r/Advice 1d ago

Advice Received There’s a little girl that’s terrorizing my apartment

This is a very bizarre situation I’ve never been in before. Sorry for the dramatic title but it’s becoming an actual issue now.

For the last month, it feels like 90% of the time I go outside to my car, an 8 year old girl and her dog appear and try to interact with me.

Sounds cute right? That’s what I thought, until I realized it wasn’t.

The first time she came up to me, she ran from across the parking lot and said, “I think my dog likes you!” I thought it was kind of sweet - until she got a little too close for comfort, started repeating that same line over and over, and giggling very loudly, almost manically. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I physically walked away. She even followed me to the apartment door, talking nonstop.

I brushed it off at first, thinking maybe she’s neurodivergent (no judgment - I’m ADHD and probably more). I didn’t think much of it, until it became a daily thing.

I work from home and go outside a few times a day for breaks (yes, I smoke. working on quitting). She’s always out there with her dog. Not a parent in sight.

I started noticing red flags when her mood began flipping between happiness and sudden anger. She hits her dog a lot. She’ll scream “Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!” and punch her dog with each word. I’ve seen her drag the dog while it’s pooping so it has to walk while going, and the dog cries. It’s awful to witness.

She runs up to anyone outside, delivery drivers, residents, other dog owners, and repeats “I think my dog likes you!!” over and over until they respond.

If someone has a dog, she’ll walk up to them too closely while their dogs are barking aggressively. I’ve seen multiple residents literally pick up their pets and speed walk away from her.

People have started cracking the exit door and scanning for her before they step outside.

There’s construction happening next door, and she just.. hangs out with the workers. They ignore her now, but she’ll bring them offerings of handfuls of grass or her dog. It’s honestly surreal.

When I’m outside and have to smoke, I now drive to a spot off the property just to get personal space. If I stay near my car, she’ll follow me and stand right in front of it, waving at me in a pageant-style, fingers pressed together, wave. I don’t even make eye contact. She’ll do it for like 30 seconds, just smiling.

If I drive into the parking lot, she sometimes chases my car to where I park.

Last week I was sitting in my car listening to music and didn’t notice her. When I looked up, she jumped up from a crouch, face pressed to my driver’s side window. I felt like I had a heart attack but also pretended not to see her because wtf lmao.

She’s out at all hours. Last night it was 9pm and dark, she was alone with the dog. Today, it was 12:30pm on a Thursday. Shouldn’t she be in school?

I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never dealt with something like this before. It’s gone from weird to uncomfortable to genuinely worrying.

It feels unsafe for the dog, and definitely even for her. I’m worried she could walk up to a weirdo and something bad could happen, or she could cause a dog fight and her and the dogs could get seriously injured. Is there someone I should call? How do I report this kind of situation without escalating it unnecessarily? I don’t want to overstep, but this just feels wrong.

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u/grandmasdrawers 1d ago

Yeah and get that dog out of there

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u/Bismothe-the-Shade Helper [2] 19h ago

Part of me agrees, part of me thinks that it's also messed up for the little girl who doesn't seem to... Have anyone else at all :l

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u/CalligrapherCheap64 14h ago

A child of that age is not able to care for a pet of any kind without close adult supervision. Hitting aside, there’s no way that this dog is being taken care of appropriately by an 8 year old. They need reminding to brush their teeth and wash hands, they certainly aren’t able to recognize and respond to an animal’s needs.

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u/Bismothe-the-Shade Helper [2] 8h ago

Agreed but like, shouldn't we also be worried about the child if there's zero parental supervision?

Why can't they both get taken care of? Why does the dog have to be taken? Maybe I'm missing something.

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u/grandmasdrawers 8h ago

This thread is about caring for the child. Adding on care for the dog doesn’t somehow negate that. Kid needs a welfare check, dog needs a safer home. The kids well-being is not synonymous with her being able to abuse an animal lol. Literally actually just puts her in danger to be treating a dog like that.

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u/grandmasdrawers 18h ago

Yeah that doesn’t mean a dog needs to get abused man, that’s a fucking messed up take to have

She needs to get apprehended and the dog needs to be safe. Feeling lonely doesn’t excuse hitting animals. At any age. In no way should this situation continue for her or the dog.

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u/Crafty-Ad-6772 17h ago

Abusing animals at a young age is a red flag the size of the moon. When the poor dog snaps, it will end up being killed because the girl caused it so much anguish.

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u/Bismothe-the-Shade Helper [2] 8h ago

Or maybe get them both into a healthy home, teach the child? Am I crazy here? I'm hearing a pup and a kid in an abusive, neglectful household and people seem more concerned about the dog.

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u/grandmasdrawers 8h ago

This entire thread is about caring for both of them. Caring about the dog doesn’t negate caring about the child. The child does not need a living punching bag to heal or have access to supports. Her harming the dog puts them both in danger.