Four dogs at night would be very scary and much more difficult to manage. I was puckered enough with three in broad daylight. I like the picture BTW. The animals are one of the reasons I like riding in rural areas. We have lots of horses and cattle in the area as well as occassional goats, sheep, and one place has a pair of donkeys. No llamas (or is it an alpaca?) though

Luckily, my recent canine encounter was on a very rural road so there isn't a lot of cycle and pedestrian traffic and not many kids, but there is always the possibility. The property is one that I thought was an unoccupied farmstead, but my guess is that someone either bought or rented it and moved in with the dogs. The only animal control we have is the Sheriff's department and they have been made aware of the situation.

I like big dogs, including properly raised and socialized rotts and bulls, had a shar paei once myself (great dog but not too smart) and currently have a German shepard (great dog and a whole lot smarter) as well as a lab and a retriever. There are lots of responsible dog owners who love these breeds and keep them properly trained and restrained. Even though my dogs are good tempered and socialized to other people, their portion of the yard has a six-foot fence and they are never off-leash or at least a long cable lead when out in public. When they are in close proximity to other people, kids, and other dogs, the shepard wears a Halti head harness (those who have seen them know what I'm talking about) and all three dogs stay on 18-inch leads.

Unfortunately for these breeds, they are also popular with the . . . well . . . lets just say "less responsible owners" who think its some kind of status symbol to have big, powerful, aggressive dogs. They are also popular with people who have reason to not want people snooping around their property. Too bad as it gives a bad reputation to breeds that, as a whole, don't deserve it.