This never has been a problem for us. Our neighbors dog, Buddy a 65 pound Lab mix, Is very friendly and he gets walked everyday. Well just a couple of minutes ago it did.

My Mom was in the kitchen when she happened to open the door and our two cats, who were hanging out in the garage with the door open, came flying in with Buddy right behind them. The cats ran all through out the countertops and floor breaking glasses trying to get away and it about gave my mother a heart attack. Thankfully Gunner, our dog, was too lazy to get up and start a fight and no one got hurt.

This has caused me to re-think having a talk with the owners because this can cause some serious problems with our cats and my future puppy. If he cannot control his dog, and even worse walks him offleash with nothing (not even a regular flat collar), then he could start a fight with my future puppy while I take him for a walk. We also have three other dogs in our neighborhood that are offleash, and unsupervised, everyday. One of them is our next door neighbor's beagle who is very dog agressive. Funny thing is The owner of Buddy talks about dominance and everything like he is some sort of Dog Guru, He has owned many dogs but unsurprisingly they all have problems ranging from biting kids to chasing cats. I think when I start buying the 14 Leerburg DVD's I want I need to let him watch them also!

Should I tell them asap to start walking their dogs onleash and stop letting them out if they are not on a leash or wait until a couple of months before I get my puppy? I'm pretty sure I will ask asap because I do not want my cats to get hurt.

You can TRY talking, but I wouldn't hesitate to drop a dime if that doesn't work. Video evidence can't hurt, either. The sooner the better.

If the U.S is like New Zealand a simple telephone call to dog controll, your name shouldn't be released and get this stopped.
I have had the same thing happen to me.
Good Luck

What exactly will happen if I call animal control? Will the dog, or dogs, get taken away? Or will the owners get some sort of fine/warning? I can easily get video of all the dogs offleash by the end of the week. Only one, Buddy, is walked off leash. Two others are just let out the door. And the last gets out of her lead everyday but they have not done anything about it, like getting her a harness instead.

I would call and ask before making the complaint.

Ok I will call tomorrow.

Generally, animal control would have to see the dogs running loose before actually taking the dogs to the shelter. If they get complaints from neighbors (a video is a great idea), they would most likely talk to your neighbor/s about the leash law in your area. But, if the neighbor denies walking without a leash (again a video is a good idea) it becomes your word against his.

We have problem neighbors also who have dogs they just let (or who get) loose. The Boxer is especially dog aggressive and has a high prey drive. The other day it almost killed anothr neighbor's cat that was just lying on a chair on its front porch when the Boxergrabbed it and started shaking it. Luckly someone was there and able to get the dog to drop the cat, who will recover. When animal control was called the neighbor denied it was their dog and since only the cat's owner saw what occurred it was considered her word against his (the AC officer did not believe the dog's owner but could do no more without more witnesses).

We had a Boxer in our neighborhood, he died a month or two ago, and he would literally hunt down cats. There were times we had to stay outside for hours at night to let the cat come down the tree without Obie getting it.

I was hoping I could remain anonymous since we are friends with these neighbors and I like all the dogs, except the dog agressive beagle. I guess I will just have a talk with out neighbor first and explain the situation. Hopefully he does not go into all kind of stuff like why would your puppy fight Buddy he is so nice blah blah blah.

My dogs name is Gunner, too. That's all

I was an ACO. It depends on the laws in your town. In my town dogs could be walked off leash under owners control-I interpreted that to be at heel at the knee, others interpreted it to recall when the owner calls so its very variable. If AC went out, depending on the officer, they would advise of the complaint, advise of local and state laws. Investigate for violations and check rabies and license status-they possibly could issue citations for infractions. I didn't read the whol;e thread on this, but it is possible to take out a dangerous dog complaint if owners are not receptive to controlling their dog, it is basically an informal hearing where if found in violation the town can place enforceable restrictions on the dog and owner. Good luck.