The carer of a ‘territorial’ dog at a house close to Dunblane Primary School has apologised for any distress the animal has caused to locals.
Residents shared concerns on social media last week about two collie dogs barking at the front gate of the property as children walked past on their way to and from school.
It then emerged a woman was bitten by one of the pair two months ago.
Police Scotland confirmed inquiries into the incident are ongoing, with Stirling Council encouraging concerned locals to get in touch.
The Courier has also contacted the dog-bite victim for comment.
‘I should have had the dogs inside’
The woman responsible for the dogs, Kelly Fleming, lives in the Fort William area but says she visits her elderly mother’s home in Dunblane around once a month.
She owns one of the two collies and is taking care of the older dog, who belongs to one of her elderly neighbours, temporarily.
Ms Fleming says she went to great lengths to ensure the front gates were completely secure and installed a box for mail at the gate so the postie wouldn’t need to enter the garden.
But she admits she didn’t think about how passers-by might react to the dogs barking.
“In retrospect, I should have had them in, particularly when the parents are taking their kids to school, and at the end of the day,” she said.
“I don’t live anywhere near a school or houses myself, I live very rurally. So, I just got caught out with not bringing them in.
“As far as I was concerned, they were completely secure in the garden and weren’t able to do any harm.
“But I’m obviously extremely apologetic to the distress caused, with maybe seeing a potentially very barky dog, particularly one of them.
“My dog, is actually not aggressive in any way at all, but he does occasionally like a good old bark.
“They were just winding each other up, I guess, and that is bad.
“I should have had them nearer the house and they wouldn’t have been triggered.”
According to Ms Fleming, both collies are rescue animals, and are fear reactive.
She says the older dog is an abused farm dog, who has become territorial as a result.
‘Bite incident was a total cock-up on my side’
The dog owner admits a visitor to the Dunblane property was bitten by the older dog on July 17.
“I’d planned to put my dogs in the van, out of the way, completely secure in the garden,” she said.
“Unfortunately, the visitor arrived early.”
Ms Fleming says arrangements had been made to meet her at the front gate.
The visitor instead gained access to the garden through a side gate “which is all blocked up by a bramble bush” and has “not been used for years”.
“Unfortunately, the old dog saw her, became territorial and bit her.
“I was there, so I saw it. It was a collie jump-up-and-nip, territorial sort of thing.
“I put the dog, straight away, in the van and was extremely apologetic.
“But, prior to that, I thought I had done everything to secure the garden.
“It was a total cock-up on my side, or a misunderstanding. I shouldn’t have left any grey areas.”
Dog is now receiving training
Ms Fleming says she received a letter at her home address from the local authority’s dog warden, advising her about precautions to take when out and about with the animals, but has not received a phone call or visit.
The older collie is now receiving training.
“I signed up immediately to a training course, even though he’s not my dog,” she explained.
“I’m trying to help out and rehabilitate him.
“He’s always on the lead if I’m out and about; I’m very aware of the situation that he’s very fear reactive.
“And he’s actually very good when we’re out and about. It just seems to be a sort of territorial thing that’s happened.”
‘Gates are not enclosed and open to small hands’
One concerned grandmother, who was collecting her young granddaughter from Dunblane Primary School last week, hit out at the situation.
She told us: “Something has to be done before a child is badly hurt by these very aggressive dogs.
“The house is right beside the primary school and they are up at the gate barking and snarling at everyone who passes.
“My granddaughter got such a fright when we passed and some families were crossing the road to get away.
“The gates are not enclosed and open to small hands and I hate to think what would happen if a child went near the gate.
“There is a smaller gate into the garden that isn’t even secured shut.
“I hope action can be taken quickly to protect the hundreds of families who walk past every day.”
Concerns about dogs should be reported
A Police Scotland spokesperson commented: “We received a report of a dog having bitten a woman in the Doune Road area of Dunblane on Wednesday, 17 July, 2024.
“Inquiries are ongoing and the dog warden has been notified.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “This incident was reported by Police Scotland to a neighbouring local authority’s dog warden where the animal normally resides.
“If anyone has concerns about the behaviour of a dog they can report it to Stirling Council’s animal control team.”
Argyll and Bute Council did not respond to our request for comment.
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