Bad Dog! — Edited May 26
NOTE: From the comments received I realized that I left a couple points out and made some minor edits. I had planned to underline the additions, but I no longer have that option.
There’s a dog in my neighborhood that tends to “charge” at me when I go past the house. The house is on a corner, so if on that side of the street, I end up walking along two sides of the yard. The dog is a dalmatian mix — it’s pretty stocky with deformed dalmatian spots.
Usually I would walk in the street if I was close to the house. It seemed that being in the street instead of on the sidewalk was all it took to keep it from running at me. It’s a minor inconvenience and usually I don’t mind. Several months ago the family installed an Invisible Fence which made me very happy! Though the dog would still run at me, it couldn’t reach the sidewalk. Still, if I saw the dog was outside, I would walk in the street.
Today as I approached this house, while walking along the side yard, I didn’t see anything so I stayed on the sidewalk. After I turned the corner and was about halfway down, there it was in the middle of the front yard. It saw me, stood up, the hair on its back stood up and it ran straight at me! I screamed, jumped and started to head to the street backward — I hit the curb with the dog already on the sidewalk — I tripped and flew into the street landing on my right hand, and somehow scraped my elbow and side of my leg! The dog had never gone onto the sidewalk before! (The Invisible Fence must not have been working!) I was terrified it would chase me into the street, but luckily it stopped at the curb.
I got up, brushed myself off and stayed in the street until I was past the house next door.
Though this dog is out of control, I feel I have to take partial responsibility here. I know that dog is crazy, I know the owners do not have control, I know if I’m in the street it won’t bother me. And yet, I was on the sidewalk. Still….
Have I mentioned that I hate this dog?
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The “fall” occurred about 10 min into the walk and despite this, I was able to walk the entire 30 minutes scheduled.
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Comments
So glad you weren’t badly hurt – by the fall or the dog! A call to Animal Control for your area might be in order. If they witness this sort of behavior they can approach the owners about the animal being a danger to others. It may well be that it’s been abused and is lashing out, or maybe it is just overly territorial and just needs some basic training to protect folks.
Stay safe! 🙂
I agree with Melonie…surely you have Animal Control in your town? It is really frightening to have a dog rush at you. I have two dogs who are gentle and kind but I am still untrustworthy of other dogs. I guess the most important is for you to keep safe and to be safe. What if it were children this dog rushed at?
Sorry to hear you fell in the incident, hope you are ok now.
The other day my husband walked with me and we went by that house. He was hoping the dog would be outside and wanted to confront the owners. It wasn’t outside.
Since it has never chased me into the street, I don’t feel I have a reason to call Animal Control. Obviously it knows some boundaries.
But you are right about it scaring kids…
I may have to rethink my stand on this. Thank you for the input!