How Should I Handle This?

[Michelleva]

This afternoon I was walking Georgia, my sheltie and out of nowhere this black biggish dog came tearing towards us. My first thought was OMG, its going to attack her, but within about 10 seconds I figured out this was just a young dog just wanting to play.. he was wagging his tale the whole time and walking around us trying to sniff Georgia's butt. She's a sook and tried to hide behind me. Is there anything I can do to try and be a bit more positive, so my dog doesn't pick up on my anxiety? I get very anxious myself when off lead dogs approach, because I don't know them, I'm vary wary. As soon as I realised this dog was ok, I just talked to him and talked to my dog and returned him home. This dog was outside with its owner, and flat out refused to go home regardless of him calling it. I didn't make any further fuss and just calmly walked home.

What do you do in that scenario? I never know if I should stand still or keep moving, I feel like I should know where the dogs head is, in case it tries to bite.

[kja]

I'm not overly experienced but what I do is tell myself that all is good and they'll work it out themselves. I have found that off lead dogs are far less freaky than on lead dogs mostly.

I pretty much only walk my doggies on the beach and they are rarely on leads. Of course, there are rarely other people/dogs around, but when there are I try to assess from a distance and then let the dogs approach each other without interference, but close enough to step in if need be. Other than one really nasty Jack Russel, I've not had a problem doing it this way.

Where you are is also going to impact what choices you have.

Good luck, stay as calm and powerful as you can :)

[Michelleva]

I was just in a surburban street and the dog came charging from across the road. He really meant no harm, but it still rattled me, but not for long. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, I'm just trying to be have a positive impact and not freak out myself, when its unnecessary.

[Guest lavendergirl]

I'm afraid I don't believe in the "work it out for themselves" approach - I think it is up to me to protect my dog as much as possible. But I have a small dog so I am aware of how much damage can be caused to him. You have no way of knowing what a dog's intention is when it is running towards you - you may think it "looks" friendly but things can go bad very quickly. I personally tend to scan the horizon when out on walks and turn around if I see any loose dog in the distance. I would also put myself between my dog and any approaching off leash dog - its a good idea to carry a pop up umbrella or a big stick as well.

[Kadbury]

I'm afraid I don't believe in the "work it out for themselves" approach - I think it is up to me to protect my dog as much as possible. But I have a small dog so I am aware of how much damage can be caused to him. You have no way of knowing what a dog's intention is when it is running towards you - you may think it "looks" friendly but things can go bad very quickly. I personally tend to scan the horizon when out on walks and turn around if I see any loose dog in the distance. I would also put myself between my dog and any approaching off leash dog - its a good idea to carry a pop up umbrella or a big stick as well.

What a great idea the umbrella is....it would frighten off the approaching dog and also protect the smaller pup.....places a pop up umbrella in my To Buy List....Thanks Lavendergirl. ;)

[Maxiewolf]

Unfortunately for me every dog that has been loose and rushed out of somewhere at my dogs has had no "happy" intentions. I handle it usually by keeping on walking and not "entertaining" the dog that is loose. As most dogs have no idea what the command "go home" means.. Its just paying the dog attention for its already bad behaviour.

I find the ignore, keep your dog close and keep walking is the best approach, if it escalates try to protect yourself and your dog as best you can. I think a pop up umbrella is a good idea, I've thought of carrying a cap gun on occasions.... my dogs are loud noise "proof" (Brutus will sit and stare at fireworks with awe just like we do) so the noise would bother a charging dog way more than him. Since we always taught him for obvious reasons that loud noises are not a negative thing.

[Mason_Gibbs]

Unfortunatly i walk two dogs so no hand for an umbrella. I battle to carry what i need as it is.

[experiencedfun]

if the dog sniffing around is friendly then I get down and give them pats and talk to them, then your dog sees you are not afraid of them and relaxes enough to find out what fun playing with other dogs is.

[toshman]

I'm afraid I don't believe in the "work it out for themselves" approach - I think it is up to me to protect my dog as much as possible. But I have a small dog so I am aware of how much damage can be caused to him. You have no way of knowing what a dog's intention is when it is running towards you - you may think it "looks" friendly but things can go bad very quickly. I personally tend to scan the horizon when out on walks and turn around if I see any loose dog in the distance. I would also put myself between my dog and any approaching off leash dog - its a good idea to carry a pop up umbrella or a big stick as well.

What a great idea the umbrella is....it would frighten off the approaching dog and also protect the smaller pup.....places a pop up umbrella in my To Buy List....Thanks Lavendergirl. ;)

Please think about what effect the pop-up umbrella would have on your own dog as well, Kadbury

I'm very wary of shouting loudly at any stray/loose dog if I am out walking with my cattledog/kelpie-cross who's a real softie, because I realised that she thought I was shouting at her (how was she to know the difference?) when another dog approached, and she became really frightened at any perceived confrontation...placing myself in front of her was a really good option for her.

[megan_]

I'm afraid I don't believe in the "work it out for themselves" approach - I think it is up to me to protect my dog as much as possible. But I have a small dog so I am aware of how much damage can be caused to him. You have no way of knowing what a dog's intention is when it is running towards you - you may think it "looks" friendly but things can go bad very quickly. I personally tend to scan the horizon when out on walks and turn around if I see any loose dog in the distance. I would also put myself between my dog and any approaching off leash dog - its a good idea to carry a pop up umbrella or a big stick as well.

While I don't agree in just letting dogs sort it out themselves, sometimes by taking aggressive action a safe situation can turn into a very unsafe one. One of my dogs is reactive and I want her to be less reactive, not more. Personally, after much trial and error, I know keep calm, walk away and keep my dogs attention. I also try to throw some food on the ground for an approaching dog. This won't stop a dog that is intent on attacking, but pretty much nothing will.

ETA: I hate, hate, hate wandering dogs. However, most don't actually want to kill your dog. It is worth keeping that in mind. For many years I got really angry, blocked, used something as a weapon etc and it just made things worse.

Edited March 5, 2012 by megan_

[Michelleva]

One of my dogs is reactive and I want her to be less reactive, not more. Personally, after much trial and error, I know keep calm, walk away and keep my dogs attention. I also try to throw some food on the ground for an approaching dog. This won't stop a dog that is intent on attacking, but pretty much nothing will.

I think you're onto something Megan. And instead of stopping and letting the dog circle around us I should have kept calm and walked off. Georgia is also quite reactive to other dogs, but only from a distance, once they are in her personal space she gets scared and thats when she'll hide behind my legs. Whereas if I kept going Georgia would have picked up a more positive vibe from me, which can only help her.

My problem was this silly pup was running all over the road and although it wasn't a busy road, I felt compelled to get it home. Even though its not my pet, I didn't want to see any harm come to it either.

[Aidan3]

Agree with those who suggest just walking away. If the dog wants to play, it is not the time or place. If the dog is being territorial, you're doing what he had hoped. If he wants a fight, you're less likely to end up with one.

[WExtremeG]

I guess this is only good if the rushing dog stops before he reaches you.

Hasn't been the case for us 2/2 times. Ring the council if it happens again- dogs should be contained.

[Kadbury]

I'm afraid I don't believe in the "work it out for themselves" approach - I think it is up to me to protect my dog as much as possible. But I have a small dog so I am aware of how much damage can be caused to him. You have no way of knowing what a dog's intention is when it is running towards you - you may think it "looks" friendly but things can go bad very quickly. I personally tend to scan the horizon when out on walks and turn around if I see any loose dog in the distance. I would also put myself between my dog and any approaching off leash dog - its a good idea to carry a pop up umbrella or a big stick as well.

What a great idea the umbrella is....it would frighten off the approaching dog and also protect the smaller pup.....places a pop up umbrella in my To Buy List....Thanks Lavendergirl. ;)

Please think about what effect the pop-up umbrella would have on your own dog as well, Kadbury

I'm very wary of shouting loudly at any stray/loose dog if I am out walking with my cattledog/kelpie-cross who's a real softie, because I realised that she thought I was shouting at her (how was she to know the difference?) when another dog approached, and she became really frightened at any perceived confrontation...placing myself in front of her was a really good option for her.

I think I would be testing it on my dog first ;) Nothing like having a Cavalier Flying up your leg if it too was frightened by the Umbrella popping open......but thanks for the warning :D

[BlackJaq]

I have a question about the part where the owner is actually present and calling the loose dog - but gets no reaction.

My dog is very friendly and actively tries to socialize with any dogs (loose or otherwise, it doesn't make much difference to her), which usually encourages them in their advances.

So even if I calmly continue on walking and manage to keep my dog's attention focussed on me, by this stage the loose dog has usually realized that my dog would like to play as well and it has happened to me several times that the dog simply follows us, sometimes all the way to the car/house, even though the owner was not following and/or still calling and my dog was calmly walking away.

Several times, I have had to go out of my way (and quite a way, as a running dog can cover a fair bit of distance!) to walk over to where the impotent owner is waving his arms and yelling at his dog, then sit my dog down and wait while the owner attempts to catch his dog and, hopefully, put a leash on him.

This can take a while, depending on how agile the dog and owner are. Sometimes the owner has no leash on him and needs to haul the dog off by the collar or even scruff of the neck and I have had to catch the dog for an owner before, as the dog was still attempting to play with my dog and would dodge his owner very successfully........ The owner even went so far as to get down on all fours and attempt to play-bow to his dog to draw his attention (it was a funny enough sight in hindsight, but I don't always have a spare 20 minutes to entertain someone else's dog).

Anyway, my point is, how do I react in this situation? I don't really want to fend off a friendly dog with a "weapon" (sticks, umbrellas and such are usually perceived as a threat by most strange dogs) and turn a peaceful situation violent, but it is not always the same owner, so obviously even if I talk to the fool of the day, that won't help me with a different dog and owner the next day.

I have to say though, people around here are extremely rude and thoughtless when it comes to controlling their dogs. I have had to carry a 28 kg fear agressive dog out of a situation like this before, because the owner of three dogs, one of whom was deaf and the other two acting the part, decided it would be a good idea to walk her dogs and not even bring leashes. My dog was struggling and not exactly a small specimen, and I barely managed to save those other dogs from being seriously hurt or killed, as they were literally jumping on top of my dog and making a doggy pile on her while the owner would not even come close and attempt to catch her dogs because my dog was growling at the "attackers".........

Edited March 6, 2012 by BlackJaq

[Aidan3]

I have a question about the part where the owner is actually present and calling the loose dog - but gets no reaction.

My dog is very friendly and actively tries to socialize with any dogs (loose or otherwise, it doesn't make much difference to her), which usually encourages them in their advances.

So even if I calmly continue on walking and manage to keep my dog's attention focussed on me, by this stage the loose dog has usually realized that my dog would like to play as well and it has happened to me several times that the dog simply follows us, sometimes all the way to the car/house, even though the owner was not following and/or still calling and my dog was calmly walking away.

I'd walk back to the owner so they can secure their dog. Often happens in off-leash areas.

[Cavstar]

I'm quite nervy of dogs that I don't know & I worry about conveying it to my dog as well.

I've had it happen twice when I've been walking Lucy when dogs have just appeared out of the blue. Both times the dogs were friendly - one just had a sniff & went but the other one kept on following us even though I was ignoring it. I was getting kinda worried as we were approaching a busy road. I ended up stamping my feet loudly & yelling at it to go home & it wandered off.

Not sure what I'd do if it were agressive. Probably pick my dog up to protect it & freak out!

ETA - I'm more at ease if we're in an off leash area however I still watch her like a hawk. She doesn't really approach other dogs - she's more interestd in their people! :laugh:

Edited March 6, 2012 by Cavstar

[Michelleva]

I guess this is only good if the rushing dog stops before he reaches you.

Hasn't been the case for us 2/2 times. Ring the council if it happens again- dogs should be contained.

This owner appeared to be in his garage with the dog loose.. clearly the dog doesn't listen as he was yelling and screaming for it to come back, it had no intentions of listening to him, it just kept running. I don't think it was being territorial, it just saw another dog and thought.. WOO HOO, lets play.. the problem isn't the dog, its the irresponsible owner. Thanks for the input everyone, it helps to hear others opinons on how to deal with this sort of situation.

[hortfurball]

As most dogs have no idea what the command "go home" means..

Now I feel like the biggest idiot in the world, having used this on numerous occasions. You're right, of course they don't - who teaches their dog that?

While I don't agree in just letting dogs sort it out themselves, sometimes by taking aggressive action a safe situation can turn into a very unsafe one. One of my dogs is reactive and I want her to be less reactive, not more. Personally, after much trial and error, I know keep calm, walk away and keep my dogs attention. I also try to throw some food on the ground for an approaching dog. This won't stop a dog that is intent on attacking, but pretty much nothing will.

ETA: I hate, hate, hate wandering dogs. However, most don't actually want to kill your dog. It is worth keeping that in mind. For many years I got really angry, blocked, used something as a weapon etc and it just made things worse.

Great post! I think in the past I negatively affected my dogs by reacting with apprehension and aggression towards an approaching dog. It was difficult to remain calm because Kuges had been set upon so often. I'm a lot calmer walking Ella now, and have a tendency to just body block and ask the owner to contain their dog as I try to walk off.

[BlackJaq]

LOL my dog actually knows the "go home" thing xD

Lots of dogs tend to know "git" and some even do bugger off when confronted with an angry "GIT away", not my first choice of attack though, in case my dog reads it as agression and tries to "help"

Edited March 6, 2012 by BlackJaq