Darn dog attacked us!!

[Zumie05]

I know how you feel...sort of. Gary and I haven't been attacked while on a walk, but we certainly have been charged by loose dogs.

Down at the end of my street there are people who own two pit bulls and they frequently leave them out in their yard, which btw has no fence. They do not have electric fencing either for the dogs, they are just "trained" not to leave the yard. Well for the most part they don't, but as soon as they see seomeone walking their dog down the road out they come.

They run up to you barking and it is soooo intimidating. Luckily they seem to be dog friendly, as the three times they have rushed out to us they all just sniffed. When they do this I just keep walking away telling Gary to leave-it, and by that time the owners have come out and begin yelling at their dogs.

I have talked to other neighbors about this and animal control has been called on them apparantly (I was going to call after the third rush incident). I can only HOPE that those dogs don't end up attacking someone or someone's dog. It just seems like it is waiting to happen.

[Mantobellio]

I’ve been in several situations where dogs come out of no where acting like they wanted a piece of me and my dog or dogs.

One morning I was walking at a park and had one of my most dominant highly aggressive females with me. When all of a sudden a pack of five or six dogs (lead by a pit bull) came out of no where. Since I am not one to get excited, I just reeled (retractable leash) my dog in close to me and kept walking. The dogs were baring their teeth and barking their fool heads off as they surrounded us.

I think by keeping calm, my dog went on my reactions and did not see the other dogs as a threat. I did not do any yelling or talking, just kept walking for a few paces. Then when I assessed the body language of the dogs around me, I slowly let out the retractable leash and let the dogs all sniff each other. They followed us through our entire walk and when we went to rest at a picnic table, all of them laid down close to where we sat.

A couple days later when I was walking another one of my Rotts, I saw those same pack of dogs surrounding and trying to charge an older man with some kind of poodle looking thing. He was scared and yelling. I walked over to where they were knowing quite well those dogs would be distracted by my dog and come running my way. Sure enough they did, but this allowed the shaking man and his poodle dog to get away.

All the dogs came charging my way, but I used the same behavior as I did the previous day when encountered by these dogs and just kept walking while controlling my dog, then released the retractable and let the dogs do their sniffing.

Animal control had been called on these dogs for quite some time, but so far they were not successful in capturing them till months later.

My theory and what seems to work for me is to stay calm in these type situations, but stay alert and in control. I have had several different situations similar to this one when out walking my dogs, but I use the same calm behavior and so far have been able to defuse the situation.

Another time when I was out walking at the park, I had my dominant female again with me and a huge black dog came out between some bushes and snarled and salivated at my dog and me. I used the same behavior, but when I tried to retract the retractable leash, my dog’s collar broke. When my dog realized this, she went after the dog, which took the other dog off guard and my dog chased that dog a few yards and made the dog jump accidentally in the creek. My dog stood her ground and kept that dog in the creek until I called her back to me……now I thought that was as funny as hell and I had a good laugh that day.

I praised my dog for her recall abilities.

[kerry grant]

Dont no if its just coincidence,but i have actually lost count of how many Staffs have tried to take a chunk out of Bailey. Its only ever that breed,its as if they need to prove themselves or something.

[Kawakaze]

I can only go by my experience, if a dog goes for your rottie he will have gone for any dog. Bad owner/trainer. But remember this, self defense is exactly that, you protect yourself in fairness you will always be ok. If you are ever attacked by a dog un armed, give him your forearm, and crush its windpipe with your other hand, not a nice situation, but it happens. I probably will upset someone by this post but bad things will happen to innocent undeserving people and you must defend yourselfs and you families.

[fostermom]

I used to live in the country (Potomac "horse" country) and would walk frequently my goldens down many country roads or along trails at the parks....NEVER had an encounter with a stray dog. I now live in a small "city"...rarely see a dog off leash, yet have had several encounters with dogs going after my rotti's. One slipped it's collar while the owner was walking it, twice the same two pits came at my dogs when the owners had them off leash in a park, and once when a neighbor's rotti ran through underground fencing and across a road to my rott. It has certainly made me nervous about walking in town, especially since I'm usually trying to walk two dogs at once so have no free hands. But as upsetting as it was, I have never had it escalate to where there was an actual attack. In all instances, the owners were near-by and were able to grab their dogs fairly quickly. I did try with the rotti to yell "no" and "stay"...more because I was worried about him getting hit by a car when he ran across the street...it did absolutley NO good...the dog was totally focused on me and my dog. With the pits, I was yelling at the owners to "get your dogs"...I just stood still with my two, an elderly lab and my "alpha" male rott...actually the lab defended herself, growling and snapping at the other dogs as they were making "passes" at my two...my male just stood next to me and didn't react (I'm assuming he was able to read the other dogs and knew there was no need to react). The rotti that blew through the electric fence was only interested in a meet and greet with my female, although the following week he ended up biting an owner who was walking a muzzled male rott down the street so I guess I was lucky I had my female that day. Thus far, just standing still and keeping my dogs at my side has kept things from escalating, but again, maybe I've just been "lucky".

[RottieGirl86]

Originally Posted by fostermom

I think I read somewhere that other dogs have a more difficult time "reading" dogs that have docked tails...perhaps that might be one reason?????

From what I remember reading, it's more likely the dead stare that Rotts are prone to. Other dogs see it as a conflict, when usually it's confidence.

Tails are only 1 non-verbal~ body stance, muscle tension, hair on back, etc. all clue in a dog whether there's a problem. A dog wagging it's tail can attack just as well as one not wagging a tail.

[fostermom]

I would think all of this is conjecture (no REAL way to prove it) but this if from an article on canine body language:
The dogs with the 'clearest' body language are those that most resemble the ancestral wolf. The more a breed has been modified by man, the more difficult these dogs will find being understood. Dogs such as Spaniels, with floppy ears can't prick or flatten their ears back against their heads. If a dogs eyes are obscured by hair, as in Old English Sheep Dogs and Pulis, with their Rastafarian-style deadlocks, other dogs can't read the intention in their eyes. Dogs with long flowing coats, like salukis can't raise their long coats and so can't raise their hackles, while dogs with naturally short or docked tails cant wag them to show they are happy, or tuck them between their legs when afraid. Black dogs may also have a problem making themselves understood, as they may appear as silhouettes to other dogs, obscuring the subtle nuances of their gestures

[jjhilder]

I have been in this situiation before at a off leash park. It wasnt with my rottie but it was with my Swissy. A lab came right after my boy brutus. I simply got right in the middle of it and Pinned the lab down by its neck untill the owner who had NO CONTROL of her dog came over and looked at me like i was killing her dog... Why the hell do people take there dogs to parks like these

[fast91stealth]

I was at Petsmart a few nights ago with my boy Stealth and there was a lady there that had no right having her dog in public in the store. The whole time he was there all he did was bark and try to go after other dogs there. It didn't matter what dog as he tried to go after my Rott and also some tiny little dogs that I have no idea what they were. I also got a little upset though that some employees automatically assumed that my Rott was the issue. All he did while the other dog was going nuts was lay down next to me and completely ignore the dog. Also in my case its always small dogs that try and act tuff. One time a min pin bite me and all the owner said is yeah its a brat, you can feed it to your dog. Some people just shouldn't have there dog out in public.

[Gudrun's Mom]

I recently read a book on dog behavior and they mentioned that dogs with docked tails were more frequently attacked by other dogs than those who had tails. The research had been done in several dog parks. Of course, as others mentioned the tail isn't the only communicator but it is a pretty major one as it can been seen at longer distances than other body gestures.

Thank goodness you are are Arthur made it though in good order. We don't have a lease law in this area as it's considered rural but it has been built up and the laws haven't changed. Every walk that Tessa and I go on we always encounter dogs, some friendly some not to friendly. I try to avoid the areas where the dogs are agressive as Tessa is only 9 months old and don't feel that she's needs the stress at this time. Even so every once in a while we encounter an agressive Chow that roams the neighborhood. He has shown some agression to her but I ignore him and continue walking on. It does make the everyday walks a little less fun.