scared of a dog today.....whilst out walking....advice...

[carole]

I don't often venture here, but decided it was a good idea to get some advice.

I was walking to the shops today and about 100yrds away was this dog, not sure of breed, anyhow at first I had a bit of a laugh, it saw me and ran with its tail between its legs, I thought geez I ain't that scarey surely, but then it stopped and barked like crazy at me ( i was on the other side of the road) and started making this strange noise, hard to explain, like huffing and puffing, I sure did not like the sound of it or the different stance it was taking.

To be honest I felt afraid for the first time in my life, I feel it was getting ready to attack me, I decided to turn back and walk the other way, this did turn out to be the right thing, as it just went on its merry way.

Tell me what is the best thing to do in this situation, imagine if it were children going past, this doggie should have been in a fenced property and not wandering the streets anyhow.

I must admit all the media hype about pitt bull dog attacks have scared me, as this doggie was a cross i think, it did influence how safe i felt at that particular moment, its unfortunate that all the bad attacks in NZ have been from this breed.

[Cincy'sMom]

It sounds like you did the right thing by ignoring the dog and walking away.
The only things I can say are 1. do not stare at the dog. It may see this as a challenge. and 2. Remain calm. Don't run away. If you run you become either a toy or prey.

[carole]

Thanks that was my basic instinct not to run or do anything stupid, it was far enough away not to stare it in the eye,phew close call it felt like I can assure you.

[micki76]

That's happened to me before as well. It was a lab that scared me and I'll never forget the experience. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't something wrong with the dog.

Usually the best thing to do is stand still like a tree and don't make any eye contact of any sort, but make sure you still have the dog in your feild of vision. Dogs have a natural prey drive regardless of their breed and will almost always chase. Usually if you stay still and make no eye contact the dog will go on and leave you be. Sometimes you can slowly walk away, too.

I remember when we were looking for acreage in the country. I had gone out to look at a property by myself and I had to park and walk across the unpaved easment of another property to get to the piece of land that was for sale. As I did so I was slowly surrounded by 11 large dogs of varying breeds. Now, the normal person would have been scared $*&%less, but not me. I talked to the dogs as I walked around looking at the land. I didn't get a bad feeling at all, though I'll admit when I looked up and saw how many there were I was momentarily unnerved. There had just been 3 a moment before! Then owner came out and called them all back to their pens.

[cali]

that dog is fear aggressive, he was ready to attack out of fright, he saw you comming and ran scared, but you kept on comming and he felt the need to protect himself, chances are he was only threatning, he stopped because he turned and went the other way, so now he felt safe again. anyway I just have plenty of personal experience with fear aggressive dogs lol

[carole]

Gosh I never thought of that, but I think you are right, keep in mind I was quite a distance from the dog, however I did have a black umbrella up, that may have scared him too, geez I was right the first time I was indeed scarey lol. Thanks now i understand what was going on, I was a little confused as to why it seemed scared then got all aggressive, still that doggie should NOT have been roaming the streets, shame on its owners.

[sirrahbed]

This thread caught my eye! I know all pit bulls are not bad but we have two in our next yard and I AM scared of them. I go to take my trash out and they snarl and growl at me. They can easily jump the fence and have bitten several people and smaller dogs. Just yesterday, one had jumped the fence and came running at me!! I stood still and closed my eyes! I was just terrified. Then I slowly moved to my car and jumped in. The dog stood nearby growling and snarling - finally the owner came out and called the dog! I am never sure how to react except NOT to look at the dog. My husband gets furious and keeps a baseball bat and runs after them! They are afraid of him and do make a quick retreat. They are very well behaved and docile when the owners are nearby but are often loose because of the short fence!!