Approached by agressive dog - what to do

tk123

So I found myself in a situation this morning where we had a dog running,barking and snapping at us quite aggressively. Granted it was a JRT but contrary to some negligent small dog owner's beliefs big dogs can actually be frightened of small dogs and it's really not ok for them to do this. This dog's daddy was the one who snapped at Bailey when he was a pup and it took a LONG time for Bailey to get over it - I don't want it happening to Lucy. I'd estimate the dog at no more than a year old and has never been socialised as far as I can tell apart from with it's litter mate. The owner let his 5 month old pup and intact male have a litter of pups and looks to have kept two of them. When the other dog went for Bailey years ago he told me he was doing me a favour so that's what I'm dealing with.

I kind of body blocked and kept walking but Lucy was a bit startled by it. Bailey is still a bit fragile and out of sorts from his stay at the vets this week so he kept his distance as much as possible. Both of mine were on their leads and his were off btw

If I keep walking am I rewarding the other dog because I'm assuming he wants us to go away?! If I throw treats to distract him is that rewarding him as well? This was full on bearing of teeth - I've no doubt he would have snapped if I hadn't of blocked him.

I don't want this to go into an on/off lead debate or big versus small btw so start another thread if you feel like posting about the time a big dog frightened your small dog etc etc etc There is a culture of lazy-ass owners in my area and I'm no longer afraid to tell them to FO if needed!

sillysmiles

I have no help or advice, but curious to know that he meant by

he told me he was doing me a favour

If it were me (and I'm sure I will get hopped on for this) but I would also consider carrying a stick and don't be afraid to use it - or at least let the owner think you'll use it.

shamrock55

If it was me id have given the jr a shoe in the arse, he wouldnt bare his teeth again

dede12

I'd be dropping a note in the neighbors postbox asking him to keep his dog under control, in polite but stern tones.

It might also be a good idea to start bringing a spray bottle or a squirt gun filled w/ water along w/ you on walks. One that squirts out in a stream rather than a mist is best. If he's like any of our terriers, quick squirt followed by a stern & loud "No!" when he starts acting up will be enough to deter him & won't hurt him at all the way a stick would (after all, its not the dog's fault he wasn't trained properly). A couple times of that & I bet he'll get the message. Be sure to praise your dogs after for not reacting to him after as well.

I find its best to squirt them on the snout/head, be sure to avoid the eyes/ears though since that will hurt them; since sometimes they ignore a squirt to the body or its not enough to truly startle them out of stopping what they're doing.

DBB

shamrock55 wrote: »

If it was me id have given the jr a shoe in the arse, he wouldnt bare his teeth again

Okay, I know this thread might attract posts like this, but please be aware that advocating cruelty will not be tolerated here.
Waving a stick at an aggressive dog is one thing, but actually making physical contact with it is crossing a line.
It also places the kicker in a significant deal of danger of being bitten, and having the guards called on them, because by crossing the line, they may also be deemed to be breaking the law.
Thanks,
DBB

shamrock55

Ah come on now, if your being attacked by a a dog surely you have the right to defend yourself, i dont just go around kicking dogs btw, but if one attacks me or my dog im gonna try and defend us (all depending on the type of dog doing the attacking of coarse):D

DBB

shamrock55 wrote: »

Ah come on now, if your being attacked by a a dog surely you have the right to defend yourself, i dont just go around kicking dogs btw, but if one attacks me or my dog im gonna try and defend us (all depending on the type of dog doing the attacking of coarse):D

What you do in the heat of the moment is your business.
To come on a forum and dish it out as advice is totally different.
Plus, as I have stipulated, it is against the forum charter to advocate cruelty to an animal.
It is also a site-wide rule not to argue with a mod instruction on thread (I shouldn't have to remind people not to reply to my mod posts on thread), so if you have any more to add, do so by PM.
Thanks,
DBB

chicorytip

Shout back at the dog as loudly as you can.This will usually quieten a barking
dog - the smaller breeds especially.

tk123

sillysmiles wrote: »

I have no help or advice, but curious to know that he meant by
.

He did me a favour because it was only his small JRT that snapped at Bailey - "A german shepherd would rip him to shreds" :mad: Bailey had approached his other dog (now dead) who'd come over to us to say hello every morning and the other snapped at him.

My hands are full with the two dogs - no room for a stick lol. Besides Lucy would run off with it!

maggiepip

Ive had a similar problem. A house nearby me had 2 Jack Russell's who were charging out their (open) front gate when I walked by with my dogs. Now one of them acted particularly aggressively, teeth bared the works, and always headed for my dogs legs. Don't know if I did right or wrong but I stopped walking and absolutely roared at the top of my voice at them to go home. I didn't care who heard me, (actually I was hoping the owner heard me). It worked. After a few repeats of this I was going to go talk to the owner but the dogs disappeared. So roaring worked for me anyway.

Pretzill

maggiepip wrote: »

Ive had a similar problem. A house nearby me had 2 Jack Russell's who were charging out their (open) front gate when I walked by with my dogs. Now one of them acted particularly aggressively, teeth bared the works, and always headed for my dogs legs. Don't know if I did right or wrong but I stopped walking and absolutely roared at the top of my voice at them to go home. I didn't care who heard me, (actually I was hoping the owner heard me). It worked. After a few repeats of this I was going to go talk to the owner but the dogs disappeared. So roaring worked for me anyway.

I could've written that Maggiepip same thing on one of my regular walks - and I always shout go home at the two dogs not for their benefit but for the bloomin owners to hear. I also use the 'leave it' command with my two and try my best to ignore any dogs who are off lead and just keep walking. My girl has a tendency to get narked and I wouldn't want a row either.

Once my girl slipped the lead and chased the two little yappers all the way back to their gate - they realised she didn't appreciate them pretty quickly. Of course I had some harsh words with her after 'good girl' came up once or twice!! Thankfully there were no cars on the road at the time and she came straight back to me.

tk123

Lucy would have gotten zoomies* from it which probably would have made matters worse so glad I had them on lead. If it happens again I'll shout more for his benefit than the dogs. He's had those pups from the day they were born so there's no excuse for not socialising them.

* my spellchecker kept changing that to zombies lol!!! :P

mosi

tk123 wrote: »

He did me a favour because it was only his small JRT that snapped at Bailey - "A german shepherd would rip him to shreds" :mad: Bailey had approached his other dog (now dead) who'd come over to us to say hello every morning and the other snapped at him.

My hands are full with the two dogs - no room for a stick lol. Besides Lucy would run off with it!

TK, did the owner previously have just a tan/brown JRT and a tan and white JRT? I haven't been in your park much lately but I remember a guy there with two JRTs, who would just let them run riot.

tk123

mosi wrote: »

TK, did the owner previously have just a tan/brown JRT and a tan and white JRT? I haven't been in your park much lately but I remember a guy there with two JRTs, who would just let them run riot.

Yes mosi!!! The white one died and he got a new pup, 6 months later a litter of pups.

mosi

tk123 wrote: »

Yes mosi!!! The white one died and he got a new pup, 6 months later a litter of pups.

Ok, I had trouble with him when we used to go to that park before we moved. The dogs came charging over one day. My little fella, being leash reactive, went ballistic and I was trying to pull him away while blocking the dogs. The owner was just laughing his head off while this was going on :mad:
After that, if ever i saw them, I just gave them a wide berth as I knew the owner wasn't going to bother keeping them under control. From speaking to other people, it seems he has quite a poor reputation in the park.
That's awful that he allowed his new pup to breed...says it all about his attitude to ownership really. You're probably best off shouting at them to get away, and avoiding them as best as you can...not that you should have to. It seems that there's no getting through to people like that though.

tk123

He normally crosses over/does a 180 if he sees me or any of my friends but at the same time has his cronies...but I'm not going to stay on one side to suit him - he can get stuffed!! I live 1 min from the Mobhi Road gate - the odd time in the morning the warden will open up early so rather than go to the playground gate and all the way up the avenue we go out or gate for a treat. That's when we might bump into us because he stays on that side of the river where we'd be on the other. He didn't laugh the other morning - tbh think he got a fright because the dog was out numbered and out sized. He was very lucky that my two are socialised or there could have been a very bad outcome for his little dog!

daUbiq

Why not just call the dog warden? Tell him this guys dogs are behaving dangerously and are not kept on a lead.

Ashbx

Its a tough situation alright. In most situations they say that you should just plain out ignore the dog. Any sort of communication is a reward to dogs. So even if you shout to shut up, its getting the attention.

Can I just say though, I don't know the owner, you or your dogs so I really don't know the story of your other dog Bailey. However, I have a border terrier who is very lead reactive to other dogs so I do have an opinion from the other side of things. If she sees one miles down the road, she will immediately start barking. As they get closer, she starts rearing up, barking and snarling. She would continue to bark the entire time the dog is passing me but would never get aggressive...just loud. This is a dog who doesn't make a peep in the house or any other time out for that matter so she isn't a yappy dog naturally.

I have tried everything in this situation to stop Chip from doing it and there is nothing I can do. Ive blocked her, ive turned around, ive treated her, distracted her, picked her up even let her off lead to let her have full reign and she runs the other way. I have another dog who doesn't flinch when we pass other dogs (and I walk the two of them at the same time) so I don't think it something I am doing or not doing, I do genuinely think its just in her and its fear based as opposed to just being aggressive. I will put my hands up and wish she was better socialised as a pup but it annoys me when people accuse me of spoiling her or not training her properly. Sometimes that is not the issue!

Saying that, there has been many MANY times where Chip is barking and snarling etc. I have chip on a tight lead and blocked off so the other person can pass...and what does this owner do? Loosens their lead so their dog can sniff Chip....are they for real?!? I am quite clearly letting you know, my dog is not a friendly dog and they react by letting their dog come close to me and then I get filthy looks when Chip barks them away! Again, just to say, Chip has never actually snapped at another dog. But it really upsets me when people look at me to blame when it was their fault for letting their dog over to me in the first place.

So I do think you need to look at their point of view. Obviously, if there dogs are the way they are they should be on a lead definitely but it may not just be "bad training".

My advise to you is to get one of air pet correctors for dogs. It lets out a quick, loud gust of air and you aim it towards the dogs. Its completely harmless but will snap the JRT out of its physco mode and maybe stop barking at you then! Best of luck!

Being from the other side of this situation, I am always mortified when Chip acts like that and it really does put me off walking the dogs on main roads because of it! But I don't let it stop me, and don't let this stop you bringing Lucy out to all the places you bring Bailey!

tk123

Thanks for your reply but this guy doesn't train his dogs or have any regard for other walkers so I don't need to see his point of view at all. Ruining his dogs by not socialising them is 100% his problem - he's at fault so he should be dealing with the problem by at least teaching them some recall. This was aggressive behaviour - the dog wasn't just barking at us to go away which I'm well used with 2 retrievers.