so, for the last 2 years, i have walked my dogs past this one little house. Every day just about.
In this little house lives this feeble(seemingly) old lady, and her hideous overweight HUGE English Bulldogs. I mean hideous. And i love this breed.
They are both(2 eb's) at LEAST 30-50 lbs overweight-no kidding. There is zero definition, just a barrel with teeth.

well, every day, those dogs charge the fence when we walk by, snarling and biting the fence clawing at it, etc. My dogs have ALWAYS ignored this-in fact, even my dog aggressive Bart walks past them like *ignoring, ignoring, ignoring* because they know i will not tolerate fence fighting.

well, yesterday, i am just walking Capone and Roxie, which was a good thing(that i didn't have bart), and capone was apparently too close to this fence(which does run up to the sidewalk, there is not even an inch of space btw the fence and the sidewalk)-and out of nowhere, these 2 bulldogs come flying up to the fence, and grab Capone THROUGH THE FENCE!!!!!!!!

I mean, THEIR teeth were on my side of the fence, latched on to capone's bottom jaw. They would not let go-it was actually very still-just this dog clamped on my dog, my dog trying hard to pull away. So i can't do anything-the gate to the yard was locked-so i can't get in to pull this dog off. So i am throwing sticks at this lady's window-screaming "hello, get your dog", etc-FINALLY this lady hobbles out-and her dog lets go. Capone was LIVID, as was I. So i very politely tell this lady that her dog bit my dog, i show her the blood all over his face-and she goes-"i don't believe you". WTF????

Then she is all like, your dog bit mine! look at the blood on him.
Lady, that is my dogs blood.

well, my dog's face is too wide, he can't fit through the fence!
actually, his face didn't fit through, his TEETH did.
He doesn't have any teeth, he is 11 years old!
i am looking at 2 lower canines, and 2 uppers right there.
Well, he can't fit through the fence, look!(as she proceeds to shove the dogs face SIDEWAYS through the chain link fence)

ma'am, my dog didn't bite himself....

well, he's just a puppy.
what does that have to do with anything?
he's a puppy.
??????

(her dogs are still running the fence, barking, mine are by this point sitting beside me)

well, you need to get control of your vicious Pit Bull!(OH GOD!!!!!LOL, capone is not even a pit)

My dog is not a pit bull.

Your dog stuck his nose in my fence!

no he didn't. ma'am, if you are going to have your aggressive dogs outside, you need to supervise them.

they ARE supervised-they are in a fence.

????A fence is not supervised, a fence is containment. Supervised is eyes on dog.

they are on my property!

when you chose to have a fence that runs to the sidewalk-you become responsible for what your dogs are doing.

well-my dogs are trained!

they aren't trained, they attacked my dog!

no he didn't, he's trained.

(visual-the smaller EB is furiously humping the other right as she is saying this-i almost pissed my pants-it was hilarious)

on and on it goes.....

so i just start to leave, and she is still yelling that i should not walk my dogs when she has hers out-and so i ask her "well, what is your shcedual"?
and she's like "i don't have one"- so i ask how i am supposed to know when her dogs are out to not walk past-she just says-don't walk past here when mine are out.

so i am like "ok, your are just a crazy old lady"
and she goes"Well, you are just an, an an old b*tch!"
"What, i'm not old!"
"Anyone who sticks bars through their face is an old b*tch!"(i have facial piercings)
"Whatever"

So i am leaving-and i hear:
"That white dog(capone)is VERY skinny. You need to feed your dog"
Personally I feel capone is looking good-yes-you can see some ribs-so what!
"He is very skinny-i am going to call Animal Control"
"Ma'am, go ahead-you have no clue what my name is-or where i live, maybe while they are here, they can tell you how morbidly obese your dogs are".....

so i get to the park to meet up with some friends to take our dogs swimming- this is the first time one of them has seen Capone-and i hear"wow, that dog is so skinny...."
(he really isn't).
And of course, her Weimy is also overweight.........



so now for the actual questions-
what do you do with aggressive dogs that are on their own property, but can still contact your dog, aside from walking somewhere else?

If i had maced this dog-would it be legal, seeing as how the dog was still on her property?

when the dog is clamped on to yours like that-how do you separate them?
I couldn't get to the other dog to grab the back legs, and honestly-i don't think it would have mattered. Bulldogs were bred to clamp and hold on, even through a bull tossing them and throwing them around....

capone is fine-but that same day-those same dogs(who supposedly NEVER charge at people) charged at 2 of my friends who were waling by(this house is between 2 campus buildings), biting the fence, etc.

How do you handle something like that?

How did your dog get close enough to be bitten? Why was your dog that close? ???

(I admit that the length of the post and of the quotes discouraged me,despite the warning. )

sorry-if you enjoy long reads, it's pretty funny....

the fence touches the sidewalk. Capone was walking beside me, and was touching the fence-barely, but enough for these dogs to grab skin.

if i had seen them out i would have put him on my other side, but they like to sun in hidden places(there is a lot of junk in that yard), so i didn't even know they were out till they were at the fence. Normally, they hear us coming first-and are already barking by the time we get to the fence, but they are getting older and probably can't hear us coming as much.

I would SO not be walking past on that side of the street after two years of witnessing fence-attacking.


BTW, if the dog(s) inside can bite someone (or a dog) through the fence, then I'd be on the phone to animal control.

Why dont you report so that, just in case,you are on record that your dog was the one bitten (maybe take pictures of your dog if theres any marks?) not to make a huge deal but just in case...
And maybe ask the police dept what the regulations would be about macing a dog in its own yard (explaining the situation and adding that what if it had been you they bit through the fence...)

yeah-i won't be walking by there anymore.
I seriously considered reporting it-but then, seeing as how her dogs were in a fence, and my dog is a "pit bull" look alike, here at least, if a pit(or similar looking dog) is involved, it is that dogs fault-no matter what. And Capone really wasn't hurt-nothing that would really even be seen after i got home and cleaned him up.

and believe it or not(lol), i really do not like drama. Though i always get involved in it anyways.

she actually said "do you want me to open the gate and let them out and see who attacks who?"

WHAT?????


yeah, do that. Lets have 4 big and/or heavy dogs involved in a fight-while you are like 90, and can't even bend over.....and leave my to break it up. That's a great idea.

She sounds awful! I would have reported her either to Animal Control or the Police. If you do not like confrontation (I know I don't) that is what the Police are for, to mediate those situations. Definately check into your city ordinances for dog ownership responsibilities. Mine are available online through the city web site.

In my town, sidewalks are considered public access. We get ticketed if you don't have them cleared of snow within 24 hours so people can walk on them. The public has a right to walk on that sidewalk without being attacked or scared to death, but until the situation is resolved, crossing the street is good advice.

OK, now I need to calm down 1..2..3..4..5...

Good luck!

Sandy

I'm sorry Capone was bit, but since you already know the dogs come to the fence, walk your dog on your other side while you pass by, or across the street. Just put some distance between you and the fence.

As far as macing the dogs in their own yard....no, that wouldn't be right....you were too close to them.

sorry, i LOL'd at the 'bars through their face' comment....eeesh.

i would definitely not walk past there again, but i would also call AC and report it - the dogs were not under control, and attacked an off-property dog. i know you're more hesitant b/c capone looks like a pit (eeesh again....man people are dumb), but i've reported dogs that ran off property and at luc (i kicked them away, but wth! can't we walk down the street) and they never came to look at my dog, so....it might not be an issue.

My foster dog (65 lbs) was attacked by an offleash dog in a park behind my house. (Mine was on leash). I must say you handled it well because I was ***SO*** upset, I called the police immediately when I got home and was crying so much I was hardly coherent. Unfortunately I didn't have the advantage of knowing where my attacker lived so AC can't do anything. I know a where a woman lives who has walked this dog for its owner and of course she is pleading ignorance.

I took my dog to the vet and he didn't need stitches but the fact that he was bleeding really got to me. (The dog was decidedly less disturbed about the incident than I).

If I were you I would call the police and animal control NOW and report this. There should be at least a complaint on file against her.

I mean, if it were my dogs who did this (yes, I have fence fighters and my yard backs on a park where idiots walk their dogs off lead along the fence line), I would at LEAST ask if the dog is OK and try to make it right. I do take responsibility for my dogs even when they are in my yard. I have a dog that I know is a fence jumper so, he is always on leash even in my yard.

If she had at least shown concern, it would be different. But she tried repeatedly to blame you for the incident. I guess it is up to you and how you feel about Capone being bitten by her dogs.

Yes, cross the street, and maybe you should have been already. Yes, she should have her fence back from the sidewalk, so that passing dogs don't harrass her dogs (it's not fair to them to get worked up/defensive like that all the time - I know, because I have the situation with my dogs. Even if your dog doesn't pay them any mind, those EB's think they have to defend their territory. That's why fence fighting is so common). But what's done is done.