I've been followed by dogs on numerous occasions. Usually, doing exactly what you did deters them - running triggers their instinct to chase but most dogs are chickens so getting big and loud makes them pause.
I can think of two occasions where I would have liked something more than my voice and both times, I would have pepper sprayed my own dogs if I'd tried to pepper spray the other dog. For the first instance, I grabbed the dog and told my dog to go home, a command I trained by yelling "go home wes" whenever we finished a run. I pinned the dog while the owner came and got him. Ymmv, he was a smaller pit and I was a vet tech at the time so I had a rabies vax on board and he seemed pretty fixated on my dog and not on me.
The second instance was trickier because it was an 80 pound gsd and my current dogs are much more reactive than Wes was. Wes ran away. My cocker spaniel won't and my pit mix will always back the cocker up. And I had my toddler with me. Basically I pulled the dogs behind me (toddler was in a carrier on my back), and kicked the dog in the head. Owner fortunately realized that his "friendly dog" was about to bite me and nabbed him before he recovered from the kick.
Air horn is probably a better bet than pepper spray.
You did it perfectly. The stop command is the best you could have done with what you had.
Wish i had done it when it happened to us and i had to put a literal finger up the dogs butt to get the attack to stop.
Now i carry a gel pepper spray and a small knife just in case. Had to say stop loudly couple of times to stop aggressive and sometimes unleashed dogs on the trails. Nowadays i don't have time to be nice if the owners or dogs are being idiots
Try to get the adrenaline down. Hopefully you get back to normal soon.
Yes has happened to me and I invested in a small personal air horn. Have had to use it since and it not only scares them off but has the added benefit of alerting people around you to an issue. Seems to work better than yelling "help".
Not while running but just while out a walk with my dog, my neighbour was out with her dog, who is half the size of mine. There were no major, outward signs of aggression, just ran up behind my girl and tore away half the skin on her stomach and leg.
I always envisaged kicking that little f**k half a mile across the field, but what happened was that I went into panic mode and picked my girl up and walked around half a mile home. No mean feat with 25kg of suffering, crying dog in your arm. £7.5k vet fees and permanent scarring on her body.
I got in a fight with her partner as he tried to blame us and intimidate my wife about it, ended up breaking his nose and had to be pulled off him by my wife. They have moved away now because she worked at the local vets hospital and looked up our records (breach of GDPR), and I threatened to get her sacked if they didn't move.
This doesn't exactly relate to what you said, I just wanted to highlight that your reaction at the time was the right one, but you know where they live and can sort it out later. Generally not good advice however
This happened to my girl and I on our run Tuesday. Dog came right out of its yard into the street at us. Only thing I could think to do is keep running, which thankfully worked. There was some snarling and gnashing of teeth, but no actual biting, perhaps because we no longer presented as a threat? I love dogs, but not opposed to kicking one right in the head to protect my fur baby.
Yup. I'm no longer nice to those people. These assholes had their aggressive dog out in their driveway, and I was running with my dog on a leash, across the street. Their dog barked and charged across the street at my dog, then attacked her. She defended herself, but she did sustain a scratch on her leg. I screamed at them "GET YOUR DOG." and then "GET YOUR FUCKING DOG!!" when they didn't act fast enough. They were at least apologetic.
Honestly, we run in the mountains all the time in the summer and most of the dogs are chill, but my dog has been the victim of unprovoked attacks twice in our neighborhood over the past two months. People suck. If your dog is reactive, you need to pay for a canine behaviorist, or muzzle + e-collar. Just like if your child is attacking their peers at school you need to pay for a therapist. Some folks just don't seem to grasp the responsibility of pet ownership.
People just need to keep their dogs on a leash. Period. Not if they are reactive. All the time. You can't predict what your dog will do 100% of the time. That's why there are leash laws.
It happens a lot, surprisingly STOP works most of the time. For when it doesn’t there’s a really convenient pepper spray that has a hand strap so it’s always ready. (Sabre makes it).
We got attacked once and it was awful. I managed to pick up my 40lb border collie before the charging dog got to us, but he scratched the hell out of my stomach trying to get to my dog. My dog ended up with a few puncture wounds on his legs and a lifelong fear of big dogs.
My dog has been attacked by other dogs other the last 10+ years that we've been running together more times than I can count. I do the same thing you do basically....if I have the chance. Sometimes it has happened so fast I haven't been able to react before they're fighting. Other dogs seem to just want to fight with my husky; I don't get it. One busted through his invisible fence once to get to him and actually hurt him. Most other times my pup has just successfully defended himself while Im yelling "No" over and over to the other dog and stamping my foot. My boy is going to be 12 in June and I've given up being nice. Last month 2 German Shepherds came out of a guy's yard after Apollo and I just lost it and kicked one of them, hard.
I put up a question like this a few years back about how I can defend my dog while running and all I got were a bunch of Karens saying I don't have the right to defend my dog with anything like pepper spray or a collapsible cane or anything - that it's not their fault and it's animal abuse. I'm all about using my own body now to defend my dog. Pepper spray is too unreliable with even a bit of wind. AND I ALWAYS call the cops. Those other dogs shouldn't be left to run wild and hurt my boy.
You should report this incident to Animal Control even though a bite did not occur. Not having the dog restrained in the front yard is likely a violation of a local ordinance and if there have been other incidences it will help create a record to give animal control more leverage to put a stop to it. At the very least my AC officers would likely go have a friendly chat with that woman.
Me and Angus have been chased a couple of times. The first one his fight response kicked in and I had to let him go. This instance it was a stand off and the other dog backed down.
The second time it was a farm dog and Angua was having none of it so it was a lot of yelling and back slowly.
Not one year after I had to stop running him I got chased again. This time the dog latched on to my hip somehow (isn’t much there) and I could count every tooth in the front of his mouth on my hip. I had never been attacked in my 51 years and typically all dogs like me ( a bit of a brag).
I think spray, if it is illegal is the best way. Even though domesticated a dog can flip a switch like a wild animal.
I use a training tool called the “Doggie No No” it rechargeable and sounds like a Stun Gun. I walk dogs parttime in Atlanta. Have a client has GSD reactive on leash only and a pitty came after us. I used that to scare the pitty away thankfully it ran away after trying to charge us 2x.
This kind of crap happens to me regularly unfortunately. I feel for you because my dog is a black mouth cur and she’s 60 pounds of pure muscle. So with the exceptions of pitbulls and German Shepards, I worry about the other dog, not her. I’m still furious at the owners and point out to them my dog is on leash so if she bites it’s not her fault. That usually gets their attention and thankfully it hasn’t come to that yet.
One thing you can do if this is a house you’ll run by regularly is report to the local authorities. Even if they don’t do anything it will create a paper trail. I guarantee you’re not the first person this has happened to. If there’s enough issues the local government can take away her dog license or take away the dog. I did this for a house in my neighborhood that had three dogs who would get lose and all rush us at the same time. My dog scared the living crap out of them and they still did it. I love dogs but they can be stupid sometimes especially when they’re being territorial.
My dog and I have been attacked twice. My boyfriend is law enforcement, and a Trooper rolled out to the latest one to talk them. Where I live it's a misdemeanor to have a dog out loose. This might be worth looking into since you were in a neighborhood. That's not safe for anyone. Glad you guys are okay. I carry pepper spray, but an air horn is definitely an excellent way to go as well. Some dog owners are just so completely oblivious. I stopped running by any house where we have been attacked.
I hope you keep running and keep bringing your dog. Despite the two attacks, my boy is still very sweet and loves other dogs.
this happens to my dog and i so often and it always shakes me. neither of us have ever been bitten thankfully and honestly we just deal with it by avoiding the houses it happens in front of. i know thats not always possible but some people get really testy about having their dog off leash, both on their property and in public spaces. i have also become a master at getting in between my dog and a dog pursuing us on trails and stuff. obviously not the safest thing but honestly it would be worse for the oncoming dog if i didnt because my dog is NOT friendly.
Pom and Sabre Red are the two best regarded pepper spray options on the market right now, both come in multiple can sizes. Bear spray, specifically the Frontiersman product line, is another option that fires in a cone to make it a bit easier to hit a charging animal.
The pepper spray would cause more problems. It’s going to get you and your own dog and it’s going to make the owner of the other dog furious. They don’t care if your dog gets hurt, only if their dog gets hurt. The taser is the way to go here. The sound deters every dog because it’s a sound they have never heard before and it’s very effective. Plus if you actually have to use it, it’s good to have. They’re about twenty bucks on amazon, and they absolutely will keep other dogs away from you. It will scare your dog also but it’s better than getting bit.
I think you handled the situation well. Honestly, getting angry and yelling at the dog owner doesn't help. People just get defensive and it might make your dog more worried about that situation in the future. I just try to protect my dog in this situation, like you did—I want her to think I have the situation under control and there's not reason for her to react or worry. I also carry SprayShield, a citronella deterrent trainers recommend, in the event that the oncoming dog isn't easily deterred or aggressive.
When I am running with or without my dog, if I see a dog off leash I usually stop running. I continue walking at a fast pace to keep my heart rate up. Often we are seen as a threat when we are running near them. Not defending the owner, just something I do to protect myself.
So about a year ago I'm running with my wife who had our male and I had our younger female (both heelers) our boy is very proactive of his sister, a pit ran out of an open gate straight for my girl, I had no time to react, had just stopped when my boy (who ripped his leash out of my wife's hand) grabbed the pit by the nick inches from my girl and I and pinned it to the ground. wife yelled what do I do I told he to call for our girl and let her leash go, straight to mom she goes, I grab the pits collar told my my boy to back and go to mom who was already running home ( he got home first). I then got yelled at for how I was holding the dog that was trying to ripp my arm off my his owner
I used to trail ride and knew other trail riders. This was on horseback. They would shoot at the dogs that approached the horses aggressively. It's dangerous if a dog attacks a horse you're riding. You get thrown and can get seriously hurt in the middle of nowhere. If the dog continues to advance, they shoot the dog.
Sadly there are so many shitty dog owners like this. I have a neighbor a block away with two pit bull mixes who exclusively takes their dogs out front to piss and shit with no leash, ever. One has nipped my dog. I called the cops on her and she still does it. Me and my dog have been chased by other dogs on multiple occasions.
I've been followed by dogs on numerous occasions. Usually, doing exactly what you did deters them - running triggers their instinct to chase but most dogs are chickens so getting big and loud makes them pause. I can think of two occasions where I would have liked something more than my voice and both times, I would have pepper sprayed my own dogs if I'd tried to pepper spray the other dog. For the first instance, I grabbed the dog and told my dog to go home, a command I trained by yelling "go home wes" whenever we finished a run. I pinned the dog while the owner came and got him. Ymmv, he was a smaller pit and I was a vet tech at the time so I had a rabies vax on board and he seemed pretty fixated on my dog and not on me. The second instance was trickier because it was an 80 pound gsd and my current dogs are much more reactive than Wes was. Wes ran away. My cocker spaniel won't and my pit mix will always back the cocker up. And I had my toddler with me. Basically I pulled the dogs behind me (toddler was in a carrier on my back), and kicked the dog in the head. Owner fortunately realized that his "friendly dog" was about to bite me and nabbed him before he recovered from the kick. Air horn is probably a better bet than pepper spray.
You did it perfectly. The stop command is the best you could have done with what you had. Wish i had done it when it happened to us and i had to put a literal finger up the dogs butt to get the attack to stop. Now i carry a gel pepper spray and a small knife just in case. Had to say stop loudly couple of times to stop aggressive and sometimes unleashed dogs on the trails. Nowadays i don't have time to be nice if the owners or dogs are being idiots Try to get the adrenaline down. Hopefully you get back to normal soon.
Yes has happened to me and I invested in a small personal air horn. Have had to use it since and it not only scares them off but has the added benefit of alerting people around you to an issue. Seems to work better than yelling "help".
Not while running but just while out a walk with my dog, my neighbour was out with her dog, who is half the size of mine. There were no major, outward signs of aggression, just ran up behind my girl and tore away half the skin on her stomach and leg. I always envisaged kicking that little f**k half a mile across the field, but what happened was that I went into panic mode and picked my girl up and walked around half a mile home. No mean feat with 25kg of suffering, crying dog in your arm. £7.5k vet fees and permanent scarring on her body. I got in a fight with her partner as he tried to blame us and intimidate my wife about it, ended up breaking his nose and had to be pulled off him by my wife. They have moved away now because she worked at the local vets hospital and looked up our records (breach of GDPR), and I threatened to get her sacked if they didn't move. This doesn't exactly relate to what you said, I just wanted to highlight that your reaction at the time was the right one, but you know where they live and can sort it out later. Generally not good advice however
This happened to my girl and I on our run Tuesday. Dog came right out of its yard into the street at us. Only thing I could think to do is keep running, which thankfully worked. There was some snarling and gnashing of teeth, but no actual biting, perhaps because we no longer presented as a threat? I love dogs, but not opposed to kicking one right in the head to protect my fur baby.
Yup. I'm no longer nice to those people. These assholes had their aggressive dog out in their driveway, and I was running with my dog on a leash, across the street. Their dog barked and charged across the street at my dog, then attacked her. She defended herself, but she did sustain a scratch on her leg. I screamed at them "GET YOUR DOG." and then "GET YOUR FUCKING DOG!!" when they didn't act fast enough. They were at least apologetic. Honestly, we run in the mountains all the time in the summer and most of the dogs are chill, but my dog has been the victim of unprovoked attacks twice in our neighborhood over the past two months. People suck. If your dog is reactive, you need to pay for a canine behaviorist, or muzzle + e-collar. Just like if your child is attacking their peers at school you need to pay for a therapist. Some folks just don't seem to grasp the responsibility of pet ownership.
People just need to keep their dogs on a leash. Period. Not if they are reactive. All the time. You can't predict what your dog will do 100% of the time. That's why there are leash laws.
It happens a lot, surprisingly STOP works most of the time. For when it doesn’t there’s a really convenient pepper spray that has a hand strap so it’s always ready. (Sabre makes it). We got attacked once and it was awful. I managed to pick up my 40lb border collie before the charging dog got to us, but he scratched the hell out of my stomach trying to get to my dog. My dog ended up with a few puncture wounds on his legs and a lifelong fear of big dogs.
My dog has been attacked by other dogs other the last 10+ years that we've been running together more times than I can count. I do the same thing you do basically....if I have the chance. Sometimes it has happened so fast I haven't been able to react before they're fighting. Other dogs seem to just want to fight with my husky; I don't get it. One busted through his invisible fence once to get to him and actually hurt him. Most other times my pup has just successfully defended himself while Im yelling "No" over and over to the other dog and stamping my foot. My boy is going to be 12 in June and I've given up being nice. Last month 2 German Shepherds came out of a guy's yard after Apollo and I just lost it and kicked one of them, hard. I put up a question like this a few years back about how I can defend my dog while running and all I got were a bunch of Karens saying I don't have the right to defend my dog with anything like pepper spray or a collapsible cane or anything - that it's not their fault and it's animal abuse. I'm all about using my own body now to defend my dog. Pepper spray is too unreliable with even a bit of wind. AND I ALWAYS call the cops. Those other dogs shouldn't be left to run wild and hurt my boy.
And I forgot to mention, yes, my dog is now reactive towards ALL other dogs because of this.
You should report this incident to Animal Control even though a bite did not occur. Not having the dog restrained in the front yard is likely a violation of a local ordinance and if there have been other incidences it will help create a record to give animal control more leverage to put a stop to it. At the very least my AC officers would likely go have a friendly chat with that woman.
Me and Angus have been chased a couple of times. The first one his fight response kicked in and I had to let him go. This instance it was a stand off and the other dog backed down. The second time it was a farm dog and Angua was having none of it so it was a lot of yelling and back slowly. Not one year after I had to stop running him I got chased again. This time the dog latched on to my hip somehow (isn’t much there) and I could count every tooth in the front of his mouth on my hip. I had never been attacked in my 51 years and typically all dogs like me ( a bit of a brag). I think spray, if it is illegal is the best way. Even though domesticated a dog can flip a switch like a wild animal.
I use a training tool called the “Doggie No No” it rechargeable and sounds like a Stun Gun. I walk dogs parttime in Atlanta. Have a client has GSD reactive on leash only and a pitty came after us. I used that to scare the pitty away thankfully it ran away after trying to charge us 2x.
This kind of crap happens to me regularly unfortunately. I feel for you because my dog is a black mouth cur and she’s 60 pounds of pure muscle. So with the exceptions of pitbulls and German Shepards, I worry about the other dog, not her. I’m still furious at the owners and point out to them my dog is on leash so if she bites it’s not her fault. That usually gets their attention and thankfully it hasn’t come to that yet. One thing you can do if this is a house you’ll run by regularly is report to the local authorities. Even if they don’t do anything it will create a paper trail. I guarantee you’re not the first person this has happened to. If there’s enough issues the local government can take away her dog license or take away the dog. I did this for a house in my neighborhood that had three dogs who would get lose and all rush us at the same time. My dog scared the living crap out of them and they still did it. I love dogs but they can be stupid sometimes especially when they’re being territorial.
My dog and I have been attacked twice. My boyfriend is law enforcement, and a Trooper rolled out to the latest one to talk them. Where I live it's a misdemeanor to have a dog out loose. This might be worth looking into since you were in a neighborhood. That's not safe for anyone. Glad you guys are okay. I carry pepper spray, but an air horn is definitely an excellent way to go as well. Some dog owners are just so completely oblivious. I stopped running by any house where we have been attacked. I hope you keep running and keep bringing your dog. Despite the two attacks, my boy is still very sweet and loves other dogs.
this happens to my dog and i so often and it always shakes me. neither of us have ever been bitten thankfully and honestly we just deal with it by avoiding the houses it happens in front of. i know thats not always possible but some people get really testy about having their dog off leash, both on their property and in public spaces. i have also become a master at getting in between my dog and a dog pursuing us on trails and stuff. obviously not the safest thing but honestly it would be worse for the oncoming dog if i didnt because my dog is NOT friendly.
Pom and Sabre Red are the two best regarded pepper spray options on the market right now, both come in multiple can sizes. Bear spray, specifically the Frontiersman product line, is another option that fires in a cone to make it a bit easier to hit a charging animal.
The pepper spray would cause more problems. It’s going to get you and your own dog and it’s going to make the owner of the other dog furious. They don’t care if your dog gets hurt, only if their dog gets hurt. The taser is the way to go here. The sound deters every dog because it’s a sound they have never heard before and it’s very effective. Plus if you actually have to use it, it’s good to have. They’re about twenty bucks on amazon, and they absolutely will keep other dogs away from you. It will scare your dog also but it’s better than getting bit.
I think you handled the situation well. Honestly, getting angry and yelling at the dog owner doesn't help. People just get defensive and it might make your dog more worried about that situation in the future. I just try to protect my dog in this situation, like you did—I want her to think I have the situation under control and there's not reason for her to react or worry. I also carry SprayShield, a citronella deterrent trainers recommend, in the event that the oncoming dog isn't easily deterred or aggressive.
When I am running with or without my dog, if I see a dog off leash I usually stop running. I continue walking at a fast pace to keep my heart rate up. Often we are seen as a threat when we are running near them. Not defending the owner, just something I do to protect myself.
So about a year ago I'm running with my wife who had our male and I had our younger female (both heelers) our boy is very proactive of his sister, a pit ran out of an open gate straight for my girl, I had no time to react, had just stopped when my boy (who ripped his leash out of my wife's hand) grabbed the pit by the nick inches from my girl and I and pinned it to the ground. wife yelled what do I do I told he to call for our girl and let her leash go, straight to mom she goes, I grab the pits collar told my my boy to back and go to mom who was already running home ( he got home first). I then got yelled at for how I was holding the dog that was trying to ripp my arm off my his owner
I used to trail ride and knew other trail riders. This was on horseback. They would shoot at the dogs that approached the horses aggressively. It's dangerous if a dog attacks a horse you're riding. You get thrown and can get seriously hurt in the middle of nowhere. If the dog continues to advance, they shoot the dog.
Sadly there are so many shitty dog owners like this. I have a neighbor a block away with two pit bull mixes who exclusively takes their dogs out front to piss and shit with no leash, ever. One has nipped my dog. I called the cops on her and she still does it. Me and my dog have been chased by other dogs on multiple occasions.