Inconsiderate neighbor and their dog

[Draco]

More of a rant, advice thread if you will bear with me.

My neighbor across the hall from me is new. a few months new. They have this small dog.. a pom, or yorki or shtiz tu.. one of those tiny yappy dogs. I would say it's about 5 lbs,

The dog does yap when they're not home, and I do hear it in my apartment when it's quiet. It's OK, I keep the tv on anyway and I don't hear the dog, and when I am asleep, my hearing aids are out, so the yapping doesn't bother me. I feel bad for the neighbors next to them!

What DOES bother me, is how aggressive it is. Example. Today I went outside to toss some books by the trash for people to pick up.. I went back in, up the stairs.. and she comes down the stairs with the yappy dog. She sees me, but continues down. The dog lunges towards me, leashed, growling, snarling and yapping at me. She didn't pull the dog back as she goes down, and I am pressed up against the railing as not to get bitten. She didn't bother to pull the dog away from me, but she DID stop, probably to make small chat with me, but the dog was just inches from me, growling, lunging and snapping at me. I love dogs, but I lied to her saying "I don't like small dogs!" and she finally pulled her dog away and continued down the stairs. I felt saying "Control your dog" would be too rude, but now I am not sure.

Seriously.. if owners sees their dogs lunging, growling and barking at another person, they should take control! Turn the dog away or something. I could swear this dog would've bitten me if he got close enough. I am sure it was protecting its owner as it should, but geesh.

There's neighbors with friendly dogs that I allow to come up to me to pet and play with, and these dogs are clearly friendly.. tail wagging, seeking attention, quietly. This yapper.. a little 5 pound ball of fluff, scared the crap out of me.

How can I tell this person to train their dog, or at least keep it away from me without sounding like a nasty, mean neighbor? I want to be friends with her and her daughter, but it's hard with their aggressive pup.

I liked the apartment before it allowed dogs. Main reason why I moved here.. no dogs. Now I am stepping in dog poo that people failed to clean up.. seeing yellow spots on the lawn from pee.. and don't forget the barking.

 

[catsallaround]

There is just this "I have a small dog I don't need to train it" thing I HATE.  What is the policy on animals-some places you need pre approval and others take any animal.  I would say write a complaint to the office-maybe have a few others do it at the same time.  It is a liability issue if it bites.  5lbs or 105 lbs.  Both can get infected and in a person with compromised immune system or a kid can be so bad.

If this is only your home a little while longer I would probably ignore it but if you plan to stay I would do something now.

Any chance you can bring up the local obedience school(maybe a pet store or shelter has classes and talk about your cats/why you donate and how much they have helped) or have a nice trained dog over and talk about how it completed xyz course?
 

 

[Draco]

I don't think I could talk to my other neighbors about the dog. Next to me, he and his room mates are mentally ill in some form and they don't quite understand what's going on. I tried talking to one of them earlier and he just gave me a blank stare and said "The dog is crazy" and nothing else.

The neighbors below me, I don't know them except for one who's never home, so I know it wont bother her. If I see the neighbor next to the yapper, I'll ask her. I am not exactly on "knock the door to say hi" terms with any of the neighbors.

I will be here for a while though. I am considering slipping a note under the owner's door saying please control the dog and keep it quiet in a nice way or something.. and maybe an obedience pamplet..

 

[nerdrock]

More of a rant, advice thread if you will bear with me.

My neighbor across the hall from me is new. a few months new. They have this small dog.. a pom, or yorki or shtiz tu.. one of those tiny yappy dogs. I would say it's about 5 lbs,

The dog does yap when they're not home, and I do hear it in my apartment when it's quiet. It's OK, I keep the tv on anyway and I don't hear the dog, and when I am asleep, my hearing aids are out, so the yapping doesn't bother me. I feel bad for the neighbors next to them!

What DOES bother me, is how aggressive it is. Example. Today I went outside to toss some books by the trash for people to pick up.. I went back in, up the stairs.. and she comes down the stairs with the yappy dog. She sees me, but continues down. The dog lunges towards me, leashed, growling, snarling and yapping at me. She didn't pull the dog back as she goes down, and I am pressed up against the railing as not to get bitten. She didn't bother to pull the dog away from me, but she DID stop, probably to make small chat with me, but the dog was just inches from me, growling, lunging and snapping at me. I love dogs, but I lied to her saying "I don't like small dogs!" and she finally pulled her dog away and continued down the stairs. I felt saying "Control your dog" would be too rude, but now I am not sure.

Seriously.. if owners sees their dogs lunging, growling and barking at another person, they should take control! Turn the dog away or something. I could swear this dog would've bitten me if he got close enough. I am sure it was protecting its owner as it should, but geesh.

There's neighbors with friendly dogs that I allow to come up to me to pet and play with, and these dogs are clearly friendly.. tail wagging, seeking attention, quietly. This yapper.. a little 5 pound ball of fluff, scared the crap out of me.

How can I tell this person to train their dog, or at least keep it away from me without sounding like a nasty, mean neighbor? I want to be friends with her and her daughter, but it's hard with their aggressive pup.

I liked the apartment before it allowed dogs. Main reason why I moved here.. no dogs. Now I am stepping in dog poo that people failed to clean up.. seeing yellow spots on the lawn from pee.. and don't forget the barking.

As a responsible dog owner, this is something that really pisses me off - we have it here too - and one of the reasons that a lot of places will no longer allow dogs/pets at all. 

If you have a space where you can discretely take photos of the dogs pooping and their owners not cleaning it up, take some and show them to the management at your building. I'm positive there is something in their lease or the general pet rules there about having to clean up after your pets. However, please be understanding about times when the dogs in your building may have the runs. It's courteous for the owner to make an effort to clean it up, but honestly, it's near impossible to pick it up when it's all liquid. I always have a bottle of water with me and if my dogs have a liquid poop that I can't clean up I pour the water over it to at least kind of clean it. Sorry for being a bit graphic there but I've had people yell at me for not picking up liquid poo - honestly, it's like trying to empty water out of a boat with a colander. 

As for the yappy thing - what kind of leash is it on. Is it a regular leash or a flexi lead? If it's flexi, try talking to the management in the building and see if you can't get them to ban flexi leads on the property by stating that your leash has to be no longer than 6 feet (standard leash length). Flexi leads are a huge problem; the owner has no control over the dog when it's 16-23 feet away from them, they snap easily, owners don't pay attention with them, etc. 

I would also be polite with the new neighbours, for now, and ask if you can give their dog a treat when you see it. Pick up some small cheap treats - Benny Bullies are great and you can give them to your cats too. When you see the neighbour with the dog, try to remain calm and just toss a treat towards the dog. Each time you do, most slightly closer. Since you've had dogs before, I'm assuming you know something about dog posture and will be able to tell if the dog is likely to lunge or bite? When the dog appears comfortable with you, start kneeling down and tossing the treats to the dog, each time a bit closer to you until you can have him take one from your hand (palm flat, face up with the treat in the middle, like if you were giving a horse a treat). All of this has to be done slowly and could take a long time, but the dog will start to view you as someone who gives him good things and should stop barking like a fool and lunging over time. 

It really doesn't sound like they socialized the dog at all when it was younger and haven't bothered training it. This happens a lot with small dogs because people tend to baby them a lot more than larger dogs, then you have problems like the one you're describing. I have small dogs, I baby them, but I also make sure that they are trained and safe to be around other people. 

I know it's also really warm out right now, but it might help if you wore jeans when you're doing these exercises with the dog until he's comfortable with you. A small dog bite will usually not go through jeans and you'll just end up with a bit of a bruise if he does make contact with skin through jeans. Most likely, he'd just end up biting fabric. 

Maybe also pick up a few small packages of dog treats and a small toy, then go over and introduce yourself and say you wanted to welcome them and their dog to the building. That will give you a chance at small talk and you can tell her that you were once attacked by a small dog (or something like that). The owner will be likely to remember you and more concious about her dog's behaviour. 

 

[rafm]

This always drives me nuts. I have a small dog and she is very well trained. As I always say, just because it's a small dig doesn't mean it shouldn't be trained. So many people that get small dogs do it as a fashion accessory and don't realize it's a living creature that takes work.

I think nerd rock gave you some good advice. Sorry you are having to deal with this.

 

[Draco]

Next time I see the manager, I will bring it up to her (today's a holiday, she's not in). and I will, again, suggest signs reminding owners to pick up after their dogs and mention that to the manager too.

The leash I think it was a standard leash, not stretchy or anything. standard leash for small dogs I'd guess? I just don't want to be the one to avoid them by going in the opposite direction every time. 

as for treating the dog to help it become friendlier towards me, that sounds like too much effort. It's like ME training the dog when it should be THEM. I'm sorry, unless the owner wants to become closer friends with me, I have no intentions on training their dog for them, for their error of not training it in the first place. and why should I spend my money or risk tearing my jeans on a neighbor's under-socialized dog?

That may sound petty on my part, but it's the owner's responsibility to make sure the dog doesn't attack anyone, not mine. If she asks me to help, then I'll be glad to. but I have a feeling she and I won't be close to become on of those "knock on the door for some coffee" neighbors. I'd love to get to know the neighbors more without the yappy dog in between us.

 

[denice]

It is true that many people don't train their small dogs, the only time I have been bitten was by a small dog that had not been trained or socialized and was spoiled rotten.  I have seen people out with these small dogs on flexi leashes which just adds to the problem.  Many people think it is so cute that their little dogs run up to a large dog barking and snarling until a large dog has enough of it and retaliates.  Of course in the small dog owner's mind it is all the fault of the big mean dog and their owner that didn't control their dog.

 

[rafm]

Oh yes, don't even get me started on flexi-leashes. I hate them and they serve no purpose other than to make it easier on the owner not train their dog how to walk on a leash. My 19 lb mix pup walks at my heal on a 4 ft lead without pulling. It was a long process getting her there but is so worth it. I am always amazed when people comment on how 'good' my dog is when theirs is lunging and barking and hacking, then they inevitably say "I wish my dog was good like that". When they give me that opening I always say "well, it's just a lot of time spent training".

Draco, you are much nicer than me, I would tell the woman to train her dog and get it under control. I will not risk being bitten so as not to offend anyone, why would I worry about offending them when they obviously have no concerns about putting me in danger. I went to a coworkers house once and her Pomeranian came after me the second I walked in the door...ripped the leg of my jeans in fact. While it was shaking my jeans, I kicked it off me. The owner thought it was funny, I was pi$$ed and told her so. The dog steered clear of me the rest of the visit and I never went back to her house.

I've spent a lot of time and money making sure my small dog can be around anyone, any dog and in any situation, as any responsible dog owner should do. Our big dog was child and cat aggressive when we got him, he's come a very long way in the 11 years he's been with us but we can't risk him hurting anyone so we muzzle him when he will be in public and keep him under tight watch when he's in the yard (on the off chance he gets out somehow). I will not put others at risk because he is aggressive. And I won't put him in danger of having to be euthanized for biting someone. That is what being a responsible pet owner is.

Sorry, this a huge soapbox issue for me. Don't get a dog if you aren't willing to put in the time, effort and money to have a healthy, happy, well-adjusted dog. They don't raise themselves.

 

[Draco]

saw the dog again this morning. The owner walked by with a hello, but did not pull her yapping dog away from me. Again, a foot away from me. ugh.

 

[denice]

It sounds like she has fallen into the trap that a lot of people with small dogs fall into. She thinks of the dog like a human baby and has him spoiled rotten. She thinks everything he does is cute and so everyone else thinks he's cute too.  You don't see that so much with owners of larger dogs. Somewhere along the way that dog is going to charge the wrong large dog and be badly hurt or worse and she is going to cause all kinds of problems for the owner of the large dog.  Some people don't care for or are scared of dogs that's just the way it is and owners like this need to respect that. 

 

[weldrwomn]

How will she know that you have a problem with her dog unless you say something to her?  Maybe she is so used to this behavior, she doesn't see it.  I am not trying to excuse the lack of training or socialization, but I think that a direct approach is better.  Say something to her.  If that doesn't work, then go to management or just avoid her.