The Mad Librarian
April 22, 2003
Post #1628 – 20030422
I have a question for you about dogs, well one dog in particular.
Whenever I walk home there is one house where lives a rotweiler. He is not leashed by his owners and his gate is no problem for him. I have numerous times been accosted by him because he jumped over the gate and came charging. I tend to get across the street and the dog does not leave the edge of the street. He comes to the very edge and stops there. I have gone to the owners and asked politely that they put a leash on this dog or otherwise restrain it. There response is to tell me that the dog is gentle and will not hurt me. I am not so sure about that. This dog is huge and tends to snarl and bark and menace me. I can move pretty fast, but their are children on the block and maybe they can’t. Is there an effective way to tell this dog to back off or to make it do so? I am not wanting to go to the police just yet, but it is getting to that.
You know dogs, any advice on dealing with rotweillers?
Daniel replies:
I'm not touching this, Mad. At long distance, I have no way of knowing if the dog is a potential danger or not, or whether your behavior is appropriate or may exacerbate the situation. Why not walk on the other side of the street? If it were me, I'd ask the owners to supervise and endorse my making friends with the dog, and I'd carry a biscuit for him, which he could only have on his side of the gate. That's me. It may not be you. Sorry I can't be of more help on this.