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Dog owner opinions
This is random, but since the boards are slow...!
This is sort of an etiquette question. There's a couple two houses from us who have a big lab that they let off the leash. She stays in her yard for the most part, but would always come down to the sidewalk to visit Lanna when she walked nearby. Lanna adores her and would play with her when ever she was out. We would chat with the neighbors and it was fine. However, about a month after we moved in, they started to yell at the dog for coming to visit when Lanna walked by and said that she was in training. Of course Lanna didn't understand, so she'd get upset, but then the next time we were out she'd be bugging to visit the dog again!
I'm not sure why the change occurred -- if they were getting annoyed with Lanna coming to see the dog, or if it's related to the impending arrival of their first baby -- but either way it's sort of awkward now. When I see them out, I try to kind of hang back because it seems clear that they don't want their dog playing with Lanna and if I go over to talk obviously she's going to come with me. I don't want them to think we're mad or being antisocial, but I don't have a dog so I don't know what the boundaries are here.
Thoughts on how you'd address this?
Re: Dog owner opinions
If I was a dog owner who let my dog off the leash, I wouldn't want it walking down the sidewalk/towards the road. So I think it's perfectly reasonable to think that they're really just trying to train the dog to stay away from the road.
Personally, I'd probably just ask them about it. I'd say that Lanna really likes the dog and would like to pet it but that you know they're trying to train it.
It doesn't sound like this has anything specifically to do with Lanna. Perhaps another neighbor complained when the dog went near their kid or the dog ran onto the road and had a close call with a car. Or maybe with the impending arrival of their baby they decided that their dog really does need some training. ARe they yelling when the dog goes toward Lanna or when the dog goes near the road/sidewalk?
I'd still be friendly with the neighbors. Ask them how the training is going. Ask them how they think the dog is going ot handle the new arrival.
Yep, I agree with this. I would just bring it up casually. Just say Lanna loves the dog how can she say hi without going against the training.
We are new to this friendly, young people neighborhood thing too! I would just ask them about it. (Well, I would make dh ask them about it
)
I agree with the others to just ask your neighbors about it vs. making assumptions, that's really the only way you will find out whether they are training the dog for a specific purpose, are wary of their dog being around children, etc.
We live on a small cul-de-sac street off of a main road, so we have a lot of people from the main road or nearby side roads who walk our street - some of them have dogs, so if I am out with the boys, I let them know that we have 2 dogs that my kids are used to and ask them if their dog is comfortable with children, and if it's okay for them to be near the dog.
Ditto everyone else - it's not because of Lanna!
We let our dog off the leashwhen we are outside in the back yard (fenced in) and the front yard (not fenced in). We've trained him to listen to us and stay by us. That doesn't mean that he doesn't stray now and again when he gets excited (ie. when someone walks down the sidewalk), but we are pretty much always aware of neighbors walking and get Kodi to come sit with us before they even come near the house.
It is a liability thing. We have one crazy dog lady neighbor who treats her dog better than her kdis (even our older neighobrs who have known her for years say this!). Anyway, she prances her dog down our sidewalk, will start telling Max "oh there's Kodi, look how big he's getting, yadda yadda" and then call out to Kodi. Last month, she did this from across the street and Kodi got excited, ran out our front door as contractors were leaving our house, ran across the street, tail wagging a mile a minute, and she then started screaming at DH, "he's going to attack my dog! you need to have him on a leash!" DH yelled back at her not to call our dog by his name, and that he was in the house but got out because she was calling him, and then proceeded to tell her not to do it again.
He also had to ask a neighbor child not to call out for Kodi as she's biking down the street, because he will go to her and we're trying to train him to stay in the yard. We have no problem with kids coming into our yard to play with Kodi, but they have to play with him there.
So, I hope everyone has given you some insight! The next time you and Lanna are out, and the neighobrs are out, walk over and just ask them what they would prefer. It's not confrontational at all when you're trying to respect their training, you know?!
My three sons!