My next door neighbour came to me today with a problem with her dog. You see about a year ago he attacked their cat and killed it it was a horrible mess basically what happened was the dog spooked the cat the cat ran he ran after the cat and that poor cats fate was sealed at that point.

Anyway they have bought a new cat and are worried he will do the same apparently the other day he chased the cat but the cat got away in time. The dog will also bite only men. To me this says bad socialisation with men but she isnt buying it she says the dog is untrainable HA untrainable no dog is untrainable and i told her this and she just shrugged. Anyway i suggested to her that maybe she consider nuetering to settle him down because he is always escaping and i live near a school and he chases the school kids and seens he bites men and mauled a cat im figuring it is only a matter of time before he mauls a child. I know why he is getting out everytime my girl goes into season he goes nuts next door he gets out even more then and tries to get into my yard which he has no hope of doing because i have very high fully fenced yard but he may get aggressive with a child or worse the elderly lady with the very elderly blue cattle across the road her fence isnt so high and he could very easily jump it. I have told her he needs training i have told her this takes time and patience and she seems to want an overnight fix so i dont know what the hell to tell the women except that she is the stupidist dog owner on the planet.

oh and i forgot to say that the other day he was chasing a 9 year old boy who was riding his bike home from school this boys was chased for 10 minutes by the dog until he reached his home dove of his bike and sprinted in side absolutely terrified the dog then went and ran havoc in the local dog walking park.

This dog needs to be reported to someone before he does bite a child. Do you have a dog warden where you are, or someone similar? They can give the owner help on how to keep the dog under control, before an terrible incident happens. I take it that she is not prepared to keep the dog in an enclosed run. This would be my first option. It needs to be retrained, and castration doesn't always work. Don't dogs that aren't to be used for breeding need to be neutered where you are? I seem to remember something about that. Sorry if I mix you up with someone else. I dread to think that this dog is passing on these aggressive genes. (shudder)

Yes they do need to be nuetered that doesnt mean every owner does it though if they a caught having an entire male my local council will fine her but the problem is getting them to actually come out and see what he is like i have called so many times and i know my other neighbours have too and they never come out they say they will and never do.

i remember this dog when he was a pup and he wasnt aggressive he was lovely im a firm believer in the majority of aggressive dogs is caused by the owner whether through not training or neglect or cruelty or just plain stupidness.

Basically the way i see it until this dog does bite someone the sheriff (what the warden is in my council) will not be coming out. However if i had a liter of pups here and they bark a little too much then i would have him at my door immediatly because im a breeder and known as a breeder but any tom dick and harry can own a dog and get away with a hell of alot because they arnt known by the local shire council.

I doubt she will put the dog in an enclosure because she wont even make sure the dog doesnt get out. Honestly im sick to death of this woman she come to me and complains about problems with her dog that could have been completely fixed if she had bothered with training 2 years ago now im not so sure if it will work.

surely an overnight fix would be  keeping it on the lead and muzzeling it when out?

he gets out by himself she never walks her dog she reackons cause she works all the time but i see her at the house more than not. He is definetly bored and needs entertainment

it amazes me they have bought another cat when their dog has already eaten the last one!

What about catching him and turning him into the local Dog Pound?

as i said he does bite and while he has only biten men so far i wouldnt trust it i need the sheriff to come out and catch him cause they have the tools to do it safely. Although everytime he has gotten out the owners eventually realise he is gone and go out with a bone or a peace of meat and get him to come back. Next time i see him out i might try with a peace of meat of my own and see if i can grab him i wouldnt take him to the pound though they would destroy him straight away i would prefer to see him go to the rspca because atleast they will evaluate him first to see if he can be retrained you know so at least he has a small chance with the rspca. I hate to see a dog not have a chance if there is a small possibility of changing him.

I wasnt at all suprised they got a new cat they are basically the people who walk past a pet shop see something cute and buy it on impulse. They arnt responsible pet owners at all.

i am gonna call the rspca and see if there is anything they can do now he is a little underweight so maybe they will do something because of that i cant say if he is getting fed regularly or not because my fences are to high to see if there is food and water out there for him but i do know they will always check into things like that so i will give it a go tommorow.

Neutering can only help with male to male aggression -it wouldn't stop it biting men or cats.

no it may stop him getting out so much though he has been getting out more and more lately and my cavalier has just started her first season (im letting her have a season on the advice of some people on this board and the vet)

Although she is safely locked away from him the children of this neighbourhood should not have to be terrified to come out of their homes. He has had puppies with their old female before (accident supposedly) so he knows the smell and knows what it means.

it is also the law in the shire council to which i live in

Why posessed your neighbour to get another cat after the dog savaged her previous one

Roni

this is obvioulsy a situation where the owner isnt sensible, which makes it very hard for you.She needs a good fence to start with, but it doesnt sound like she will do that as it will cost money! i have recently been in a situation where dogs were being neglected and it was hopeless trying to explain it to the owner....sadly it normally takes a bad incident to happen before action is taken. good luck.

Hi Slee,

Well you have tried to give some common sense advice to this woman but it obviously does not go in. I think you are very perseptive in seeing forthcoming dangers. I also agree with others about the poor cat, is this woman not just stupid but downright cruel.

If I were you and as you personaly are having no affect and apart from the usual chanels of reporting to the appropriate people. I would type out a very curt letter from the neighbourhood, stressing all the worries and concerns about this dog and pop it through her letter box.  It is amazing how someone will take notice of a letter not knowing who it has come from and yet if you were to speak to her personally take no notice.  Try it and see if you get any results.

.... what a tragic and far ranging set of problems and circumstances. I don't see there IS a quick fix or even a slow fix solution to all these things if the dog remins with his current owners. Its sad when one only has that to say, and yes the on a lead and muzzling suggestion is absolutely the only thing they can do in the short term. Long term this dog needs shot of the cat, shot of the woenr , shot of being shut up all day with no stimulation and long term work by someone with experience. It still might not work.

Just enlisting a behaviourist, even if they were open to the idea and cost, is not going to help long term unless the owners turn over not just a new leaf but a large, flourishing tree.

I imagine little if none of this is the fault of the dog. Dogs will chase cats. Dogs will fear bite when events leading up to it are condusive to it being 'a good idea at the time' to the dog.
I imagine some time in the future the dog will end up in rescue, and some well meaning rescue with a no kill policy will rehome him again, but one can only pray its to someone who seriously knows what they are doing.
Di

well i decided to give the rspca a call and see what they say. They told me they would visit the owner and assess the situation if they feel the situation can be improved/fixed they will help the owner they will give her a discount desexing option (which is basically the owners pay a $60.00 and the rspca pay around $100.00) also they will help with microchipping and vac because everyone is doubting he has had either . They will bring their behaviourist to assess him and we will see what happens.

Sometimes it only takes a visit from the rspca and the threat of taking their dog to snap an owner out of it.

I think getting him neutered will definately stop him escaping looking for in season bitches! It would take one very indifferent entire male dog to ignore an inseason bitch living right next door   Yes i know alot of you have entire dogs that this wouldnt bother,all i can say to that is lucky you :)

But it WON'T stop him escaping from sheer boredom (I agree he should be neutered though).

Dogs do not roam only because of bitches in season, if the poor dog doesn't get a walk he will take any chance he can to get out. Chasing cats is probably as exciting as his life gets.

Not sure where the OP is from as they mention getting the sherrif to deal with the dog but as a few other people have said, report it to the dog warden or even the police if you see any more incidents.

The poster, Slee, is from Australia, if you click on her name, it tells you.

Regards

J