Nearly got attacked TWICE yesterday.

[Squishy22]

What is up with people and letting their dogs go loose??

I was walking Reggin yesterday with my fiance (thank god he was there), and we came across a loose female ACD. As soon as she set eyes on Reggy she starting charging toward us. I immediately get in front of reggin to protect him (I am sure he could hold his own, but he IS my baby). Then the dog stopped in her tracks. The owner finally comes out calling their dog off. I was about to knock her out with the stick I had.

Just feet from our house, two more dogs start charging us. Right in our own alley next to our house. This time it was a huge GSD mix and a mutt. I thought for sure we were in for it. I was fumbling for my pepper spray. When he was about 7 feet away My fiance stomped and yelled "GIT!!". The dog stopped, starred at us for a moment, turned around, tucked tail, and ran off. The other dog fallowed. I was AMAZED. :yikes:

Lately I have been taking Reggin for walks by myself, but no more. If it wasnt for Brandon being there I dont know what would have happened. It sucks because we have no yard and Brandon works 12 hour days. So I guess reggin will have to settle for weekend walks only.

 

[Squishy22]

I don't know if my pepper spray would have worked. I am worried that it would be pretty much useless. I was thinking about bringing my powerfull BB gun with us next time to shoot a dog in its face (I have no mercy for dogs that attack), but I'm sure that would be illegal.

 

[bubbatd]

Could they may have been friendly encounters ?? I know Ollie would run up to a stray or a dog being walked with just a " hi " in mind .

 

[Aquavibe]

that's not too good. i'm glad you escaped

 

[Squishy22]

Could they may have been friendly encounters ?? I know Ollie would run up to a stray or a dog being walked with just a " hi " in mind .

I wish, but no way was it friendly. Reggin likes to run up to dogs also.

All dogs were barring their teeth and growling while reggin was completely oblivious and just wanted to play.

I dont know why dogs are just sooo aggressive sometimes.

 

[Squishy22]

I just wanted to add that the GSD and mutt that lives next to our house are very aggressive. I know, because we walk by their fence every once in awhile and they attack the fence trying to get to us. So I about sh!t my pants when I seen them loose!

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

Do you have a car? Can you drive somewhere else to go walk? It's a shame if you can't take Reggin out except on weekends.

 

[bubbatd]

Then I understand ........

 

[Chewbecca]

oooh, from the lady with the dog aggressive dog:
Try not to use pepper spray. It CAN do damage to a dog's eyes. Get Direct Stop, or better yet, Halt! dog repellent (I ordered mine on Amazon). Get a breakstick and an air horn. Try to find open land AWAY from houses that you can walk Reggin. This is what I do with Ella. I go to a park to walk her because I know that most likely an off leash dog is NOT going to sneak up on us. I don't mean there won't be any off leash dogs, but I will have more time to react if there is one. I don't worry so much about being attack by another dog. There's no way in HELL that Ella would EVER let another dog touch me (or her, for that matter), but I am prepared to ward off any off leash dogs.

You have to be ready to do what you have to to get that off leash dog away from you. Be confident and shoo that dog away. Most likely in a situation that another dog tried to attack you, Reggin would probably at least attempt to protect you.

OH! AND CALL AC. Call AC if ONLY to report it. AND call them EVERYTIME you see a dog off leash. Call the cops, if you do not have an actual AC. Hell, call the cops anyway because unless you live in a city, most likely your AC is going to be county and require that you call the cops to have the owners of off leash dogs penalized. County ACs cannot do much go and talk to owners of off leash dogs.

Cruel or not, I've gotten to the point where, if an off leash dog approaches us and I cannot get the dog away, well...the owners are going to be left with a hurting dog. Not because of me, but because Ella does NOT tolerate strange dogs running up to us (she doesn't tolerate dogs, period, but especially not strange off leash ones).


Most of the time, dogs are just rude and want to run up to you and sniff and say "hi". This is, however, by no means "acceptable" behavior. BUT, I'm saying most dogs won't hurt you, I don't think. Most dogs will run up, sniff, jump around and then be off or maybe follow you. Most dogs off leash are enjoying their freedom though and simply want to sniff everything around them and won't mess with you once they've "checked you out".

 

[smkie]

YOu could carry a walking stick We had a pipe every 4 kennels that was there for an emergency fight breakup. IN 20 years i only had to use one once. BUt it did the job. SPraying water on labradors is absolutely pointless. SOrry about the near attacks, that is scary. GIt was the right thing to say i guess. ONce when Aaron was a toddler we were walking back from teh store. HE was a few steps behind me on the sidewalk. I had groceries in one hand and a hamster in a box in the other. A large rottie on a broken chain came in front of us, lowered his head and showed me all of his teeth. his hackles up and i was so scared. I kept my breathing even by thinking in two three out two three while i slowly lowered myself and whispered to Aaron to get on my back. I left the groceries there and stood up just as slowly. THen edged my way off the sidewalk hoping the dog was protecting his property. WHile i was squatted down i could feel his hot breath on my face! As soon as we got across the street the dog ran back behind the house so i was right. IT happens. I sure wish i would have had a stick at that time!

 

[ihartgonzo]

I agree with Becca.

If you don't feel safe in your neighborhood, it sucks, but it's probably best to take Reggin to a safer area for walks. I really like taking my dogs to parks better, anyway. They are much prettier and more interesting for them! C:

Several dogs have ran up to me while I'm walking the dogs, in my neighborhood... and maybe I'm lucky, but none of them have intended to harm us. They're just rude, untrained, unsupervised dogs; and if anything they just want to show off. When I tell them to back off, they do. Except for these two Weimeraners, who jump their fence. Those dogs are soooo understimulated, and they just get out to run alongside us. They keep their distance, because Gonzo loathes both of them.

 

[Kayla]

I would strongly suggest reporting the two dogs that rushed you in the alley, considering their owners live next door. In many cities you can get a muzzle order against aggressive dogs. At least if you report them and they should attack someone your compliant is already on file making it much more likely it will be taken seriously and the owner may be banned from owning dogs for a period of time.

 

[Squishy22]

Do you have a car? Can you drive somewhere else to go walk? It's a shame if you can't take Reggin out except on weekends.

I have a car, but no license. Go figure. I have this huge fear of driving that I really need to get over.

Its a HUGE shame, because he LOVES his walks and playing fetch. On the weekends I make sure it work him VERY hard during fetch to get all his energy out. Its not unusual for us to take 3 mile walks, but it still sucks that he has to wait for the weekends!!

If people would only contain their pets!!

 

[Squishy22]

oooh, from the lady with the dog aggressive dog:
Try not to use pepper spray. It CAN do damage to a dog's eyes. Get Direct Stop, or better yet, Halt! dog repellent (I ordered mine on Amazon). Get a breakstick and an air horn. Try to find open land AWAY from houses that you can walk Reggin. This is what I do with Ella. I go to a park to walk her because I know that most likely an off leash dog is NOT going to sneak up on us. I don't mean there won't be any off leash dogs, but I will have more time to react if there is one. I don't worry so much about being attack by another dog. There's no way in HELL that Ella would EVER let another dog touch me (or her, for that matter), but I am prepared to ward off any off leash dogs.

You have to be ready to do what you have to to get that off leash dog away from you. Be confident and shoo that dog away. Most likely in a situation that another dog tried to attack you, Reggin would probably at least attempt to protect you.

OH! AND CALL AC. Call AC if ONLY to report it. AND call them EVERYTIME you see a dog off leash. Call the cops, if you do not have an actual AC. Hell, call the cops anyway because unless you live in a city, most likely your AC is going to be county and require that you call the cops to have the owners of off leash dogs penalized. County ACs cannot do much go and talk to owners of off leash dogs.

Cruel or not, I've gotten to the point where, if an off leash dog approaches us and I cannot get the dog away, well...the owners are going to be left with a hurting dog. Not because of me, but because Ella does NOT tolerate strange dogs running up to us (she doesn't tolerate dogs, period, but especially not strange off leash ones).


Most of the time, dogs are just rude and want to run up to you and sniff and say "hi". This is, however, by no means "acceptable" behavior. BUT, I'm saying most dogs won't hurt you, I don't think. Most dogs will run up, sniff, jump around and then be off or maybe follow you. Most dogs off leash are enjoying their freedom though and simply want to sniff everything around them and won't mess with you once they've "checked you out".

Thanks for the advice!!

The air horn sounds like a GREAT idea. I cant yell very loud.

I actually thought about buying bear spray, lol. Its more likely to work against strong winds than regular pepper spray, but then again, I'm sure it might do some hefty damage to a dogs eyes.

I thought about calling AC, but I didn't because I figured they would want evidence and by the time they got here, the dogs wouldn't be loose anymore. But I really should have called.

 

[Squishy22]

YOu could carry a walking stick We had a pipe every 4 kennels that was there for an emergency fight breakup. IN 20 years i only had to use one once. BUt it did the job. SPraying water on labradors is absolutely pointless. SOrry about the near attacks, that is scary. GIt was the right thing to say i guess. ONce when Aaron was a toddler we were walking back from teh store. HE was a few steps behind me on the sidewalk. I had groceries in one hand and a hamster in a box in the other. A large rottie on a broken chain came in front of us, lowered his head and showed me all of his teeth. his hackles up and i was so scared. I kept my breathing even by thinking in two three out two three while i slowly lowered myself and whispered to Aaron to get on my back. I left the groceries there and stood up just as slowly. THen edged my way off the sidewalk hoping the dog was protecting his property. WHile i was squatted down i could feel his hot breath on my face! As soon as we got across the street the dog ran back behind the house so i was right. IT happens. I sure wish i would have had a stick at that time!

OMG! I would have had a friggin heart attack. Very close call!

 

[Chewbecca]

There is a shih-tzu that lives up the street across from a triangular patch of land. The triangular patch of land is a nice, quiet patch of land with benches on it. It's not huge, but it looks like a nice rest area. WELL. This shih-tzu that lives up the street, is allowed to roam free. She wanders around that patch of land and harrasses ANYONE and ANYTHING that walks by. She charges at them. She won't bite, but it's still BS that she charges growling and barking at people simply walking by.

She has come at me and Ella several times. When I see her, I usually turn Ella the other way and we head the other direction, which is a HUGE inconvenience for me because then I have to walk longer to get to the park. One time I said "Screw this, this little dog is NOT bullying me and my pit bull to turn around and go the other way" We kept walking forward and the dog kept coming at us. I grabbed my air horn and when she got about 10 ft. away, I blasted her with the air horn. She stopped dead in her tracks. Ella jumped about 4 ft in the air and tried to take off in the other direction. She didn't, of course, because I had a hold of her. But the shih-tzu stopped, then she tried to come at us again. I yelled, loudly, "GO HOME, NOW!!!!!!" and I stomped my foot at her. That was enough,she ran home like a bat out of hell after that.

Anyway, I called AC on that dog. I even told them that they probably wouldn't catch the dog off its own property. They said it didn't matter, that they could talk to the lady anyway. But that's all they could do. Sometimes that's enough. I didn't see the shih-tzu out the rest of the summer after that call. I've seen it out so far this year, but not nearly as often.

 

[shadowfacedanes]

I had this same issue once. I used to walk Hootch up at the high school because my neighborhood was infested with loose dogs.

I'd take Hootch around the dirt track several times, and it was fenced in so for a long time, it was a pleasant place to walk.

Then one day, two dogs were outside of the fence, loose, and barking/snarling at us. I ignored them, told Hootch to ignore them, and we continued walking.

This went on for weeks, until one day, the gate to the fence was cracked, and the dogs were inside the fence. I didn't notice that until we got to the other side. The smaller dog lunged at us, and I stomped at him to scare him...well, that didn't deter him, and in fact, caused him to directly charge me, snapping away. He was about two seconds from making contact with my leg when Hootch whipped around out of nowhere, grabbed the dog, pinned it until it went limp and then let it go. That little dog took off with his tail between his legs.

We never went back. It's a shame that a nice place to walk my dogs was ruined because people aren't responsible enough to keep their pets contained. I drove around the neighborhood behind the school to try to find where the dogs lived (I was going to be considerate enough to let them know their smaller dog may be injured) but I never saw a trace of them.

It's getting so I don't walk my dogs in my neighborhood anymore. There is a black chow mix that menaces us everytime we walk past "his" yard, and I don't trust the invisible fencing that contains him, as he's gotten out of it before. If I walk the other way, it's the same story, except the two dogs are not confined at all.

 

[RD]

I agree... for Reggin's safety I'd try to walk him somewhere else. I can't walk my dogs in my neighborhood either, so don't feel like it's unusual. I have a neighbor with two awful Rottweilers that won't think twice about tearing into another dog or person. I don't even feel safe letting my dogs run around on the unfenced part of our 5 acres.

 

[Storee's Mom]

I used to carry a riding crop when I walked the dogs. The area I lived in backed on to a green space, and they were all connected, so there was quite often dogs out for walks or otherwise that we'd run into. One guy had about 8 dogs, and some would go way ahead since he didn't pay attention that well. Two of those were large mixes that had attacked my dog before. So, I started packing the riding crop. It worked well even as a threat, I could bang it on a fence or something as well, and if need be snap the dog in the chest, which seemed to work really well to back them off (a mastiff cross vs. a border collie, not fair). I figured if the owner wanted to complain about their dog getting hit, well it's a two foot thing, and if they didn't have their dog under control to get it out of my space, well...

The thing I worry about with a spray or air horn, is it can affect all the dogs, not just the one you want it to affect.

Lana

 

[Paige]

I have a bunch of wandering dogs in my yard as we speak. Two big black shepard crosses and my favorite goofy lab. The one shepard is extremely aggressive towards children. It certainly is annoying. I can't walk my dogs when they are around because they follow and seeing as I cross over a street that is infested with Semis I can only walk my dogs when they aren't here in fear that those dogs may get ran over.

I've only ever been approached by an aggressive dog once that wouldn't back off. I landed up having to kick it in the face to get it to leave Bandit alone. The owners were calling me abusive. Uh, how so? Keep your darn dog on a lead if you cannot control it. Some of us like oru dogs coming home in one piece.