aggresive dog

Question
my neighbour has an 8 month old german sheppard, and he is a very aggresive dog. in addition to barking at everything that moves, he seems to be fixated on children. we recently had an incident where he got loose from the house and barked viciously at 2 children while nipping at them on a trampoline. luckily he could not bite them through the material. this obviously concerns me as the dog lives in a ressidential area. my question is can this behaviour be "trained" out of this dog. the owner now wants to put up a fence, but gates can be left open. the dog currently can't be left off leash, but with a fence they might gain the false sense of letting him of leash in their yard. dogs have the ability to escape.

Answer
Hi Jason,

Yes, it's totally possible for your neighbor's dog to be rehabilitated, and trained out of it's aggressive behavior. The problem is, it doesn't sound as though your neighbor has the inclination to do so.

Your best bet as far as safety for the neighborhood children, is to contact the police every time the dog gets out, or is barking for an extended period of time. Most communities have laws about such things. Aside from that, your options as a neighbor are very limited. Local animal ordinances vary from community to community as far as what qualifies as proper animal care. Usually these laws are very limited as far as what's considered abuse or neglect. Sadly, most of the time, if the dog is fed and has water, it's considered well taken care of.

Sorry I can't offer you more in the way of hope.

Patti