lisatrevor Asked July 2022

Yelled at irresponsible dog walking neighbor. Should I feel bad?

I was at my father's this afternoon and decided to go for a walk around the neighbor while he napped. I was walking on the sidewalk and all of a sudden this Golden Retriever comes charging at me. The owner was about 20 feet away and had a leash in their hand. I yelled at the dog and then at the owner and said "Leash you dog!". They did nothing nothing. So I yelled "You irresponsible jerk!" Then yelled it again and made a left turn and got out of there.

This is a neighbor of my father's and I have seen them before. Now I feel bad about I yelled at them. Should I? I mean the law is that in public all dogs should be leased and under control. This dog was neither. It was not an aggressive breed but still this particular dog was coming after me and barking. What do you think?

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First

What do I think? That you're back again with more histrionics and trying to stir up drama. What does this post have to do with caregiving?

Helpful Answer (8)

I hear you but now that we're in deep in the subject everyone should know the real dangers dogs present to the elderly. It's not just bites. It's the falls that can be catastrophic. Even just tripping over a dog that is being a "little cute rascal" can result in bruises, bleeding, broken bones and/or brain injury. In fact, as I stated earlier, dogs are responsible for over 50% of all falls in the US. I'm being conservative here. I think it might be closer to 80%.

(1)

I was walking with my 90 year old MIL on a beach which allowed ‘dogs under control’. MIL was just shorter than 5 feet, which was shorter than the dog when it jumped up on her. I held my arms around her and yelled at the two girls walking the dog. Response - ‘He’s only a puppy’..”He’s only trying to be friendly’. MIL and I were really shaken. My work gave me an extensive swear word vocabulary, most of which I used. Grrrrr!

Helpful Answer (6)

Fave girl,
My sister used a citronella collar on her dog that sprayed when the dog barked. It was effective to the point that just showing the dog the collar would make it shut up.

But yeah. You can’t go spraying chemicals at other peoples pets when they’re not doing anything.

What I will say is that I’ve noticed cattle dog owners, in particular, to be extra law abiding and not thinking people will love their dog. They are a personal breed favorite of mine. I can’t imagine the work though.

(1)

Many dog owners are irresponsible jerks. This sounds like one.

Helpful Answer (5)

You didn't do anything wrong. Dogs are supposed to be leashed. It doesn't matter is the dog isn't an aggressive breed. Unless a dog is living on a gated-in estate somewhere they have to be leashed.
I'd give animal control a call too. Let the guy get a nice fine then see how fast he buys a leash for his dog.
I had irresponsible dog owner's as neighbors. They had three little dogs and thought it was fine to just let them all over toour place to crap. I didn't have any dogs myself, yet I had a yard full of crap.
We tried talking to them and that accomplished nothing. The dogs were still at our place several times a day. The final straw was I was bringing in groceries and they were nipping at my feet and I fell on the groceries which also got wrecked.
My husband or myself usually cleaned up their dogs' crap daily from our yard. Only I had a broken foot with two pins in it from the fall. So he had to clean up the dog crap alone for a while and he did.
Everyday after work he'd scoop it up into a big old Hefty garbage bag.
When that bag got good and full, he went next door and dumped it in their swimming pool.
Never saw those dogs in our yard again. The following spring my hubs, FIL, and BIL's put up a fence.

Helpful Answer (5)

This is one time I’m gonna agree with you, Lisa.

Any responsible owner keeps their pet on leash while around the public. Not one of them can use the excuse that their dog is nice. Maybe toward them, maybe toward everyone but me. I don’t really care, there’s a leash law for a reason.

That said, what does this topic have to do with agingcare? Did that dog threaten your dad?

Helpful Answer (4)

Not that dog but there is another dog that almost knocked my father over. That might have very well have been a disaster. No one in their 80's should fall. Ever!

Then there are others in the neighborhood who are leashed but aggressive and these could get loose from their owners and harm my father. I let him him know the dangers of dogs and falling. In fact dogs and cats account for over 50% or more of falls in the US!

(1)

I don't think you have to worry about your dad getting knocked over or attacked by a dog since he is unable to walk and cant even open the fridge door.

And maybe the guy with the dog was confused because you told him to lease his dog. And he was like WTF are you talking about?

Helpful Answer (4)

Dog was off leash, leash was in the owners hand not connected to the dog.

(0)

Hey Isthisrealyreal,

Not that you're owed an explanation, but I have 25 years of service in caregiving without so much as a Post-it note in my work file. Do you? I have never been fired from a position, and my many references are so sterling that The Queen of England would brew her tea on them.
In the mail today was my second approval letter from my state for a homecare agency license in my name.
In my state if you want this kind of license a person can't have anything questionable. Not in one's work or tax history. Not bad credit, and not even an unpaid parking ticket to get this kind of licensing. So if the state who has held me serious scrutiny and pretty much talked to every family and agency I ever worked for in 25 years approves me, then I would hardly be criticized and humbled by the likes of you.
If only there was a finger emoji...

Helpful Answer (4)

Why do you want a finger emoji, to share your IQ?

You have repeatedly told this forum how you intimidated your clients.

I have no doubt they were to scared to report the abuse before they died.

No confidence in any reporting in home health care. Not enough resources available for ALL the complaints.

Better bandage that arm, it must be spranged for all the patting yourself on the back:-)

(0)

This question is simply another bid for validation by Lisa Trevor. There are roughly 3,000,000 falls for elderly people treated in US Emergency Departments each year. Only an estimated 86,629 are attributable to pets.

This forum is only helpful if the topics are related to caregiving. Barking dogs, 5th grade report cards, do not belong on Agine Care. I would suggest that Lisa find an online forum more suited to her needs.

Helpful Answer (4)

Saying someone needs "validation" because they asked for opinions is a cheap technique that appeals to dumb people.

People generally ask for opinions to get different perspectives so they can do the right thing. You can go through a long, full life and still not have anywhere near the experiences of someone else. That's why asking for opinions can be beneficial.

"Only an estimated 86,629 (falls) are attributable to pets." "Only"? It seems that that's an important subject for eldercare.

(1)

Lisa< I am far from being a dumb person. I am a PhD Level Licensed Clinical Psychologist and I have 15+ years working in emergency departments and hospitals as a mental health evaluator. I know a validation seeker when one pops up. And the falls due to pets is less than 0.028%.

Helpful Answer (4)

Becky, you said roughly 85000 out of 3m. Wouldn’t that be 2.8 percent? If true, that’s not neglible.

(1)

What does this have to do with ageingcare? About as much as Lisa's post about her new neighbor having the hots for her because his car plate resembled her name.. The mods remodel posts for less than this,, where are they on this completely unrelated stuff? I have been posting less and less because so much of this is drama related as this is,, not actual caregiving. Her dad was nowhere near this situation, she was not harmed, and it's not a pet training forum!

Helpful Answer (4)