How would you deal with an off lead dog?

mickmcl09

This evening I went down to the local pitch with my 2 dogs, the kids were training. Both of my fellas are on short leads, one on either side.
Another dog owner in the vicinity has one of her dogs on a lead and the other is loose which I don't have a major issue with if the dog can be trusted, I know, and how long is a roll of string etc etc.

Anyway, the loose dog comes over, things are amicable enough for the first minute or 2. The lady is standing about 20 feet away in conversation with a few others. Then there's a few growls and snarls, nothing major and I hush him away quietly and easily enough, it didn't really bother me.

Less than a minute later he's back over. It takes less than 20 seconds for it to kick off.

Now it only takes a second for damage to be done. I pulled back my 2 fairly quickly but they're all still at.....so I threw a foot at the other fella as I was retreating. When I say retreating I moved back 2-3 feet.

Now the kick was a last resort, I hadn't a stick, the other dog was unleashed and rather than staying put he was moving forward.

The whole thing lasted 2-3 seconds.

Before I go into what the other owner said and my reply, what would you have done?

madcabbage

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Before I go into what the other owner said and my reply, what would you have done?

To hell with what the owner says, if they don't put their dog(s) on a leash you have to take action. I've had this happen a few times and its very frustrating to say the least. To answer your question, I would have kicked out as well as much as I may not want to. Some dog owners are just down right ignorant when it comes to this! :mad:

cassElliot

i was bitten on the face as a child by a dog who wasn't on a lead. i'm terrified of dogs now and when i'm out walking with my mam who has a dog and other dogs come over of their own accord I tell the owners how irresponsible and reckless they are being. I've gotten into serious arguments with people but if it embarrasses them into leashing their dogs so be it!

tk123

Did you actually make contact with him OP or kick out at him?

If somebody has their dog on lead and yours is off it's common curtsey imo to call your dog back/away - end of story. When my dog is off lead he doesn't leave my sight and only approaches people/dogs we know.

Zapperzy

I think what you done was right. You were defending both your own dogs and the other dog as any of them could've been injured if the snarling progressed any worse. Though I think I would be more likely to jump forward to scare him away as opposed to kick out as he could very quickly snap at your foot. Suppose you don't really know what you'd do in that situation until your put in it.

My fella used to be dog reactive in that loose dogs coming over would mean he lunged and barked at them, lately he's gotten much better and I'v begun to look forward to meeting friendly loose dogs as it's an opportunity for him to meet another dog and socialise him a bit. Used to hate loose dogs up to now and really gave out about dog owners standing watching their dog run straight up to my fella resulting in him kicking off and them throwing a dirty look at me as their dog continues to follow us.

LostCorkGuy

i'd have no problem with giving a dog a flake or a boot if it was threatening one of mine , but its unlikely to happen as we've wolfhounds and watching the other owner panic seeing their mut attacking a wolfhound would just be too funny
Plus in fairness to the wolfhounds it takes a lot to rile them up , they just look with disdain at the smaller yappy types :P

notsobusy

I think what you did was right too. Dogs cannot be trusted. My little terrier can be a bit aggressive so I always keep her on the lead when I let her out for a wee. I live in an apartment on the ground floor and I used to just let her out but because so many other people were walking their dogs around it used to get a bit wild. I had one guy tell me he was going to call the guards on me. So I admitted that I was wrong and sorry and she has never been off the lead since. She was always the instigator.

People need to be more aware that their dogs aren't perfect.

Hooked

I'm with the OP on this one also. Had my fella out last Subday (always on his long lead) and a woman had her 2 running wild. They made there way over to us and after a few seconds of playing, one ran off and one stayed and got agressive.

Now my lad was bitten and cut under his eye a few weeks back. To think of it, he could have lost his eye it was that close...

So... When the owner of these 2 looked over, making no attempt to call hers back... I didn't hesitate. As soon as the one remaining got agressive. I let a roar at him and gave him a right fong in the chest.

It irritates the **** out of me when dog owners don't react or make some attempt to recall an aggressive, no - any - dog! What was the OP (or me) supposed to do? Wait for the vets bill to arrive before taking action?

And while I'm ranting... I'm also sick to my back teeth of all the passing comments and stares from ignorant people who believe everything they read in the papers! Plaster a few picks of Huskies after incorrectly reporting that one mauled a child... Cue all and sundry avoiding me and my fella ever since. Speaking of which, I'd better let him in for an hour before bed. He's probably unconscious after his walk this evening.

Rant over!

mickmcl09

tk123 wrote: »

Did you actually make contact with him OP or kick out at him?

If somebody has their dog on lead and yours is off it's common curtsey imo to call your dog back/away - end of story. When my dog is off lead he doesn't leave my sight and only approaches people/dogs we know.

I connected alright. Enough for him to yelp once and head off.

The owner immediately took me to task (from a distance of about 15 feet I might add). 'Don't you kick my dog', I don't know but she was wondering whether to create a scene or not, at she made sure those in her company knew.

I wasn't having any of it. 'Your dog is not on a lead' I replied.
Lady again 'Don't kick my dog'
Me: You're wrong, your dog should be on a lead
Lady: Don't kick my dog
Me: I don't care. You're wrong. You don't have your dog on a lead and there's lots of kids about. You should have him on a lead.

I think at that point she figured I was about to get very irate - I was really up for it but decided not to engage any further.

She put her dog on a lead for all of 5 minutes and walked maybe 50 metres away and released him. They didn't come back near us. There was still no less than 50 kids aged 6-10 within a 100 m radius.

Her dog seemed placid enough otherwise and it was just a case of dogs not seeing eye to eye.
I've tried to rehash it and reasons why I shouldn't have connected/kicked the dog and I still feel it was the only course of action, and I'm still a little miffed that this lady tried to twist it and embarrass me, like I carried out an act of cruelty towards her dog, especially as she didn't so much as move a morsel when the fight commenced. She just looked on.

Her dog was 3-4 inches taller than my guys at the shoulder, so it's not like my fellas took advantage.

Hooked

mickmcl09 wrote: »

tk123 wrote: »

I've tried to rehash it and reasons why I shouldn't have connected/kicked the dog and I still feel it was the only course of action, and I'm still a little miffed that this lady tried to twist it and embarrass me, like I carried out an act of cruelty towards her dog, especially as she didn't so much as move a morsel when the fight commenced. She just looked on.

Her dog was 3-4 inches taller than my guys at the shoulder, so it's not like my fellas took advantage.

My fella is lying on the floor beside me on his side... The scar still visible by a small crescent shape in his fur under his eye. What were you supposed to do? Wait till things got ugly and you were posting here about advice on a nasty bite?

Stop rehashing it in your head. You reacted because she didn't. I don't like kicking dogs. But I had to and so did you.

I'd much prefer to kick the idiot owner! Kidding!!! ; P

cruais

A couple of months back I was bringing my little gal to the vet. I normally drive but decided to use it for her walk.

A few nights previous a man had stopped me on my walk warning of two dogs who were loose further up the road, who weren't very pleasant. I cut my walk short and went back home.

Anyway, when I was walking to the vet, these dogs came out of no where. One was a white boxer and the other was a staff. I decided to stay strong and take no notice of them.

As soon as they saw us, they ran straight over and tried to get my little one. She didn't fight back. They flung her around like a little teddy. They didn't bite her, they were using their head and paws to get her.

That's when I was panicking but decided to try not show it as dogs can smell fear. My little one had her harness on her so I had to use her lead to lift her in the air to try get her but the dogs would jump up to get her. The poor thing never even whimpered. I think she was traumatised.

Eventually they gave me some room to lift her up and as I bent down quickly to get her, I got a wallop on my back from the staff.

By some miracle, there was a lady on the opposite side of the road who jumped out of her car and shouted at me to get into her car. I ran over and when we were in the car, the dogs circled around it.

I got straight onto the guards and they told me they would do something ASAP as it was happening beside a school.

Well I was stuck in the car for 40 mins waiting for the guards. In the mean time, the two dogs ran up to an elderly man walking his German shep and the old man hit one of the dogs with his stick. They continued to run around the road and caused a girl to jam on her breaks, as they ran out in front of her car. She nearly rammed into a tree.

EVENTUALLY the dog warden turned up and managed to capture them. He said straight away that one was a RB and he took them away.

It was the first time in my life I was nervous walking my dog.

I'm not telling this story because it was a RB that was loose, I wouldn't care if it was a JRT. No dog can be fully trusted off lead.

magentas

cruais wrote: »

. No dog can be fully trusted off lead.

I couldn't disagree more. Have you ever tried training your dog?

magentas

OP I don't think you were out of line, if my dog were on lead and a strange dog came up and was aggressive, owner did nothing and it was going to happen a second time, I'd do the same as you TBH.
You had to defend your dog. Unfortunately, the other dogs owner was very irresponsible in letting it happen a second time.

Sometimes two dogs, no more than two people, just might not get on. That was evident the first time they met. That's when she should have called her dog back and put it on lead so they were seperated. These things can escalate very quickly if you don't nip it in the bud. At least you were prepared when it did happen again and unfortunately for the dog, it was the stupid owner that got him kicked, not your fault.

cruais

magentas wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more. Have you ever tried training your dog?

I have two dogs who are great off lead but at the same time, when a dog gets something into his head, sometimes there is no stopping them.

My two come back the minute they are called but I believe there is always that slight risk that they will not listen.

evilmonkee

I have previously had to kick a dog away, and I would do it again.

An off lead dog ran up to my girl (on lead) and attacked her, I proceeded to try and hold her back while telling the owner to f*cking stop her dog, she said she couldn't do anything so I swung a hard kick at it and sent it yelping.

Then she proceeded to apologize and said it wasn't even her dog!!! She was walking it for her mother, who was too old to walk it. I very curtly told her to keep it on a lead.

In my opinion giving it a kick was the best thing I could have done, my girl is not aggressive but she is strong and would have gravely injured the attacking dog if I hadn't been able to control her. Likewise, I didn't want my girl to get injured.
Beating an animal is never the preferred option, but a kick from a human is much less damaging than that which a dog fight could inflict.

Taceom

Some people with dogs never cease to amaze me.

A few weeks back I was out walking my golden retriever in a nearby wood. He was on the lead. Along the way we met a woman walking a small dog off lead. Initially all was well until we got nearer when the little dog went crazy snapping and biting at my guy. I managed to pull my shaken dog away and as I was the woman said "sorry about that, he's not good with other dogs". I was so shocked that I couldn't reply. But as I calmed down it occured to me that she was such a stupid owner to bring a dog that she knows isn't good around other dogs to an area that is well known to be a popular spot for dog walkers and then leave her unsociable dog off lead.
It's people like her who give other dog owners a bad reputation.

madrabui

I live a rural area and accept that a dog off the lead is part of country life. If I encountered a dog off lead I used to walk away from them. If I kicked/hit a dog I’d be p1ssing off a neighbour who has always left their dogs roam. But now I’ve started to use treats to distract the oncoming dog. It’s worked very successfully so far.

seamus

When an off-lead dog approaches us I usually make a point of making contact with the dog first by standing in between it and my dog. If the dog doesn't want to engage with me, then it's not allowed near my dog and in most cases they'll go away when they realise you're not letting them close.

Once it's engaged with me, I'll let the two dogs have a sniff. If anything kicks off, I'm immediately back between them and I'll shoo the other dog away before walking away. Some dogs can be persistent, but if you just keep putting yourself in their way, they eventually get the message.

I'll often make an exception though where the dog comes bounding over with a big stupid/happy look on its face, clearly just looking to play.

angeldaisy

we live in a rural area, and my dog is very used to being off the lead, and is very friendly - never known him be nasty to any dog or human. However whenever I see a child, or dog that we don't know I put him straight on his lead. Its always better to be safe than sorry and I would be so upset if he bit anyone or another dog. However like you OP I wouldn't hesitate to protect my dog or child by kicking or hitting a dog away if I felt threatened. Likewise I wouldn't be too upset if someone actually felt threatened enough by my dog to lash out. Unlikely to happen fortunately as my fella is a big scaredy cat, but he's big so can look scary!