Landlord has an Aggressive Dog

[FutureSpartan]

Just moved in to where a buddy mine used to rent out. My landlord is real cool guy, but the only thing is his huge St. Barnard is extremely territorial. Every time I walk in the house he barks and tries to lunge at me through the guard gate.

The second day after moving in he bit me when I walked out and he was on his leash tied to the stair porch. I gave him a treat to calm him down and petted him. The landlord told me that he would eventually get used to me being around.

Well today he's still barking at me when I walk in, i gave him a treat and some attention, with the gate between us, go back to the basement and starts barking at me again.

Even my landlord's girlfriend seems upset and worried about the dog attacking me. Im very worried he might attack me if walk in the house late night and he happens to be roaming around freely.

I probably should have taken to account the dog issue before i moved in, but im already settled, so what should i do after the fact?

 

[The Sperminator]

What would Michael Vick do?

 

[~attrACTION~]

That's sucks. Personally, I would get a little taser to shock the thing if it came near me.

And hey, on a less relevant note, I PM'd you in length and then the site logged me out. I haven't had time to write it over again, but I will. Short story, it was amazing, and a lot better than you'd expect.

 

[WaterTiger]

If you live in the US you can have Animal Control take the dog away. You should have reported the bite in the first place! St. Bernards are big powerful dogs and he can kill you. As in DEAD!

The landlord needs to get rid of this dog before he gets sued for a child getting eaten.

Does no one remember CUJO??????

 

[The Inside Man]

You realize that giving a dog a treat after he is aggressive towards you rewards his aggressive behavior right?

 

[penkitten]

watertiger and inside man are right... but i think you need to sit down with your landlord and have a heart to heart with him.
start with "i love the place, i love the rent amount, i love the location.... you are the coolest... but what are we going to do about your dog ? it's just that ever since he bit me, it has really freaked me out and i don't want to be scared of an awesome dog. don't get me wrong, he is the greatest watch dog i have ever seen, and hopefully soon, i won't feel scared coming and going from my door to the car , i hope he will make me feel just as secure as any one else. what can we do to get him used to me, to make him understand that i come in peace ?"
obviously, your buddy would have mentioned a killer dog if he had felt scared and the way the landlord's gf reacted tells me this is not like the dog usually is around people.
the dog does need to get to know you, perhaps the owner could try to warn you before he ties the dog up in your path... or not tie the dog up right there while the dog is treating you like a villain.

you have all the right in the world to call the animal control, but then your landlord will hate you and end up kicking you out for the first little thing you do. and if you really enjoy the place, that isn't the answer that you are looking for.

however, watertiger has brought up that the landlord needs to do something... and he does being the dog owner and the landlord. if you continue to have problems, you might have to call someone.

just curious, but has the dog ever had any training? feeder's supply usually has info on cheap training classes so you might want to suggest that.
from what i understand, if you can get a dog trained properly, they will not strike someone as this dog has done you.

how old is the dog??

 

[Monster]

If I were you I would give it some meat with rodenticide.