Is this dog owner a psychopath or just rude and irresponsible?

We live out in the country where dogs are "just dogs" usually. For our dog, we fenced part of the yard, so she doesn't wander, and she lives inside with us. Other dogs are left outside, either loose to go where they please, fenced, or some chained. On our exercise walks/runs, sometimes the loose dogs will come out and follow us for a while. A few through the years have become regular joiners and often followed us home. We then take them home in the car! One dog, a big sweet lab, loves my husband and will come running out as soon as he sees him. The problem with this dog is that he likes to "retrieve" chickens which ends up with a dead chicken. My husband has spoken the owner more than once about this, and told him he should find a way to keep the dog at home. For a while, the dog will be kept in the garage so he can't go chase my husband, then it's back to him being loose. We don't mind him, but we don't want him to be shot by some chicken owner. His pack mate was a chicken chaser, too, and someone killed him. Now, we have tried to make the dog go home, but of course, he doesn't listen to us. So the owner told my husband, "kick him! hit him with a stick, then he'll go home!" My husband told him he will not do that.

A couple of days ago, as my husband was running early and went by their house. The garage door was open as they were leaving for work. The dog came racing after my husband. The wife and child called for the dog to come back, but he didn't. My husband told him to go back, but why should he listen to him when he doesn't even mind his owners? The woman jumped in her car with her son, and come racing to where the dog stood with my husband. She jumped out of the car and screamed, "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!!" and went on to berate and scream at my husband for "taking her dog out of the yard" all the time and how she "loves" the dog and doesn't want him killed. My husband asked her to lower her voice several times, and told her it was their responsibility to make sure the dog was kept in the yard, possibly with a fence. She sarcastically remarked, "you give me $10,000 and we'll build a fence". (First, that number is ridiculous, and two, even if it did cost 10,000, this came from someone who just built a big new house here. And oh yes, she "loves" the dog.) She continued to berate my husband, and she also told him to KICK THE DOG(the dog she "loves") and HIT HIM WITH A STICK so he'll go home. She then told my husband "BE A MAN!" to which he replied, "How? By hitting a defenseless dog? Is that what you teach your kids?" Eventually, the scene ended and the woman left to continue to her job, which is a counselor/teacher at the local school!! And her husband is the school superintendent! Am I ever glad I don't have any children going there.

So, is that woman a psychopath? Or just irresponsible and rude?

SevenFeathers said:

So, is that woman a psychopath? Or just irresponsible and rude?

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I’d say the latter. It’s really not a good idea to instantly label someone as a psychopath, sure they can act in ways that take us aback or are even off the scale, but sadly society in general is full of such examples. To jump to conclusions and instantly label people psychopaths would be dangerous habit to adopt I think.

Thanks, Alada. You are certainly right. Society is full of examples of people who act badly or rudely, or with a sense that everyone else should cater to THEIR demands.

This world is full of people who are rude, entitled, selfish and lacking in responsibility but not necessarily psychopathic. Your neighbors seem to fall in to this category. They seem highly unpleasant and it makes me wonder what they are like behind closed doors.