Christine Yancey City Administrator

Neighbors’ complaints about a dog on Schnoebelen Street in Riverside look like they will come to a head at the Jan. 6 Riverside City Council meeting.

Monday night, the council reviewed a behavioral assessment of the pit bull that said the dog “is under-socialized (and past the window of socialization). He is under-exercised both mentally and physically.”

The council asked City Administrator Christine Yancey to deliver the evaluation to the dog’s owners, Dennis and Diana Schultz, who will be asked to respond and tell what steps they will take based on the recommendations in the evaluation.

At the Oct. 7 council meeting, several neighbors had asked that the dog named Bear be declared vicious because it had killed a kitten.

The council spelled out steps for the Schultzes to take to address the neighbors’ concerns:

• Build a 6-foot privacy fence around their yard.

• Produce vaccination records for the dog.

• Provide an evaluation from the dog’s vet about the dog’s disposition.

Of the three requirements, only the records showing the dog is up to date on vaccinations has been accomplished. Council members have expressed concern because the Schultzes live up the street from Highland Elementary School and schoolchildren walk by the house each day.

The city ordered the evaluation of the dog by Liz Ford of Best Friends Dog Academy after the dog’s vet declined to do an evaluation.

Yancey said only three panels of the fence have been built. The council had given the Schultzes a deadline of Dec. 1 to meet their requirements.

Ford’s evaluation is dated Dec. 3 following a visit to the Schultz home.

“There were some concerns,” Yancey said, but added, “At this point, she is not declaring it a vicious dog.”

At the Oct 7 meeting, Dennis Schultz described the dog as loveable.

“He is a baby pit pull who loves everybody,” he said. “It’s all about come play with me.”

Schultz added: “All he wants is attention. To my knowledge, he has never snapped at anybody.”

The evaluation noted that the dog had jumped the fence once when other dogs were loose and running past the backyard.

Other findings:

• The dogs (the Schultes have a second dog) know how to push the sliding glass door open, a concern if someone were at the front door and perceived as a threat by the pit bull.

• Young people in the house rough house with the dog, which “can cause over arousal and reinforce inappropriate behaviors.”

• The dogs are not walked with exercise limited to time in their own backyard. “Unfortunately, this only adds to Bear’s fear and frustration,” the evaluation reads.

• The evaluation questioned if Diana Schultz is strong enough to restrain Bear in any situation where it might be needed.

Ford recommended that the Schultzes seek training help from a professional, credentialed trainer with experience in behavior modification.

The report further recommended that a fence immediately be built to contain the dog and that the dog wear a muzzle and be put on a leash when people come to the door.

If those recommendations are not successful, Ford recommended the dog be sent to an animal shelter where a home could be found more suitable to the dog’s needs.