[Papa Deuce]

I have two...... one of them is a GSD owned by a neighbor who owns 3 of them... Something about the one dogs always has me paying close attention to what he's doing.... I'm not exactly afraid, but kind of creeped out.

The other is this Labrador Retriever.... The lady has a pit bull and the lab... One might think that the pit is the one to be afraid of, but in this case it's the Lab. The thing growls and has snapped at people in a public park. where she lets both dogs off leash to play frisbee with them. The pit is a funny goofball, and I can take the frisbee from her knowing that my arm will stay attached to my body...... I'm not sure I would even get close enough to the lab to even try.

 

[xxxxdogdragoness]

No, have never met a dog I was afraid of, I never put myself into that position to be afraid, I always pay attention to the dogs body lingo.

 

[LazyZoe]

There is a house down the street from us that has an intact female pit bull. I assume she's had puppies recently, and her owner leaves the front door of her house open so that the dog can roam freely. Several times I've been out walking Zoe and the other dog has come tearing at us across the yard. I don't know if she would actually attack but her behavior terrifies me so much that I turn us around and walk the other way.

 

[Pawzk9]

No, have never met a dog I was afraid of, I never put myself into that position to be afraid, I always pay attention to the dogs body lingo.

As a trainer sometimes working with dogs with real issues, I've certainly met a few dogs that I am cautious of. And of course, noticing the dog's body language is WHY I am cautious.

 

[MrsBoats]

I haven't been afraid of any particular dogs...but there are some I wouldn't trust. They typically send messages loud and clear through their body language and that's why I don't trust them.

 

[workerant]

Yup. She's a GSD whose owner is a train wreck, so (sadly) the dog is a train wreck too.

 

[pi1otguy]

Generally speaking I'm biased against small dogs (<10 lbs). I honestly believe a lot of them have some flavor of a little guy complex especially since too many humans view their snaps as "cute". I'm convinced it rubs them the wrong way that larger dogs often ignore their protest too.

Specifically, I'm afraid Scoobie, a small Maltese who actually bit me. But I'd hang out with him again (without my dog) if for no reason then to avoid giving him the impression that biting makes people you don't like go away.

 

[Laurelin]

There was a dog when I was a preteen that lived on the street I lived on. It was a lab mix and the people let it wander in the road. Well, they said the dog 'just kept getting out'. That dog terrified me on more than one occasion. It was just unstable and would lunge and try to bite anyone near it. AC wouldn't do anything at all. We called in after one incident where it just nearly bit my dad and found out that many neighbors had called in. Owner swore 'it wasn't like that at home'... The dog ended up run over and I suspect it wasn't an accident. That's really the only dog I can remember being afraid of.

There were quite a few dogs in the shelter that I was cautious of too. Not afraid but just wary and glad I didn't have to handle them.

 

[Willowy]

There is a GSD on my mail route who I'm pretty sure wants to eat me. I really don't think he's bluffing like most dogs. I'm told he has a bite history, but I don't know if that's true or if it's just gossip. I sure hope he doesn't get out of his yard because I don't want to find out!

There are also a bunch of small dogs who I know WILL bite if given the chance, and one that did bite me. I can't say I'm scared of them because they can't kill me, but I don't like being bitten so I'm cautious of them.

 

[Avie]

There are two that both live in our street (almost every household in our street owns one or multiple dogs). I'm not afraid of them. I just don't trust them.

One is a Welsh Springer Spaniel that attacked both my previous dog and our current dog... literally running all the way from his house to ours only to fight. He was loose both times, he isn't loose often and I can only assume they were accidents.

Our previous dog, Charlie, did not allow any dog to harass him, he was the kind that didn't back down to defend himself. There were no injuries when they collided, they were just loud and showed fierce displays before they were broken up. But our current dog Mike is insecure and he became very small as the springer spaniel went at him, biting his ear.

The comment his owner made: "He just wants to play."
Um, no. He did not want to play. He wanted to hurt my dog and succeeded.

So... unresolved issue. But as long as it doesn't happen again... We don't want trouble in our neighborhood.

The other dog lives in another house more close by. He's a Shar Pei/Labrador mix and there's just something about him... Not a social dog, just stares at you, all stiff, sometimes growling... His mate, a black Labrador male, is just a sweetheart though

 

[Daenerys]

There are two dogs I've ever been afraid of. The first was when I was younger. The dog was my grandmother's cocker spaniel named Max. Originally he had been my family's dog, but we got him just before my mom became pregnant with my younger sister (I was 4) and my mom ended up having a very difficult pregnancy and she was bedridden for most of it so the dog went to my grandma. Well he grew up and ended up not liking children, so whenever we went to visit my grandma I was always afraid at him. He'd bark at us and stuff. By the time he was old and I was a teenager, he grew to "tolerate" me but I don't think he ever liked me. He stopped barking at me, though, and we settled our differences.

The other dog was one at work (boarding kennel). He was a sharpei mix and he bit the lady who works at the front desk during one of his stays but his owners were still gone for a few days after the bite, so I still had to feed him and take him outside for potty breaks. He bit her when she tried to pet him, so the trigger for his aggression was unclear and I was afraid I'd somehow trigger it too.

 

[Amaryllis]

There's one dog that really, really concerns me. He's a huge black and white piebald thing, not a Great Dane, but at least 130 lbs. The way he barks and lunges and strains on his chain when anyone or anything walks by is over the top. Barrier aggressive dogs don't scare me. They make me sad if they're chained all day, every day, but this dog is more than that. I really think that if he ever gets loose, it's going to be a seriously injured or even dead person.

 

[cookieface]

There's a yellow lab three houses away from us that I'm cautious around. He's very often unsecured and has chased after several dogs (including mine). He doesn't seem unfriendly, but I know my dog wasn't happy the first time he got in her face. We have adapted our walking route so that we don't pass in front of the house, but he still barks when he sees us.

There are two other dogs in the neighborhood that we occasionally pass on our walk - a golden / golden mix? and an Irish setter - who bark, snarl, and lunge at us. They are secured (by an invisible fence and tether, respectively), but I fear that one day they will get loose. They could be total sweethearts off their property; however, I certainly wouldn't want to find out.

When I was young, I was bit by a GSD puppy (twice) and have been wary of loose, large dogs that I don't know ever since.

 

[saitenyo]

Only one serious one that I can recall. My ex's family did a lot of rescue and shelter volunteer work, and they rescued a min pin with severe behavior problems whom they'd been unable to adopt out. They were trying to socialize her and had gotten her to the point where she was comfortable with them, but not with strangers. I walked in the door once when she was unrestrained and got lunged at/bitten on the legs. I'd been nipped by dogs at the shelter before but never really been lunged at like that so it was pretty unnerving to me. Try as I might I just could not be comfortable around her after that.

I also sometimes get a bit nervous around really really large dogs who are jumpers, simply because I'm small and find it kind of overwhelming. I almost got knocked to the ground by a jumpy overly friendly Akita once and did not enjoy that. XD

 

[Candydb]

I am lucky enough to say no-- the dogs in the city in my neighborhood are up in condos or behind fences so you only really get to meet them at the dog park, and I have not experienced people taking people-aggressive dogs to an unfenced dog park(the one that I go to anyway-- it has horses and kids and picnics going so you have to have good control of your dog to be in that setting )--
There was a pretty mean mama sow that almost beat me to the fence one time when I was a kid though-- she was pretty scary....

 

[GreatDaneMom]

haha yeahhhhh there was this one dog that came into my work... big lanky lack lab mix named Puck. he wanted to try daycare. i got called up to come evaluate him and when i went to go around the counter to greet him, he began lunging, growling, showing teeth, and jumping up at my face. i have JUST gotten attacked breaking up a dog fight about a week before that, i had a large puncture on my arm and lacerations underneath and my arm was wraped up, my opposite hand had gotten bit too. i went back behind the counter and told him i would not be handling his dog. he said "hes not mean, he just wants to play" i refused and told him "im not in any mood to go back to the hospital, im sorry."

the second dog was a pit bull. she had 2 of them and wanted daycare. i went up to evaluate them. the one was a sweetheart. the other growled at me. i said i would evaluate them sperately. i took the sweet one back and she was petrified, so i told her daycare would not be a good option. then there was the second one. she insisted she was fine. the dog was barking and growling at me and she LET the dog APPROACH me! so now i have a dog barking growling and jumping on me. then the dog sat down and was just sitting by me. so i cautiously let her sniff me and she proceeded to let me pet her... then i could feel it. i had only given her a couple strokes and her whole body tensed and i could feel her emotion. i slowly took my hand away and moved away from her,the woman kept letting the dog follow me. i walked behind the counter and closed the gate and as soon as i grabbed to close the gate she lunged up at my face and let out a huge growl. yeah thanks lady.

i wasnt really afraid of these dogs, but i was not going to handle them without knowing about their full history and everything. those are the people that end up getting their dogs PTS because they "wont bite"... ugh

 

[Shell]

Yes- although not so much for a dog attacking ME as a dog attacking Chester while we are walking and the danger of breaking them up or protecting him.

There's a house about a block from me on my street, unfortunately between me and the main road with the nice walking path, that used to have a very aggressive GSD, 100% outside dog. Always charged the fence etc but I never saw her loose at least. Then they got a second GSD female that would do the same thing but not quite as aggressive. One day a cop shows up and the first aggressive GSD disappears. There was brief bit of hope, but then the remaining GSD started getting loose so for several months I couldn't even walk Chester down my own street but had to drive to the park every day. They finally fixed their fence- because they got a male Pit Bull. The Pit at least doesn't seem as aggressive and definitely doesn't act human aggressive at all, but it is stressful to walk past with the GSD running the fenceline snarling and the Pit Bull jumping up and down while I hope he can't clear the fence.

Another house has a recently acquired bully breed type who charges the chain link fence and leaps at it. Again, I worry that he could clear the fence and he is clearly dog aggressive. Can't tell if he shows HA.

There's a handful of dogs that have attacked Chester over the years but most of them are inside dogs that I don't see or have to worry about on a daily basis. However, since I know they are DA, I scope out the area before passing those houses or turn the other direction if I see them being walked. Two pits, a boxer, a golden and a rottie who respectively pulled the leashes from their owner, door darted past an owner who helped tackle the dog, disobeyed recall while off-leash in the owner's yard and door darted because a kid didn't latch the storm door.

 

[Kayota]

I have been threatened by a pit bull and bitten by a husky mix. I would have noticed their body language now but I was a kid at the time. I was definitely frightened of those two dogs, but the funny thing is, I love pit bulls and huskies! What's up with that? /grin

 

[elrohwen]

I am very cautious around my mother-in-law's corgi now. She's a sweet sweet dog 99% of the time, but she has very little bite inhibition and if she's nervous and snaps she'll draw blood. Once I was trying to get her in the car and realized too late that the garage door was open and she was heading for it. I said her name pretty calmly and reached down for her collar and she turned around and grabbed onto my hand. I lifted most of her off of the ground before she let go. At least I didn't need stitches (she bit another lady who did need stitches though). I can read her warning signs when she gives them, but since that day I realized that she can be very unpredictable in any situation where she's uncomfortable and won't always give a warning. I wouldn't say I'm afraid and I still like to pet her and hang out with her, but I'm much more cautious than I was.

 

[sassafras]

There are a number of dogs I come into contact with through work who I am cautious of. Not afraid, exactly, but cautious.

There have also been a handful over the years that yes, I did simply fear. Just wrong in their heads and flat out scary dogs.