Clueless Tenant Puzzled About Landlord's Dog That Circles Around and Bites Her, Tries to Understand Its Behavior by Asking Dog Lovers
A 28-year-old woman is stuck in a nightmare loop with her landlord’s dog, and it is not the cute “he’s just being playful” kind. She says the dog circles her, bites her, and keeps doing it like it has a personal grudge. The weird part is she is trying to figure out what she did wrong, because from her side, she is just trying to live in her own rental.
Here’s the messy setup: she is dealing with a landlord who owns the dog, neighbors or commenters are split on what the behavior means, and the OP keeps trying to interpret the dog’s “messages” instead of getting the situation under control. Some people tell her to avoid the dog entirely, others insist it might be play or territory stuff, and a few lines turn into guesswork that could make things worse.
By the time you realize she has to navigate both a biting dog and landlord drama, the whole story turns into a “wait, whose behavior is actually the problem?” situation.
One user believes the original poster (OP) should just avoid the dog.
That means avoid the dog. I’d have to see the dog’s behavior to know more, but they clearly don’t want you around them. This is a pretty dangerous situation, and you’re likely to get bitten.
I may also notify my landlord if I’m going to be by to give them an opportunity to put the dog somewhere safe, and if they refuse, it’s time to move if you’re able to.
Maybe the dog just wants to play.
If it is a somewhat younger dog, could it possibly be trying to play?
Sometimes dogs run around, jump around, make noise, and try to get you to play with them, including biting and mouthing.
Others interpret it as a response to its territory getting invaded.
You are entering HIS space. You may be invited by the owner, but you are consistently entering the dog's personal space uninvited.
You NEED to stand in place and, without making direct eye contact or talking, ALLOW the dog to come up and sniff you. Do NOT REACH OUT TO PET THE DOG.
After the dog sniffs you up and down, wait a bit. If you proceed and the dog growls, do not look at the dog.
DO NOT BACK UP EITHER. Don't even itch your ankle with your other foot.
Backing up is threatening to a dog, and doing this will cause the dog to bite you. You may proceed forward after you have permission from the dog.
After the dog has sniffed and circled around you a few times, going forward too fast will get you bitten.
You must wait a bit, okay?
The OP could just directly ask the landlord why it's behaving this way around her.
It means that, for whatever reason, your landlord's dog has become convinced that you are a danger to and/or do not belong on your landlord's property. The behavior you are describing is that of an animal defending its territory against an intruder.
You need to speak to your landlord and figure out why that is the case and what can be done to resolve the problem.
We then have a person who makes a groundless guess.
There’s something about you that the dog doesn’t like. Do some soul-searching and see if you are an evil person.
I always trust my dog.
When commenters tell the OP to just avoid the dog, it raises the obvious question of how she is supposed to move around her own apartment without triggering another bite.
That’s when the conversation shifts to the biting itself, with people claiming the dog is “just playing” or reacting to her being in the dog’s space.
The thread gets even more intense when someone lays out a whole “don’t make eye contact, don’t back up” routine, as if the OP is in a dog standoff instead of a rental.
Then the best option lands on the simplest move, ask the landlord why the dog targets her, because the dog’s version of “intruder” clearly is not random.
It's impossible to rule out what it means when the landlord's dog exhibits all of those behaviors when the OP is around. The comments from the community are a good start.
In other words, she needs to stay away from the dog as much as possible. And since she's a tenant, she can always complain to her landlord if the dog's behavior is an inconvenience to her.
The OP might be safer, and happier, in a place where the dog does not treat her like the enemy.
Worried about escalating with an aggressive trespassing dog? See how one property owner handled it.
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