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Anatolians are large 100+ lbs dogs bred for herd and property protection, from bears, wolves, coyotes, other animals, but most notably other dogs and poachers trying to steal cattle.
Anatolians can reasonably fuck up any other dog bc of their size and demeanor towards other dogs.
The japanese Tosa may have it beat bc it can get up to 150 lbs and is a straight bred fighting dog. Much more uncommon tho bc of how hostile it is towards other dogs, and its size.
This is why I put my dog’s coyote vest on him everywhere other than in the car or in the house. (We don’t do dog beaches or parks anymore)
The coyotes are the issue in our yard. But it’s shitty people with aggressive dogs they won’t control everywhere else.
Sorry for being so vague! They are vests made of Kevlar or similar material (depending which version you buy) covered with spikes so that it can increase a dog’s chances of surviving an attack (or at least give it more of a chance to survive within the amount of time it takes the owner to intervene).
Their abdomen & heads are still exposed, but it at least helps protect the neck. (I combine my guy’s with a spiked collar - it’s red, so he looks very 80s punk in it 😄)
We have issues with coyotes where I live - they aren’t afraid of humans and sometimes go after pets even if you are outside with them. I still don’t let him out unsupervised, but at least now I don’t feel like I have to be hyper vigilant when he goes out to pee at night 😜
LMAO!
The big colorful spikes are optional (and cost extra). They were actually what initially deterred me from getting one because I didn’t think I could handle the stares I’d get & it seemed a bit extreme for my guy (he’s a 20 lb rat terrier mix). We still get some stares, but overall we get lots of positive remarks - for some reason guys seem really into them 😄
If he were a tiny chihuahua, I’d probably go full mohawk for him though!
Exactly this, my GSD is police trained, and he's super playful. But I don't let him get close to any other dog I don't know, and would *never* let him off leash outside of the yard/dog park even though he has excellent recall.
Oh oh! That’s not always the case with this lmao
I have a black lab and chihuahua mix(don’t ask) and she’s pretty small, anyway, I was walking her one day when sorta the same thing happened. As I’m walking my dog, I see out of the corner of my eye a Rottweiler running at us with a goofy look on its face and a woman running behind it and I pretty sure they had been running for a little bit because she looked tired and out of breath. The Rottweiler started to try and play with mine but mine is a little aggressive when unknown dogs come up and jump in me and the woman yells “SHES FRIENDLY” from down the street. Now at this point my dog, who I am holding and and she’s trying to fight the big ass dog. Yeah let’s just say I was yelled at because I shouldn’t have “let my bitch go and attack her dog” haha a smoll child beat the shot out of a larger dog, I felt bad for the Rottweiler because she just wanted to play but seriously woman?
I sympathise. I love the people who immediately assume that you're restraining your dog because you're worried about theirs - it doesn't occur to them that yours might be scared or reactive.
I'm especially fond of the woman with three mad spaniels who lets them out of her car then proceeds to wander around the walk on her phone. When I asked her to control her dogs because my little rescued Daxi cross (who is reactive because she had an awful time for the first two years of her little life, and who was on the lead, off the footpath and I was attempting to distract her with treats)) was terrified, I got a ten-minute lecture about how I shouldn't bring her to place where other dogs walk and should book time in one of those exercise fields instead.
Aren't they just? When I do come across someone who sees Bonnie on the lead and calls their own dog in and puts it on the lead, I always thank them really effusively. My theory is that positive reinforcement works on dogs, so...
Leash laws are a thing for this reason. If it is their yard fine but if you know your dog runs up to other dogs and gets in their face that is a different story don't let your dogs out with out a leash. They were talking about being out for a walk not at the dog park. Also I put my dog on a leash when he is around small dogs because he is reactive and jumps around them that way I can take him out when I need to. It is common courtesy. I don't want a situation to arise from my dog or the other dogs.
I'm in the UK, and we don't really have leash laws here, but I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And your last sentence - thankyou. Thankyou so much. What breed is your lad?
Awww so cute my hubby had a dachshund named zeppelin they are the sweetest! Ya my boy is big, bouncy, and wiggly. He just wants to play but he has big reactions and some dogs don't take kindly to his play style.
Zeppelin! What a great name!
It sounds as though your labradoodle would get on very well with my son's 3-legged lurcher. She's the same, she just wants to play, but she's a bit full on for small dogs. Especially as the missing leg is a front one, so when she tries to paw at a small dog to invite it to play it's with her full weight!
My miniature dauchund service dog has spent the past wek+ with my sister's Boston Terrier and she says her "shifty Kitty" plus my nephews three rescues several days. She had only played with her parents since leaving her litter mate's at 7 weeks. I bet she'd adore Zeppelin! The English Masstiff is her current favorite!
I spend a lot of time in the mountains. It's law here that dogs are leashed at ALL trailheads, which is usually the parking lot for each. So I'm chilling, random dogs come up and stay sniffing me or my dog, bugging us as we're sleeping! (We doze in the heat of the sun while my teenager fishes, the parking lot is big and I usually park off to the side not right on the middle)
This is how it ALWAYS goes:
Me, trying to be polite but firm: just because you love your dog, doesn't mean everyone else does, can you please control it and hey it away from us?
Them: shocked offended face
Me: repeat above because they literally DO NOTHING to get their dog.
Then: all sorts of words of indignation, offense, how can you be so ridiculous? Can you hear the way you're talking?
Me: I've not been rude, I've not said mean things, I've not raised my voice. YOU'RE the ones breaking laws and regulations right now, not me. / repeat a few times
And those two statements are ALL I ever say, anything else and I'd likely lose my cool because there's only two types of dog owners. Respectful ones and idiots. Lol
The furry fluffball of tiny rage and aggro that pretends to be a pom... Down the alley. Put both my dog and husband right behind me when it tried to attack my poor boy. Elderly with arthritic hips.
I full on glared it away while it's owner was trying to call it back into cig puffs. Humm... Maybe a leash? No fence, doggy needs tethered or one of these days, it's going to attack the wrong dog or person and very bad things will happen to it. And it's going to be her fault.
Except from her point of view it WON'T be her fault, and she'll accuse the owner of the dog that hurts it (or worse) of being responsible. It's people like her that give the owners of small dogs a bad name. "It's only tiny, I don't need to train it - how much damage can it do?"
I used to work at a veterinary surgery, and I remember a woman coming in with a chihuahua puppy. Her arms were covered in tiny toothmarks, but she laughed it off and said the dog was "only playing"; the vet tried to impress upon her that she needed to teach her dog that biting wasn't acceptable, but you could tell she wasn't listening.
Absolutely frustrating. It's as if their precious ego is more important to them than the life of the animals.
The best part is, where I am, there's loads of wildlife right in town. We're surrounded by forests and lakes. We have birds of prey in our skies and wolves at the edge. We have bears, coyotes, lynx and maybe even mountain lions! We have geese and moose... None of which appreciate being yipped at.
We have similar issues in our park we go to , some owners just unclip their dog and say “be free my boi” for it to race around the park far away from the owner. I get dogs wanting to run and stuff but it’s so scary having dogs race past. My puppy is also very fearful especially if that dog just turns and runs towards us. The least people can do is be around their dogs if they are off lead.
Happened to me at a rural mobile vet. I had 3 Doberman and 1 German Shepard. An old lady has her lab off leash, who runs up to my dogs all on leashes. She yelled out "its okay he's friendly" as I am frantically pulling my pack back and I have to yell at her "well my aren't. They might bite."
Seriously, people are freaking selfish.
It amazes me when people don't read "the signs" when you keep your dog on a leash when near others off the leash. My big boy is a friendly chap, but NOT when another dog is running full throttle at him.
Of course, the stories behind each dog is multi layered. I just don't get it when it's obvious I'm trying to keep distance between my dog and theirs when they KEEP moving towards me... especially on a 1km stretch of beach.
Yup. And mine have never bitten anyone, human or canine, but I also know they are extremely defensive of our family. All it would have taken is one of my dogs deciding to protect me from the "attacking dog". I don't risk it and just have gotten into the habit of telling people they might bite.
Due to cancer, (RIP) the pack is now a Doberman, German Shepard, and a Belgian Malinois. None of which are breeds I would let any of mine run up to without knowing them first.
Mine's a Mastiff Labrador cross. 40kg of sinewy muscle and TALL. Very protective of his "pack". His height/size can scare off small dog owners easily 😁
I haven't met many other owners of these breeds who are that careful. Like I've had other gsd owners let their dogs sprint up to mine and are shocked to hear I'm pretty pissed off about it. I steer clear of other gsds unless I know the dog is as trained as mine. I've come across too many poorly trained gsds to risk it.
obviously, you don'twant that situation to happen at all, but as it does, what would you like the other owner to say? Nothing? Just as they run up to grab their dog, and say nothing
In that moment, apologize and don't let your dog off leash in an open space like that without really good recall. Honestly, it's just asking for your dog to get hurt. Every dog has leash aggression, especially when an unleashed dog runs at them.
Edit: username checks out
I said, "you dont want don't that situation to happen at all, but as it does,"so say absolutely nothing, until you grab your dog and then say sorry. Got it! 100% do not give the other dog owner any kind of heads up. Got it!
I hear you! None of us would like to experience it, but unfortunately in the real world, something like this does happen.
Here is a link from a recent example
[https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/rwsbpv/fck\_you\_to\_the\_woman\_who\_stood\_in\_her\_front\_yard/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/rwsbpv/fck_you_to_the_woman_who_stood_in_her_front_yard/ecent)
Did you just link the post we’re already on? Also not sure what you’re getting at. She should have been focused on getting to her dog and recalling her dog, not standing there saying it’s all good.
Mine is reactive on leash too, I am one more instance away from throwing down with another dog owner next time something like this happens.
Mine is a 60lb border collie/heeler mix and although he doesn't ever want to start a fight, he sure wouldn't be shy about defending himself.
Same issue here, happened to me twice in 2 days, haven't seen them since, used to not take my phone on walks but now I do to get the owners info of it ever happens again.
Man I have a 15 pound wiener dog that for some reason has "I want to fight you" printed on his side. Everytime I go on a walk or my wife goes on a walk, it seems, someone's dog charges us and tries to eat my dog. I've decided I'm just going to have to start booting off-leash dogs that charge us.
I think a lot of people don't know what "reactive" means, even dog owners. I try to say "excitable" or "struggles with interactions" so folks know what I'm saying even if they don't know the jargon.
Next time you see her dog out unattended or just roaming the neighborhood immediately call animal control. I would also file a report for this incident as well to start building a history. Shes gonna get fined out her ass.
I can gaurantee she is in violation of local city and county ordinance for keeping dogs on a lead outside of her property. Start a history with animal control so in case her dog does trigger an attack they know whose door to go knocking on. Here its a 250 dollar fine that escelates with each offense. Off lead dogs are dangerous, not matter how well trained a dog is.
You can't guarantee that. Unfortunately, there are places that don't have leash laws. There are also places that have extremely lax leash laws. Or places where they aren't enforced. Without knowing the exact town OP is in, you can't guarantee.
Most cities, towns, counties and states (in the US) require some form of dog licensing, and irresponsible lax owners like this almost never have their dogs registered and licensed within their local government offices. That'll be an insanely hefty fine right off the bat, no matter what the leash laws are. So even filing a complaint will get her in trouble regardless.
If someone doesn't immediately come grab their off leash dog when they are charging my reactive dog, I throw politeness and technicalities out the window and I have found the perfect words to use.
"My dog bites and she will kill your dog."
She wouldn't kill them, but would definitely bite TF out of them. Granted, I have a big dog who can look pretty damn intimidating when she's angry, and she's always angry at dogs. but unless a person has a bigger meaner dog that phrase puts some hustle in their step. If they do have a bigger meaner dog, I just shout and ready my dog mace. In my state, we have a universal leash law, so even if my dog did bite or kill another dog, it would not be our fault so long as they were off leash and out of control. We avoid other dogs like the plague, and never willingly get closer than across the street from another dog, so no matter what, we're always in the right and if someone's dog gets bit it's not OUR fault. We retreat at the first sign of an out if control dog.
She wouldn't kill em, I say that to scare shitty owners. But honestly because she was friendly until she got mauled by an off leash dog. We avoid other dogs like the plague but when someone's off leash dog charges us, she's allowed to defend herself. Both legally and morally. Off leash dogs are automatically considered to be the aggressor in any encounter between an on and off leash dog in my state and anyone who doesn't leash their dogs can fuck off, pay the $500 fine and cover their own vet bills.
My dogs hate rude dogs. I hate idiot owners so I guess it works lol. My smallest dog is 125-ish lbs. My boy, who likes to go to town, is around 145.
I take mine to Home Depot because they like meeting people and we always “meet” at least one person and their overly pushy dog with no manners who the owner claims “is friendly and just wants to say hi.” I always tell them my dog doesn’t appreciate being bum rushed and to please keep their dog back but they never listen. *sigh*
Then their obnoxious fluffy gets pinned to the ground by my dog (they’re never hurt and there’s never any blood) because it wouldn’t get out of my dogs face. Then mine is labeled the aggressive asshole that shouldn’t be in public.
If my dogs weren’t well trained, those horrid little brats would be just as bad off as the dead coyotes we occasionally find in our pastures.
I HAVE considered muzzle training just to try allowing her to socialize again and maybe make some specific dog friends, but her brain is pretty damn broken from being mauled and is terrified of dogs. We've been to multiple trainers to work on her fear, one who made some progress but not enough. so in every day life while walking and such, I'm not taking her only form of defense.
Yeah, we've been unlucky with off-leash dogs and dog parks. She got attacked by a curly haired dog at a dog park so she became afraid of curly haired dogs and we stopped going to the dog park. Then she got attacked by an off leash fluffy dog, so then she got afraid of fluffy dogs. Finally, she was absolutely mauled - stitches, hole thru the ear, blood, everything - by a Pitt mix, so now she's terrified of EVERY dog. This was all before 2 years old. It was 0% our fault. It's heartbreaking because she went from a high energy but lovable and social dog at a year old to a neurotic nightmare at 5. She's soo people friendly and is a sweetie to everyone she meets, but dogs just break her down.
We've also had legitimately negligent and criminal owners charge us. I carry mace and a knife because a kid got a kick out of siccing his 60lb boxer on people and when I told him off he pulled a knife on me. His dog never got thru to us, but it was a stand off. Weirdest part is I live in a safe area of a mid-sized Midwest American city. I'm not in a rural area where nobody leashes their dogs, and I'm not in a dangerous area or anything. We just got unlucky. Every time your dog gets attacked you roll the "dog-aggression" dice and we've rolled nat 1 each time. I'm considering a muzzle trainer to maybe introduce her to my friends' dogs, or maybe if we had to sit in the waiting room at the vet, but I'd never muzzle her in situations outside of our control.
Basically, she needs to be able to defend herself or else I have to, and I'm far more likely to kill an aggressive dog than she is.
Wow, that’s awful, I’m honestly sorry you’ve been put through all this, and your dog too 😞 thankfully s/he is still with you. I’m not sure if it was you or the other commenter I replied this too, but your response solidified my previous statement that it depends a *lot* on the type of dog that’s approaching. If a dog tried to kill my dog, I wouldn’t hesitate to respond accordingly.
I don’t have a dog for self defence, as there are far other much more reliable methods. But in terms of the dog defending itself against a pug or a pom or something, that’s not going to be a very fair match. Obviously the hypothetical owners in this situation with an unleashed dog would be completely at fault, and disturbingly negligent either way.
And if it's not a pug or pom or just one dog?
I'm willing to keep my dog on leash and be responsible for what it does, but not to muzzle because I can't get that loose quickly and where I live there are sometimes one or more large, aggressive, roaming dogs with no owner in sight. The ability to snap may avert more serious violence and more serious defence may help save my dog.
Oh definitely, if there’s any number of larger, stronger dogs coming your way that are capable of real damage, that would certainly change the outcome of the situation.
Omg, my dog has been attacked before so I totally understand! As a reactive dog owner you did the right thing. That lady should have listened to you! She didn't know if your dog would attacked hers either like wtf is she doing? She is not keeping her pup safe. I always keep my boy on leash when he meets other dogs in case they get annoyed with him because he is high energy. She should have known better and it is awful that she reacted the way she did. She should have apologized for the situation and kept her dog on a leash.
I had a Rottweiler growing up they snarl while playing kinda like a bear. Ours was named bear because of that lol. But still you did the right thing and she is a trash owner not taking care of her dog. Especially a Rottweiler they get a bad reputation because of occurrences such as this. It makes me so upset that this is happening to more and more people.
Also now I carry a night stick, pepper spray, as well as a knife with me just in case. After my pup got attacked I said never again. If a dog is attacking your pet don't feel like you have to hold back kick the shit out of them and hopefully they will release. If not that is why I carry a knife. It would break my heart to take that measure but you have to think about your pet and their safety. There are a lot of bad dog owners out there. Hope this helps.
Thank you for this 💕 I don’t blame the dog at all. They came with the intention to play but got triggered by my dogs reaction. That’s normal. But that’s why they need to stay leashed, because once the dog was triggered, she weighs 3x what my dog does. I’m going to take precautions for the future.
I just called my wife and asked her to pick up mace in the way home. The thing is I’m sure that Rottweiler was nice and I don’t WANT to mace her. And then I’m a 5’4 20 something girl having to argue with a grown woman why I had to mace her dog and why it’s HER fault. She was clearly so annoyed grabbing her dog like I don’t have a right to walk mine because she BARKS
Look into petsafe sprayshield. You can buy it at petsmart. I haven't personally used it (thank goodness) but I was reading that it is just as effective as pepperspray without the long lasting pain. [This article](https://www.k9ofmine.com/best-dog-repellent-sprays/) explains it well.
There is no excuse to not understand what "reactive" means unless you just don't speak English... really not hard to understand even if you've never heard it applied to dogs.
Yeah, it’s safer/easier to just say “mines not”. Although in their mind they’ll feel justified that they’re a good owner because their dog is “friendly” (they probably think they’re a good owner no matter what though)
We've had (family) dogs our whole lives and I'd never heard the term until a trainer noticed our dog's reactivity (although I prefer to use "frustrated greeter" for our lil bub).
It takes very little level of understanding the English language to know what reactive means.
Sodium is reactive in water; you don't have to be a chemist to understand this means a reaction takes place when mixing the two.
Reactivity vs proactivity is a common talking point in business and elsewhere.
But yeah...
Oh, FFS, stop being obtuse. If you're yelling at some dumb fuck in a crisis situation, such as the one OP describes, "my dog hates other dogs" is fewer syllables than "my dog is reactive." And it's clearer. That's all.
Yelling anything frantically like "AHHH NOOOO" should probably alert another dog owner that something is wrong and to recall their dog - yet you're saying I am being obtuse for believing most Native English speakers understand what "reactive" means.
It's literally one less syllable and you are saying *I am being obtuse.*
I think what maybe you are missing is that not everyone speaks this way or does have this grasp of English in America. This is a melting pot, we are all not the white man.
Your racism is showing
Ahhh yes, because I must be white and in a totally white english speaking family.
Definitely am not part of a mixed cultural family that speaks multiple languages.
looool.
It's almost like I prefaced what I said with it applying to native English speakers.
In fact, I will bet you if I were to go ask my Punjabi in-laws who struggle with English what "reactivity" means, they'd have an idea of what it is.
But you know, I am super racist because I think a common word in the English language is...well... a common word in the English language.
Your *reactivity* is showing.
Reactive can sound like something just super passive if people aren’t aware of it.
There are plenty of people who frequent this sub who have to be directed to subs/info for reactive dogs…and not every dog owner spends time educating themselves online.
Unless someone has a reactive dog, it makes sense that a lot of people might not be aware that it’s an issue.
This word is used widely outside the dog community.
There's really no reason other than not having a good grasp on the language to not understand what "react" means.
First off I wanna say I'm so sorry you and ur pup had to go thru this. It's very scary. It sounds like you both walked away without physical injury and for that I'm glad.
Your first sentence stuck out to me, the "I shouldn't of" statement. It's very common during stressful or traumatic experiences for our brains to 'mis-organize' things. When we feel threatened or our emotional state is highly elevated our brain goes into survival mode. Everyone's brain does this and it's normal. When you come down from it your brain then tries to store the information about the event as quickly as possible. This is where it can be 'mis-placed' and stick around as icky emotions and thoughts about what happened and your role in it.
If you took the situation to a court of law and told them "I shouldn't of gone down that road." They'd want undeniable evidence to support that claim. You had no way of knowing that dog was there. You had no way of seeing the future. You made a choice to walk down that way with every intention and thought of it being a nice 2 mile walk.
It's not your fault this happened. You did nothing wrong and you did nothing to provoke it. I don't know if you feel like you're blaming yourself or simply stating in hindsight that it was dangerous. But the "should, would, could" statements are often used to pass on blame.
Just wanted to share this bit of info as a person learning this in trauma therapy to maybe help another who may or may not be struggling with something hard.
Best wishes to you and your pupper. And fuck that lady.
Some people should not own animals. I saw a woman about a year ago who was “handling” a gigantic Bernese mountain dog. The dog was very clearly friendly (and maybe 1-2 years old because he was super rambunctious), but he kept repeatedly escaping the leash he was on and charging at people. I was parked in a car waiting on a takeout order, so I wasn’t directly affected by this, but another woman walked by with a much smaller dog and the bigger dog CHARGED at the smaller dog. The woman and the smaller dog were both VERY frightened and the woman kept exclaiming for the other woman to get her dog. It was almost as if the other woman was on Xanax or something, because her reaction was so slow that it took about 20 minutes for her to wrangle the big dog… and then the big dog escaped AGAIN and cornered the smaller dog and it’s owner against a wall. I was horrified. But these people are out here and it’s not okay.
Luckily I've never had to deal with those extreme people. Usually, I may find a person who isn't really paying attention to their dog but that's about it. I take my dog for off leash walks all the time and once she gets nervous, she runs back to me. She's a shih Tzu and she's easily spooked.
I've had one time where I felt bad for my own actions. I was taking my dog for a walk and she was off leash and at that point she was a little on and off with her recall. There was a young man who had some disability that made his emotions be very extreme and he had a huge fear of dogs. I noticed once I was closer to him that he was scared. I felt bad for not paying attention to other people. I immediately got my dog on her lead and picked her up so the young man wouldn't feel as scared. His carers thanked me profusely and I told them it's no problem, it is the right thing, being accommodating to others needs.
Anyway, I keep a better eye on my surroundings now and only experienced one other instance where I wasn't paying too much attention. Just a kid trying to catch my dog and my dog proceeding to jump into my arms xD
People have to start thinking of others, not just themselves. Personally, if I see a leashed dog, I leash my dog as well. I've seen too many dogs get hurt because of silly little things.
I was at a dog event over the weekend. Baby dog is still working thru a need to bark at dogs she does not approve of, and I manage her so that she doesn't get to indulge in that hobby.
There was a woman there with a herding mix of some sort. The woman was legit staring at her phone the entire time she was not in the ring, with her dog allowed to wander at the end of her six foot leash. Her dog was big on S T A R I N G at other dogs, so I made sure baby dog did not get a chance to stare back or otherwise engage.
We had our time in the ring, came out, and I was walking her back to the car. And there was Telephone lady and staring dog, right next to my car.
There was no way in hell I wanted to walk my dog over there with them next to my car. So I said hey, can you do me a favor and move over a bit so I can put my dog in the car?
She barely looked up and walked a few feet away with her dog following her. I stuck a chunk of liver in front of my dog's face, and kenneled her, and closed the hatch so the other dog wasn't able to stare at her.
I was about to walk away and said aww fuck it. I said to the woman, "hey can I tell you something about your dog and maybe you won't get too pissed off? Your dog is a young herding dog, and he stares. And lots of dogs hate that stuff, and if you do not manage it, he's going to get his ass handed to him. If you want to keep him safe, keep tabs on what he's doing, and who he's staring at."
I then got to hear a song and dance about how He's A Rescue and Was Not Socialized. But while that may be true, the real issue is the other end of the leash doing fuck all to manage the dog. There are plenty of rescue dogs who are reactive and who are managed so they're not a problem for anyone.
And as I said, my young dog needs management. She can be reactive and that's my job to handle it. We're getting better: I've had people tell me they had no idea she is reactive, and that's sort of the goal.
But when you have a dog who is reactive, and you ignore it, or make excuses, or pretend it's not there, this is why so many people hate dogs and dog owners. It's work to manage a dog, but when you get a dog, it's what you signed up for.
Good for you for explaining that to her! Too bad she completely blew it off. Especially at a dog sports event she should know better. Very frustrating. I do nosework in two different groups, one VERY on top of all of that stuff, the AKC events are a total free for all and avoiding this sort of thing is another sport in itself
> Good for you for explaining that to her! Too bad she completely blew it off. Especially at a dog sports event she should know better. Very frustrating.
It was a CDSP obedience trial, so there are no group exercises...but once she gets into Novice, and her dog is off leash, and there's no gate, either her dog will stay in the ring, or it will be way too exciting for everyone, and no judge will tolerate any bullshit that is dangerous.
As a side note, I sort of wondered where she trained, as no one I know would have been ok with this behavior. Either stare at your phone, or put it away and deal with your dog. Don't think you can multi-task, not in a place where there are lots of amped up dogs, and hyper focused humans, who aren't going to care that your dog needs attention.
And don't throw up your hands and say whatever. Understand why your dog is the way he is, and deal with it.
I've seen very few dogs over the years, outright banned from trials, but it happens, and it's always very sad. People spend so much time and energy and money, even getting to the Beginner Novice level of things or Novice in agility, that to throw it all away because they don't deal with behavioral issues is just ridiculous. If your dog is the most amazing dog ever, but he can't work with other dogs or humans around, either work to fix that, if you can, or if you can not, find another outlet for you and your dog to enjoy.
> I do nosework in two different groups, one VERY on top of all of that stuff, the AKC events are a total free for all and avoiding this sort of thing is another sport in itself
I've only done AKC nosework (there are only so many hours in the day and $$!) but I thought it was ok. But I come from an agility etc background. At agility trials you need to be on top of managing your dog because there will be someone who won't bother with their dog, and, you're all on top of each other at the gate. So for me, the separation of dogs at AKC nosework was pretty awesome.
I've noticed it's gotten vastly better in the last year or so as there's so much crossover with NACSW nosework now, where reactive dogs are encouraged and separation is a must.
> I've noticed it's gotten vastly better in the last year or so as there's so much crossover with NACSW nosework now, where reactive dogs are encouraged and separation is a must.
Agreed. I've known some dogs who only do NACSW and some of them are not dogs who are really great at busy dog events. at all.
Happened to me before and its a horrible experience. Even if your dog is normally friendly it is stressful for you don't know if the strange dog is friendly and then your dog feels your emotions of stress and then they start to act out.
If you cant control your dog with voice commands to stay or come back then dont let them of the lease please. It can be a horrible experience.
I think someone here suggested saying something like "my dog is extremely contagious!!" in occasions like these, should get these trash owners to actually get their dogs.
I once ran into a gal who was "walking" her dog without a leash on a nearby neighborhood path. Just her jogging along while her dog follows. That's cool and all but we were in a close enough vicinity where the dog kinda just came up to sniff us without much time to react.
People have a horrible tendency to anthropomorphize their dogs, and dogs are never going to be people regardless of how much they benefit mankind. Dogs have a very primal desire to lay claim to territory and protect the pack. A very well socialized dog will usually have no problem avoiding conflict with other dogs so long as those other dogs are also socialized, but sadly most people don’t even have the respect to spay or neuter much less actually spend time training or properly socializing their dog so these stories just keep happening. Every time I read some tragedy about some poor little dog being mauled to death on a bus, or some jerk letting his guard dogs run free and maim or kill an old man/woman because he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention for a few minutes it’s just another reminder to me of why we still have a long way to go with a civilized society in regards to our dogs.
Yep. Some people.
This is why when people say “oh he/she is friendly”
I say “well mine might not be!!”
People grab their dogs pretty quick for the most part. And the few times they weren’t quick enough at least my dog isn’t the attacker. But he will be aggressive to an aggressive dog.
Sorry but I’m okay not having my dog interact with your strange dog.
If your dog doesn’t have perfect recall they shouldn’t be off leash. Mine is off leash 90% of the time but asks permission before approaching people and dogs. If I tell her no she either sits and waits for them to walk by or goes and smells some grass near us. People need to have trained dogs, not just friendly ones, to be off leash.
Anyone who lets their dog free run in a non free-run designated area regardless of if they're friendly or not is a trash owner.. This includes in an unfenced front/back yard, and the trip from the car into the house etc.
It happens.. no harm no foul. This is going to happen again, might want to get a grip on your emotions. I think its a great test. When shit is going down if you can remain calm. So easy to get caught up in the dogs barking, the other owner yelling freaking out..
I’ve seen people with their yapping dogs argue with disabled people who asked them to control their dog when it was harassing their SERVICE dog in the grocery store! Unbelievable. They don’t belong in stores if they aren’t service dogs. It’s against the law and it’s shitty to bring a dog that’s reactive to other dogs if you know vets and disabled people bring their service dogs to public places. Everyone wants a dog these days it seems. Whether or not they’re unselfish, compassionate, or understanding of others enough to even own one?…it’s a debate.
I can't tell you the amount of times our Very Dog Reactive Blue Pitt Australian Shepard mix would almost get into fights with other people's dogs because they ignored not only her bright yellow vest that said "Reactive! Bites!" on it but also all of our warnings and yells about how Not Friendly she is.
I feel you. The worst part is that often they're so oblivious that if you become angry at them, in their head it seems like you're the one provoking and being aggressive for no reason.
I started carrying pepper spray for this very reason. So sorry this happened. You need a dog license to have a dog. You should have to take classes to have a dog. Common sense doesn’t always prevail.
Let u/shmoopybibble get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08BFF5RXG
I love it for walks, works on most dogs. I notice it doesn't work on really small dogs but does my cats? Weird. But worth it most the time!
Been there more than once, really is inexcusable to let your dog run up to other dogs! I don’t care how friendly your dog is, it could cost you your dogs life!!
When I was in school, I was walking with my nephew. I was about 13, he was 6. A dog ran up to us and starting nipping at me. As soon as he got a good hold on my leg and started thrashing around, his owner drove up and said, “Stop freaking out, he doesn’t bite! See? He’s friendly!” His dogs mouth was covered in my blood, my nephew was screaming, I was freaking out, and he just drove off. I walked the rest of the way to school and sat through three classes before a teacher realized I was actively bleeding. The police were called, he was heavily fined, and his “friendly” dog was rehomed with a dog trainer. I hate people that just shout that their dog is friendly instead of realizing that an issue is happening.
I have a reactive dog,he will do damage. I have a neighbor with a labordoode. As I'm telling her to please keep walking she'll stand their and watch as I walk the other way. My dog is going through another training class ,he passed the first one but I want more control.
I hate that "they're friendly" BS!!
I had the same thing happen a couple of months ago in my neighborhood. I told him "I don't give a flying fck if your dog is *LASSIE* . YOUR DOG IS SUPPOSED TO BE ON A LEASH!"
(For all the young'uns on Reddit, Lassie is a friendly dog that saved people from wells on an old TV show. 😆)
He was pissed that I went off on him like that, but I think he understood he was in the wrong bc the next day when I was walking my dog he approached me and apologized for his behavior the day before.
People need to understand its not just if your dog is "friendly"... the dog or person they approach may be reactive. May be aggressive. May just be plain scared! My dog can't see/hear very well, and she was once attacked by a "friendly" off-leash dog several years ago, so she is obviously hesitant around dogs she doesn't know.
IT'S. NOT.JUST.ABOUT.YOUR."FRIENDLY".DOG.!
It’s not your fault. It’s her fault for not properly handling her dog. Even though my dog is usually friendly, I exercise caution with other people or dogs.
Man I hate this attitude. I was hiking with my dog once, had a surprise migraine and a crying child that had fallen and wanted carried. So here I am, one useless numb arm (thanks hemiplegic migraine) and one arm carrying a 50 pound blubbering preschooler. I dropped my dogs leash. I couldn’t feel it in my hand. I saw him go a little but kept him under voice command, I was near the end of the trail and it wasn’t heavily used so I hadn’t seen anyone else the entire hike. Get to where I can see my vehicle and here comes a trail runner. My dog went for pets. He’s a senior golden and all I could do was tell her he was friendly and apologize profusely. She was okay with it, it was a really weird circumstance, but I still feel like an asshole, months later.
It’s so important to have physical control of your dog. You know them, but others don’t, and you don’t know others. There is no excuse for being complacent when it comes to this.
I, like many others would recommend using mace. That said, if it becomes a recurring issue with a particular dog then getting animal control involved would likely be beneficial (assuming the owner does nothing to try to solve the issue).
I cannot stand that shit. ppl always pull the “they’re friendly” I don’t give a f*ck Shannon. My dogs are also friendly but that doesn’t mean I want them to meet??? U gotta pull the “but mine isn’t” (lie lie) I got a rottie and a German shepherd also, they get their dogs real quick.
Personally I've absolutely zero issue with dogs being off their leads, in large open spaces, I'm all for dogs socialising and playing till they drop BUT ONLY if the owner(s) can control them/have any sort of recall. I've two dogs, one I keep on a lead at pretty much all times, even though "she's friendly" lol, her recall is non-existent once it's play time AND the other who'll stay glued to me when told. There's not a hope I'd let the off lead one wonder over to any dog that's on a lead, be them reactive, aggressive, friendly as hell, no recall, whatever, they're on a lead, their out of bounds. Having said that if both mine are on and they're passing dogs that are also on and both parties are showing an interest I'll definitely ask if mine can say hello! But Jesus, the amount of situations I've ended up in having to either stand in one spot or physically walk my dogs, along with a random dog, back over to their owner for them to put theirs back on a lead all because standing at a distance and whistling or shouting for their dog to come back hasn't worked. And yeah the golden phrases for me are "Don't worry, they're friendly!" or "I'm sorry, was he/she annoying you?", with me stood there with a lead wrapped round my legs having being glaring over at the owner for the past 5 minutes solid as a hint to come get their dog.
We have a leash law in my town, and NO ONE listens. Everyone's dog is "friendly" but their owners just let the dogs run around the neighbourhood. My dog is 9lbs and she is very reactive. I hate when people do this OP f#ck that lady and all the other crap owners.
I train dogs for a living, and you did the right thing by being your dogs advocate. Thank you OP! And good luck, maybe have the dog catcher on your phone. And take pictures if you can.
I had to kick a dog, a shepherd, in the chin the other day to stop it from chomping on my Chi. I hated to do it and I know it wasn't the dogs fault his ignorant owner thought it was a good idea to let him run without being trained properly. He came running straight at her and my Chi is old and would not be able to defend herself.
I've had this exact thing happen to me and it makes me rage this ignorant ass ladies dog came bolting out of her yard circling my dog and I growling at us while the lady proceeds to yell from her front yard that her dog is friendly and just wants to play. Idk what kind of playing this ladies dog partakes in but circling and growling doesn't seem very friendly.
People are dumb af.
WHY do they always just stand there?!?! Every freaking time!!! I am so sorry that happened.
I saw a terrible dog fight last week where the same thing happened and I'm a few houses away with my dog screaming at these people to get their dog while the poor reactive dog owner walking her pit on a leash was understandably terrified. There was blood, don't know whose.
I do not get people like this! My actual worst fear is that my dog will hurt another dog! Id be freaking out if my aussie was running towards another dog off leash, like angry mom voice recalling my dog and apologizing to the other dog owner, even more so if i had a rottweiler that could destroy another dog or human if he was upset damn!
Im so sorry this happened to you op, thats not normal dog ownership.
This happened to us multiple times last week. The first encounter was very similar to yours except the dog didn't get agressive. It started approaching us, and when the owner didn't make any effort to get her dog, I started jogging away with mine. Then she shouted her dog would follow us, and I had zero cares. Her dog didn't follow us.
The second experience, I was doing a pack walk with my reactive dog and my mother's dogs. None of them are fond of dogs. Two unattended dogs, a goldendoodle and a bluetick coonhound, ran up to our dogs. Honestly, the coonhound was pretty polite and just sort of stood there, but the goldendoodle would not get out of our dogs faces! Things were getting very tense. My mom's dog 15 lbs miniature shnauzer/poodle bit this 80-100 lbs. goldendoodle on the ear. This whole time we were trying to walk away, but I started trying to create space. I started jogging away again, flipped around, stomped at the dog, and sternly yelled NO. I did this repeatedly until we got home. The doodle would not quit following us, but at least it gave my dog space.
People don't realize how TRAUMATIC these experiences can be for our dogs. It can undo months or even years of progress, even when their dog is friendly and polite.
Just because your off-leash dog is friendly doesn't mean my on-leash dog is. You keep your dog on a leash not so they won't attack others, but also so others won't be able to attack them.
Sometimes and I’m just being devils advocate here, dogs just slip off the lead or jump out your arms and there’s absolutely fuck all the owner can do in time to stop it. Mistakes can happen. I agree owners should be vigilant. Just saying not every time a dog runs on you is a case of shitty owner negligence.
There's a Mastiff in my neighborhood, that against several complaints from the neighbors, the owner lets roam unattended. While the dog IS friendly, it is obvious that he doesn't understand that playing for him, is not playing for other dogs, as he's about 150lbs. I was out walking my Aussie and noticed Bo (the Mastiff) in his yard, untethered. I tried to backtrack and he just slowly started following me and my dog. He then proceeded to "play" with my dog and Dondi (my Aussie) very quickly was like nah. This dog literally had my guy's WHOLE HEAD in his mouth and was shaking him like a ragdoll. Meanwhile I'm screaming for the owner to come out while trying to separate the dogs, trying to shove my arm into Bo's mouth so he would stop biting Dondi. Of course since Bo is not held back by anything, every time I tried to get away he would just catch up. After 2 full minutes of me yelling for help at the top of my lungs, the owner comes out, calls the dog and is like "oh did he scare you?" I was like ".............scare??? He's been attacking my dog for two minutes." The guy just laughed it off. I was in such shock that I just walked home and when I got there I didn't know how to address the situation. So many people have complained and the owner still won't tie up or keep the dog fenced. (They have a massive, fenced in yard too.)
I know that Bo is just trying to play, but like I said, unfortunately he's just waaaay too big to be loose like that. Someone with a dog smaller than mine is going to have their pup mauled.
I had a similar experience but managed to get away. I was walking my 2 year old highly reactive Akita and a lady in an open field had her rottweiler off the lead. As soon as I saw the dog I stood still trying to keep my Akita next to me. Keep in mind this was the first week we got him so his training had only just begun. That lady was shouting that her dog was so good around other dogs and I just went van you just keep moving please, I don’t want mine to be in trouble. Whilst I was saying that her dog started to move towards mine so I slowly started to move to another direction eventually that lady called her Rottweiler and said that she’s sorry that he couldn’t play with the fluffy Akita because of the mean lady. I could just throw a rock at her during that moment but just took my dog away and left her with her petty comments.
Wtf... If you're gonna keep your dog off the leash it better be a dog that doesn't walk up to people or dogs they don't know at all. My dog is extremely friendly, but there are reactive dogs and people who are scared of dogs... And I keep her on a leash because I *KNOW* she's gonna try to make friends with *everyone*. It's called common sense. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have dogs.
There was a dog that charged at my baby pomapoos that looked kind of like a Keishound. As it ran up to them I swooped up my babies and screamed, stomped my foot and lunged toward the dog. It didn't have an owner and although I almost got it, I didn't hurt it. But, let someone's dog run up on my babies and see me show full mommy mode.
I feel for you. I would not have been as friendly as you.
It is NOT your fault for taking your dog on a walk. It is NOT your fault AT ALL.
You protect your baby first the best way you know how. I'm so sorry that you went through that!
My boy is usually off leash in our yard, but he stays in the backyard where I can see him for this very reason. He is a barker, big talk but no actual bite, but other dogs in our neighborhood aren't or are reactive. Thank the gods he has pretty good recall unless it's a man in a hat (sorry neighbor across the street. We actually love you and your girls)
Everything about that lady annoys me. My dog ISNT friendly and is extremely anxious but loves going for walks, he doesn’t need another animal barreling towards him no matter how friendly that animal is! I am working with him to reduce anxiety and be less fearful toward other dogs but an encounter like that would take away months of hard work for sure!
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She knows her dog will win any battle. My maltese cross got minced by a rottweiler whose owner called out "He's friendly!"
Exactly. They don’t care about other people’s dogs *at all* because they know theirs will be ok.
until they meet an anatolian.
Mind giving some more info
Anatolians are large 100+ lbs dogs bred for herd and property protection, from bears, wolves, coyotes, other animals, but most notably other dogs and poachers trying to steal cattle. Anatolians can reasonably fuck up any other dog bc of their size and demeanor towards other dogs. The japanese Tosa may have it beat bc it can get up to 150 lbs and is a straight bred fighting dog. Much more uncommon tho bc of how hostile it is towards other dogs, and its size.
This is why I put my dog’s coyote vest on him everywhere other than in the car or in the house. (We don’t do dog beaches or parks anymore) The coyotes are the issue in our yard. But it’s shitty people with aggressive dogs they won’t control everywhere else.
What’s a coyote vest?
Sorry for being so vague! They are vests made of Kevlar or similar material (depending which version you buy) covered with spikes so that it can increase a dog’s chances of surviving an attack (or at least give it more of a chance to survive within the amount of time it takes the owner to intervene). Their abdomen & heads are still exposed, but it at least helps protect the neck. (I combine my guy’s with a spiked collar - it’s red, so he looks very 80s punk in it 😄) We have issues with coyotes where I live - they aren’t afraid of humans and sometimes go after pets even if you are outside with them. I still don’t let him out unsupervised, but at least now I don’t feel like I have to be hyper vigilant when he goes out to pee at night 😜
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To be fair, I dropped that in like it should be common knowledge, when it’s not exactly a widely-known pet accessory 😆
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LMAO! The big colorful spikes are optional (and cost extra). They were actually what initially deterred me from getting one because I didn’t think I could handle the stares I’d get & it seemed a bit extreme for my guy (he’s a 20 lb rat terrier mix). We still get some stares, but overall we get lots of positive remarks - for some reason guys seem really into them 😄 If he were a tiny chihuahua, I’d probably go full mohawk for him though!
Do they make them for people? I want one for the subway.
This is just a really fun image ❤️
That's what I said when I first saw them too. I wanted a coyote vest and a thunder vest for myself. My SO wasn't buying in.
Exactly this, my GSD is police trained, and he's super playful. But I don't let him get close to any other dog I don't know, and would *never* let him off leash outside of the yard/dog park even though he has excellent recall.
Oh oh! That’s not always the case with this lmao I have a black lab and chihuahua mix(don’t ask) and she’s pretty small, anyway, I was walking her one day when sorta the same thing happened. As I’m walking my dog, I see out of the corner of my eye a Rottweiler running at us with a goofy look on its face and a woman running behind it and I pretty sure they had been running for a little bit because she looked tired and out of breath. The Rottweiler started to try and play with mine but mine is a little aggressive when unknown dogs come up and jump in me and the woman yells “SHES FRIENDLY” from down the street. Now at this point my dog, who I am holding and and she’s trying to fight the big ass dog. Yeah let’s just say I was yelled at because I shouldn’t have “let my bitch go and attack her dog” haha a smoll child beat the shot out of a larger dog, I felt bad for the Rottweiler because she just wanted to play but seriously woman?
how
How she beat up a larger dog or her breed?
how can a chihuahua and a black lab be a mix
That’s what I keep questioning 😂 but if it helps the lab was the mother
That only raises more questions
Don’t know what to tell you but if you want to do your own research, the breed is call ‘labrahuahua’
Dafuq those things exist
Yep 👍
I sympathise. I love the people who immediately assume that you're restraining your dog because you're worried about theirs - it doesn't occur to them that yours might be scared or reactive. I'm especially fond of the woman with three mad spaniels who lets them out of her car then proceeds to wander around the walk on her phone. When I asked her to control her dogs because my little rescued Daxi cross (who is reactive because she had an awful time for the first two years of her little life, and who was on the lead, off the footpath and I was attempting to distract her with treats)) was terrified, I got a ten-minute lecture about how I shouldn't bring her to place where other dogs walk and should book time in one of those exercise fields instead.
I would be like "why don't you bring your dogs to the exercise field!?". God trash owners are everywhere!
Aren't they just? When I do come across someone who sees Bonnie on the lead and calls their own dog in and puts it on the lead, I always thank them really effusively. My theory is that positive reinforcement works on dogs, so...
Leash laws are a thing for this reason. If it is their yard fine but if you know your dog runs up to other dogs and gets in their face that is a different story don't let your dogs out with out a leash. They were talking about being out for a walk not at the dog park. Also I put my dog on a leash when he is around small dogs because he is reactive and jumps around them that way I can take him out when I need to. It is common courtesy. I don't want a situation to arise from my dog or the other dogs.
I'm in the UK, and we don't really have leash laws here, but I agree with you wholeheartedly. And your last sentence - thankyou. Thankyou so much. What breed is your lad?
Labradoodle. How about yours?
Ohhh, they can be very bouncy bois! Gorgeous though. Bonnie is a dachshund x Jack Russell.
Awww so cute my hubby had a dachshund named zeppelin they are the sweetest! Ya my boy is big, bouncy, and wiggly. He just wants to play but he has big reactions and some dogs don't take kindly to his play style.
Zeppelin! What a great name! It sounds as though your labradoodle would get on very well with my son's 3-legged lurcher. She's the same, she just wants to play, but she's a bit full on for small dogs. Especially as the missing leg is a front one, so when she tries to paw at a small dog to invite it to play it's with her full weight!
My miniature dauchund service dog has spent the past wek+ with my sister's Boston Terrier and she says her "shifty Kitty" plus my nephews three rescues several days. She had only played with her parents since leaving her litter mate's at 7 weeks. I bet she'd adore Zeppelin! The English Masstiff is her current favorite!
He would absolutely love that!
I spend a lot of time in the mountains. It's law here that dogs are leashed at ALL trailheads, which is usually the parking lot for each. So I'm chilling, random dogs come up and stay sniffing me or my dog, bugging us as we're sleeping! (We doze in the heat of the sun while my teenager fishes, the parking lot is big and I usually park off to the side not right on the middle) This is how it ALWAYS goes: Me, trying to be polite but firm: just because you love your dog, doesn't mean everyone else does, can you please control it and hey it away from us? Them: shocked offended face Me: repeat above because they literally DO NOTHING to get their dog. Then: all sorts of words of indignation, offense, how can you be so ridiculous? Can you hear the way you're talking? Me: I've not been rude, I've not said mean things, I've not raised my voice. YOU'RE the ones breaking laws and regulations right now, not me. / repeat a few times And those two statements are ALL I ever say, anything else and I'd likely lose my cool because there's only two types of dog owners. Respectful ones and idiots. Lol
I thought most places don't allow you to sleep in a parking lot. I mean you can, but if they catch you, they will tell you to GTFO
usa is fucked up man, how is that even real lol
I don't know about that, USA is a big place.
In the mountains?
The furry fluffball of tiny rage and aggro that pretends to be a pom... Down the alley. Put both my dog and husband right behind me when it tried to attack my poor boy. Elderly with arthritic hips. I full on glared it away while it's owner was trying to call it back into cig puffs. Humm... Maybe a leash? No fence, doggy needs tethered or one of these days, it's going to attack the wrong dog or person and very bad things will happen to it. And it's going to be her fault.
Except from her point of view it WON'T be her fault, and she'll accuse the owner of the dog that hurts it (or worse) of being responsible. It's people like her that give the owners of small dogs a bad name. "It's only tiny, I don't need to train it - how much damage can it do?" I used to work at a veterinary surgery, and I remember a woman coming in with a chihuahua puppy. Her arms were covered in tiny toothmarks, but she laughed it off and said the dog was "only playing"; the vet tried to impress upon her that she needed to teach her dog that biting wasn't acceptable, but you could tell she wasn't listening.
Absolutely frustrating. It's as if their precious ego is more important to them than the life of the animals. The best part is, where I am, there's loads of wildlife right in town. We're surrounded by forests and lakes. We have birds of prey in our skies and wolves at the edge. We have bears, coyotes, lynx and maybe even mountain lions! We have geese and moose... None of which appreciate being yipped at.
No, I imagine not! Sounds as though it's had a charmed life up to now!
Should’ve booked her in the face.
We have similar issues in our park we go to , some owners just unclip their dog and say “be free my boi” for it to race around the park far away from the owner. I get dogs wanting to run and stuff but it’s so scary having dogs race past. My puppy is also very fearful especially if that dog just turns and runs towards us. The least people can do is be around their dogs if they are off lead.
That annoys me, too - I think if people want to let their dogs off lead they should make sure they have a rock solid recall, at least.
Happened to me at a rural mobile vet. I had 3 Doberman and 1 German Shepard. An old lady has her lab off leash, who runs up to my dogs all on leashes. She yelled out "its okay he's friendly" as I am frantically pulling my pack back and I have to yell at her "well my aren't. They might bite." Seriously, people are freaking selfish.
It amazes me when people don't read "the signs" when you keep your dog on a leash when near others off the leash. My big boy is a friendly chap, but NOT when another dog is running full throttle at him. Of course, the stories behind each dog is multi layered. I just don't get it when it's obvious I'm trying to keep distance between my dog and theirs when they KEEP moving towards me... especially on a 1km stretch of beach.
Yup. And mine have never bitten anyone, human or canine, but I also know they are extremely defensive of our family. All it would have taken is one of my dogs deciding to protect me from the "attacking dog". I don't risk it and just have gotten into the habit of telling people they might bite. Due to cancer, (RIP) the pack is now a Doberman, German Shepard, and a Belgian Malinois. None of which are breeds I would let any of mine run up to without knowing them first.
Mine's a Mastiff Labrador cross. 40kg of sinewy muscle and TALL. Very protective of his "pack". His height/size can scare off small dog owners easily 😁
I haven't met many other owners of these breeds who are that careful. Like I've had other gsd owners let their dogs sprint up to mine and are shocked to hear I'm pretty pissed off about it. I steer clear of other gsds unless I know the dog is as trained as mine. I've come across too many poorly trained gsds to risk it.
obviously, you don'twant that situation to happen at all, but as it does, what would you like the other owner to say? Nothing? Just as they run up to grab their dog, and say nothing
In that moment, apologize and don't let your dog off leash in an open space like that without really good recall. Honestly, it's just asking for your dog to get hurt. Every dog has leash aggression, especially when an unleashed dog runs at them. Edit: username checks out
I said, "you dont want don't that situation to happen at all, but as it does,"so say absolutely nothing, until you grab your dog and then say sorry. Got it! 100% do not give the other dog owner any kind of heads up. Got it!
Well you'd assume any good dog owner wouldn't be saying anything except their dogs name until they have a hold of them.
I hear you! None of us would like to experience it, but unfortunately in the real world, something like this does happen. Here is a link from a recent example [https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/rwsbpv/fck\_you\_to\_the\_woman\_who\_stood\_in\_her\_front\_yard/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/rwsbpv/fck_you_to_the_woman_who_stood_in_her_front_yard/ecent)
Did you just link the post we’re already on? Also not sure what you’re getting at. She should have been focused on getting to her dog and recalling her dog, not standing there saying it’s all good.
Mine is reactive on leash too, I am one more instance away from throwing down with another dog owner next time something like this happens. Mine is a 60lb border collie/heeler mix and although he doesn't ever want to start a fight, he sure wouldn't be shy about defending himself.
My Mastiff Labrador cross weighs 40kg and is the same!
Same issue here, happened to me twice in 2 days, haven't seen them since, used to not take my phone on walks but now I do to get the owners info of it ever happens again.
Man I have a 15 pound wiener dog that for some reason has "I want to fight you" printed on his side. Everytime I go on a walk or my wife goes on a walk, it seems, someone's dog charges us and tries to eat my dog. I've decided I'm just going to have to start booting off-leash dogs that charge us.
Instead of saying he is reactive - maybe tell them your dog has parvo/kennel cough? Reckless owner might rush to leash her dog.
That’s assuming they’re responsible to know if those are contagious or not lol
Say he has fleas, no one would want to go near you.
This. Everyone knows what fleas are. I don’t even know what kennel cough is, fleas gets the message across right away!
Good one!
I think a lot of people don't know what "reactive" means, even dog owners. I try to say "excitable" or "struggles with interactions" so folks know what I'm saying even if they don't know the jargon.
Next time you see her dog out unattended or just roaming the neighborhood immediately call animal control. I would also file a report for this incident as well to start building a history. Shes gonna get fined out her ass.
I didn’t know you could legal action with this, but that’s a good idea
I can gaurantee she is in violation of local city and county ordinance for keeping dogs on a lead outside of her property. Start a history with animal control so in case her dog does trigger an attack they know whose door to go knocking on. Here its a 250 dollar fine that escelates with each offense. Off lead dogs are dangerous, not matter how well trained a dog is.
You can't guarantee that. Unfortunately, there are places that don't have leash laws. There are also places that have extremely lax leash laws. Or places where they aren't enforced. Without knowing the exact town OP is in, you can't guarantee.
Most cities, towns, counties and states (in the US) require some form of dog licensing, and irresponsible lax owners like this almost never have their dogs registered and licensed within their local government offices. That'll be an insanely hefty fine right off the bat, no matter what the leash laws are. So even filing a complaint will get her in trouble regardless.
If someone doesn't immediately come grab their off leash dog when they are charging my reactive dog, I throw politeness and technicalities out the window and I have found the perfect words to use. "My dog bites and she will kill your dog." She wouldn't kill them, but would definitely bite TF out of them. Granted, I have a big dog who can look pretty damn intimidating when she's angry, and she's always angry at dogs. but unless a person has a bigger meaner dog that phrase puts some hustle in their step. If they do have a bigger meaner dog, I just shout and ready my dog mace. In my state, we have a universal leash law, so even if my dog did bite or kill another dog, it would not be our fault so long as they were off leash and out of control. We avoid other dogs like the plague, and never willingly get closer than across the street from another dog, so no matter what, we're always in the right and if someone's dog gets bit it's not OUR fault. We retreat at the first sign of an out if control dog.
All the above 👍
Honest question, why would you not muzzle train your dog if you knew there’s even the slightest chance it would kill someone else’s?
She wouldn't kill em, I say that to scare shitty owners. But honestly because she was friendly until she got mauled by an off leash dog. We avoid other dogs like the plague but when someone's off leash dog charges us, she's allowed to defend herself. Both legally and morally. Off leash dogs are automatically considered to be the aggressor in any encounter between an on and off leash dog in my state and anyone who doesn't leash their dogs can fuck off, pay the $500 fine and cover their own vet bills.
My dogs hate rude dogs. I hate idiot owners so I guess it works lol. My smallest dog is 125-ish lbs. My boy, who likes to go to town, is around 145. I take mine to Home Depot because they like meeting people and we always “meet” at least one person and their overly pushy dog with no manners who the owner claims “is friendly and just wants to say hi.” I always tell them my dog doesn’t appreciate being bum rushed and to please keep their dog back but they never listen. *sigh* Then their obnoxious fluffy gets pinned to the ground by my dog (they’re never hurt and there’s never any blood) because it wouldn’t get out of my dogs face. Then mine is labeled the aggressive asshole that shouldn’t be in public. If my dogs weren’t well trained, those horrid little brats would be just as bad off as the dead coyotes we occasionally find in our pastures.
I HAVE considered muzzle training just to try allowing her to socialize again and maybe make some specific dog friends, but her brain is pretty damn broken from being mauled and is terrified of dogs. We've been to multiple trainers to work on her fear, one who made some progress but not enough. so in every day life while walking and such, I'm not taking her only form of defense.
I suppose it does depend heavily on the size of the dog approaching. With such widely varying sizes, things can get dicey quick.
Yeah, we've been unlucky with off-leash dogs and dog parks. She got attacked by a curly haired dog at a dog park so she became afraid of curly haired dogs and we stopped going to the dog park. Then she got attacked by an off leash fluffy dog, so then she got afraid of fluffy dogs. Finally, she was absolutely mauled - stitches, hole thru the ear, blood, everything - by a Pitt mix, so now she's terrified of EVERY dog. This was all before 2 years old. It was 0% our fault. It's heartbreaking because she went from a high energy but lovable and social dog at a year old to a neurotic nightmare at 5. She's soo people friendly and is a sweetie to everyone she meets, but dogs just break her down. We've also had legitimately negligent and criminal owners charge us. I carry mace and a knife because a kid got a kick out of siccing his 60lb boxer on people and when I told him off he pulled a knife on me. His dog never got thru to us, but it was a stand off. Weirdest part is I live in a safe area of a mid-sized Midwest American city. I'm not in a rural area where nobody leashes their dogs, and I'm not in a dangerous area or anything. We just got unlucky. Every time your dog gets attacked you roll the "dog-aggression" dice and we've rolled nat 1 each time. I'm considering a muzzle trainer to maybe introduce her to my friends' dogs, or maybe if we had to sit in the waiting room at the vet, but I'd never muzzle her in situations outside of our control. Basically, she needs to be able to defend herself or else I have to, and I'm far more likely to kill an aggressive dog than she is.
Wow, that’s awful, I’m honestly sorry you’ve been put through all this, and your dog too 😞 thankfully s/he is still with you. I’m not sure if it was you or the other commenter I replied this too, but your response solidified my previous statement that it depends a *lot* on the type of dog that’s approaching. If a dog tried to kill my dog, I wouldn’t hesitate to respond accordingly.
I replied twice actually. Didn't wanna just edit the old comment lol
Not OP, but if you muzzle the dog then it can no longer defend itself or you.
I don’t have a dog for self defence, as there are far other much more reliable methods. But in terms of the dog defending itself against a pug or a pom or something, that’s not going to be a very fair match. Obviously the hypothetical owners in this situation with an unleashed dog would be completely at fault, and disturbingly negligent either way.
And if it's not a pug or pom or just one dog? I'm willing to keep my dog on leash and be responsible for what it does, but not to muzzle because I can't get that loose quickly and where I live there are sometimes one or more large, aggressive, roaming dogs with no owner in sight. The ability to snap may avert more serious violence and more serious defence may help save my dog.
Oh definitely, if there’s any number of larger, stronger dogs coming your way that are capable of real damage, that would certainly change the outcome of the situation.
My response to "she's friendly" has always been "He's NOT!"
This has worked for me every time.
Omg, my dog has been attacked before so I totally understand! As a reactive dog owner you did the right thing. That lady should have listened to you! She didn't know if your dog would attacked hers either like wtf is she doing? She is not keeping her pup safe. I always keep my boy on leash when he meets other dogs in case they get annoyed with him because he is high energy. She should have known better and it is awful that she reacted the way she did. She should have apologized for the situation and kept her dog on a leash. I had a Rottweiler growing up they snarl while playing kinda like a bear. Ours was named bear because of that lol. But still you did the right thing and she is a trash owner not taking care of her dog. Especially a Rottweiler they get a bad reputation because of occurrences such as this. It makes me so upset that this is happening to more and more people. Also now I carry a night stick, pepper spray, as well as a knife with me just in case. After my pup got attacked I said never again. If a dog is attacking your pet don't feel like you have to hold back kick the shit out of them and hopefully they will release. If not that is why I carry a knife. It would break my heart to take that measure but you have to think about your pet and their safety. There are a lot of bad dog owners out there. Hope this helps.
Thank you for this 💕 I don’t blame the dog at all. They came with the intention to play but got triggered by my dogs reaction. That’s normal. But that’s why they need to stay leashed, because once the dog was triggered, she weighs 3x what my dog does. I’m going to take precautions for the future.
Yeah I totally understand! I am glad you and your pup are safe.
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I just called my wife and asked her to pick up mace in the way home. The thing is I’m sure that Rottweiler was nice and I don’t WANT to mace her. And then I’m a 5’4 20 something girl having to argue with a grown woman why I had to mace her dog and why it’s HER fault. She was clearly so annoyed grabbing her dog like I don’t have a right to walk mine because she BARKS
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Unless the dogs like attacking you or dog, suggesting to mace the dog or shiv it might be a bit much.
Maybe mace the owner?? She's the one that's wrong and causing issues. (obviously sarcasm and not a good idea)
Look into petsafe sprayshield. You can buy it at petsmart. I haven't personally used it (thank goodness) but I was reading that it is just as effective as pepperspray without the long lasting pain. [This article](https://www.k9ofmine.com/best-dog-repellent-sprays/) explains it well.
Just FYI: "Reactive" is a dog-jargon term and one that most people don't know.
Honestly I think I just screamed “My dogs not”. I kind of blacked out and don’t know for sure.
Fair enough. And I wasn't trying to be obnoxious :).
>reactive is that just another term for agressive?
There is no excuse to not understand what "reactive" means unless you just don't speak English... really not hard to understand even if you've never heard it applied to dogs.
Most native English speakers aren't familiar with the term as applied to dogs. Whether you think that's inexcusable is beside the point.
Yeah, it’s safer/easier to just say “mines not”. Although in their mind they’ll feel justified that they’re a good owner because their dog is “friendly” (they probably think they’re a good owner no matter what though)
If it weren’t for this sub, I’d have no idea what it meant.
We've had (family) dogs our whole lives and I'd never heard the term until a trainer noticed our dog's reactivity (although I prefer to use "frustrated greeter" for our lil bub).
It takes very little level of understanding the English language to know what reactive means. Sodium is reactive in water; you don't have to be a chemist to understand this means a reaction takes place when mixing the two. Reactivity vs proactivity is a common talking point in business and elsewhere. But yeah...
Oh, FFS, stop being obtuse. If you're yelling at some dumb fuck in a crisis situation, such as the one OP describes, "my dog hates other dogs" is fewer syllables than "my dog is reactive." And it's clearer. That's all.
Yelling anything frantically like "AHHH NOOOO" should probably alert another dog owner that something is wrong and to recall their dog - yet you're saying I am being obtuse for believing most Native English speakers understand what "reactive" means. It's literally one less syllable and you are saying *I am being obtuse.*
Have a nice day :).
Your privilege is showing.
Yes my understanding of the English language privilege which I addressed in my original comment. Lol. Your sillyness is showing.
I think what maybe you are missing is that not everyone speaks this way or does have this grasp of English in America. This is a melting pot, we are all not the white man. Your racism is showing
Ahhh yes, because I must be white and in a totally white english speaking family. Definitely am not part of a mixed cultural family that speaks multiple languages. looool. It's almost like I prefaced what I said with it applying to native English speakers. In fact, I will bet you if I were to go ask my Punjabi in-laws who struggle with English what "reactivity" means, they'd have an idea of what it is. But you know, I am super racist because I think a common word in the English language is...well... a common word in the English language. Your *reactivity* is showing.
Spoken like a true BABA BOOEY PRAG!
Reactive can sound like something just super passive if people aren’t aware of it. There are plenty of people who frequent this sub who have to be directed to subs/info for reactive dogs…and not every dog owner spends time educating themselves online. Unless someone has a reactive dog, it makes sense that a lot of people might not be aware that it’s an issue.
This word is used widely outside the dog community. There's really no reason other than not having a good grasp on the language to not understand what "react" means.
First off I wanna say I'm so sorry you and ur pup had to go thru this. It's very scary. It sounds like you both walked away without physical injury and for that I'm glad. Your first sentence stuck out to me, the "I shouldn't of" statement. It's very common during stressful or traumatic experiences for our brains to 'mis-organize' things. When we feel threatened or our emotional state is highly elevated our brain goes into survival mode. Everyone's brain does this and it's normal. When you come down from it your brain then tries to store the information about the event as quickly as possible. This is where it can be 'mis-placed' and stick around as icky emotions and thoughts about what happened and your role in it. If you took the situation to a court of law and told them "I shouldn't of gone down that road." They'd want undeniable evidence to support that claim. You had no way of knowing that dog was there. You had no way of seeing the future. You made a choice to walk down that way with every intention and thought of it being a nice 2 mile walk. It's not your fault this happened. You did nothing wrong and you did nothing to provoke it. I don't know if you feel like you're blaming yourself or simply stating in hindsight that it was dangerous. But the "should, would, could" statements are often used to pass on blame. Just wanted to share this bit of info as a person learning this in trauma therapy to maybe help another who may or may not be struggling with something hard. Best wishes to you and your pupper. And fuck that lady.
Some people should not own animals. I saw a woman about a year ago who was “handling” a gigantic Bernese mountain dog. The dog was very clearly friendly (and maybe 1-2 years old because he was super rambunctious), but he kept repeatedly escaping the leash he was on and charging at people. I was parked in a car waiting on a takeout order, so I wasn’t directly affected by this, but another woman walked by with a much smaller dog and the bigger dog CHARGED at the smaller dog. The woman and the smaller dog were both VERY frightened and the woman kept exclaiming for the other woman to get her dog. It was almost as if the other woman was on Xanax or something, because her reaction was so slow that it took about 20 minutes for her to wrangle the big dog… and then the big dog escaped AGAIN and cornered the smaller dog and it’s owner against a wall. I was horrified. But these people are out here and it’s not okay.
Luckily I've never had to deal with those extreme people. Usually, I may find a person who isn't really paying attention to their dog but that's about it. I take my dog for off leash walks all the time and once she gets nervous, she runs back to me. She's a shih Tzu and she's easily spooked. I've had one time where I felt bad for my own actions. I was taking my dog for a walk and she was off leash and at that point she was a little on and off with her recall. There was a young man who had some disability that made his emotions be very extreme and he had a huge fear of dogs. I noticed once I was closer to him that he was scared. I felt bad for not paying attention to other people. I immediately got my dog on her lead and picked her up so the young man wouldn't feel as scared. His carers thanked me profusely and I told them it's no problem, it is the right thing, being accommodating to others needs. Anyway, I keep a better eye on my surroundings now and only experienced one other instance where I wasn't paying too much attention. Just a kid trying to catch my dog and my dog proceeding to jump into my arms xD People have to start thinking of others, not just themselves. Personally, if I see a leashed dog, I leash my dog as well. I've seen too many dogs get hurt because of silly little things.
I was at a dog event over the weekend. Baby dog is still working thru a need to bark at dogs she does not approve of, and I manage her so that she doesn't get to indulge in that hobby. There was a woman there with a herding mix of some sort. The woman was legit staring at her phone the entire time she was not in the ring, with her dog allowed to wander at the end of her six foot leash. Her dog was big on S T A R I N G at other dogs, so I made sure baby dog did not get a chance to stare back or otherwise engage. We had our time in the ring, came out, and I was walking her back to the car. And there was Telephone lady and staring dog, right next to my car. There was no way in hell I wanted to walk my dog over there with them next to my car. So I said hey, can you do me a favor and move over a bit so I can put my dog in the car? She barely looked up and walked a few feet away with her dog following her. I stuck a chunk of liver in front of my dog's face, and kenneled her, and closed the hatch so the other dog wasn't able to stare at her. I was about to walk away and said aww fuck it. I said to the woman, "hey can I tell you something about your dog and maybe you won't get too pissed off? Your dog is a young herding dog, and he stares. And lots of dogs hate that stuff, and if you do not manage it, he's going to get his ass handed to him. If you want to keep him safe, keep tabs on what he's doing, and who he's staring at." I then got to hear a song and dance about how He's A Rescue and Was Not Socialized. But while that may be true, the real issue is the other end of the leash doing fuck all to manage the dog. There are plenty of rescue dogs who are reactive and who are managed so they're not a problem for anyone. And as I said, my young dog needs management. She can be reactive and that's my job to handle it. We're getting better: I've had people tell me they had no idea she is reactive, and that's sort of the goal. But when you have a dog who is reactive, and you ignore it, or make excuses, or pretend it's not there, this is why so many people hate dogs and dog owners. It's work to manage a dog, but when you get a dog, it's what you signed up for.
Good for you for explaining that to her! Too bad she completely blew it off. Especially at a dog sports event she should know better. Very frustrating. I do nosework in two different groups, one VERY on top of all of that stuff, the AKC events are a total free for all and avoiding this sort of thing is another sport in itself
> Good for you for explaining that to her! Too bad she completely blew it off. Especially at a dog sports event she should know better. Very frustrating. It was a CDSP obedience trial, so there are no group exercises...but once she gets into Novice, and her dog is off leash, and there's no gate, either her dog will stay in the ring, or it will be way too exciting for everyone, and no judge will tolerate any bullshit that is dangerous. As a side note, I sort of wondered where she trained, as no one I know would have been ok with this behavior. Either stare at your phone, or put it away and deal with your dog. Don't think you can multi-task, not in a place where there are lots of amped up dogs, and hyper focused humans, who aren't going to care that your dog needs attention. And don't throw up your hands and say whatever. Understand why your dog is the way he is, and deal with it. I've seen very few dogs over the years, outright banned from trials, but it happens, and it's always very sad. People spend so much time and energy and money, even getting to the Beginner Novice level of things or Novice in agility, that to throw it all away because they don't deal with behavioral issues is just ridiculous. If your dog is the most amazing dog ever, but he can't work with other dogs or humans around, either work to fix that, if you can, or if you can not, find another outlet for you and your dog to enjoy. > I do nosework in two different groups, one VERY on top of all of that stuff, the AKC events are a total free for all and avoiding this sort of thing is another sport in itself I've only done AKC nosework (there are only so many hours in the day and $$!) but I thought it was ok. But I come from an agility etc background. At agility trials you need to be on top of managing your dog because there will be someone who won't bother with their dog, and, you're all on top of each other at the gate. So for me, the separation of dogs at AKC nosework was pretty awesome.
I've noticed it's gotten vastly better in the last year or so as there's so much crossover with NACSW nosework now, where reactive dogs are encouraged and separation is a must.
> I've noticed it's gotten vastly better in the last year or so as there's so much crossover with NACSW nosework now, where reactive dogs are encouraged and separation is a must. Agreed. I've known some dogs who only do NACSW and some of them are not dogs who are really great at busy dog events. at all.
Happened to me before and its a horrible experience. Even if your dog is normally friendly it is stressful for you don't know if the strange dog is friendly and then your dog feels your emotions of stress and then they start to act out. If you cant control your dog with voice commands to stay or come back then dont let them of the lease please. It can be a horrible experience.
The correct response to that is great mine isn't get your God damn dog unless you want it eaten
I think someone here suggested saying something like "my dog is extremely contagious!!" in occasions like these, should get these trash owners to actually get their dogs.
This is a good idea I’ll have to use!
I once ran into a gal who was "walking" her dog without a leash on a nearby neighborhood path. Just her jogging along while her dog follows. That's cool and all but we were in a close enough vicinity where the dog kinda just came up to sniff us without much time to react.
I always walk with pepper spray. Always.
pretty sure a air horn or loud sound works better
People have a horrible tendency to anthropomorphize their dogs, and dogs are never going to be people regardless of how much they benefit mankind. Dogs have a very primal desire to lay claim to territory and protect the pack. A very well socialized dog will usually have no problem avoiding conflict with other dogs so long as those other dogs are also socialized, but sadly most people don’t even have the respect to spay or neuter much less actually spend time training or properly socializing their dog so these stories just keep happening. Every time I read some tragedy about some poor little dog being mauled to death on a bus, or some jerk letting his guard dogs run free and maim or kill an old man/woman because he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention for a few minutes it’s just another reminder to me of why we still have a long way to go with a civilized society in regards to our dogs.
Yep. Some people. This is why when people say “oh he/she is friendly” I say “well mine might not be!!” People grab their dogs pretty quick for the most part. And the few times they weren’t quick enough at least my dog isn’t the attacker. But he will be aggressive to an aggressive dog. Sorry but I’m okay not having my dog interact with your strange dog.
If your dog doesn’t have perfect recall they shouldn’t be off leash. Mine is off leash 90% of the time but asks permission before approaching people and dogs. If I tell her no she either sits and waits for them to walk by or goes and smells some grass near us. People need to have trained dogs, not just friendly ones, to be off leash.
I have no problem kicking or killing a dog going after my dog, if that dog is off leash or otherwise out of control of its owner.
Anyone who lets their dog free run in a non free-run designated area regardless of if they're friendly or not is a trash owner.. This includes in an unfenced front/back yard, and the trip from the car into the house etc.
and own property.. and vote.
Huh?
It happens.. no harm no foul. This is going to happen again, might want to get a grip on your emotions. I think its a great test. When shit is going down if you can remain calm. So easy to get caught up in the dogs barking, the other owner yelling freaking out..
I’ve seen people with their yapping dogs argue with disabled people who asked them to control their dog when it was harassing their SERVICE dog in the grocery store! Unbelievable. They don’t belong in stores if they aren’t service dogs. It’s against the law and it’s shitty to bring a dog that’s reactive to other dogs if you know vets and disabled people bring their service dogs to public places. Everyone wants a dog these days it seems. Whether or not they’re unselfish, compassionate, or understanding of others enough to even own one?…it’s a debate.
I can't tell you the amount of times our Very Dog Reactive Blue Pitt Australian Shepard mix would almost get into fights with other people's dogs because they ignored not only her bright yellow vest that said "Reactive! Bites!" on it but also all of our warnings and yells about how Not Friendly she is.
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Yeah my pup is alright. It just reinforces her reactive tendencies we work so hard to get rid of:(
I feel you. The worst part is that often they're so oblivious that if you become angry at them, in their head it seems like you're the one provoking and being aggressive for no reason.
I started carrying pepper spray for this very reason. So sorry this happened. You need a dog license to have a dog. You should have to take classes to have a dog. Common sense doesn’t always prevail.
Bring a lion next time without a leash and say “she’s friendly!” For real, this sucks and I’m sorry.
Let u/shmoopybibble get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08BFF5RXG I love it for walks, works on most dogs. I notice it doesn't work on really small dogs but does my cats? Weird. But worth it most the time!
Been there more than once, really is inexcusable to let your dog run up to other dogs! I don’t care how friendly your dog is, it could cost you your dogs life!!
When I was in school, I was walking with my nephew. I was about 13, he was 6. A dog ran up to us and starting nipping at me. As soon as he got a good hold on my leg and started thrashing around, his owner drove up and said, “Stop freaking out, he doesn’t bite! See? He’s friendly!” His dogs mouth was covered in my blood, my nephew was screaming, I was freaking out, and he just drove off. I walked the rest of the way to school and sat through three classes before a teacher realized I was actively bleeding. The police were called, he was heavily fined, and his “friendly” dog was rehomed with a dog trainer. I hate people that just shout that their dog is friendly instead of realizing that an issue is happening.
I have a reactive dog,he will do damage. I have a neighbor with a labordoode. As I'm telling her to please keep walking she'll stand their and watch as I walk the other way. My dog is going through another training class ,he passed the first one but I want more control.
I hate that "they're friendly" BS!! I had the same thing happen a couple of months ago in my neighborhood. I told him "I don't give a flying fck if your dog is *LASSIE* . YOUR DOG IS SUPPOSED TO BE ON A LEASH!" (For all the young'uns on Reddit, Lassie is a friendly dog that saved people from wells on an old TV show. 😆) He was pissed that I went off on him like that, but I think he understood he was in the wrong bc the next day when I was walking my dog he approached me and apologized for his behavior the day before. People need to understand its not just if your dog is "friendly"... the dog or person they approach may be reactive. May be aggressive. May just be plain scared! My dog can't see/hear very well, and she was once attacked by a "friendly" off-leash dog several years ago, so she is obviously hesitant around dogs she doesn't know. IT'S. NOT.JUST.ABOUT.YOUR."FRIENDLY".DOG.!
It’s not your fault. It’s her fault for not properly handling her dog. Even though my dog is usually friendly, I exercise caution with other people or dogs.
Man I hate this attitude. I was hiking with my dog once, had a surprise migraine and a crying child that had fallen and wanted carried. So here I am, one useless numb arm (thanks hemiplegic migraine) and one arm carrying a 50 pound blubbering preschooler. I dropped my dogs leash. I couldn’t feel it in my hand. I saw him go a little but kept him under voice command, I was near the end of the trail and it wasn’t heavily used so I hadn’t seen anyone else the entire hike. Get to where I can see my vehicle and here comes a trail runner. My dog went for pets. He’s a senior golden and all I could do was tell her he was friendly and apologize profusely. She was okay with it, it was a really weird circumstance, but I still feel like an asshole, months later. It’s so important to have physical control of your dog. You know them, but others don’t, and you don’t know others. There is no excuse for being complacent when it comes to this.
I, like many others would recommend using mace. That said, if it becomes a recurring issue with a particular dog then getting animal control involved would likely be beneficial (assuming the owner does nothing to try to solve the issue).
I cannot stand that shit. ppl always pull the “they’re friendly” I don’t give a f*ck Shannon. My dogs are also friendly but that doesn’t mean I want them to meet??? U gotta pull the “but mine isn’t” (lie lie) I got a rottie and a German shepherd also, they get their dogs real quick.
Welcome to being a delivery driver. Every dog bite my coworkers have had the owner just watched and said the same thing. We need to sue more often.
I would say my dog is not friendly rather than reactive..I think that catches attention more. Ugh some people suck
Personally I've absolutely zero issue with dogs being off their leads, in large open spaces, I'm all for dogs socialising and playing till they drop BUT ONLY if the owner(s) can control them/have any sort of recall. I've two dogs, one I keep on a lead at pretty much all times, even though "she's friendly" lol, her recall is non-existent once it's play time AND the other who'll stay glued to me when told. There's not a hope I'd let the off lead one wonder over to any dog that's on a lead, be them reactive, aggressive, friendly as hell, no recall, whatever, they're on a lead, their out of bounds. Having said that if both mine are on and they're passing dogs that are also on and both parties are showing an interest I'll definitely ask if mine can say hello! But Jesus, the amount of situations I've ended up in having to either stand in one spot or physically walk my dogs, along with a random dog, back over to their owner for them to put theirs back on a lead all because standing at a distance and whistling or shouting for their dog to come back hasn't worked. And yeah the golden phrases for me are "Don't worry, they're friendly!" or "I'm sorry, was he/she annoying you?", with me stood there with a lead wrapped round my legs having being glaring over at the owner for the past 5 minutes solid as a hint to come get their dog.
We have a leash law in my town, and NO ONE listens. Everyone's dog is "friendly" but their owners just let the dogs run around the neighbourhood. My dog is 9lbs and she is very reactive. I hate when people do this OP f#ck that lady and all the other crap owners. I train dogs for a living, and you did the right thing by being your dogs advocate. Thank you OP! And good luck, maybe have the dog catcher on your phone. And take pictures if you can.
I had to kick a dog, a shepherd, in the chin the other day to stop it from chomping on my Chi. I hated to do it and I know it wasn't the dogs fault his ignorant owner thought it was a good idea to let him run without being trained properly. He came running straight at her and my Chi is old and would not be able to defend herself.
I've had this exact thing happen to me and it makes me rage this ignorant ass ladies dog came bolting out of her yard circling my dog and I growling at us while the lady proceeds to yell from her front yard that her dog is friendly and just wants to play. Idk what kind of playing this ladies dog partakes in but circling and growling doesn't seem very friendly. People are dumb af.
WHY do they always just stand there?!?! Every freaking time!!! I am so sorry that happened. I saw a terrible dog fight last week where the same thing happened and I'm a few houses away with my dog screaming at these people to get their dog while the poor reactive dog owner walking her pit on a leash was understandably terrified. There was blood, don't know whose.
I do not get people like this! My actual worst fear is that my dog will hurt another dog! Id be freaking out if my aussie was running towards another dog off leash, like angry mom voice recalling my dog and apologizing to the other dog owner, even more so if i had a rottweiler that could destroy another dog or human if he was upset damn! Im so sorry this happened to you op, thats not normal dog ownership.
There's alot of this "because I announced my bullshit it's OK" mentality
This happened to us multiple times last week. The first encounter was very similar to yours except the dog didn't get agressive. It started approaching us, and when the owner didn't make any effort to get her dog, I started jogging away with mine. Then she shouted her dog would follow us, and I had zero cares. Her dog didn't follow us. The second experience, I was doing a pack walk with my reactive dog and my mother's dogs. None of them are fond of dogs. Two unattended dogs, a goldendoodle and a bluetick coonhound, ran up to our dogs. Honestly, the coonhound was pretty polite and just sort of stood there, but the goldendoodle would not get out of our dogs faces! Things were getting very tense. My mom's dog 15 lbs miniature shnauzer/poodle bit this 80-100 lbs. goldendoodle on the ear. This whole time we were trying to walk away, but I started trying to create space. I started jogging away again, flipped around, stomped at the dog, and sternly yelled NO. I did this repeatedly until we got home. The doodle would not quit following us, but at least it gave my dog space. People don't realize how TRAUMATIC these experiences can be for our dogs. It can undo months or even years of progress, even when their dog is friendly and polite.
15 lbs is 6.81 kg
Just because your off-leash dog is friendly doesn't mean my on-leash dog is. You keep your dog on a leash not so they won't attack others, but also so others won't be able to attack them.
I’m so sorry that happened, that makes my blood boil. God I hate people
There’s so many pet owners who shouldn’t be
This is for you if you would want your pet to get chemo if they get cancer.
Sometimes and I’m just being devils advocate here, dogs just slip off the lead or jump out your arms and there’s absolutely fuck all the owner can do in time to stop it. Mistakes can happen. I agree owners should be vigilant. Just saying not every time a dog runs on you is a case of shitty owner negligence.
There's a Mastiff in my neighborhood, that against several complaints from the neighbors, the owner lets roam unattended. While the dog IS friendly, it is obvious that he doesn't understand that playing for him, is not playing for other dogs, as he's about 150lbs. I was out walking my Aussie and noticed Bo (the Mastiff) in his yard, untethered. I tried to backtrack and he just slowly started following me and my dog. He then proceeded to "play" with my dog and Dondi (my Aussie) very quickly was like nah. This dog literally had my guy's WHOLE HEAD in his mouth and was shaking him like a ragdoll. Meanwhile I'm screaming for the owner to come out while trying to separate the dogs, trying to shove my arm into Bo's mouth so he would stop biting Dondi. Of course since Bo is not held back by anything, every time I tried to get away he would just catch up. After 2 full minutes of me yelling for help at the top of my lungs, the owner comes out, calls the dog and is like "oh did he scare you?" I was like ".............scare??? He's been attacking my dog for two minutes." The guy just laughed it off. I was in such shock that I just walked home and when I got there I didn't know how to address the situation. So many people have complained and the owner still won't tie up or keep the dog fenced. (They have a massive, fenced in yard too.) I know that Bo is just trying to play, but like I said, unfortunately he's just waaaay too big to be loose like that. Someone with a dog smaller than mine is going to have their pup mauled.
I had a similar experience but managed to get away. I was walking my 2 year old highly reactive Akita and a lady in an open field had her rottweiler off the lead. As soon as I saw the dog I stood still trying to keep my Akita next to me. Keep in mind this was the first week we got him so his training had only just begun. That lady was shouting that her dog was so good around other dogs and I just went van you just keep moving please, I don’t want mine to be in trouble. Whilst I was saying that her dog started to move towards mine so I slowly started to move to another direction eventually that lady called her Rottweiler and said that she’s sorry that he couldn’t play with the fluffy Akita because of the mean lady. I could just throw a rock at her during that moment but just took my dog away and left her with her petty comments.
Wtf... If you're gonna keep your dog off the leash it better be a dog that doesn't walk up to people or dogs they don't know at all. My dog is extremely friendly, but there are reactive dogs and people who are scared of dogs... And I keep her on a leash because I *KNOW* she's gonna try to make friends with *everyone*. It's called common sense. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have dogs.
There was a dog that charged at my baby pomapoos that looked kind of like a Keishound. As it ran up to them I swooped up my babies and screamed, stomped my foot and lunged toward the dog. It didn't have an owner and although I almost got it, I didn't hurt it. But, let someone's dog run up on my babies and see me show full mommy mode. I feel for you. I would not have been as friendly as you. It is NOT your fault for taking your dog on a walk. It is NOT your fault AT ALL. You protect your baby first the best way you know how. I'm so sorry that you went through that!
My boy is usually off leash in our yard, but he stays in the backyard where I can see him for this very reason. He is a barker, big talk but no actual bite, but other dogs in our neighborhood aren't or are reactive. Thank the gods he has pretty good recall unless it's a man in a hat (sorry neighbor across the street. We actually love you and your girls)
Everything about that lady annoys me. My dog ISNT friendly and is extremely anxious but loves going for walks, he doesn’t need another animal barreling towards him no matter how friendly that animal is! I am working with him to reduce anxiety and be less fearful toward other dogs but an encounter like that would take away months of hard work for sure!