for taking action against this animal.

 

[MTboatguy]

Lipp, You have good information, while I was working with my friend who owns the Counter Assault company, I did most of his OC training and sprayed lots of people and I was sprayed lots of times, the biggest difference between LEO spray and Bear spray that Counter Assault makes is the solvents and propellants used. If you really want to have fun, be the one filling the cans and have a can exploded on the filling machine, you will then get the full effect of the various sprays! It is not fun, but it is funny to watch the videos on you tube, many of those guys are not the sharpest tack in the box. With as much exposure as I have had tot he various OC sprays, I know exactly what my body will do and how to counter the effects so I can make it through it. But the warnings are well founded and quite accurate, the stuff hurts! Wind plays a big factor on performance, especially if you use a cloud spray as I recommended, streams not so much, but in the right conditions it will blow back on you.

As far as cruelty charges, I don't know of anywhere in the country you will be charged with cruelty if you use OC in the situation of a charging or attacking dog. Also for anyone considering OC spray, make sure you are getting OC and not CS or any mixture of CS, CS can actually kill in certain instances, which is why most LE depts. are using or switching to OC. Anyway, I always recommend spray first, especially in a neighborhood situation, I no longer carry my sidearm and I live in the woods, I would not want to have to use a firearm in a close quarters neighborhood situation, unless it was my only option and my or my families lives depended on it.

I don't work at my buddies manufacturing facility any longer, but I do still do some of the training at the Law enforcement academy here when needed, but for the most part, I don't really do much anymore! Most of the guys currently training at the academy were guys that I trained when I worked with CA. I have also done the training for the USGS and US Forest Service LE division, I also trained all of the LEO trainers that work for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and they now do their own training in house. I do still do a lot of consulting over the internet and phone with the various agencies.

Making OC sprays was the only place that I ever worked that you wash your hands BEFORE doing your business, don't ask me how I know!

 

[dingbat]

...

 

[jkust]

Not that it helps your situation any but could be another issue, is the reason she got that type of dog is that she is worried about the person who abused her going to come around?

First off, I will just say you guys are great...seriously I appreciate all sides of this discussion. A bit of background, these neighbors have taken people in a few times over the years for different reasons. They are very different than we are as one is a local/regional celebrity on tv and radio daily and the other is a high level accomplished, executive and just see the world very differently than we do. It's never been an issue and actually is nice to have people from their entertainment world with their opposite views as neighbors. I think that part of this indeed is that they got her the dog for the exact reason bruceb mentions. The abuser, and this lady/guest however are actually from several states away. The abuser still lives several states away. With these neighbor's very different view of the world, they tend to bring some weird situations into their house but in this case it would have made a bit more sense to have considered other people when selecting the dog. I have a client who is a prolific dog rescuer. To the point where he owns several large mansions, not McMansions, but actual historic estates. (The only person I've ever known who has an actual butler) He is so dedicated to dogs, one of the historic mansions is dedicated to allowing the terminal dogs live in it in their last months of life as opposed to his kennel for the ones that are adoptable. No people live in it, just dogs. Even he will not allow pitbulls into his facilities but instead has a separate pit bulls-only facility but is in the conundrum where he knows they aren't adoptable so ends up having to just support them. Even he couldn't believe these neighbors would adopt an adult pit bull as a family dog.

 

[K-2]

Do you have a plan if the dog attacks someone ? A baseball bat by each door is what I would start with. Don't be afraid to swing away.
First file a complaint with local authorities . Any other neighbors to do the same? If the dog runs loose call the police, any thing the dog does wrong, call the police.

 

[jkust]

Do you have a plan if the dog attacks someone ? A baseball bat by each door is what I would start with. Don't be afraid to swing away.
First file a complaint with local authorities . Any other neighbors to do the same? If the dog runs loose call the police, any thing the dog does wrong, call the police.

I don't have a plan yet. I'll have to put a bat in the garage at a minimum.

 

[Maclin]

Pepper spray is more accurate in most ways, a little wider "pattern" than a bullet and much easier to recover from for both parties. Video the incidents, even a lower resolution vid will show a lot. You can review it later to make sure you saw what you saw so to speak. Then, boom, there it is for all to interpret, good proof that a bad situation is one dead battery or power shutdown away..

 

[gm280]

I see this thread is still going strong. And in a way, that is sad. Because seems so many are looking to demonize the dog for what the owners did. That dog has no other option but to be "aggressive" because of how this is described on here. I still say I would try very hard to befriend that aggressive dog and let him see you are his friend instead of somebody to attack. I know pit bulls are notorious for aggressive attack! I am not that ignorant and have read some real horror stories in the news! But I also hear so many stories of gentle loving pit bull dogs as well. Maybe, just maybe getting to know and become the dog's friend IS the best way to solve this situation. Even if that means you contact the neighbors and ask to see their dog and get to know him, with them in attendance as well, and likewise for the dog learning about you. If that doesn't seem to work, then plan your defensive options. But seriously, try the sensible friendly approach before making decisions that will have consequences for certain... JMHO!

 

[MTboatguy]

I, of course agree with gm280, making friends with the dog would be preferable to shooting it or spraying it, but, I would also be prepared for the worst case outcome and be thrilled if the best came outcome worked.

 

[nwcove]

I, of course agree with gm280, making friends with the dog would be preferable to shooting it or spraying it, but, I would also be prepared for the worst case outcome and be thrilled if the best came outcome worked.

...so everyone in the neighborhood that may pass by would have to be-friend the dog? why not have a chat with the woman, suggest that it be muzzled when its outside, or if local law permits, document your concerns and have the authorities make her muzzle it.