[Potter]

It is very simple. If it is not my own Pitbull/German Sheppard/Rottie etc, I will not trust them near my Yorkie. I will only trust the dog if I have raised the dog myself and grew up with my Yorkie. Any other people's dog, no thank you. Nothing about being judgemental but why bother taking the risk when we ourselves have small dogs?

9 out of 10 owners will say their dogs are friendly even if they are not. Not because they are lying but because they love their pet so much they are in denial, it is human nature and most of us are-big or small dog owners we tend to overlook our own pets' wrongdoings because we love them so much. It doesn't matter how friendly people say their big dogs are, I just won't take the risk because my dog's safety is my responsibility period.

Its always good to let your neighbour know you are afraid of their dog but there is no need to be mean about it. Most of these dogs owners understand how some people are afraid of their dogs anyways. We have a Rottie in the neighbourhood whom the owner do not even trust walking by children in the neighbourhood and when he sees me and my Yorkie, he charges to the point that his collar is going to break and his owner is going to fall. I usually walk back (because I do not want to run that would trigger an even bigger reaction) into the house or quickly jump in to the car and lock the door if its nearer and the Rottie will end up charging at my car and the owner can't even control that on leash-sad and scary. He didn't train him to be mean but he didn't seek trainer's help to nip his aggressive problems either.

A Pitbull/Mastiff mix who escaped the other day nearly attacked a 3lbs Yorkie who didn't even see him. His owner loves him very much but still insist that he is friendly to both people and dogs..I could see she is in denial. She knows it but didn't want to believe it. I don't think she ever trained her dogs to be mean looking at how much she loves them but these dogs are just out of control and owners didn't seek professional help and their problems are ongoing and a danger to neighbour's small dogs.

I also wanted to add we have 2 German Sheppards on the left and right. They are well-trained although not necessarily friendly to each dog that they meet and owners are very responsible and I feel blessed that they know I am afraid of them but they always take precautions to keep me and my Yorkie safe. It makes a lot of difference when the owners take responsibility and do the right thing when they own a dog that could be potentially dangerous. I feel these 2 neighbours respected other people a lot and in return, we respect them too.