Opinions please?

Can you please tell me what - if anything - you would do about this?

Myself and several neighbours in our road are getting very frustrated by a family three doors up from me. They have a very nice dog, but he keeps 'escaping'.

We have now all - several times - witnessed this dog racing down the road, across streets, darting in front of cars, and also zooming over to other people walking their dogs on lead (i.e. me!)

Last time, I took the dog back to his owners and conveyed to them, very nicely, my concern - namely that either the dog OR a driver would get hurt.

The wife (it's a couple with kids of about ten and a bit older) apologised and said they simply "cannot" stop this dog from escaping.

I suggested they try a baby gate before the front door and also gave her the number of my trainer.

Now it's a few months later and my next door neighbour just told me that Saturday just gone, he saw the dog whizzing down the road and running out in front of a car. Again.

So what is the right thing to do?

Is the council dog warden the right person to call - if any of us do decide to make a call?

Your opinions very welcome. I am really unsure as to what to do. I feel I should be doing something though...

Call the dog warden and explain what's going on, see what they can suggest. The dog could end up causing a terrible accident if this is allowed to continue.

personally , the next time I saw it running loose on the road, I would do 1 of 2 things..either pick it up and take it to the local dog rescue (let them find it a good home, or pick it up and call the dog warden and tell them you have found a stray dog wondering the streets.. and let them come and to take it.

If said owners have the dog chipped they will be contacted and find they have to pay a fee to get the dog back, if its nto chipped , it will find a better home with someone who is more responsible.

I'd call the dog warden, make them fully aware of the situation.

Poor dog - there will be an inevitable conclusion to this story if something isn't done about it - and that could be either the dog dead, an innocent car driver dead, or both.

I would ring the dog warden and see if they would be happy to go round to this person and have a word about the risks of what their dog is doing and also the responsibilities of being a dog owner.

Good luck!

I had this problem. The first time I took the dog home (despite the details on the tag being wrong I managed to find the owner). I told the owner to update the tag - he was very nice, said he would and made feeble excuses it was hard with the kids not being able to stop the dog getting out.

The next day I called the dog warden who told me to take it back - I politely told them the owner wouldn't listen and needed someone in authority to speak to them (and education is part of your job). Dog warden took dog back and warned owner that next time the dog would be taken to kennels and they'd have to pay charge to get him back.

The third day dog was back outside my garden (he enjoyed visiting me for some reason), dog warden came and took him to kennels.

I doubt the owner would be bothered to pay the charge so I guess he was rehomed when his 7 days were up.

I had the same thing but the owner was out when I nearly hit the dog, I rand the dog warden who told me coz I knew where the dog lived they would not cone out and i could either leave the dog, tie it up to a lamp post or lift the dog whO I had told them was not 100% friendly back into it's own garden
ATD x

We had one that regularly would break free from a neighbour's garden and end up running along between all the hedged gardens in our row - invariably ending up at ours. Well the cat was NOT appreciative of this huge ginger thing about the size of a horse showing up at the patio doors and we had utterly months of madam loo brush tail V the ginger horse staring competitions through our patio doors.

Every time we'd go down and tell the people that their dog was in our garden yet AGAIN they'd deny it totally and claim that their garden was secure (they had a hedged garden and had tied bits of string through the hedge as their dog-proofing mechanism) until you asked them to go check the dog was IN the garden and they'd realise he was missing. They WERE idiots who shouldn't have been allowed to keep animals really though - the dog was out in the garden in all weathers, they had a cat who was out in the winter snows all day and night (and he was utterly adorable as well -just a wee kitten) and prior to that they'd had a rottie that would hurl itself against the windows bodily as everyone walked up and down the street. The dog in our garden constantly was an utter pain in the rear and if I'd thought about it more I'd have called the dog wardens after dog visit number 20 or so... but events took over and they moved out and on anyway.

Our dog wardens are pretty good and pro-active though - seen them out and about checking collar ID tags (thankfully not on the day our dog decided to return from a bunny chase naked from the bushes), and they do a fair few educmacation roadshow things too.

I would take the dog back.
I wouldn`t call our dog warden because she`s been sacked in the last round of cuts.
I wouldn`t take her to the local rescue because they`re full.
I wouldn`t give her to the Pound because there`s a serious risk of PTS when her time`s up.
So maybe try your diplomatic skills again?

I would call the dog warden to report it as a straying dog. I don't think I'd tell the whole story first time around as they may not be so quick to come and collect the dog if it's known to live down that road. Hopefully that may spur the family into action but if not then perhaps speak to the local police - afterall, a dog has to be in control in a public space and this dog isn't.
Like has been said - in a bad situation, this dog could end up dead, in a worse situation a family in a car could end up dead after the dog's caused a serious accident. You've tried the poite approach, you've tried giving advice, I think it's time to go down the official route.