Control Your Dog!

Isaac and I just had our first experience with a scary, aggressive dog. My neighbor had a visitor, some guy that doesn't even live here, who apparently brought his dog with him to visit (which is not allowed here). I was getting ready to take Isaac out to potty and we stepped out our front door just as he and his dog were arriving at the neighbor's door. The dog was about the size of Isaac and was on a flexi-lead.

The dog saw Isaac and started barking and snarling. I stopped in my doorway to let him get in the neighbor's door before Isaac and continued into the hall and then, the next thing I knew, the dog was right in Isaac's face, barking and snarling. The guy was yelling at the dog but obviously had no control over it. I pulled Isaac back inside and slammed my door and waited to go out until the guy and he dog were out of the hall.

I have heard too many stories about service dogs attacked and injured, some of which were so traumatized by the experience they ended up being unable to continue working.  It scared me a lot but it also made me really angry.

When I was able to take Isaac out, I managed to catch the property manager just as he was leaving for the day.  I told him what happened and he said he would deal with it Monday, basically by telling the neighbor her visitors are not allowed to bring dogs with them.  

The rest of the night, I felt anxious about going out of my apartment with Isaac.  I opened my door slowly, looked out first, then we hurried down the hall to the elevator.  Coming in, it was the same thing.  The elevator doors opened, I looked out to make sure the coast was clear, then we hurried down the hall to our apartment.