Encountered a loose, large dog while walking my puppy

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Lovepups3
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Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:06 pm

Encountered a loose, large dog while walking my puppy

Post by Lovepups3 »

I have a 4 1/2 mo old Australian Labradoodle who weighs about 16 lbs. We were walking in my neighborhood when I see this 90lb ish pit bull running down the street toward us. My neighbors were ahead of me and warned that it was a loose dog. He had a 2 inch leather collar with 6 inches of a large chain dangling from his neck. He clearly brooke loose from his tie-up which was amazing to me since the chain was huge! I was terrified since the dog came right up to me holding the pup in my arms! If he would have attacked me or the dog, I would have been helpless. My neighbor tried to get him to leave telling him loudly to go home (I have never seen this dog in the neighborhood before). Luckily, he lost interest in us and kept going. I did call and report this loose dog to animal control since there are many children in the area. My question: what to do when you are walking the dog and you are approached by a loose dog who may be aggressive (or not). I was scared to death even though nothing happened. I felt very vulnerable. I also felt sorry for the pitty who was so heavily chained.
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Encountered a loose, large dog while walking my puppy

Post by Nettle »

I am pleased that nothing bad happened.

The important response is to do whatever it takes to stay safe. And within that, it is really important that you stay silent and stay still if you can't get behind a fence in time. Making a noise and jumping about flapping can create an attack where the loose dog had not intended to before.

But really each incident has to be handled as it arrives, and most of us don't get the experience (thank goodness). The above advice is the best option, although sometimes good results can be achieved by standing up big and square. However, this can occasionally backfire. Sounds as if the dog you met was pleased to be free and more interested in running away than a direct attack. Single dogs are less likely to attack than a pair or group.

Telling a dog to go home is useless unless it has been trained to go home when someone uses that phrase. All it knew was that someone was 'barking' at it. But your neighbour was brave and good to try and help.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Horace's Mum
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Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:10 pm

Re: Encountered a loose, large dog while walking my puppy

Post by Horace's Mum »

Added to Nettle's good advice is the suggestion to keep a handful of food with you when walking - if a dog is approaching you can "treat bomb" it by throwing it at it's face, with the aim to hit it in the face so they are distracted by the food and stop to snuffle it up. It can give you a little extra time for either the owners to catch up and gain control, or for you to get to a place of safety. It won't work with truly aggressive dogs, but is useful for curious or over friendly loose dogs that you would prefer not to come too close.
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