Its the humans stupid!

Nightly walks are a regular ritual. At the end of each day as light begins to fade Lottie (AKA the inskerator) and Bomber (AKA Tinklebertwoofledink) demand a walk. Who are we to refuse. Come rain or sun, a walk is had.

Several nights ago we were out on our neighbourhood stroll when we noticed a particularly vocal dog going nuts. It looked like it was fenced it so the hounds and us ignored and went to continue on our way.

Then the dog barrelled across to the street heckles and tail up, barking like a mad thing. It got to within 3 feet of Lottie and Bomber who both told it off in no uncertain terms.

The dog kept its distance, which by then meant it was out on the street. 

It was dark and a taxi was coming. The dog wouldn't let me near it and the taxi smartly swerved to avoid it.

Heart in mouth I coaxed the dog back to its property. A neighbour to the dogs property heard the commotion and came out to see what was happening

"Oh its him, he lives there, yes this happens all the time she explained"

With my wife waiting on the street holding Lottie and Bombers lead, I gradually got the dog to follow me by calling it in an as friendly as possible voice. Several snaps were made at my hands but it eventually worked out that I was going to take it home so it started to relax.

Sadly no one was home. It appeared that all that was keeping this dog in the property was a small 1.5 metre tall gate that the dog was obviously jumping over.

Making matters worse, the dogs collar had no tags with contact details for its owners.

The whole situation was worrying on more levels than I can count. 

For a start, this dog's behaviour towards us and our hounds indicated that it had obviously not been very well socialised. It is only probably a matter of time before it injures or kills another animal on the street. If not an animal, then there is a good chance that it'll maul a child or elderly person who doesn't know how to respond when confronted with an aggressive dog. 

That the dog can get out so easily has escaped the attentions of its owners, who may be totally unaware of the ease with which this pooch can escape.

While the street isn't particularly busy, there is some traffic and it was only good luck that the dog didn't become road kill when confronting us.

We've since gone back and walked past the house in the evening, hoping there'd be someone home who we could talk to. Sadly no one was - this was at least 7pm - the poor animal has been left alone for at least 10-12 hours. No wonder it is so pissed off.

Fixing the property so it is escape proof or other options like enrolling the dog in doggy day care are easy to explore and could see a terrible situation averted. The owners house is in one of the most expensive suburbs in my town, so I'd be surprised if they cant afford either of these two options.