Best Defense

I've started walking with my Pits, which sometimes really scares me. When we walk past certain houses, other dogs become irate and it seems like they're going to come through what is sometimes a flimsy fense to attack. Sometimes people have their doors open and you can here dogs beating the screen door to get out to my dogs. If this should ever happen, what is the best defense I should have on me to keep a potential fight from happening. I see some people carrying sticks when walking their dogs, but from past experiences, sticks don't do anything. I'm about ready to give up the walking thing.

 

Well this is a problem i've had to somewhat massive extent, i now dont walk my dog in my area, i take him to a park or we go for a lovely bush walk, each day, sticks dont do dick, talking from experince here....

Heres a example of what happened... I was walking my dog mind my own bussines, dog has a harness and a collar which lead attaches too..

Anyhow, walked past 1 place that had 2 German Shepards, im sure u can guess what happened, less to say, i was distrot screamin and yellin at my dog and the others to ***** [EDITED FOR PROFANITY], while i was tryng to pull my dog off the downed shepard and keep the other from attacking my dogs rear...
The owner came out and yanked his alive dog off and locked it, procced to come back and say hes ringing the cops etc... im in fault blah blah blah, end result, i now walk my dog at parks or in the buhs, nothing happened with the ranger/police, he got a ticket and i was warned i needed to get a muzzle, but my replie to the muzzle comment was, if my dog was wearing a muzzle when this happened, he'd be dead....

Anyhow, lots of luck to ya, find a big wide open park with bugger all dogs around and run him round there....

 

Sook: I know what you're saying. I live in a big metropolis with a lot of parks. I even live by a mountain preserve. I don't live close to any open ranges. But in the parks and in the preserve, there's still people who are irresponsible and don't have their dogs leashed, even in the open deserts. But what I want to know is what can I have on me to fend off a dog attack if one happens?!?

 

Ahh... well, i've got a old field-hockey stick, cut the bottem curl off it, drilled out the center and placed a massive peice of cement wire (that big round ***** [EDITED FOR PROFANITY]) i havent had to use it yet, but if another dog gets within range, i'll smack it if i have too, yes mean, yes yes yes... but i love my dog more, and as for the owner of the other dog, his problem, it was leshed there'd be no problem, one smack from something heavy and most dogs cower away.... But i spose personal preference on methods of keepin other dogs at bay...

It sounds extreme, but i've seen my dog in action, scares the living crap outta me, so i have no qualm in wackin a dog with a wooden outside metal inside stick

:y_the_best:

 

i'm wondering if some sort of pepper spray might work -- in the heat of the moment it might be a bit difficult to fumble with though.

 

Sook:
********Please refrain from using profanity on the boards. See list rules. Your posts have been edited. *******

Thanks
Moderator

 

I had a problem with 2 ankle biters while walking my dog. I was walking him around my neighborhood when 2 small dogs ran out from thier OPEN gate & proceed to bark & snap at my Lou. All I had time to do was kneel down & cover him with my body. I didnt care about being bitten by them because I know if Lou would have tore into them, he would have been the one that was blamed. The owner heard the comotion & came out to call back his dogs. We then procceded to get in a yelling match about how my "vicious" pit instigated his "little puppies". :x

Its ok. This week I am moving into a new house with a 1/2 acre of fenced land that my baby boy can run in.

 

I was wondering about pepper spray. Didn't know if it would help the situation or hurt it. Also, my dog would get some of the spray, too, so what would be the effect on them afterwards. They probably wouldn't like me very much. I wish I could move to an open area. That is my dream, but for now my business keeps me in the metropoliton area.

 

I wouldn't suggest pepper spray... You might get some, your dog might get some...then you have a really bad situation for your dog and he may have adverse reactions to dogs from then on.... Association would be bad.

 

I still reckon best method for defence in that kinda situation is either 1 of 2, 1.... Dont walk ya dog on a route u know theres other nutts running loose, 2..... Take along a big RACK OFF stick

 

Actually something I found that works well is Best Behavior spray by Nature's Miracle I got at Petsmart. Its not as harsh as pepper spray but it works the same. I use it to deter chewing. It just irritates the eyes and tastes bitter for a couple minutes. My crazy brother sprayed himself in the face to see what it did. :shock:

 

a nice bat would be handy.. if i ever had that problem it would be good for that dog and the irrate owner.. i hate that.. how can you be blamed and your dog is on a leash?? that is the dumbest thing i ever heard.. its like getting sued cuz a robber hurt himself in your house.. and you can forget about a muzzle.. if that ever happens, my dog will have every right to protect himself..

 

The key is for whatever you use to be something you can easily grab and take with you, and that you won't forget (as I often do). There are people who don't have a choice as to avoiding routes with loose dogs.... when I leave my house, I can go one way, possibly encounter several dogs that are loose at times (including one large dog that is KNOWN to be dog aggressive, possibly human aggressive); go the other, the same. It's a crap shoot, some days I get lucky and have no problems at all, others we run into every dog on the block, and all seem to have radar locked onto me and my dog.

I've found that there are two categories of loose dogs.... casual harassers-who'd like to come check your dog out, but if you/your dog make it clear that you're not having it, they go away, or at least keep a distance- and hell-bent harassers- who don't care how you or your dog act, they ARE determined to come up and check you out... obviously, the latter are more trouble than the former. Casual's are usually pretty well discouraged by planting your feet, eyeing them up, and giving a stern "GO!". Many also seem to pick up on Goo's body language, and realize that she's not interested in "making friends", which makes them keep at a distance. This won't work on the others, who at most will hesitate for a second before trotting up to you anyway. Things I've heard of others carrying are:
-airhorns (like they use on boats)... pros- loud enough to scare away many dogs, or at least make them hesitate, if they don't scare away the dog, they might at least call attention to your problems, small enough to easily shove in a pocket or purse. cons- some dogs won't be bothered by them, your OWN dog may be afraid of it, they do run out after a certain number of uses
-sticks, bats, etc.... pros- most dogs will back down from a person brandishing a stick, most people too :wink: . cons- pain to carry, the rare dog may become more aggressive if you threaten and/or hit it with a stick
-umbrella (open the umbrella as a loose dog approaches).... pros- many dogs will initially shy away from a sudden motion/noise like an umbrella, smaller models are pretty easy to carry, nice if you have unexpected rain :lol: . cons- some dogs wont startle, and may become more aggressive as with stick
-silly string (I stumbled onto this by accident a few weeks ago with our dogs)..... pros- easy to carry, wont burn your eyeballs out if you have it blow back at you, makes both a hissing sound, and physically touches the dog to deter them. cons- some dogs will not be bothered by it
-shake can (can with pennies or such in it, makes a loud noise when shaken)... pros- easy to carry, loud enough to startle many dogs, can be thrown to deter a dog. cons- will not startle all dogs, kind of a one shot deal if you throw it at a dog
-pepper spray (you have to get the kind that streams, not mists, and some people say that bear mace is a better alternative, as it is supposed to be stronger)..... pros- will deter most dogs, easy to carry. cons- even with the streaming kind, it may still spray back on you/your dog (always nice to be blinded as you and your dog are accosted by a stray dog :roll: ), its illegal in some places, doesnt work on all dogs
-citronella spray... pros- touted as a safe alternative to pepper spray as a dog deterrant. cons- don't know if it's got the same effectiveness as pepper spray or not, CAN still cause damage in some cases, may not work on all dogs

Other things you can do to try and minimize troubles...
-Walk with someone else... That way one of you can take the dogs (easier said than done when you have two 55 lb dog aggressive APBTs, but it is possible) and get them out of there while the other keeps the dog busy... if worst comes to worst, at least you'll have another witness to what happened.
-If you're approached by a dog that looks like it's intending to hurt you or your dog, and you see a fenced yard nearby that you know belongs to someone without a dog, better to be questioned as to your presence in their yard than you have a fight or get bitten yourself.
-It you're apporached by a non-aggressive dog, but are worried about your dog hurting it, you might pick your dog up if they'll let you/you can. Best to practice this a bit at home first, so your dog is used to the motions, and even then, they may dig at you with their feet if picked up while wanting to get to another dog. Often, pulling their heads snug against your leg will work as well, as long as the dog doesn't get into their face. It's really not a good experience for your dog though, and can cause them to react worse when they encounter another dog.... better than having a fight start though. Remember that if you pick up your dog as an agrgessive dog approaches, they will NOT be able to defend themselves, it will be up to you to keep the dog from jumping up and biting them as you hold them. The same if you pull them up against you, either let them defend themselves should they be attacked as you have them tightly, or you need to do so for them.
- Carry a cell phone.... If you have access to one, take it along. If not for anything else but to call someone to get you should you end up "stranded" because of a loose dog, it can come in handy.

Now my own rant on loose dogs...
I live in a place where pepper spray is illegal to carry (at least in everything I've found on it), so thats out. I sometimes take something to deter dogs, sometimes I forget... always seems like the problems occur when I don't! So far there has been only one dog not to back off when I was carrying on at him (Goo was making a bit of noise as well, feeding off my anger at yet another loose dog), a large AB around the block from us that's been in 4 or 5 fights in the time they've lived here, and who's been roaming loose increasingly more often in the past month, growled at a friend up the street when they opened up their door to find him on their porch (and i've seen the owner carrying a muzzle when he walks him, though i'm not sure whether to keep him from biting other dogs or humans, not that I really want me OR my dog getting gnawed on), so not a dog I really want to be trying to break apart from Goo if they do get into a fight, plus at twice her size and probably not even 1/2 her age, this is a dog that I don't want Goo having to defend herself against (not that I'd want her to have to do so against ANY dog).

We've ran into them once, several weeks ago, and I ended up (after tryign to keep him away so we could escape) pulling Goo's head snug (she really LOVED that, eeked out a few strangled screams at him as I cajoled her along) against my leg and pulling her down the street (the whole time this dog was tail up, hackles up trailing right behind with his nose about shoved up her butt sniffing at her) until we came to the first yard with a fence. I pulled open their gate, shoved Goo in, and squeezed in behind her, shutting the gate. The dog was left running back and forth along the fenceline, digging at the gate (I was praying he wouldn't jump the fence) as I stood there simultaneously trying to keep Goo from grabbing him through the fence, hoping the people who lived at the house (who I don't know, and was hoping wouldn't be too mad at my entering their yard) wouldn't let out their small dog as we stood in their yard, and wondering home exactly we were going to get home. I stood there for around 5 minutes or so, and during that time, several people came out to see what was going on (including the people in the house we were at, who were pretty understanding of my ducking into their yard), and several who were getting ready to drive down the road got in their car and distracted the dog/blocked him from getting to the yard as we ducked out a back gate of the yard and ran home.

AC, of course wasn't open when it happened, and when I called again monday, they told me they would only respond if the dog was still at large ("OH, you mean AFTER he's had a chance to eat someone else's dog, or get mowed over, now I get it, silly me thinking you could actually help me out!!!").

I thought I could avoid problems with the dog again by taking another route (though that means going past another large dog that carries on barking and growling from inside a fence when we walk past and has nearly got the fence pulled down from jumping on it, can't wait for her to get loose too!), but was proven wrong when we went for a walk night before last, and I thought I spotted "Mr. Bulldoggy" trotting along the road about 1/4 mile up the road that intersects my street (at that point, we'd have ran into him if we'd turned back home). We ran up the road until I figured we'd put enough space between us not to run into him, then continued our walk. 40 mins later we were headed home, when a cat started yowling at the top of it's lungs from near the field I take the dogs to run in as we walked towards there. I figured it was just some sort of cat dispute, scolded Goo for straining at the leash looking for it, and continued on home. As we passed by the field (opposite our house on our block), Goo kept glancing towards it and whining, I figured she was just still hung up on the cat, and glanced over to see Bulldoggy flying across the field (headed away from us, one good thing anyway). We ran all the way home.... last time I'll blow Goo off when she's "saying" she sees something, that's for sure.

 

Thanks everyone for your help. In the past I've always walked my dogs without too much concern. After I got hurt last year trying to break up a dog fight, I seem to be freaked out thinking about it happening again. My Hubby says whatever I do, don't get in the middle of it and try breaking it up. I think I'll only walk when he can go with me and carry some kind of heavy stick or something. Maybe a small fire extinguisher if there's one small enough. That would cause some eyebrows to raise when walking through the neighborhood. :shock:

 

I find this kinda disturbing that it seems to be a WORLD WIDE problem with most Animal control / Rangers, They cant seem to complete there jobs, or that they have are excuse's after excuse's @ the pets expense, yeah ok they are probley under-founded, but its up to THEM and US to make the problem apparent in sociaty, but that aside, It makes me want to raise a eyebrow to the purpose of ME paying the Local "coucil" $$$ each year that i own a dog and i live here.... And also having a certian type of bread brings rather - what i call illmoral - laws, But when it comes to me complaining about other owners of dogs, nothing happens or they have a excuse of sorts... But when someone complains of a PBT by golly, do they move @ haste to the situation....

Some things are in plain sight but people are blind to it, how can a simple problem be addressed...?