Last summer, we invited our new neighbors over for dinner. They were vegan so we researched that, and prepared a delicious meal. While slicing VEGAN bread, I almost cut off the tip of my finger. Brian glued it back on for me. No kidding! My fingernail doesn’t grow quite straight anymore, and sometimes my fingertip still hurts (like when it’s about to rain) but, other than that, it’s pink and healthy and nobody would ever notice the past trauma.
Later, the neighbors arrived. The husband seemed a bit “off” but I’m all for being unique so I didn’t give it much thought. He mentioned at one point that their dog was part Pitbull and that it had killed deer here. That did not sit well with us AT ALL.
Later in the evening, he was explaining that Colorado is the best place to live. I silently wondered why he was living in Georgia but…whatever. He kept trying to get me to agree that Colorado was the best. The conversation was getting more and more bizarre! Brian was inside at that moment. Mason was outside with us. The guy’s wife (who is lovely, by the way), was outside as well.
He would not let up and, when I once again smiled, and gently disagreed with the idea that we should “all move to Colorado,” that dude SNAPPED! It was absolutely BIZARRE! He stood up, pointed his finger at me, and yelled, “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” over and over.
Ever the peace-maker, I suspended my “Holy crap! What just happened?!” thoughts until later, and I tried to calm the situation. I walked over to him, trying to put my hand on his arm. I said, “It’s okay. We’re neighbors. We’re friends…”
Nope! Didn’t work!! He kept backing away from me (like he was afraid of me, which was bizarre). Mason recognized a psychotic moment for what it was, and booked it inside to get Brian.
The neighbor then ran across our back porch, down the steps, and rounded the front of our house, running toward his house. Our security camera picked up the bizarre scene.
I turned to look at his wife and all she said was, “Not again…”
NOT AGAIN?!?! He’d done this before???
I felt so sorry for her at that moment. And, I felt sorry for him, too. He clearly needed some help. I texted the wife once, telling her to let me know if they ever need anything. She said okay. And, that was it. I never heard from her again.
A few weeks later, they left town for a few months for work reasons, and recently arrived back in Georgia. After they got back, their dog started showing up in our yard, and barking viciously at Brian when he was outside. She had previously barked at me in our front yard before they left town and I’d managed to get to safety inside. However, I haven’t been outside much since I hurt my foot. Brian has been doing all the outside chores.
In another incident, when Brian was down the mountain (still on our property), filling the deer feeders, hiking, and watching the wildlife, their dog approached him there, too, barking and snarling, and not going away. In the front yard one day last week, the dog was lunging at Brian (who was holding a big stick – it’s a shame that we now have to keep a stick by our front door, isn’t it?!), and the wife came into our yard, and tried to call the dog. But, the dog wasn’t minding her. The dog doesn’t mind ANYONE.
When it appeared the dog was retreating, Brian turned to come back to the front porch and the dog turned and ran toward him again, barking and lunging. I was banging on the window screaming, “BRIAN! TURN AROUND! TURN AROUND!!” He didn’t hear me but he heard the dog. He rounded on the dog and it eventually followed the woman back to their yard.
She had told Brian the dog wouldn’t bite him. Yeah, right! They all say that!! Read any dog attack article in the newspaper. Nobody is ever more surprised than the owner…
Enough was enough and we sent them a certified letter, telling them to keep their vicious dog off of our property.
Yesterday morning, Brian was down in the woods, sitting under a tree, when the dog came running up, barking and snarling again, and lunged at Brian. At that moment, the neighbor and his wife walked up. They had been hiking on OUR property with their dog. Now, we don’t mind people hiking on our property but we DO mind people bringing vicious dogs here. We have ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and our pets to protect. Also, deer bed down in our yard with their fawns.
It was clear that the dog was on the verge of attacking Brian, and was barking non-stop right in front of him, snarling, and lunging at him over and over. The neighbor’s wife simply walked away (why did she do that?!?!) but the neighbor stayed, kind of trying to verbally control his dog. He clapped his hands. He whistled. He clapped his hands some more. (One of our game cams picked it up.) His attempts to control his vicious, furious, snarling dog looked half-hearted at best. And, Brian figured out why. He said it looked like the man was afraid of his own dog. I watched the video and I agree. If my dog lunged at someone, I would tackle my own dog to stop him. This man just stood there clapping his hands and doing this weird open-hand, shut-hand thing in front of him. His reaction to his dog about to attack another person was almost as bizarre as his screaming fit on our porch!
At the end, the dog came near the owner (after he had soooo slowly approached the dog, which was still lunging at Brian). He reached out to get the dog but the dog instantly broke out of his arms, and took off in the other direction. The entire time, that guy had ZERO control over his dog – verbally nor physically. And, that made the entire incident even more terrifying! And, just like his wife, he told Brian that his dog would not bite him. Yeah, right!!!
Long story longer, since the dog was gone, Brian was able to come away from the tree he’d been near, and he ordered the man to immediately get off our property. Furthermore, he told him that he and his wife and dog would be trespassing if they ever came back on our property. Rather than leave, the neighbor started arguing with Brian. Brian quickly walked toward him and he took off walking fast in the other direction. It looked like he was as afraid of Brian as he was of his own dog.
The man’s final words to Brian as he skittered away were, “I’m going to blow your fucking head off!!!”
Of course, that led to a 9-1-1 call, a deputy taking a police report, and us sending a second written notice to them, which was delivered today.
I’ll let you know how things play out.
Incidentally, all of the rest of our neighbors are sweet and amazing.
POSTSCRIPT: My glued-on, healed fingertip hurt the entire afternoon yesterday but there was no front coming in. Weird, huh??
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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Pingback: IMPORTANT UPDATE about Our PSYCHO Neighbor! | WritersWeekly.com
I recommend BEAR SPRAY!!! for both threats
Thank goodness you have some neighbors who are not weirdos! It sounds like this guy was run out of Colorado for the same kind of troublesome actions. Few things are more troublesome than living near a dangerous dog. I hope it gets resolved. I’ve driven through those mountains many times from here to Dalton Ga, and it’s a beautiful area. WAY better than Colorado, IMO, and much less expensive!
Recalling your adventures in Florida, I wonder if you’re starting to feel like some kind of Crazy-Neighbor magnet…
Actually, YEAH!!! 😉
Angela
Oh my goodness! How incredibly stressful!
Omg. Maybe a restraining order? What a nutjob! Be safe.
You are justifiably concerned about the neighbor and his vicious dog. The behavior you describe suggests the dog has been abused and is probably beyond control of any kind. The same may be true of your neighbor, but you are not social workers. Safety is the primary concern.
My suggestion: document each intrusion and report all of them to the sheriff. Law enforcement may not be able to do much in the absence of a physical attack, but the documentation will be priceless when you are forced to bring a civil suit.
Above all, Stay Safe.
Eric
Thanks, Eric!!
Brian found this online. There are 2,400 dog attacks EVERY DAY!
https://www.chp.edu/injury-prevention/safety/home-and-yard/dog-bites/facts-and-figures
Maybe if more people reported aggressive dog behavior, before an attack occurred, there were be far fewer attacks.
Angela
Yikes! Talk about “the neighbor from hell.” And I’m not making a joke. Isn’t there a law against threatening to “blow someone’s head off?” You don’t want to be one of those people who after the fact say: “Gee, we never though he would actually do it.” No wonder the dog is such a threat, he picks up his owner’s aggressive vibes. I think they both could do with some doggie downers sooner rather than later. Keep us posted.
Good luck!
Cheers!
One actually has to be more specific about a threat to be charged. But, we still filed a police report.
Many years ago, a man we exposed in WritersWeekly Whispers and Warnings threatened to get my children from school, and kidnap them. According to the FBI, since he didn’t say when/where he would commit the crime, their hands were tied.
The VERY NEXT DAY (I can’t make this stuff up), they arrested someone who had threatened Tom Cruise. So, apparently celebrities are more important than children.
Angela
Fascinating story. The dog incident must be a Georga thing. My brother lives in Brooklet, Ga, and has the same problem with his neighbor’s dog. It keeps coming onto his property chasing the deer he feeds and sometimes him. He complained to his neighbor, so the neighbor put up a hand-scribbled sign that says, “Beware of dog. This dog is a free spirit and thinks he owns whatever property he is on at the time, and he will defend it.”
This neighbor is the same person who showed up at my brother’s door two days after my brother moved in. The man had a shotgun in his hands and told my brother he wanted to make sure no “queers” were moving into the area.
HOLY MOLY!!!!!!
That happened to my hubby once. As the dog flew through the air at his face, he punched the dog as hard as he could in its oncoming snout. It works. Hopefully, your neighbors will move soon. People do lose their homeowner’s insurance if they own a dog that attacks people or animals.