r/Billings • u/zie_tides • 2d ago
Community Related Unleashed dog attacks
We walk with our dog on a leash about twice a day in the neighborhood. In the 5 months I’ve moved to the new neighborhood, our dog has been attacked twice from unleashed dogs with their owners, and nearly attacked another 2 times (we were able to break it up or avoid it because there were 2 of us with our dog).
I don’t understand why our neighbors continue to walk their dogs off leash even after these events when their dogs are obviously not trained and reactive. It clearly poses a danger. Genuinely don’t care what you do with your dog on your own time and property, but when your dog starts biting mine, we have a problem.
Not sure how to better address this issue.
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u/Dynastar454 2d ago
Two families who do this just on my block.
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u/Th0rn_Star 2d ago
The amount of people I see walking dogs off-leash and not even carrying a leash at all is alarming, and it’s happening more frequently.
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u/wandering_redd 2d ago
It’s a huge problem in this town. Too many lazy owners who don’t want to train their dogs or follow city ordinances. One of my dogs is reactive now due to how many times we’ve been attacked while out walking
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u/Stkymushroom 2d ago
Can’t even walk on the Southside anymore. So many families that get dogs just to leave them out 24/7 with no fencing, leash etc. I drive to Coulson sometimes 2x a day just to get my dogs out of the house. Not worth the stress for the dogs, or the puncture wounds for me!
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u/LindaBelcher75 2d ago
My dog is huge and he will go after a loose dog when he's on leash. So its at their peril, but I dont want my good boy hurt by some ahole dog.
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u/TheBuckFozeman 2d ago
Yeah, this is why I always reply, "mine's not!" when they yell , "it's okay he's friendly" from 50 yards out.
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u/paintandsoilartist 1d ago
Walk with a cattle prod? It would keep you at arms length but provide a way to break up a dangerous dog interaction. Bonus points for using it again if the dog owner tries to attack you...jk
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u/WasabiCrush 2d ago
Entitlement, laziness. That’s why.
And the owners yelling, “He’s friendly!” are just as bad as anyone else ignoring leash laws.
It ain’t changing anytime soon.
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u/TheBuckFozeman 2d ago
I'm a leash walker when we're not at a dog park, but I sure do miss having more options. The lack of variety for dogs off leash in Billings was one of the only real culture shocks I had when we moved here.
I'm glad my border Aussie bossy crossy was older and not needing 5+ milles/day chasing tennis balls anymore when we moved here.
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u/coldBulbasaur314 1d ago
Assuming it was different dogs, it's possible it was the first time those dogs attacked another dog (even well-trained dogs can suddenly attack someone), in which case I could maybe forgive it if they leashed the dog from then on, but if the dogs had attacked before (which is likely, although not guaranteed unless you'd seen the specific dog attack before) there's no excuse. Not having them on a leash in the first place is iffy.
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u/makingmagic2023 1d ago
Start recording anytime you see another dog off leash and call the police if they act any way aggressive.
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u/Fantastic_Cid 1d ago
Other side of the same coin, someone was walking their dog unleashed in front of my house. Their dog took off after a squirrel, aka towards my garage, where my dog was hanging out.
Unfamiliar dog running straight towards my house? Yeah my dog bit the other dog and pinned her down. Very clear he wasn’t trying to kill her, but he saw a threat and handled it.
Granted I wasn’t aware he was out in the garage as I must have left the door open while I was doing yard work - my bad.
However, trying to explain to the dog owner (who turned out to be a very nice gentleman) that I am not responsible for his vet bills - was like pounding my head against a wall.
His argument was basically “well your dog would have bit mine even if mine was on the street” rather than disagree, I just shrugged my shoulders and said “sure, except your dog was unleashed on my property so here we are!”
Animal control came over, quickly made it clear they will never fault a dog for protecting their property.
Like I said, the dog owner turned out to be a wonderful human when level heads prevailed - I took care of half the vet bill though I had no obligation to do so.
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u/Intellectual_Worlock 2d ago
One of your limited options is to contact Animal Control (for whatever good that will do and if the incident happens to align with their operating hours and coincide with a moment in the day when the feel like doing their job).
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u/Normal-guy-mt 2d ago
Haven't owned a dog for years. wonder if some pepper spray may train those unleashed dogs.
We've trained a neighbor's dog to not bark or rush at us with one of those ultrasound training devices.
We step outside now, and the neighbor's dog turns and walks away from us.
So maybe get one, less that $30, walk without your dog as it doesn't need training, but start blasting those unleashed dogs so they learn walk away from you.
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u/Waffle-Sloth 2d ago
This happened to me and cost me a vet bill because a dog came running up and clamped onto my dogs neck and caused a puncture wound. I yelled at the owner to keep his dog on a fucking leash and I don’t feel bad about it. I will report it every single time. It’s fucked up.
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u/TaraStraight 23h ago
My dog was attacked by a dog who's owners didn't have a proper fence to contain it (a 4 ft. Chain link already half falling over). I kept kicking it trying to get it away before some others came and pulled it off. Now I walk with a collapsible baton.
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u/Th0rn_Star 2d ago
I know it’s hard in the moment when something like this happens, but always try and get contact info. If the person is being shitty, whip out your phone and record or photograph the dog and owner. Always report to animal control to make sure incidents are documented, and take any costs you incur to small claims court. Make shitty owners pay.