I think the OP's first observation was the dog's owners are young and perhaps uninformed.......perhaps not stupid.....but likely not aware of the enormous responsibility that goes with having a dog that is allowed to roam free. And the liability that goes with it as well. By and large, many of them are clueless when it comes to that side of ownership. They just thought it would be cool to have a dog. Then for whatever reason, they kick him outside.......the canine version of free ranging chickens. And roam he does. Some will own it, but likely as not, they won't. We shouldn't be the ones to bear the brunt of their mistakes, but we do. Lots of ways to deal with it. Talking to them would be a good place to start. Depending on the kids, that may or may not help. They either understand respect and accept responsibility, or they don't.
FWIW, I had a similar experience a few months back. House across the road is now occupied by renters. On weekends, they get visitors who bring their dogs with them to the country. Nice place to let them run, right? After all, it is a 500 acre farm. But that house is no more than 150 yards from my house....and dogs don't know boundaries of where 500 acre farms start and end. I was outside and had heard a girl yelling, but didn't know what it meant. I found out when I was out in the back with the birds and heard a dog growling. I looked up to see a white pit bull bearing down on me......being followed by a little pug toady. Dog was roaming the neighborhood, out of control and when he spotted me, here he comes. Problem for the dog was he and I (and the birds) were separated by a 4 wire electric fence charged with 13,000 volts. While charging me, he failed to see the fence and walked right into it. He got walloped, let out a yelp and retreated at least 100 feet before he turned around. Stared back at me for a second before trotting on home. Still very much alive but a whole lot more humble and no longer interested in me or the birds. A few moments later, when he got back home, more yelling at the dog, like that was going to help. He has never been back. Nor has the black lab that was roaming around, or the big white dog. Or countless others. They tangle with the fence, they leave and don't come back.
Assuming you are packing heat and ready all the time (when the pit came charging, I wasn't and I wasn't), a person could shoot such dogs, but that creates all sorts of trouble downstream with the owners. With some....who cares. With others, you would regret it. Bad blood from then on. No matter how wrong they were and how much in the right you were, you will always be the bag guy who shot their dog.
So for those who would like to get ahead of the curve, and get prepared for the dogs and other predators who are coming.........so your experience can be like mine was with the white pit............
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dogs-and-electric-fences.1210854/
I hope it goes well! Look forward to hearing about it.
