I figured I would come here for advice instead of any of those other dog subreddits where the psychos want every dog euthanized. But I had another run in with my sister's dog and because I'm not a confrontational person, I'm looking for advice or input on how to address my concerns with their dog.
They have a male corso who I believe is about 3 years old. I'm not certain of his size but he has to be at least 120 lbs. Because my sister and I live a few hours apart, we only see each other a couple times a year and I've only been around this dog a few times, so I am a glorified stranger. So I understand my perspective of this dog is different from them who live with him every day. But each time I've been around him, I leave with some serious marks and scratches and at this point I feel like I have to say something, especially because both our families have young children, and frankly I myself do not feel comfortable around this dog, and especially with my two year old daughter.
The first instance was a couple years ago when he was still just a puppy. We were over to use their pool and I was holding my then infant daughter while walking down the porch steps to the yard. The dog gets let out the sliding door and immediately jumps on me from behind and scratches my back with a deep long scratch from shoulder to my elbow. Mind you I am carrying a baby at the time. I let it go because he was still just a puppy, albeit probably 50 pounds at this point. The reaction from my BIL still pisses me off to this day, where instead of taking responsibility for letting the dog out, he basically blames me for not closing the gate to the steps behind me. I'm sorry, I don't live there. I forgot there was a gate. You should be the one checking. I let all that go because later that day I saw the dog be responsible while on a leash out and about in the city. Though at one point it did jump up on our babies stroller and did come rather close to scratching her face
Flash forward to this weekend, were visiting them in their new home and my niece is giving us a tour while my BIL is walking the dogs. We're coming down the steps when the dogs are on the main level and this guy jumps on me and gets mouthy on my arm while I'm cornered on the steps. This wasn't too bad. I got a little scrap but mostly just slobber. The dog gets taken away and we move on. Probably 20 minutes later, we're in the basement watching TV while the cousins are playing and this dog comes out of nowhere down the steps. I stand up because I'm not letting him anywhere near my now toddler, and try to grab this dog by his harness. He jumps up again and bites down on my left bicep. When my sister yells for my BIL to come get the dog he again tries to pass off the blame saying we were getting him all excited. By what? Just sitting there is another room downstairs? The adrenaline and commotion of the busy day made me not notice how severe the bite was but I've now got three decent size scrapes and bruises on my left arm and my whole upper arm is sore.
I understand this dog isn't being aggressive and this is it playing but the lack of accountability and preparedness for having this dog around new people in the house upsets me so much. All this happened after they just got done telling me it hopped over their temporary fence (which is about knee high) the night before and was on the loose in the dark for several hours.
To me this dog is a liability. They are in a new home in a seemingly affluent suburb, and I'm sure these people would be much more litigious if something did occur. Between careers, moving to a new area, raising two children, and other health/injury issues, I dont think this dog got the proper training and attention it needed and I feel like I have to say something to them about it before something else happens. The thing is, they are/were responsible dog owners. They previously had an American bulldog/staff mix and a Rottweiler mix, who were both lovely. I dog sat for them and loved those dogs. So I'm not someone who is afraid of big dogs. Their other dog is a big ole sweetie. This one though... No fucking way am I spending any time around him and I will not let my kid anywhere near him. The thing is I think my sister knows there are issues, and is too afraid to say or do anything about it because he is otherwise protective and cautious of their children. It's everyone else that I think is an issue. Mainly it's my BIL's careless attitude about it that upsets me and is prompting me to make this a bigger issue now.
Sorry for the rant... I'm done now
