Unsupervised dobermans wwyd

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SadKen

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Twice now on my walks I've encountered two totally unaccompanied, by-themselves Dobermans of considerable size. They are on a disused railway track or in the neighbouring field where a lot of people walk their dogs. They haven't approached me or my dogs but did stand and watch us make a hasty exit stage right (my big gsd is not friendly, and was on lead). The dogs are obviously well cared for and don't seem nasty (not that I got close!). My OH has banned me from the field in case these dogs are there, as he reasonably says anything could happen. I've got a good idea which house the dogs have come from. not sure whether to write to the householder, or wait and see if I see them again and call the police. I think the householder might take the 'don't worry they are friendly' approach, but getting the police involved could cause issues as the village is small. I'm quite concerned as there is a busy road nearby and children use the railway line and the field. Thoughts welcome!
 
I'd report it to the police or dog warden. Definately, with no hesitation. I was attacked by a doberman as a kid, & that incident would have petrified me, whether or not the dogs were friendly. Why should your choice of walk be limited due to someone else's irresponsible behaviour? I wouldn't wait until i saw them again - by that time something could have happened to someone, or the dogs themselves.
 
I would report them, no dog should be left to wonder around by themselves!

And dobermans are bred as guard dogs and you generally have a pair of them as they work together so I would be concerned if I found a pair wondering around by themselves!
 
If you know where they come from why not just knock on their door and tell them? They might not even know their dogs are getting out- I had a terrier once who had an 'escape route' but she never used it when I was watching, it took me ages to find out how she was getting out.
Calling the police, when you know where the dogs live, seems a bit extreme.
 
I agree with Stormox, the owner may not realise they are going walkabout :) They are not showing aggression towards you or your dog, I think reporting them is ott.
 
I would love to give them a knock but the house is a big old manor house which is a long way from its electric gates! I could prob get in through the garden where I think the Dobermans get out but I don't think that's a good idea! I can't run very quickly ;)

I do feel that reporting is a bit extreme as I genuinely don't think the owners are doing it deliberately. Will write and give 'em a chance then report if I see them again.
 
I had to look where you were from in case you were talking about my dogs:D as mine have bombed off before on walks after deer but they have always stayed on our land and Ive always got them back.

Regardless of what breed they are I wouldnt wait until you see them again as they might not be so lucky next time and might cause an accident. I would ring the owner and say how concerned you are as they were so close to the road and maybe they didnt realise they were escaping. If you see them after this I would ring the dog warden and leave it up to them.
 
I would just call whatever number is on their collar? Owners may not know the dogs are going off on their own little adventures. Also I would be concerned about the chance of the dogs being hit by a car / causing an accident rather than being mauled.

Maybe I am a bit stupid though?
 
I don't think reporting to the police is OTT at all. These days it's kinda risky to go knocking on a stranger's door with a complaint, whether you are doing it out of concern or not, especially if they potentially have two loose dogs on the property. The police are very able to have a quiet word and offer advice.
 
Dog warden, maybe they could call around and have a word.

I saw two loose GSDs running around a busy road with people chasing them, and cars stopping, I rang the dog warden for the area when I got into work and he let me know their fence had blown over in the wind and he and the owners had managed to work together to catch them, which I thought was nice of him to explain!
 
I think you could do either but given it could be something the owner isn't aware of it would be nice of you and fairest to contact them first.

Very few Dobermans are aggressive, they are very rarely involved in incidents (tho all breeds have some bad apples) and more have a black and tan dog image problem, the police gave up using them as they were too hard to train to be consistently aggressive. Most of the ones in rescue are bought as guard dogs and completely fail as they won't do anything except bark!

I would be more concerned about them causing an accident on a road or chasing livestock TBH but if you do try to contact owner and get an unhelpful response then definitely escalate to dog warden or police after that as no responsible Dobie owner would knowingly allow them to wander (we spent 7k on a 7 foot fence to make sure of that!)
 
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