How to prevent or stop an attack while on a walk?

ORIGINAL: HappyViking

I have never had a dog don't have one as of yet, but am researching different things, and I do have a couple of fears that I am getting over as I'm learning. Here is one:

How do you prevent your own dog from being attacked by another agressive dog that's not on a leash and not with the owner? And if it still happens, then how do you stop it / what do you do? Especially a dog that is too big to be scooped up into your arms... Do you go in between and correct the strange dog, or let your own dog loose to run off or defent itself?

Also, if you go for a walk and there is a loose strange dog around, do you let them sniff eachother and play, or mind your own buisness and ignore the other dog?

This part is intimidating to me, but I don't want to shelter a dog from other dogs; I figure it's good for them to play and have fun with other dogs, but also learning social skills. So I'd rather learn how to experience positive intereaction than to avoid contact.

Get a "pepper spray" for dogs at your local PetSmart or PetCo, or online.
You cannot correct someone elses dog, and trying to do so will make things worse.

DO NOT let your dog run lose. If you have spray, spray the dog in the eyes, and keep walking. Do not run.


[color="#006633"]No, keep wakling. Do not stop, and do not pay any attention to the loose dog.

[color="#ff0000"]Interacting with a stray dog on a walk is not the way to "socialize" a dog.Go to a dog park, or get the dog into day care, or set up play dates for that.

Carry spray, a cell phone, and if necessary, a break stick. Haha, I've heard people who carry blow horns, and if a dog is stray and running towards them, they blow it and it startles the dog off.
If you see a dog coming towards you and it's making you nervous, keep waking, and pay no attention to the dog. Don't look at it.

Great questions! Good luck!
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the owner of the aggressing dog (black lab) was right there to pull/call him off and apologize profusely (still doesn't

 
Imagine dogs that size, not trained, with no owner visible. And notice I said dogs, as in plural. Welcome to my town. And the thing is, we don't live on a windy county road where you can only manage a few miles an hour and are more likely to hit a cow than a dog. We live in a small town sandwhiched between a state highway and a federal highway. We have houses, with paved streets, indoor bathrooms, and running water. Even have "tellyfone", where you can talk to others far away. Yet, we've got people my age or younger that seem to think it's still 1900 and that this is their 300 acres. So, they are resolute and steadfast in their practice of allowing their dogs to run loose, regardless of what havoc they create. All the police will do is talk to them. You have to press charges of "domestic animal at large" to do anything.
 
Generally,  I don't push my luck with a loose dog but I don't run either. Avoiding confrontation is the best bet.
 

[sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]

ORIGINAL: Kiche

This happened to us for the first time last week, and I'll be honest: I'm still angry and upset over it. We turned the corner at the end of the block and a pit eight houses down jumped his (very tiny chainlink) front yard fence and hit the sidewalk at a running charge. I put myself between the charging dog and my dog as it raced up, intending to at least physically block it for a little bit and hoping the owners would appear quick enough to reclaim it.

Not even a chance; it took a snap at my leg while darting around and launched itself directly at my dog's throat. While it bit, mangled, and otherwise grappled for a good under-throat purchase, I tried summoning up one of those gut-yells, "HEY!" to distract it while cuffing it with the end of the leash, then had to resort to kicking the heck out of its ribs. It didn't care a bit; all it wanted to do was attack, attack, attack. The owner showed up very, very late. Felt like hours to me. She is crying and I am trying not to retch because of adrenaline and anxiety while I get my dog away from her--she clearly could not control it before, I wasn't going to trust her to do it after that.

Sometimes there is nothing you can do to avoid an encounter like that. The pit was set on attacking from square one, he jumped the fence to come at us before we had even sighted him. Dogs with a super-focused attack mentality can't be put off by simply walking away, proper stance, or other methods. I learned my lesson; from now on I will carry a Maglite to use as a club if I have to, and I am waiting for the citronella spray mentioned above to arrive.

However, to note: immediately after the attack I waited for the pit and its MINDLESSLY STUPID OWNER to go into their house, finished checking my dog to make sure he would be ok to walk back home, and then we proceeded down the block as we had been before. I don't think my dog liked that thought at first, but I did my best to exude 'who cares, it's gone now and I know it for a fact' attitude. We had an errand to do at the end of that block, so we did it like always, dropped off the letter, and turned around and walked home. I think that fleeing the area of the attack and changing the routine would have hurt my boy more by letting him associate it with a bad moment and possibly made him a little nervous towards other dogs.

I know this is going to sound horrible, but, I HIGHLY doubt that direct stop is going to stop a pit bull determined to attack your dog. My suggestion? Pepper spray. Does it cause damage to a dog? I don't know, but if that pit comes at you again, in all honesty, who cares? Get some, next attack, spray and run like hell. Program your AC's number into your cell phone, carry a walking stick. Carry an extra leash or collar.
The owners of that pit bull are pretty freakin' stupid and that does NOT surprise me, they should KNOW that their pit bull can and WILL jump a fence if given the opportunity and should NEVER be left unsupervised outside.

Thank you so much for wonderful replies!!!!! This is all very helpful! I don't mind the "scary stories", it helps me to know what to do in situations like that. I know that more than likely it won't be that bad, but obviously I have to be prepared and know what to do. What scares me the most is when I'm afraid of a certain situation and have no clue what to do if it was to happen. This is giving me tools to use for encounters like that, so it makes me feel more secure. I think too, that Direct Stop might fight off a dog that is not being very "nice", but a dog that is determined to kill, will probably ignore citronella. I think you have to match that intensity with something stronger. So I'll be carrying along my pepperspray.
 
I will definitely do some reading on doggy comunication and body language, so thank you for the suggestions on those books. Which of these books will also give some "here's what to do" advice, in teaching how to behave around dogs, aggressive or not? I liked the book by Stanley Coren "How to speak dog", but I didn't feel like it had a lot of good suggestions for what *I* should do, but more on how to read the dog's body language. I mean, it's a good thing to learn to understand the dog, but I also need to know how to communicate to the dog that I am of no threat and want to be left alone.
 
Thank's for all the suggestions and practical advice! Keep it coming, I'm reading even if I'm not replying very often (I'm very busy right now, but read up here and there...).

I also have to say I'm horrified at how irresponsible some people are! They are keeping an uncontrolled killing machine to go off at any point, and do nothing to revent it! A little flimsy fence, what's that going to do to help it any? That part gets me mad! Are they oblivious, or don't they care about others, or in complete denial at the status of their dog or what??? Is it any wonder that some people develop fears? (namely, ME!) Though, some people (me, again) have done some stupid things in the past and have only themselves to thank for the result of it....... [sm=smack.gif] All in trying to be sweet and telling myself my fears are all in my head and nothing to pay attention to, I once (as a young teen) tried to pet a stray dog who gave me clear signals that he wasn't feeling friendly. I didn't know enough to see that back then, and didn't know not to pet stray dogs, so that ended up being a very close call. I was saved by the shopping bag I had in between us as he started charging me very aggressively. It really put the fear in me like never before, though I had myself to blame. At the same time, I think it's irresponsible of the owner to let the dog loose when others may not know any better and the dog is not friendly in a situation like that. There will be kids around who don't use their brains much...

We are fortunate??? to own enough land that we seldom walk Odie anywhere but on our own property.  When we do go into town, we never encounter a loose dog.  If loose dogs were a problem, I would probably do what someone else suggested and carry a cattle prod.  When walking on my own property, I am almost always armed.  If I encounter an aggressive dog on my property, I will be able to tell his owner exactly where to find his cold, dead body.

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

ORIGINAL: Kiche

Sometimes there is nothing you can do to avoid an encounter like that. The pit was set on attacking from square one, he jumped the fence to come at us before we had even sighted him. Dogs with a super-focused attack mentality can't be put off by simply walking away, proper stance, or other methods. I learned my lesson; from now on I will carry a Maglite to use as a club if I have to, and I am waiting for the citronella spray mentioned above to arrive.

I know this is going to sound horrible, but, I HIGHLY doubt that direct stop is going to stop a pit bull determined to attack your dog. My suggestion? Pepper spray. Does it cause damage to a dog? I don't know, but if that pit comes at you again, in all honesty, who cares? Get some, next attack, spray and run like hell. Program your AC's number into your cell phone, carry a walking stick. Carry an extra leash or collar.
The owners of that pit bull are pretty freakin' stupid and that does NOT surprise me, they should KNOW that their pit bull can and WILL jump a fence if given the opportunity and should NEVER be left unsupervised outside.

Oh no, I agree entirely.  That was why I bought a 5-cell Maglite.  The DirectStop isn't for that particular pit or any particular dog, it was for less extreme situations.  I adopted my mutt from the Humane Society in December and this was the first time he's been attacked, so it drove home the need for a preventative.  I'm not going to wait for a situation that DirectStop could have been used in to buy it.  [:'(] 

And the Maglite....  I remember after the pit connected with my dog and was just tearing at him, I spun around and searched the ground for ANYTHING I could use to seperate them or strike at the pit with, and there was nothing, and I felt like an idiot for being so unprepared. 

The DirectStop and the Maglite are two different tools for two different situations.  []

I had a terrible problem with recurring attacks by roaming dogs in last neighborhood I lived in.  So much so that I stopped walking Cole altogether, and when I was trying to rehab Bunny from TPLO surgery, I was doubly terrified that something would happen on one of our rehab walks...I didn't want to have to pay for a $2000 surgery to be redone!
 
- Cole and I were attacked by a Pit female who'd just whelped, thank God he wasn't seriously harmed.
- We were attacked by an off-leash Rott right in front of her owner.  I had Cole tethered to me by one of those   jogger buddy leashes, and both he and I suffered bites and scratches.
- More times than I can count we just encountered the random off-leash dog and by this time Cole was so fear aggressive HE was more of a problem than the other dog!
 
I developed a classically-conditioned adrenaline response whenever I would hear a barking dog in the neighborhood.  It was ridiculous!
 
Thankfully, I have rehabilitated him from his fear aggression.  Moving into a "normal" suburb (as in, not rural redneckville) has helped.
 
Anyway, I tried MANY things to deal with the attack potential.  As others have said, there is NOTHING YOU CAN DO to stop an attacking dog - the best you can do is thwart the attack with several methods.
 
- I carried a 9-iron with me on walks for several weeks (this got some strange looks, but people called their dogs inside when they saw me coming)
 
- Tried the Direct Stop.  Pffft.  Doesn't do a damn thing.  The sound of it scared two nasty little weiner dogs that went after my Bunny when we were on a TPLO therapy walk - and these dogs were biters and I could not risk her running on that leg.  As for the actual spray, didn't do a damn thing to stop an attack when I tried using it while walking Cole. 
 
- Get yourself some Bear Spray. [linkhttp://www.defensedevices.com/bearpepspray.html]http://www.defensedevices.com/bearpepspray.html[/link]  It's important to find one that will spray in a powerful stream rather than a cloud.  When you're under attack, you don't have time to check and see if the prevailing winds are blowing in your favor, and you don't want that stuff to get in your eyes or your dog's eyes.  Bear Spray is meant to be sprayed from a distance, for obvious reasons.
 
- I actually looked into one of these: a stun baton. [linkhttp://www.defensedevices.com/exlonstunbat.html]http://www.defensedevices.com/exlonstunbat.html[/link] You don't have to get as close to use them as you would a stun gun so you will probably not have to worry about accidentally shocking your own dog.  However, they are illegal in some areas, so check with your local law enforcement. 
 
Good luck.  It is a terrible situation when we can't even walk our own dogs in our own neighborhoods without dealing with this kind of fear!!!  

OIk, you guys are scaring me

I've never encountered something like that! How scary it must have been for all of you!

Anyway, g33--Your repsonse is hilarious!! The "pffft" is what kills me! Hahaha

It's good to know that there are people that have had this experience, and can educate others on how to handle a potential attack.

I also have to say I'm horrified at how irresponsible some people are! They are keeping an uncontrolled killing machine to go off at any point, and do nothing to prevent it! A little flimsy fence, what's that going to do to help it any? That part gets me mad! Are they oblivious, or don't they care about others, or in complete denial at the status of their dog or what

 
Yes, to all of that. If you strive to never underestimate how stupid people can be, you will never be disappointed and occasionally pleasantly surprised when someone does behave responsibly.
 

The thing is, I would NEVER EVER leave a dog outside unattended, even in a fenced in yard. If Ella were outside, I would be right there with her. I KNOW that pit bulls can and WILL jump fences and it just would NOT be allowed.

I ordered some direct stop AND some pepper spray for my walks. If the direct stop doesn't stop an aggressive dog, the pepper spray should.
I'm not risking ANYTHING. I KNOW I have a dog with DA tendencies (though not always DA, it's situational and all depends on the dog) and with my dog's breed's reputation, I'M not risking ANYTHING getting blamed on MY dog. Everyone knows that if I were walking Ella and she got attacked by another dog (she wouldn't be the attacker because I'd have control of her) and she bit back, she'd get blamed for the incident if the owners ever showed. I'm not wanting that situation on my hands.

oh, and I don't care if it's a 10 lb. tiny dog that is loose and won't leave us alone. If my dog bit that tiny 10 lb. dog, there'd be trouble for sure. But I'd most likely use direct stop on a dog like that.
The pepper spray will be reserved for the larger, more potentially dangerous off leash dogs.

ORIGINAL: g33

I had a terrible problem with recurring attacks by roaming dogs in last neighborhood I lived in.  ...
 
- List
- Of
- Pain

I developed a classically-conditioned adrenaline response whenever I would hear a barking dog in the neighborhood.  It was ridiculous!

Thankfully, I have rehabilitated him from his fear aggression.  Moving into a "normal" suburb (as in, not rural redneckville) has helped.

......

- I carried a 9-iron with me on walks for several weeks (this got some strange looks, but people called their dogs inside when they saw me coming)

- Tried the Direct Stop.  Pffft.  Doesn't do a damn thing.  

- Get yourself some Bear Spray. [linkhttp://www.defensedevices.com/bearpepspray.html]http://www.defensedevices.com/bearpepspray.html[/link] 

- I actually looked into one of these: a stun baton. [linkhttp://www.defensedevices.com/exlonstunbat.html]http://www.defensedevices.com/exlonstunbat.html[/link] ....However, they are illegal in some areas, so check with your local law enforcement.

[color="#330099"]This is one of the consequences of irresponsible dog owners that bothers me most: fear in other owners, not just their pets.  While there is a difference between 'healthy fear' (otherwise known as respect) and 'being fearful,' more often than not we see that humans--dog owners and non-owners--begin to be fearful.  How unfair!  How wrong!  Children who are bitten often grow up fearful of dogs and become anxiety-stricken adults, unable to enjoy themselves in the presence of ANY dog.  Owners fear because they become defensive (with reason!) and their pets, if they aren't already frightened of other dogs, become infected by their owners.  The list goes on; we've all see it. 

HappyViking, when you do adopt your new pet, it's important to remember that you can prevent yourself from becoming fearful.  The adage about getting back in the saddle when the horse throws you is true.  When I made my mutt finish the walk after he was attacked, and made him walk past the house the dog had come from, I was nervous and a little scared, too.  Taking a deep breath and dealing with it anyway was the only way for us to let the tension truly out, like washing a cut so it doesn't scar.  []  It sounds corney, but it's very important.  Bad things happen, but you can educate yourself and be prepared, do your best, and keep on truckin'.  It is the only right way to respond.

I come from Northern WI, (US) and until I moved to upper Florida when I was 20, I had never heard a 'friend's-mom's-aunt's dog' type story about a dog being attacked by another.  Never.  Our family owned large dogs all my life, I walked them constantly, in and out of the cities, and this was never an issue.  The South seems completely mad with dogs that are not being controlled by their owners, and I don't understand the trend at all.  Population density?  Different cultural mindset?  The climate itself? 

- I was told not too long ago on another forum about someone who constantly had to deal with a neighbor's dog-aggressive GSD attacking her pet on walks.  The owner refused to leash or contain his dog no matter how often they were asked to.  Eventually they had to get a baseball bat and go tell the neighbor that if they ever saw his ****ing dog off its leash or out of its yard again they would bash its brains in.  From then on they carried the bat on every walk and the GSD was never off his leash again.

- Completely useless?  You're kidding!  What a gip...  I haven't recieved the canister I ordered yet....  Is the smell simply not enough, the spray not direct or forceful enough?

- Thank you for the new tip!  I'm looking into it right now.

- Is this really better than a regular baton/club/bat/etc?  I understand that it delivers a shock, but a shock can only incapacitate for a few seconds at very best, and in truly focused or deranged humans, will hardly slow them at all!



[color="#000000"]Chewbecca....you are honestly the most prepared and responsible pit owner I've ever encountered.  I know there are plenty out there, but the number of those who are not responsible is staggering.  Because of those people I bet you deal with a lot of dirty looks when people hear about or see your pet---that you don't deserve.  Thank you  []
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Sounds like there is only one thing that can stop dog attacks - college.
That way you can make enough money to move out of inner city, redneckville, suburban idiotville, and into a nice affluent neighborhood filled with little wimpy weiner dogs... []

ORIGINAL: Kiche


[color=#9933cc]- Completely useless?  You're kidding!  What a gip...  I haven't recieved the canister I ordered yet....  Is the smell simply not enough, the spray not direct or forceful enough?

- Thank you for the new tip!  I'm looking into it right now.

- Is this really better than a regular baton/club/bat/etc?  I understand that it delivers a shock, but a shock can only incapacitate for a few seconds at very best, and in truly focused or deranged humans, will hardly slow them at all!

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Re your question on the Direct Stop, the smell just wasn't a deterrent.  It made the dog sniff the air for a few seconds.  Didn't take focus off of my dog for one iota of a second.  It does make a sound though, and that scared the weener dogs away.  The spray didn't even have a chance to get to them.  [8D]

The stun baton delivers 500,000 volts.  It will incapacitate for more than a few seconds.  It's designed to stop a human attacker such that you can run like hell and get away from the person - it will drop them to their knees in pain.  The amperage is not enough to kill.  500,000 volts into a creature half the size of a human is definitely going to incapacitate, and cause pain to, an attacking dog.  I hate to inflict pain on any creature, especially an animal which doesn't have free will or choice in the world and is just going off its instincts - especially when its the humans' fault this is even going on, but I also will not put myself or my dog at risk because of it. 

And personally?  I'd rather deliver a shock then have to swing a bat or a club and bash a dog's brains in.  I don't think I could do that.  Pushing a button is easier for me, for some reason.  I don't like the sound of an object colliding with bones. 

Really I think the bear spray is your best option - allows you to use it from quite a distance and it WILL incapacitate an attacking dog long enough for you to get away.