"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news
In article .com,
"hylourgos" wrote:

IMO, if you let it go at all (i.e., the situation didn't demand that
you rush to get your gun the very first incident), then maybe the
cooler thing to do is talk to the owner and let him know how you feel,
before you kill his pet.

I personally would fault no one for killing anything, man or beast, who
threatened his small children. But if you take a pass, then why not use
that moratorium to resolve the situation peacefully? And if the
neighbor won't cooperate, by all means include the police in the
dialogue: they're often helpful that way, and you've covered your legal
bases in doing so.

What I've not read in any reply, but may have missed, is the
recommendation for the OP to educate his children clearly and often
about how to treat and behave around dogs - be it the neighbor's
questionable mutt or the family Peekapoo.

True, but some dogs will attack when they see a motion they believe is
threatening, even from a distance where a child's activity is none of
anyone's business. Same as a cat that'll tear across a yard to chase down a
leaf blowing across the lawn because he likes the sound it makes. So,
educate the kids, but that only takes care of the dogs which are less
reprehensible than the nastiest ones. The spectrum is a short one.