What to do about people spreading rumors?

[oriondw]

I might have a problem. There are some people in our subdivision who are afraid of my guy. A group of older ladies who do nothing but spread rumors and accusations of stuff that has never happened.

These ladies are talking behind my back about how my dog is going after them, their neighbors and how he gets constantly loose... (I get told by people who like us).

My question is WTF? None of that stuff has ever happened...

This gets me extremely mad... too bad for american laws that I cant do anything to them personally.


Can I do anything against them in a legal sense?

 

[joce]

Just send a legel looking letter to them, or if you have a lawyer have him send it. As long as it looks professional and it says You have people saying she told them such and such it should shut her up. If you are that worried about it I would call the cops and just have them talk to ehr thoguh because if someone ever got bit by anyhting she would probally have people blaming it on your dog.

 

[Renee750il]

Document it as thoroughly as you can. Consulting with an attorney wouldn't hurt a bit, and you might be advised to consult with the local animal control to tell them that you are having a problem with neighbors. But ask an attorney about that, because I don't know what the tone of the animal control people is in your area. I know the guy in charge here, and can talk to him, but sometimes they're a nasty, officious bunch who might decide that your dog DOES need to be spied upon.

Another thing that will help is some sort of training certification, like the Canine Good Citizen or something that sounds terribly official. Something like that goes a long way to making rumor mongering busybodies look foolish.

 

[oriondw]

Hmn, the only tests he'd pass would be protection related.

I looked over the tests involving CGC and there is no way we would pass that.

 

[MyDogsLoveMe]

What about just walking over to them and asking them why they have a problem with you and your dog and see if maybe you couldnt resolve it that way???

 

[SummerRiot]

Why do you think your dog wouldn't pass the CGC test?

Maybe you should work with him so he can, and then you'll have something to prove.

 

[oriondw]

What about just walking over to them and asking them why they have a problem with you and your dog and see if maybe you couldnt resolve it that way???

They could then start new rumors... I dont want to deal with them.

Ill seek legal advice i guess.

 

[oriondw]

Why do you think your dog wouldn't pass the CGC test?

Maybe you should work with him so he can, and then you'll have something to prove.

Cant "work" on something thats in his gene's.

 

[SummerRiot]

what breed of dog is he?

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I think his dog is a Caucasian Ovarchka (if I got it wrong I'm sorry lol oriondw).

Are you talking about dog aggression?

 

[oriondw]

I think his dog is a Caucasian Ovarchka (if I got it wrong I'm sorry lol oriondw).

Are you talking about dog aggression?

Yes.

He doesnt like all dogs. He's fine with humans, he loves attention and everything.

Its just some dogs he doesnt like, mostly larger males. So I cant gurantee he'd pass the dog related tests. Especially with 2 unknown dogs coming fro 2 directions.

 

[SummerRiot]

OHHHHh ok..

well hes very pretty Hmm.. do you have any neighbourhood kids that are around you at all?? maybe have your dog out in the front yard, where the nighbours can see (on a leash or one of those wire lines to keep him safe) and have the kids playing with him..

 

[Renee750il]

Hmn, the only tests he'd pass would be protection related.

I looked over the tests involving CGC and there is no way we would pass that.

I understand that, lol! No way would any of mine pass one either But any kind of official looking certification that shows Orion is trained to a standard of obedience gives you an advantage in these situations. Not only does it raise his appearance to the unknowledgeable as somthing other than just another big, tough "thug" dog, so to speak, but it also gives you something that those who don't respect what they actually see will acknowledge in most cases.

 

[RD]

How about a temperament test in lieu of the CGC? If he's not good with other dogs, you could at least make it known that he is not aggressive with people.

 

[BigDog2191]

Why not go over to the ladies and ask them why they're spreading lies like this? Have somebody with you as a witness so they don't say that you pulled out a knife, yelled, etc.

Just resolve the situation with talking.

 

[oriondw]

He's constantly rolling around with small dogs around our neighborhood

He's not people agressive. Its the unknown dogs that he doesnt really like. Takes him a week or two to get used to a dog.

 

[Doberluv]

Lyric has a dog to dog problem with aggression, typical with Dobermans and he's gone through the CGC class. It may not be as severe as your dog but he would lunge at the end of the leash, snarling, snapping, showing all his teeth, barking viciously, very strong. In class, soon he did fine. He hasn't taken the test yet...should be this month. The trainer said she has no doubt he'll pass, that he's a very good canine good citizen. The thing is, in class, with practice these dog CAN learn to control themselves. They may not like other dogs or lunge at them but something about these classes helps give them the idea that it's working time and no nonsense. Lyric is an angel in class, even off leash, (agility and obedience) and with desensatization and positive reinforcement training, letting him know that it's work time and it's no big deal, he has learned to be gentlemanly around dogs, at least most of the time out in public and all of the time during class time, despite his intrinsic desire to go get after a dog. They can be taught to respect your wishes to get a grip. It does take work. And perhaps your dog is worse than Lyric with that sort of thing. The Doberman also has a strong desire to work with and for his master, look out for his master and his master's wishes. (eh-hem...most of the time) LOL.

But that would be a great feather in your cap.

Also a lawyer would be good to consult. Just make sure that your dog never ever is loose or out of your control, not even once or they'll have real ammunition against you.

 

[oriondw]

Lyric has a dog to dog problem with aggression, typical with Dobermans and he's gone through the CGC class. It may not be as severe as your dog but he would lunge at the end of the leash, snarling, snapping, showing all his teeth, barking viciously, very strong. In class, soon he did fine. He hasn't taken the test yet...should be this month. The trainer said she has no doubt he'll pass, that he's a very good canine good citizen. The thing is, in class, with practice these dog CAN learn to control themselves. They may not like other dogs or lunge at them but something about these classes helps give them the idea that it's working time and no nonsense. Lyric is an angel in class, even off leash, (agility and obedience) and with desensatization and positive reinforcement training, letting him know that it's work time and it's no big deal, he has learned to be gentlemanly around dogs, at least most of the time out in public and all of the time during class time, despite his intrinsic desire to go get after a dog. They can be taught to respect your wishes to get a grip. It does take work. And perhaps your dog is worse than Lyric with that sort of thing. The Doberman also has a strong desire to work with and for his master, look out for his master and his master's wishes. (eh-hem...most of the time) LOL.

But that would be a great feather in your cap.

Also a lawyer would be good to consult. Just make sure that your dog never ever is loose or out of your control, not even once or they'll have real ammunition against you.

Oh he's not as severe as you describe. As i said, about classes. He's fine with dogs there because he gets to know them and he knows he's there to work. Meeting strange unknown dogs somewhere on a walk is a different matter. Gotta pick a totally random place where he hasnt put a mark on, to completely remove territorial agression.

 

[juliefurry]

I feel for you people did the same thing with our pit mix. We had the animal control here a lot with people stating he was aggressively "lunging" at the end of his leash at them and their kids (and his leash is in the backyard nowhere near where he could see or get near people passing by). People in our neighborhood just didn't like him because he was a big dog and everyone in our neighborhood has small terrier dogs. I talked it over with Animal control (ofcourse our animal control is a joke though).

 

[Doberluv]

I think then that it is very possible to teach your dog to have manners when he sees a strange dog, at least improve. If Lyric monster boy can do it, they your guy should be able to also. It may not be always perfect, but I try and take it in stride and act like seeing another dog is really not that big of a deal..."come on Lyric. Good heavens!" Anyhow, I bet your guy could pass that test with some practice and it sure would be fun to flash that CGC certificate in anyone's face if anything legal comes of this. Anyhow, good luck.