DOGS

[runforrestrun]

does anyone know who to call to report a dog that barks and charges people who walk/run by?  I was out for a run today on Smith Road, which is a windy road that runs west off of hwy. 62 towards Stirling.  It is a very quiet, country road with very little traffic.  As I was running by a house a huge german shepherd came charging at me, barking like mad, and scared the living daylights out of me.  I should add that I am absolutely terrified of dogs that I do not know and especially when they come charging at me like this one did.  The owner (who was in his front yard, but about 100 yds from me) hollered at his dog, and then asked if I was ok.  I must say that this show of concern impressed me a wee bit.  I have had other situations where dogs have done the same thing to me and the owners could have cared less.  This man seemed quite concerned and seemed to feel bad.  I told him that if he had ANY idea how much his dog had just scared me, he would have him tied up.  As I continued my run I thought a lot about the situation and chose to give the owner the benefit of the doubt.  I wanted to assume that this was a first...maybe the dog was new or young or whatever...I love dogs and I wanted to believe that this man genuinely felt bad that his dog had behaved that way.  Well, tonight as I was telling my story to a neighbour, she told me that not only had the same thing happened to her at the same house, but the dog actually jumped on her.  Can you imagine a GERMAN SHEPHERD jumping on you in that situation?  Honestly, I would need a ride home...I wouldn't be able to continue my run!!!  So, can I "report" this dog owner to anyone?  And will they actually do something about him?  I beiieve we all have the right to walk down any road without fear of a dog attacking  us.

[cpgirl]

Hi there....definitely know how scary this can be!  A very similar situation happened to me--we ended up calling the police and basically we were put in contact with a bylaw officer who took down all the information and then sent a letter of "warning" to the dog owners.  It does depend on the situation though--the bylaw officer told us that he would look up the owners and see if there were any other complaints but if it was the first one, it is a warning and then more action would be taken if there were multiple complaints.

I hope this helps.  This is what we experienced in Brighton, but I would assume something the same would happen in your neck of the woods :)

Laura

[Kate]

Call the police.
If they cannot help you, they will definitely point you in the right direction.
It is VERY important that the incident be reported.  As cpgirl mentioned, animal attacks (or almost attacks) are kept track of by every municipality.

[Sandy]

We had a problem with a neighbours dog that ran free and would circle then charge at kids.  It was a couple of years ago so I can't remember the exact process and how we arrived at it but it ended up being dealt with by animal control.

[runforrestrun]

thanks, and I will make sure my neighbour puts in a call to the police too...so they don't think it's "just me"...or that I am over reacting.  I just cannot, for the life of me, imagine owning a dog like that, and not keeping it tied up.  I have a small terrier who wouldn't hurt ANYONE, but he's quite yappy at strangers and will run at people walking by our house.  The first time he did it was the very LAST....I felt SO awful....the poor lady that he ran at and barked at could not have been nicer.  She was a real dog lover and totally took the side of my dog!!!  She was very kind and very understanding and not scared at all...BUT all I could think about was, WHAT IF she had been the type (like me!) that is very afraid of strange dogs??  That incident happened about a month after we got him and he has never, ever been allowed out in our front yard without a leash.  You would think that people would know better....

[NancyR]

That would have been really frightening, and then to find out it has happened to your neighbour too... the dog should be tied up or in a fenced environment, not sure what the rules are but it has to be one of those!! Glad you weren't hurt.

Nancy

[Craig]

Just imagine how much worse it could have been had you been on your bike and been startled by that dog.

People just don't seem to understand that their dogs are not allowed to step foot off of their property unless they are on a leash.

Absolutely make sure you register a complaint.

http://www.city.belleville.on.ca/RESIDENTSERVICES/PETSANIMALCONTROL/Pages/AnimalControl.aspx

[king]

I'm not sure if you can still buy it but I have dog spray that I bought at a pet / food store and is small enough to carry running etc. and it will stop a german sheppard in it's tracks ( yes works for sure!! )