How do you handle dogs running up to your dog when your out walking

[pnance]

Short version: I was wondering how people handle loose dogs running up to your dogs when your walking them on a leash in your neighborhood?

Long winded version: I've been having a problem since my work schedule changed and I've had to start walking (on leash) my dogs in the evening instead early mornings. I have 4 dogs and usually walk them in pairs. 2 of mine are friendly, 1 is usually dog aggressive,and my 4th can sometimes be dog aggressive. I live in an area where a lot of people have their dogs out front when they work, water, etc. so when I come by the dogs take off after us, the owners call but the dogs usually don't respond and all I know is that I've got a dog running towards me loose, not responding to the owner. Yesterday a dachsund ran up to my most aggressive dog barking and growling, I luckily saw it and reached to grab both my dogs harnesses quickly, the dachsund jumped at her but I pulled her away, kept moving and yelled no. The dog backed down and ran back up it's driveway. Just around the corner I had the same thing happen only with a much larger dog. Again no response when the owner called it. This one ran down the driveway, it was much farther away so I pretty much ran and it didn't follow to far. It's not always the same dogs nor the same circumstances so I can't even begin to predict when or where this will happen. I used to enjoy taking my dogs for a walk, now it's a more a chore than anything.

[beeniesmom]

Do you live in a subdivision? If you do, you should report it to the homeowners association. They will write the offenders a letter.
All dogs should be on leashes or tied/restrained, even if they are in front of their home.

[finn's mom]

That's what I was thinking, too. I know, just as a courtesy, if you want to be able to let your dogs off leash, you should have complete control over them. Meaning the recall should be nearly perfect. people are putting their own dogs in danger when they do things like that.

[elizabethann]

This is a sore subject for me! When I walk Fenway around the pond, there are dogs that are not leashed when there are signs EVERYWHERE that clearly says "dogs must be leashed". On a few occasions I've just glared at the owner and when she tried to make small talk I just continued to glare. I guess I don't have "the balls" to say something to her face - I figure my glares will burn a whole in her head - never works.

Luckily, Fenway's never been in an altercation with another dog while walking. As a percaution, I carry Muzzle Mace. Never had to use and hope to never have to use it.

If a dog runs up to Fenway, the owner usually says "she/he's friendly". Which drives me nuts because I'm thinking "what if MY dog ISN'T friendly???"

I guess I don't really have an answer and would be curious as to what others have to say about it.

[pnance]

I live in a semi rural area so there's no homeowners association. I'm terrified one of these days me running or yelling won't work and Savannah or Bear (my to aggressive ones) will cause damage to another dog (they're fairly large and powerful dogs). I know it won't be my fault, but I'll feel awful.

[beeniesmom]

Mmmm, in that case I'd walk with a water squirt gun and hope for the best.
Seriously, there should be somewhere your could report an unleashed dog.

[finn's mom]

If your dog inflicts damage on someone else's dog, and, it's bad enough, couldn't they still penalize you? Even if your dog's on leash and the other one isn't? I don't know the laws, that's why I'm asking.

[ParNone]

I have 3 dogs and I walk them separately, so that I have only 1 dog to focus on. If I'm walking Murph, who's only 20 lbs, I just pick him up off the ground. Problem solved.

Oz and Gull are too big to pick up, so I do different things depending on the situation. If it's a big dog charging at us, I step in front of my dog and put my hand out in a stopping gesture and do an "Ant" sound. That's actually worked pretty good. The time it failed was when Oz was charged by 2 dogs. It stopped the one coming in from the front, but the other dog attacked from the rear. I was trying to drag Oz away from the situation, while the owner tried to grab her dogs. I eventually let go of his leash and told him to run to my friend who was up ahead of us with her dog. Once he was out of their area everything calmed down.

The time Oz was charged by the lil' Chihuahua, I just stopped and waited to see what he was gonna do. I had plans to pick him up off the ground, if he tried to attack Oz. But once he realized Oz was friendly and we weren't reacting, he decided to be friendly back.

I guess what I'm saying is you have to judge each situation on it's own to decide what's the best approach to take. As to being your fault, it's more then just being on leash. You have to have control too. So for example if your dog is running 6 ft ahead of you and attacks another dog, there would probably be some fault on your part too. At least that's the way it usually worked on Animal Court with Judge Woppner (sp?).

Par...

[Kfamr]

I've only been in the situation once or twice and the owners have always been there. I usually walk all 3 dogs (all over 50 lbs) by myself. So when it has happened, I think the dog/s coming after us have felt a little outnumbered.

Usually a guick stern "GO HOME!" keeps them away.

If I do see a loose dog, I usually turn the other way or go down another street. (Unless of course, I'm by myself, then I try catching them. )

[finn's mom]

At the dog park in Myrtle Beach, when Finn first showed signs of aggression towards unaltered males, I had to put him on his leash. I mostly just watched around us, and, would take him away from the group when dogs would come up. But, there were a couple of times, I just pulled him up and onto my shoulders, that's how Judy got that photo of him on my back in the Myrtle Beach meeting thread, there was a pit bull that wasn't friendly running up to us. Finn's not light, but, I can still get him up pretty quickly.

[pnance]

The only people I know of is animal control, and I don't think they do much. I know our neighbors have had them called on their labs before. They let them run all over the place and 1 is extremely aggressive. When he jumped into an open truck door of a worker at another neighbors house and wouldn't let the truck owner in I know that neighbor called animal control. I don't know what happened, only that they still have the dogs and their still running loose.

As to the laws, I always thought that if your dog is on leash and the other is off in an area that has leash laws then your not held responsible, but come to think of it I've never actually checked. Hopefully it will never come up, but I'll check for my own peace of mind.

[finn's mom]

Yeah, I'd check. I mean, I would think if a friendly dog came up to an agressive one and was killed or hurt badly, I'd still tend to think something would happen to the leashed dog. I could be wrong, though. I don't know, I've never looked into it, either.

[pnance]

I just saw the other posts after I'd already entered my other one.
Because of this I've purchased much smaller leashes (<4 ft, laws here say must be 6 ft or <) and usually have them on a heal on either side of me, so they're always close just in case. They've lost a lot of their freedom on a walk which is not really fair to them, but what else can I do. I've done the "NO!" or "GO HOME" to the other dog, sometimes works sometimes doesn't, but I admit I haven't tried stepping in front of them. Unfortunately picking them up is not an option, my 10 lb RB terrier X it was, but my others range between 60-90 lbs.

I confess I'm about ready to give up on their weekday walks (weekends I have more time so can take them elsewhere). We have a very large fenced yard so they have a place to take care of things and run around, but 3 of mine are extemely high energy, hence the extra walks.

[finn's mom]

Originally posted by pnance
Unfortunately picking them up is not an option, my 10 lb RB terrier X it was, but my others range between 60-90 lbs.

yeah, finn weighs sixty, it's hard to get him up there! maybe just walking them one at a time would be an option. that sucks that you're surrounded by irresponsible dog owners. it makes it hard to be a responsible one.

[Ginger's Mom]

Oh this is also one of my pet peeves. Ginger is friendly to other dogs, but I have on occasion had a foster that was not. And on two occasions I had loose dogs run at us when I had one particularly unfriendly foster. I cannot tell you how mad it makes me. Now mind you, neither of the dogs that I was walking was a big dog (30 pounds and 38 pounds), but still more than I want to be struggling with when someone else cannot be bothered to control their dog. In the first instance, the owner came up and grabbed her dog by the collar while I tried to contol the foster. In the second instance, the dog came running from a condo, with NO ONE following him. I was able to get myself between the loose dog and the foster, and Ginger was a good girl to keep the dog occupied while I settled Jivi down. The dog did try to walk around us to say "hi" to Jivi, but quickly gave up and walked back to the condo. I understand that sometimes things happen, and on occasion dogs get loose accidently, but no one came out after this dog. But if that dog had gotten hurt you know that they would have been sending me all kinds of medical bills. And, yes, you can be cited for failure to control a dog on lead (at least in NJ you can).

I am sorry, but you really have hit on one of my pet peeves.