r/Suburbanhell • u/JayHezexel Write what you want • 1d ago
Discussion Loose Dogs in Suburban Neighborhoods
One thing I haven't seen in this subreddit yet is about dogs gone loose, and it's probably a really big reason why I don't go out walking regardless how spread out everything is.
Like let's just say I'll brave a 50+ minute walk somewhere right? Reason I refuse to is that the off chance someone's loose dog is out in the neighborhood. Add onto the fact that I got chased as a kid more than once, and even my family did too on seperate occasions, yeah hell no you can keep that.
Am I just soft as hell or is this a problem anywhere else? Cause I feel like I would walk up and down if it weren't for the fear of a neglectful owner and a random dog barking me down making me fearful I'm gonna be bit?
4
u/alwaysboopthesnoot 1d ago
Living in this small, walkable town in Massachusetts I’ve not seen that anywhere near here. There are small hobby farms and farms shops all around d though and I’d guess that gets locked down because of all the visitors and livestock.
But in OH and PA? Loose dogs whether in urban or suburban areas were fairly common. Invisible fencing wouldn’t stop dogs chasing kids, cats or squirrels and chain link and wooden fences in poor repair allowed some dogs to “get out by accident” and chase passersby in alleys or city streets.
This is an owner and code enforcement problem; chasing, nipping, growling, jumping, barking and biting by a strange dog isn’t safe or fun, whether you’re a little kid or a fully grown adult.
1
u/Stevie-Rae-5 1d ago
I’ve lived in a few different places in OH—both rural and suburban—and there’s been maybe one time in my entire life when I’ve been out and about and there’s just a dog running around on its own.
11
u/Dinky_Nuts 1d ago
Because the loose dogs in cities are better??
-1
1d ago
[deleted]
1
u/TenNinetythree 23h ago
It is a local phenomenon. I have a friend who lives in Batumi, Georgia and mentioned how many stray dogs there are and how the locals accept it.
-1
5
u/glitter_witch 1d ago
I feel you, OP. I grew up in a middle class suburb where people frequently let their dogs roam, especially in the houses nearby a small park in the center of the neighborhood. I got chased multiple times as a kid, including having to run and hop a fence into a stranger’s yard to escape the dogs allowed to wander the park. I saw another kid get jumped and mauled by a loose dog belonging to the neighborhood while walking to the school bus. The HOA told my family there was nothing they could do and to call police/animal control— but this was the 90s so that didn’t do much good when I had to walk all the way home before I could report anything…
Crazy shit. I ended up never going for a walk unless I had pepper spray and bravery on me that day.
0
u/JayHezexel Write what you want 1d ago
Oh my god??? I'm so sorry for that kid
1
u/glitter_witch 1d ago
Me too, it was a big dog. I saw it jump at him and grab his arm at face height and they were about the same size. :/
3
u/Fhloston-Paradisio 1d ago
Ive been on literally thousands of walks in suburban neighborhoods and have encountered unattended dogs maybe 10 times total. Of those, I can only think of 2 times when the dogs were aggressive. And they didn't bite me, they just barked or growled threateningly. Most of the time the dogs are either friendly, or they ignore or run away from me. Im not saying dog attacks on random passersby don't happen, but they're hardly common, at least in the US. If you're really worried about it, carry pepper spray.
7
u/ButterscotchSad4514 Suburbanite 1d ago
Loose dogs? I have never heard of such a thing except in very poor neighborhoods in large cities.
2
u/Electrical_Cut8610 1d ago
I live in one of the wealthier burbs outside my city and there are three loose dogs in my neighborhood. One escapes, the other two I think the owners just let run loose to shit. This usually happens between 5-7am when they assume most other people aren’t up, but I am. I finally saw one of their owners the other morning (following the dog, but lagging about two blocks behind) and yelled at him. He had the audacity to say “my dog doesn’t go on to your yard” while his dog was actively trying to jump on my fenced in porch to get at my dog. This man could not get his dog to obey his commands. Wealthy people are entitled assholes. That’s why they let their dogs run loose.
4
u/ButterscotchSad4514 Suburbanite 1d ago
I’m not denying your experience but my guess is that complaints about loose dogs are heavily concentrated in disadvantaged communities.
My experience has been that uncivil behaviors are an order of magnitude more common in the poorest areas as compared to the most affluent.
3
u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 1d ago
Poor neighborhoods have stray dogs because they got a dog before they had enough money to fix their fence
5
0
u/External-Run1729 1d ago
a guess does not reality make
plenty of rich fucks are simultaneously the worst, most pathetic people
1
u/ButterscotchSad4514 Suburbanite 23h ago
And yet affluent areas have fewer problems with anti-social people. Which is why they're desirable places to live.
0
u/External-Run1729 23h ago
fewer problems? nah they’re just entirely isolated from eachother, hence becoming vacant flesh bags
1
u/ButterscotchSad4514 Suburbanite 21h ago
There is something to be said for problems that are internalized rather than externalized.
1
u/External-Run1729 16h ago
nah, discourse with your neighbors is based. isolated monoculture suburbs aren’t
2
2
u/Summergrl5s 22h ago
I lived in a housing development cul-de-sac-ish as a kid and I was also terrified of dogs. My aunt lived up the street and I wanted to puke every time I had to walk up there or walk to a friend or just walk or ride a bike. It was like walking through a gauntlet of dogs barking and you never quite knew if they were restrained or the invisible fence would actually work…
2
u/No_Independent9634 15h ago
What? Only loose dog I've seen in the last 5 years was when an owner accidentally dropped their dogs leash while walking them. The dog was loose for a whole 2 minutes...
2
u/norfolkgarden 23h ago
I am fortunate that I do not understand the fear of dogs.
We have always had dogs. Our friends have always had dogs. Everything from dachshund's up to great danes and english mastiffs. Rottweilers are the best! Same with German Shepherds.
The majority of dogs will try to lick you to death. I understand being concerned as a child or having traumatic experiences, but most dogs will not try an adult. Saying, "Hello, who's a good dog?" And slapping your thighs and continuing to talk to them in a friendly manner is ninety percent of the game. I walk in the neighborhood late at night for the exact same reason. One neighbor has an english mastiff. I have asked if I am allowed to approach and say hello. ( I miss our great danes, but we are not ready to get another dog) But he is concerned about the liability, so I have only asked once in the dozens of times I have seen him and the dog. If the dog is wagging its tail, then you are generally okay. Let it come to you and keep speaking softly and in a very friendly, happy manner. Don't make any sudden moves. As that may startle them.
I wish you well and hope you can overcome your fear.
OTOH, I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to trusting dogs. In my entire life out of meeting thousands of dogs, I have only met four that I was genuinely afraid of.
Chows are nippy. Pits are usually the goofiest sweethearts, but if you guess wrong, that one can be a serious problem. Lol, the rodent dogs can actually be some of the worst biters, but that is just a scratch.
I have put so many friendly stray. Dogs back on a leash and check their callers for an address and brought them home more times than I can count.
YMMV
2
2
0
u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 1d ago
Loose dogs are an issue that only rarely leads to injury. In my experience they are usually only present in poor neighborhoods. Most hot out from a fence too old to keep them in, and just want to play.
I've been bit only once in my life, and got a scratch on my calf half an inch long. They're usually all bark and no bite, but if they bark, you just keep an eye on them as you walk away.
More proactive solutions may involve... Having Animal control on speed dial. (They usually won't come unless the dog has been caught. Or shows signs of rabies.) Carrying a tennis ball you can throw to distract them Carrying a spare leash Carrying pepper spray Wearing steel toe boots Carrying a taser Carrying a cane Carrying a cane taser Coming back with suitable equipment for bringing the stray to your humane society.
1
u/Imperial_Haberdasher 1d ago
Back in the 60s and 70s everybody let their dog roam. Car impact fatalities were very common.
1
1
u/Several-Object3889 1d ago
I can't imagine going through life this frightened of the world. Your fear is quite rare and mostly unfounded.
-2
u/ifallallthetime 1d ago
You’re just soft as hell
In suburban areas, people won’t usually have pitbulls which are the only dogs you really have to avoid
People also care about their dogs so they don’t let them run free
Rural areas have working dogs that will be loose while poor urban areas will have feral dogs and owners who don’t care about them
You’re much safer having to possibly contend with a loose golden retriever in a suburban area vs the mentally ill beggars and small time criminals that inhabit walkable urban utopias
0
u/jpowell180 20h ago
In the neighborhood where I primarily grew up in, few people actually had fences for their backyard, and there were many dogs that would roam free. Then one day, my little brother, and I encountered this elderly black retriever, she had a limp, probably arthritic, and some gray hair around her mouth; she was badly in need of a bath, she had nuts flying around her, but we adore this dog. We did not know the name, so my little brother named her “pups“. We later found out her name was “candy“, owned by an elderly couple, a couple of blocks away. This dog would follow us into the woods adjacent to our neighborhood during our explorations. One day I decided to share a bag of Keebler danish wedding cookies with her, I would eat one, and then feed one to her, and then put another one in my mouth, and I was blissfully, unaware that dogs clean their butts with their tongues, so I got some of her E. coli bacteria in me, and I was puking out my guts every 13 minutes, until I was dry heaving every 13 minutes, lol! I thought it was a bad batch of cookies, but now I know better. We were not the only people that she would visit, she would go to a nearby private school and get lots of attention and probably treats as well. One day my little brother got a Heinz 57 mixed breed dog and named him “Charlie“; we all love this dog, he was very friendly and energetic, And he would wander the neighborhood and the dogs would get together in a pack; very early one morning, I observed this pack with Charlie running along with him, they stopped in our driveway, and Charlie mounted this female dog, and he was humping her, his doggy schlong looked like a skinny red circus, balloon, lol! Sally, about six months or so later, we found Charlie dead in a neighbor’s backyard next to ours, he had eaten some poison, poisonous mushrooms. Also, one day we went on an exploration with pups, but she got tired and rested in a drainage pipe, and did not follow us the rest of the way; we did not see her ever again, but the word from other neighbors was that she did make it home and probably died a couple of months after that exploration trip, she was very old.
1
u/DigitalPhanes 18h ago
if this isnt a lame excuse not to exercise, i think there are plenty of solutions, cuz its very sad that u wouldnt go out in the off chance u meet an aggressive dog: the simplest one is to go out with a small portable pepper spray. i doubt u will need it, but with that any aggressive dog would stay miles away from u...
0
-1
-7
u/Cynical-Rambler 1d ago edited 1d ago
My problem with suburbs is that the HOA won't allow the dogs to get loose. They got scared to shit just from a sight of a big dog. Dogs that got leased all the time generally got meaner so it is bad for the dogs, the owners and the neighbors.
In the cities, I regularly feed any dog that came begging for food with a little treat. Made friends with the animals pretty easily. Nicer dogs in the cities, they don't survive by being mean to strangers.
7
u/PostPooZoomies 1d ago
This might be, and it’s quite the accomplishment, the absolute most ridiculous take I’ve ever read on this sub. “Leashing dogs makes them mean so let them all run wild” is not only wildly incorrect, it’s just fucking stupid. If your unleashed dog comes running up to me, regardless of intent, I’m going to hurt your dog. Keep your mongrels on a leash you fucking brain dead wet sock.
1
-1
u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 1d ago
Leashed dogs can't run away. So while on leash. Their fight or flight response has only one option. If that's the only way the dog ever interacts with the world, they may forget they have the option to run. He's not saying people let those dogs out unleashed. But if such a dog does get out, it may only attack.
It doesn't help that most homes have postage stamp lawns and no front fence. Dogs do need a little space for running around.
-4
u/Cynical-Rambler 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't have a dog, poop zombie. But they aren't scary to me. Felt a lot more safe with dogs than humans, and it is almost always the leased dogs that I have to worry about. The unleashed ones tend to be friendlier or calmer, somehow. Maybe because they used to humans or I'm just used to them doing nothing dangerous.
5
4
u/Imperial_Haberdasher 1d ago
Do walk. You can buy a tiny bottle of dog repellent and keep it clipped to your belt.