Such irresponsibility...
 

I took the dogs (Zimmer, and his little sister Loki) out today for a walk around the neighborhood about 4 as I know not many people/other dogs are about. I was trekking on down the sidewalk, when out of the corner of my eye I see a yellow blur come shooting out of a yard, a blur which happened to be another dog. I didn't really think anything of it at first other than, "oh, I hope they realize their dog is out of the yard" before I realized the dog was now bounding toward the dogs and I. I stopped, took tight hold of both leashes and proceeded to walk the other way. When I looked back, the dog had stopped in the middle of street and was looking back at a guy who had just turned around the corner, talking on the phone all the while. He was whistling at the dog, but did the dog return to him? No.

I turned back around, kept on walking, and before I knew it, I saw the yellow dog come up behind Loki, which earned a yelp of surprise from her, followed by a small, puppy growl. Within a second, the yellow dog tried to mount Loki, which caused Zimmer to tense up and before I knew it, they were fighting (him and the yellow dog). The dog's owner finally ran over (still on the phone, mind you) and pulled his dog away, slapping it in the face repeatedly and yelling, "you idiot! You stupid dog!" as the dog continued to lunge for Zimmer. I pulled my dogs away quickly, and once I was a safe distance away, I checked Zim for injuries and reassured both of them that they were okay, it was all fine, everyone was going to be okay, etc.

Zimmer is fine, albeit following Loki around like her shadow. Loki is alright, too, although she keeps tensing whenever I run my hands over her hips to scratch her in, what once was, her favorite spot.

I'm just at my wits end with these dog owners... I've run into so many of them in this neighborhood, and while I know they're everywhere, it's disheartening that I can't safely walk my dogs down the sidewalk without having to look over my shoulder 24/7. Also, I feel terrible for that yellow dog - clearly his owner doesn't have the time to train him (or put a leash on him, for that matter), which I'm sure was a factor in his behavior.

Can you carry something like pepper spray around? I know there are specific dog sprays too, mailmen typically carry them.

I was thinking the same thing, dont buy it bsed on claims of strength, just get the foxlabs and you have strong sttuff. And spray the human, Its hard to aim those things, also be sure to mention fear for your life if cops get involved...

Poor dog. No wonder s/he didn't want to return to the owner....
It's not the dog's fault the owner won't train it. :(
Glad you and your dogs were all okay.

Yes, I feel awful for the dog. I wish I recognized the owner, I would go and have a serious talk with him, but I'm note sure if they live around here, or if they were just passing through to get to the park. It's a sad sight, seeing a dog with an owner who could care less, and was obviously too engrossed in his phone call to care that his dog was not respecting boundaries. The owner is just asking for trouble.

I'm definitely considering getting some sort of spray now more than ever as there seems to be an influx of irresponsible dog owners around here (this is is the tenth or so time I've come across a dog not on a leash in this neighborhood - in fact, that's how Loki came to us). What make it worse is seven out of those ten times, the dog has been reactive and/or aggressive and the owner was not being responsible.

Just be aware - Sometimes the pepper sprays don't work, with some dogs, I found this out the hard way.

You may want to check into bear spray, do a search on this site there have been some threads on it.

One time the neighbor opened his garage door as I was walking my then young Ilda.

The dogs, a full grown rather large boxer and full grown large pittie, of course ducked under the garage door when it was just partially raised and charged across the street at us.

Insticts kicked in and I jumped between my dog and the oncoming dogs and stood tall, puffed myself up and yelled (louder then I knew I could) STOP, BACK!

It surprised the dogs enough that they did stop. They didn't know what to do so I kept it up as the owner ran across the street.

It bought me enough time.

I've done that before and have found that *most* pet dogs will hesitate or choose 'flight' over fight if they are intimidated.

Just...something to keep in mind....your presence and your voice can be helpful and effective in situations like this too.

The trick, if you can, is to be quick enough to stop them before they make any kind of contact with your dogs. Once they have started fighting it's escalated too far usually.

Glad your dogs are O.K.!

...and then shut up and wait for your attourney if things go south from there. Do not say anything without an attourney.

The FOX is a very good product proved on humans and animals. I have a large pistol-grip canister that produces a heavy fog in a cone shape to cover a very large area.

Just make sure you know which way the wind is blowing before you discharge it.

I wouldn't confront anyone anytime anywhere about this. These people don't care enough to keep their dogs contained, they don't train their dogs, they then beat their dogs when they don't listen to them. They won't care what you have to say or what threats you make. You'll just come off all high and mighty to them and they're more likely to try and call your bluff/threat. If this happens a lot in your neighborhood...its a cultural thing that no amount of talking about will fix (especially if its in any way accusatory or demeaning).

I would also worry about using pepper spray in a public area. Not sure what the legalities are but sometimes over-reacting will get you in more trouble than the other person would be for having their dog loose. Then there's the chance you spray a friendly animal just coming to say hello and not start anything, sure this forum doesn't make that distinction, but police and non-dog people will. If that neighbor starts to go on and on about how they have the friendliest dog in the world and its never done anything bad, you might find yourself with more issues.

Sorry to hear you live in an area like that...it can't be fun.

Wasp spray.

I would think it would be difficult in a situation where you're walking 2 dogs to whip out spray and actually get the other dog. My dogs would not respond well to a strange dog running up to them and mounting them. There would be no way I'd be able to hold them and get them under control and at the same time dig my spray out, aim, and hit my target.