What Can You Do About Your Neighbor’s Aggressive Dog?


What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog?

Encountering an aggressive dog is one of the scariest things anyone experience, but what if this is your daily life because your neighbor has an aggressive dog? Dealing with neighbor’s aggressive dogs is scary; however, you are not entirely helpless.

So, what can you do about your neighbor’s aggressive dog?

There are four steps that you should follow if your neighbor’s dog is aggressive. They are the following:

  1. If you know who the owner is, talk to them.
  2. Take notes of the dog’s actions and aggressive behaviors and revisit your neighbor.
  3. Contact animal control authorities.
  4. If animal control does not help, then it is time for you to go to the media.

If you want to know what to do about your neighbor’s aggressive dog or you know someone who needs to know how to deal with a neighbor’s aggressive dog, then continue reading this article and send that someone you know this article as well.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

What can you do about your neighbor’s aggressive dog?

If you find yourself asking the following question: “What can I do about my neighbor’s aggressive dog?”, then I have got the four things that you can do if your neighbor’s dog is aggressive.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog- An aggressive dog

But before I get into talking about what these things are about, it is important to sit back and think if you or the other neighbors are acting in ways that are triggering your neighbor’s dog aggressive behaviors.

For example, are there kids in your neighborhood who throw sticks and stones at the dog? If that is the case, then you should go talk to the kid’s parents and not the dog’s owner because the dog is just defensive and scared.

If you conclude that your actions, as well as the neighborhood’s actions, have nothing to do with the aggressive behavior of your neighbor’s dog, then it is time for you to follow these four steps.

Step number one: If you know who the owner is, talk to them

First things first, you should reach out to the neighbor who has an aggressive dog and have a friendly talk with them.

If the person who owns the aggressive dog does not live right next to you and you do not who they are, then ask your neighbors for help to figure out who the neighbor is and where their house is. Now that you know where the neighbor lives, you can pay them a friendly visit.

If you already know who the owner is, then you have just saved yourself some time. Arrange av visit with them, and when you are talking to them about the issues that their aggressive dog is causing, do it in a courteous, friendly, and educational way.

Saying something like: “I know that you might know this, but when your “insert dog’s name here” roams our neighborhood, he tends to act a bit aggressively.”

“Insert dog’s name here” is probably a lovely dog and is well-behaved when they are with you. If there is anything that you could do to keep your beloved dog more securely confined to your yard, the other neighbors and I would really appreciate it.

Step number two: Take notes of the dog’s actions and aggressive behaviors and visit your neighbor again

After you visit your neighbor the first time, give them some time to work on improving their dog’s behavior. It is important to note that aggressive behaviors can be fixed immediately. In the meantime, take notes of every negative outcome that results from the dog’s aggressive behavior.

Taking photos and video clips of the dog’s aggressive behavior would also be helpful.

See if the neighbor has tried to keep their dog inside their yard, or is the aggressive dog roaming the neighborhood freely and alone.

If the lists of incidents do not go down, then it is time for you to revisit your neighbor. Again, make sure that you are friendly and not threatening while talking to your neighbor.

If the neighbor has not attempted to make any changes and is no longer interested in hearing about your concerns, then it is, unfortunately, time for you to contact animal control authorities.

Step number three: Contact animal control authorities

Since you have already done the neighborly thing and tried to resolve the issue with the neighbor a couple of times and no changes were made, you can now contact the animal control authorities.

Since you have been taking notes, photos, video clips, you now have a lot of details and proof regarding this situation.

All of the information and proof you have gathered will be important because you should give animal control authorities as much information regarding the situation as possible.

Things like specific dates of incidents, where the incidents happened, and any video and photo proof will be beneficial.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog- An aggressive dog

Chances are, you are not the only one in your neighborhood who is concerned about your neighbor’s aggressive dog, so ask them to get involved and encourage them to contact animal control as well.

Unfortunately, sometimes those who pick the phone when you call animal control are not concerned with the situation that you are reporting. In that case, request to follow up with a supervisor.

Make sure to take notes of the conversations that you have with the animal control employees. Details like the date and time at which you spoke with them, the name of the employees that you have talked to, and what you’ve discussed with them are all things that you should write down.

If animal control is still not taking any actions to address your concerns, then it is time for you to pull out your last card. You now should let the administrators of animal control know that you are going to go public with the current situation.

Step number four: If animal control does not help, then it is time for you to go to the media

I hope you are never in a position where you need to use this step, but if all of the previous steps fail, then you have to take action and take your concerns to the media. Sometimes, all it takes is an articulate letter or a phone call to a local tv station or a newspaper reporter.

If the situation goes public, animal control centers or other similar organizations are going to be pressured to take action. Your neighbor might feel compelled to take action.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

What to do if an aggressive dog is approaching you?

If an aggressive dog is approaching you, make sure that you do the following:

  • Make sure that you are always alert
  • Avoid running away or screaming at the dog
  • If you get attacked, shield yourself.
  • If the dog bites, do not pull away from the dog.

Number one: Make sure that you are always alert

One of the most vital tips that end up saving many people’s lives is staying alert. Being aware of what is happening in your surroundings at all times will help you notice if there is an aggressive dog ahead of you. If you see or hear a growling dog nearby, avoiding going near their territory.

Number two: Avoid running away or screaming at the dog

Screaming or running away are the typical responses that humans typically exhibit when they are scared of something. However, one must not do these things when an aggressive dog is approaching them.

Running or scream might actually make the dog more aggressive and make the dog attack them right away or sooner than expected. Instead of doing that, avoid eye contact and just start backing away slowly until you are in a safe area that is a bit far away from the dog.

Number three: If you get attacked, shield yourself

If the aggressive dog gets too close and starts attacking you, you must try not to panic. Instead, you should react quickly and use something that you have with you to shield yourself from the attack.

It could be your backpack or even your jacket. Anything that is big will work. The point is to get something between you and the dog who is attacking you.

If the dog ends up biting the bag or the jacket that you have shielded yourself with, then leave it to them, slowly back away, then run while they are distracted with the thing that they are biting into.

Number four: If the dog bites, do not pull away from the dog

If you do not have anything with you to shield yourself and the dog ends up biting you, please do not attempt to pull away from them. If you pull away from the dog, the dog will feel challenged and will bite you even harder.

Hitting the dog is not the solution, try to put anything between you and the dog even if it is small, or spray them with whatever spray that you have in your bag.

When you get out of that situation, follow these steps:

  1. First, wash the wound properly with antibacterial soap and water.
  2. Next, contact emergency services if your wound is painful or if it is swelling.
  3. Then, if the dog belongs to someone, go to them and learn about the dog’s vaccination status
  4. Finally, report this incident to local authorities and a veterinarian, so the dog gets checked.
What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

How can I know if a dog is dangerous by looking at them?

An aggressive dog

If a dog shows the following signs, then it probably means that they are displaying aggression behaviors:

  • If the dog is giving hard and direct stares
  • If the dog is leaning forwards
  • If the dog freezes
  • If the dog is growling
  • If the dog is snarling
  • If the dog pricks their ears
  • If the dog becomes stiff or rigid.
  • If the dog bares their teeth

Now that we have discussed some of the physical body changes that can be signs of aggression in dogs, it is time for us to talk about actions that aggressive dogs engage in.

  • If a dog bites another person or another animal and ends up puncturing their skin, then this is an aggressive dog.
  • If a leashed dog lunges aggressively towards a person or even other animals, and if their owner seems to be losing control of their dog, then this is an aggressive dog.
  • If a dog or a pack of dogs is roaming freely and they have chased or even threatened any person or other animals in the neighborhood, then this is an aggressive dog or an aggressive dog pack.
What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

The tragic story of a woman who was killed by the neighbor’s aggressive dogs

Back in 2003, a forty years old woman who lived in a small ranching community in Denver, Colorado was killed. A pack of three aggressive dogs, all of who belonged to one neighbor, were the ones who killed her.

This pack of aggressive dogs was renowned to be always walking freely in that small ranching community in Denver. These three dogs are still threatening the safety of this community’s residents.

The same pack has also seriously injured one of the neighbors of that same woman they killed.

The people who live in that community had an emergency phone network that they use to warn each other if those dogs were loose before anyone thinks about leaving their house.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

Other questions related to what can I do about my neighbor’s aggressive dog

How do I complain about neighbor’s barking dog?

Before you file a noise complaint, there are a few things that you can do to attempt resolving this issue. These things include the following:

  1. Talking to your neighbor about the issue.
  2. Using a dog whistle whenever the dog barks loudly for prolonged periods 

What to do if I see my neighbor’s aggressive dog in my yard?

If you see your dog’s aggressive dog in your yard, try to stay calm and start to back away very slowly. Do not scream or yell at the aggressive dog as this is going to agitate them more. Instead, talk to the dog in a soothing tone without looking them in the eyes. Looking into the eyes of an aggressive dog might make them attack you.

How to handle aggression in dogs?

  • Take your dog to the vet
  • Contact a dog trainer or behaviorist
  • Come up with and implement a plan with the help of the previously mentioned professionals
  • Consider medication if the veterinarian recommends it
  • Avoid being too excited during playtime

If you are interested in learning about how a dog owner should deal with aggressive dogs, then I highly recommend that you check out our Ultimate Guide to Dealing with Aggressive Dogs blog post.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

That’s it for today’s post. You should now know what to regarding your neighbor’s aggressive dog. To sum it, you should do the following things:

  1. If you know who the owner is, talk to them.
  2. Take notes of the dog’s actions and aggressive behaviors and revisit your neighbor.
  3. Contact animal control authorities.
  4. If animal control does not help, then it is time for you to go to the media.

If you know someone who always says, “My neighbor’s dog is aggressive,” then send them a link to my article to help them out.

What Can You Do About Your Neighbor's Aggressive Dog? |

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