Dog walking and unfriendly neighbor

Subject: Re: Dog walking and unfriendly neighbor

tennisfan wrote: What can I do to make him understand that he's talking to the wrong guy and that I will not change my itinerary?

In a perfect world, you would be able to explain all this to him and you two would become fast friends and start spending weekends and vacations together.

In reality, the answer is there is probably nothing you can do.

Ignore him and do the superior dance.

How do you make him understand? You don't. It sounds like he is taking his frustration out on you, however wrongly, because you might be the only person he sees that he can blame the doo on. Or he's just an angry man. Either way you can't not walk your dog and you still have to share a street with this man. Myself? I'd kill him with kindness.

Yeah I agree with these guys. It sounds like you're dealing with someone who's far from rational.

Uh, I may be wrong, but I think that tennisfan has some concern about the threatened physical actions possible with the "ignore it" approach.

WhyFi wrote: Uh, I may be wrong, but I think that tennisfan has some concern about the threatened physical actions possible with the "ignore it" approach.

If he is threatening to beat your ass, call the cops and let _them_ explain to him that you are allowed to walk your dog there. Who throws down over dog walking? Good grief.

WhyFi wrote: Uh, I may be wrong, but I think that tennisfan has some concern about the threatened physical actions possible with the "ignore it" approach.

Good point. Depending on how serious/crazy this guy seems. A call to the police is probably in order.

I've been accosted by several lunatics that seem to have torches and pitchforks aloft whenever they see a dog pass their homes. One is on the corner of Willoughby and Hall and the other is on the corner of Cambridge and Greene. They've both come charging out of their houses insisting that I not let my dog urinate on their homes. Which in itself is a rational request, except that I've trained my dogs to walk on the curb side of me always SO THEY NEVER PEE ON PEOPLE'S HOMES/STOOPS/GATES.

Attempts to explain this to said lunatics resulted in frustration, anger and finally utter dismissal. I had to walk away in mid-harangue in order to maintain my composure.

As a dog owner and general friend of animals I realize that my attitude toward them might be more forgiving than your average person, but some people are just unhinged and want to take out their fear of/dislike of dogs on any and every dog owner they encounter.

As far as the physical threat, if the aggressor is either of the two men I've encountered and you are at least 125lbs and can make a fist, I say let 'em come. They looked like a couple of spaghetti noodles with nothing more than loud mouths. I loathe violence, but some people need their asses whupped for them.

This isnt just in NYC, btw- I had a small (about 14 lb) Lhasa Apso (for those not familiar, similar to a larger ShitZhu) when I was living in NC. He was pretty old, calm and obedient so I used to let him sit out on our shared apt front porch with me during the summers while my roomie and I talked or had a glass of wine. One day a person emerged from our neighbors house (non resident,) saw my dog and started SCREAMING about "How DARE you leave a BEAST like that off the leash?! HE COULD KILL SOMEONE!" And as she RUNS by I grab his collar just to make sure that he doesn't go up to say hi, and she actually says "if that dog comes anywhere near me I'm going to f*cking kick it so hard it'll never walk again." W.t.f. He looked like a mop. Least threatening dog ever. People are assholes everywhere..but if someone was acting deranged and physically threatened me, I'd call the cops

Besides carrying a cell phone to call the Police, carry a big bat !

Moosebear, I love dogs but all are differnt. You knew your "least threatening dog ever" But the non resident didn't know your dog. I personally know a woman who was attacked by a dog as a child and to this day she is deathly afraid of dogs. Go figure. You never know. There is a reason for everything, but not everyone knows it.

Carmen wrote: This isnt just in NYC, btw- I had a small (about 14 lb) Lhasa Apso (for those not familiar, similar to a larger ShitZhu) when I was living in NC. He was pretty old, calm and obedient so I used to let him sit out on our shared apt front porch with me during the summers while my roomie and I talked or had a glass of wine. One day a person emerged from our neighbors house (non resident,) saw my dog and started SCREAMING about "How DARE you leave a BEAST like that off the leash?! HE COULD KILL SOMEONE!" And as she RUNS by I grab his collar just to make sure that he doesn't go up to say hi, and she actually says "if that dog comes anywhere near me I'm going to f*cking kick it so hard it'll never walk again." W.t.f. He looked like a mop. Least threatening dog ever. People are assholes everywhere..but if someone was acting deranged and physically threatened me, I'd call the cops

where did you live in NC? and yeah, if you are the polite considerate dog owner you seem to be then I see only one option (maybe two :P )

Fight back like David Horowitz! One option is to be alpha dog, say what you just said to us but in a stern voice. "Listen buddy, I'm the guy that actually CLEANS after his dog and CARES about peoples homes... blah blah...."

I did this once. This lady chewed me out and I had no idea why. I appologized. When she continued to yell at me I got my latina on and chewed her out saying "I said I was sorry" etc... She backed away. Some people just want to pick on the meeker polite people to get their issues out.

Fight back 8)

brewpez wrote: Besides carrying a cell phone to call the Police, carry a big bat !

Moosebear, I love dogs but all are differnt. You knew your "least threatening dog ever" But the non resident didn't know your dog. I personally know a woman who was attacked by a dog as a child and to this day she is deathly afraid of dogs. Go figure. You never know. There is a reason for everything, but not everyone knows it.

I totally agree, but A)flailing like a lunatic isn't a good way to NOT attract a dog B)threatening to KICK my dog if it so much as moves is a good way to get your ass kicked. Especially when it was on my side of the SHARED porch.

My best friend actually got attacked and put in the hospital by her 8lb housecat which she later found out had a brain tumor- it almost ripped her eyeball out and left her scarred on her face and neck when it attacked her randomly from her banister (it was 8 and never showed any signs of violence) So i know these things happen. But thats like saying you're going to beat up a person of *blank" ethnicity because you were attacked by one when you were a kid. Animals are less predicable, but It's pretty hard to imagine my dog being able to bolt past me and my room-mate fast enough to get at this woman. And, again, flailing and screaming is the fastest way to attract a dog, you'd think someone afraid of them would know that.

Mamacita wrote: [quote=Carmen]This isnt just in NYC, btw- I had a small (about 14 lb) Lhasa Apso (for those not familiar, similar to a larger ShitZhu) when I was living in NC. He was pretty old, calm and obedient so I used to let him sit out on our shared apt front porch with me during the summers while my roomie and I talked or had a glass of wine. One day a person emerged from our neighbors house (non resident,) saw my dog and started SCREAMING about "How DARE you leave a BEAST like that off the leash?! HE COULD KILL SOMEONE!" And as she RUNS by I grab his collar just to make sure that he doesn't go up to say hi, and she actually says "if that dog comes anywhere near me I'm going to f*cking kick it so hard it'll never walk again." W.t.f. He looked like a mop. Least threatening dog ever. People are assholes everywhere..but if someone was acting deranged and physically threatened me, I'd call the cops

where did you live in NC? and yeah, if you are the polite considerate dog owner you seem to be then I see only one option (maybe two :P )

Fight back like David Horowitz! One option is to be alpha dog, say what you just said to us but in a stern voice. "Listen buddy, I'm the guy that actually CLEANS after his dog and CARES about peoples homes... blah blah...."

I did this once. This lady chewed me out and I had no idea why. I appologized. When she continued to yell at me I got my latina on and chewed her out saying "I said I was sorry" etc... She backed away. Some people just want to pick on the meeker polite people to get their issues out.

Fight back 8)


I lived in Wilmington, which is a beach town close to SC (actually, the closest city was Myrtle Beach.) And if she had touched my dog, you can trust that she would have been maimed...not by the dog, but by me.

Hey Tennisfan,

I agree with all the replies above.
Sorry to hear this guy is doing this to you. I would definitely report him to the local precinct or, if you have a neighborhood patrol, report to them. That way, if God forbid he ever does something to you or any other dog walkers, they will have a history on file. Don't know if that will matter legally, but if some guy is being agressive, flailing his arms at you, doesn't that count as threatening?

I can't stand people who don't pick up after their dogs, but I also can't stand homeowners who assume that every dog walker is leaving dog sh*t on their lawn. I live in Flatbush, and I have this problem with a couple neighbors. One lady yells at me before i even reach her property; once my dog had the "audacity" to poo on the grass in front of her house (not her lawn but the grass next to the sidewalk), I picked it up, and she yelled at me that I left smears behind (sorry if anyohne is reading this post while eating). And some other neighbor yelled "Not on my lawn! Not on my lawn!" when I was walking my dog again, not on her lawn, but on the grass by the curb. I know this is technically the homeowners' property (no?) but I assumed that it was safe/legal/accepted to use the curbside grass for dogwalking. Am I wrong? Please let me know.

Saint James Infirmary wrote: I've been accosted by several lunatics that seem to have torches and pitchforks aloft whenever they see a dog pass their homes. One is on the corner of Willoughby and Hall and the other is on the corner of Cambridge and Greene. They've both come charging out of their houses insisting that I not let my dog urinate on their homes. Which in itself is a rational request, except that I've trained my dogs to walk on the curb side of me always SO THEY NEVER PEE ON PEOPLE'S HOMES/STOOPS/GATES.

The fella at the corner of Willoughby and Hall is definitely vocal that's for sure.

We haven't been able to get our dogs to defecate in the street but they always walk on the curb side so there is never an issue of one of them peeing on someone's flowers or fencing. However that still doesn't stop some folks from glaring at us or muttering under their breath.