Hi!
I have a very well behaved german shepherd that's never agressive towards anyone or anything. My neighbor has a yorkie that is a rescue from a hoarding situation. The yorkie is extremely agressive towards me and my dog. Every time he catches a glimpse of us he runs right up to my dog and starts barking in her face and snapping at her feet. I don't think there has been any biting yet but it's only a matter of time.
This has happened on four separate occassions. At first I tried to be understanding - he was a rescue dog and needed time for training and rehabilitation. But I get the distinct impression this dog is not being trained, or at least not by a professional.
The thing that fucking blows my mind is that she lets the dog off leash when she thinks she is alone. Normally if her dog was friendly I wouldn't give a shit, but this is an extremely aggressive dog. Twice now her dog has been off leash and completely out of control and we've both walked around a corner and into each other. This is fucking infuriating to me, and I was sure to let the owner know. I told her that if I see her dog off leash one single more time I'm calling animal control.
My big fear is that one day my dog is going to have had enough and stand up for herself and fucking eviscerate that little shit, and I'm going to have to have my dog put down for being "aggressive" even though she has never once instigated an attack.
Did I do the right thing here? I don't want her to get rid of her dog just because of me, but my dog was here first and is never the aggressor. I feel like I've been very patient, but it's been a year and a half and I'm at my wits end.
Thanks!
Make sure you document what's going on. Record the dog being aggressive.
And if there is an incident, maybe hide your dog with a friend, a way from trigger happy cops or animal control. Then if there is a case you can show some proof.
Maybe start making animal control reports to build a record.