Just keep your dog on leash if he do not listen you

[Gib Laut]

Originally Posted by trish07

I tried! Phenix pounds 95lbs....I pound 115lbs lol....when he feels insecured or attacked, I have a hard time to manage him, which start to be better.

I don't know what kind of collar you are using, but I use a prong and am able to immediately get control of him when he reacts; just a thought given your size and his.....and I feel your pain....almost everyday!!!!....I live in a rural community that thinks it's fun to allow out of control dogs to run free.....sadly for my boy I couldn't keep one off of him and it jumped him and bit him twice; even kicking it in the head with steel toe boots wasn't enough!!!!....like others say, I am now MORE than prepared with pepper spray, cattle prod or an ASP to take care of the other dog.....I learned the hard way and it's cost me hundreds of dollars and he will never be the same with other dogs.....you are RIGHT to be angry and RIGHT to demand owner's show some respect with control of their animals......for whatever reason, so many people feel they have the right to disrespect my dog and when confronted, suddenly me and my boy are the as* h*!le!!!!! What is wrong with this world!!!!!

[trish07]

Originally Posted by Gib Laut

I don't know what kind of collar you are using, but I use a prong and am able to immediately get control of him when he reacts; just a thought given your size and his.....and I feel your pain....almost everyday!!!!....I live in a rural community that thinks it's fun to allow out of control dogs to run free.....sadly for my boy I couldn't keep one off of him and it jumped him and bit him twice; even kicking it in the head with steel toe boots wasn't enough!!!!....like others say, I am now MORE than prepared with pepper spray, cattle prod or an ASP to take care of the other dog.....I learned the hard way and it's cost me hundreds of dollars and he will never be the same with other dogs.....you are RIGHT to be angry and RIGHT to demand owner's show some respect with control of their animals......for whatever reason, so many people feel they have the right to disrespect my dog and when confronted, suddenly me and my boy are the as* h*!le!!!!! What is wrong with this world!!!!!

We've already tried those type of collars and they didn't work at all.

Now, I use an Alti harness ( Yahoo! Shopping Search Results for halti harness ), it controls his head, I can turn it the way I want and I feel more in control than with the chocker or any other collars I've tried before.

Anyway, my dog walks great most of the time, he is not pulling on his leash or runing fast in front of me. He walks by my side, looking at me. He made good progress. He didn't bite this dog and he remained more "calm" than before. To me, its a big step, even if he got scared a bit and barked, it is much more better than his "old" attitude.

[Raziel]

Originally Posted by LaRen616

You know, we worked really hard on teaching Sinister that he needs to stay in the yard. He is never on a leash and we do not have a fenced in yard (not yet, we will in may/june) and he runs around the yard but does not leave it. We walked him around the yard line so he knows where he can and cant go. He has never left the yard without our permission. It's a shame that other people dont take the time to train their dogs. One day their dog will get into a fight and they'll get sued and get ticketed for letting their untrained dog run loose, or their dog will end up getting hit by a car.

OMG, are you like my long lost twin or something????
LOL

[LaRen616]

I think I just might be

[milkmoney11]

I would put all my effort into training my dog on how to deal with dogs/owners that do this and try not to worry about people that don't leash their dogs.

The reason being is simple...in a perfect world everyone would leash their dog in areas where confrontation is possible.

Sooo...basically, you will run into people that don't leash their dogs. Sucks...but what else can you do besides pushing for stricter laws, and we all know how that works out.

I'm on our homeowner's association board and have really pushed for reminders to people in newsletters that go out to the homeowners to keep dogs leashed, but it still is a problem considering fences are not allowed.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Elaine

You need to learn to kick any loose dog that comes up to yours, friendly or not, and keep yourself between the dogs.

A couple of things you might want to think about:

I would be really upset if my dog had gotten off his leash accidentally and he came up to you and your dog in a friendly manner and you kicked him. that would definetly lead to a problem real fast.

Second, if you tried that to the wrong dog YOU could quickly get into a real bad situation. Many people do not realize that not all dogs are afraid of people and will not back down if you physically challenge them like that. Some dogs will take that as an attack and fight back very seriously. Are you willing and able to fight a big angry determined unafraid dog?

By getting between the dogs you stand a real good chance of getting yourself bit - by the other dog or even by your own dog in the excitement of the moment.

Just a couple of thoughts for you to consider.

[LaRen616]

In some cases you can even get into a fight with the other owner

[milkmoney11]

Originally Posted by codmaster

I would be really upset if my dog had gotten off his leash accidentally and he came up to you and your dog in a friendly manner and you kicked him. that would definetly lead to a problem real fast.

I expressed these sentiments exactly on a thread about 2 weeks ago and pretty much got a tongue lashing for suggesting it from several....so be forewarned.

[tatiana]

Originally Posted by Elaine

You need to learn to kick any loose dog that comes up to yours, friendly or not, and keep yourself between the dogs.

I was told by animal control not to do this because of the possibility the dog may turn it's aggression on me. She told me to carry an umbrella, either to use as a club, or swiftly opening it to break a dogs focus and possibly stop an attack. Even open, I've still got the metal point as a weapon.

Body language should tell you whether it's friendly approach or not.

[Dainerra]

Originally Posted by codmaster

A couple of things you might want to think about:

I would be really upset if my dog had gotten off his leash accidentally and he came up to you and your dog in a friendly manner and you kicked him. that would definetly lead to a problem real fast.

Second, if you tried that to the wrong dog YOU could quickly get into a real bad situation. Many people do not realize that not all dogs are afraid of people and will not back down if you physically challenge them like that. Some dogs will take that as an attack and fight back very seriously. Are you willing and able to fight a big angry determined unafraid dog?

By getting between the dogs you stand a real good chance of getting yourself bit - by the other dog or even by your own dog in the excitement of the moment.

Just a couple of thoughts for you to consider.

if your dog accidentally got off his leash and was hit by a car, would you blame the driver?? it's the same idea. If a dog gets loose, even by accident, there is a chance that bad things will happen to him. If your dog was extremely aggressive and got loose accidentally would you feel the same?
What about if my leashed dog was extremely aggressive. Would you rather I kick your dog to keep him away or should I just let the fight begin?

sadly, when a dog is loose, rather it's an accident or because the owner doesn't care that he roams, people have no way of knowing that. and there is a good chance that something could happen to him.

As for the second point, I'd resort to kicking only if there was no other option. I carry an ASP or at least a big stick. Even dogs who aren't afraid of people generally recognize that if someone smacks you with something it's going to hurt. So, yeah, I'm willing to take on an aggressive dog. I had one jump at my face before. It's been the only time that Rayden broke his stay when I placed myself between him and the dog. Of course, the owner was standing on his porch yelling that he was going to call the cops because we hurt his "baby" I never heard anything else about it, but I know that there had to have been a vet visit as the dobe's shoulder had a huge bleeding gash when she fled back to the house. This is actually the incident that started me carrying a weapon with me.

Other than this one time, there has never been any excitement of the moment because I have been prepared. That time, I jerked back and almost fell. That is when my dog felt he needed to protect me. Otherwise, he has ALWAYS been calm in these situations. If I am bitten by a loose dog, you can guarantee that there will be cops involved.

Will I feel sorry if it was a case of a friendly dog that accidentally slipped his lead? Not really, because friendly dogs that "accidentally" get free don't attack people. If it was my dog, I would be blaming no one buy myself. After all, his protection is my responsibility. So if, even accidentally, I let him into a situation where he did something wrong, there is no one to blame buy myself.

I don't go around swinging clubs either. When a loose dog approaches, Rayden automatically sits and I step between them. (He always sits automatically as soon as I stop walking) I will yell at the dog to "get" which stops most of them. An authoritative voice and demeanor is usually all it takes and the dog goes elsewhere. Very rarely do they come closer, but for the few that do, if I take a step towards them, they take off. The only dog that I have ever hit (since the dobe) is a beagle. The guy thinks it incredibly amusing to let his dog attack all the other dogs. He walks the dog on a flexi, stands back and encourages it to attack. I stopped and had Rayden in a sit. guy started mocking me, "what you're afraid that he's going to hurt you're dog" The dog was within 2-3 feet when I whacked the snot out of it. Growling, hackling and snarling the entire way up to us with his owner urging him on. Do I regret it? nope. Coz know what? The dog runs back to his owner's side when he sees us coming.

ETA: and I have been on the other side. I have dropped the leash before and Rayden has started to go running off to greet whoever was approaching. I simply called him and told him "COME" and he was back at my side. Rarely do the loose dogs I encounter have anyone with them. If they do, it's someone running frantically behind saying "here boy. here. come. hey. hey.. here. here." Then yelling "Don't worry, he's friendly!" because they know that the dog isn't going to listen to them.