Having Aggressive Animals Around People

[KellyHabersham]

This post reminds me of a dog which some of my relatives used to have - from what I understand, they went to a shelter which (or so my sister said) did NOT do the "proper" tests/screening for behavioral issues, and chose a dog which had been adopted out & returned twice before.

As it turned out, Sheba was not good around other animals.......they joined us at our cabin for the July 4th holiday every summer, and we always ended up having to keep her separated from my mom's dogs because they would fight. (meanwhile, my relatives never seemed to get why this was an issue)

Sheba also had a tendency to randomly growl and to try to bite people, so whenever we had get-togethers at their house, they'd often either have a muzzle on her or have to put her in a bedroom. (my sister definitely did NOT feel safe having her kids around this dog)

[draco664]

We had a 60 lb Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) mix that was very protective.

Yeah, heelers are very protective of those they consider their pack. When I first met my wife, she was living with a friend of her's who owned a Blue Heeler. My wife was actually dating someone else at the time, and the dog wouldn't let her then-boyfriend in the house.

She let me in no problem, though.

My wife once told me it was one of the reasons she was so trusting of me so quickly. Because a bloody dog thought I smelled ok.

[protege]

Here's another issue. Many people seem overly inclined to take the animal's side on this. Basically, yes, the dog's launching an attack, but if I get irked or try to defend myself, *I'm* the bad guy, and *I* am the one who needs a talking to. Now, I wouldn't try to hurt the animal in return, but if a dog is trying to bite me, I am going to take the necessary measures to stop him.

My aunt has a dog like that. She has two cocker spaniels, a male and a female. The male tends to go nuts if someone tries to pet him. If your hand gets anywhere near him, he freaks...and he *will* bite. Anyhoo, they met us on vacation last summer, and forgetting which dog was which, I gently put my hand down so it could sniff me. Imagine my surprise, when said dog then used my hand as a chew toy!

Of course, my aunt then screamed at me over it. Seriously? You have a vicious dog (wasn't the first time he'd bitten either)...and don't bother telling me not to do that when I asked you? You're lucky I didn't fucking *sue* your ass and/or kill it! What if a child had gone "oh, doggy!" and tried to pet it? Would you be so willing to defend the dog if it caused serious injury? Not everyone is as forgiving--I can guarantee if that happened in my neighborhood, there would be a lawsuit.

[blas87]

This is why I'm so glad we have always had such a docile, loving dog.

There are always exceptions to the rules, but in general, I've found that the stereotyped friendly family large dogs generally live up to that repuation.

Bear the Dog has raised two kittens, and made friends with a stray cat last weekend. The cat literally came running out of the wooded area at the park just to snuggle with the dog.

[Andara Bledin]

My wife once told me it was one of the reasons she was so trusting of me so quickly. Because a bloody dog thought I smelled ok.

Hey, animals have good instincts about body language that most of us humans totally miss.

My family has a tradition of not trusting anybody that the cats don't like.

^-.-^

[Mishi]

My wife once told me it was one of the reasons she was so trusting of me so quickly. Because a bloody dog thought I smelled ok.

Rugz had a rather picky mini foxie x chihuahua called Toby when I first met him. We went for a drive as a group and stopped in to collect Toby so we could take him with us. Rugz's mum handed him in through the window, meaning for me to pass him to Rugz. I didn't realise this and started cuddling him. He adored me, and that's when Rugz knew I was good people

Yes, we're guilty of trusting the dogs too. If Hailie doesn't like someone, we keep an eye on them. If Danny doesn't like them, they don't get to come into the house because Danny normally likes everyone.

[Sableonblonde]

This is an issue for me too, but it doesn't even have to be an aggressive dog.

The thing is, I just do not like dogs. I'm not really an animal person in general. I don't like touching dogs, or having them lick me or shed all over me. I hate how they smell.

We recently visited my husband's brother and sister in law. They have a HUGE dog. He's really nice and docile and all, but still...huge dog. And even though they knew ahead of time that I didn't like dogs, they assured me he was nice and friendly, which...was kind of beside the point. And the thing was, I felt like I would have been acting like a totally rude, snobby person if I had refused to pet the dog or act interested in him. He was all up in my face, sniffing me, licking me, rubbing up against me, shedding ALL OVER my pants...and it was like...okay, I am meeting these relatives of my husbands for the first time...if I acted disgusted by their dog and backed away from him, I thought it would make me look unfriendly and cold.

I know some people look at their pets as family, but I kind of think it was rude of THEM to just let the dog roam free while we visted, and just assume we wouldn't mind the dog being all over us...even knowing I didn't like dogs. It still really annoys me in retrospect.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sounds like my parents' financial adviser; he just can't stand cats and is actually scared of them. Whenever he comes round my parents' house, they always shut the cat outside or in the kitchen. It's just basic courtesy; also, cuz cats are basically arseholes and they always leap in the face of anyone who hates or fears them, it's common sense. xD

[Andara Bledin]

... also, cuz cats are basically arseholes and they always leap in the face of anyone who hates or fears them, it's common sense. xD

There's actually a reason for this. It turns out that the body language of a person who is trying to ignore a cat is actually invitation to the cat's point of view.

It's a language barrier. It's like how "gift" in English is a present, but "gift" in German means poison.

Back on topic, however, it's only proper that a host warned ahead of time that their guest doesn't care for a certain type of pet do something to keep said type of pet from bothering the guest. Otherwise, you're a lousy host.

^-.-^

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Dog attacks you, defend yourself. Those same idiots yelling at you for defending yourself from the dog are the same idiots who think someone who defends himself in a fight should be punished. Idiots, I tell you. The world is full of them. Sometimes I think I'm one of the few reasonable people left alive.

My father and my uncle had an experience with a neighbor's dogs when they were children.

Neighbor had a pair of largish and aggressive mutts. Father doesn't remember the breed, just knows that they were as big as a Rottweiler (but looked nothing like one) and were ugly as sin.

One day they got out and one came upon my uncle who was hunting in the woods. Dog snarls, growls, Uncle John raised the shotgun, dog charged, John fired, dog went down for good.

The next day my Father was riding his bike back from the autoparts store. He had a flat tire on his car but one of his friends had borrowed the tire iron and lost it and so he needed a new one.

He's riding back from the store when nasty dog #2 came after him snarling and snapping. Dad swung the tire iron, steel met bone, bone went crunch, brain went squish and dog #2 ended up as dead as dog #1

When he pulled into the driveway, he saw that a county sheriff's deputy was there already. Dad and Uncle John were a little freaked. They thought that the neighbor was pressing charges or something. Turns out that the Deputy Sheriff was there because he had the wrong address. He had a seize and destroy order for the dogs and was there to serve the papers and to wait for Animal Control to get there for the pickup.

Relived they told the officer of what happened, showed him the bite marks on my Dad's leg, and informed him of where the animals were killed. Officer said to not worry about it, they were to be destroyed for another time they got out and attacked a woman in her yard (she was fine, just minor injuries).

So yeah...animal attacks, defend yourself by whatever means are suited for the situation. In the case of the "punting puppy"...well there's a reason I call them punting puppies.

[fireheart17]

My boyfriend's family has 2 dogs, both cross-breeds. And they're small ones. One's a Maltese X Shih Tzu and the other one is a Jack Russell x Chihuahua. Yeah....that's already a bad cominbation.

They go nuts whenever someone comes over. If you're sitting down, they'll generally jump up wanting a pat or whatever, but they also go for the face lick. At that point I'm having to move OUT of the way so that they won't go for licking me in the face. They're starting to get more used to me though because I'm over so much, so generally it's a case of them jumping around my legs for a little bit, then calming down.

Beforehand though, they used to try and attack my toes. It doesn't help that my boyfriend encourages them to pull off his socks -.-....so now they do it to EVERYONE.

They do make very handy doorbells tough: whenever someone comes over (new or not), they go BESERK. I can hear them yapping whenever I pull up into their driveway. It's good at least because then we know that someone's back.

The ONLY person I know that they will go absolutely bonkers around, is my boyfriend's mate. From what I'm aware, he pissed them off big time so they went nuts.