Off Leash Dog

This is a place to gain some understanding of dog behavior and to assist people in training their dogs and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. This can cover the spectrum from non-aversive to traditional methods of dog training. There are many ways to train a dog. Please avoid aggressive responses, and counter ideas and opinions with which you don't agree with friendly and helpful advice. Please refrain from submitting posts that promote off-topic discussions. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

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Koorazh

You can't catch- me!

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 6:38am PST


	I have neighbors who got a puppy. They have been running through the neighborhood with the puppy off leash. Our county has a leash law. The puppy is now growing from a small puppy to a young dog. We ran into them this morning. As soon as I saw her dog was off leash, I stopped. Her dog began to run at my dog. I yelled "Get your dog!" The owner did nothing. I began dragging Koorazh backwards down the street, and yelled again, "Get your dog!" Her dog was not being aggressive. But Koorazh doesn't like being charged by off leash dogs when he is on leash, particularly because we have had now several bad encounters with off leash dogs. His hackles were up and he was growling. And my adrenaline was up as I anticipated that I would soon be standing in the middle of a dog fight. When off leash dog owners let their dogs charge you, the only person who is safe is -- the off leash dog owner, standing thirty feet or more away. I carry "Halt!" the dog spray the post office uses because of this very problem, and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to spray this dog, which I really didn't want to do. The owner finally got her dog, and I chewed her out. I told her that the county has a leash law, that her dog needed to be on leash at all times, that if anything happened as a consequence of her behavior I would be calling police and animal control. She said not one word to me. Finally, I finished with, "The words YOU are looking for are, 'I'm sorry' and 'Excuse me.'" She finally mumbled sullenly, "I'm sorry" and walked off. On the one hand, I feel mildly guilty that I yelled at a neighbor. Her dog was not being aggressive, and she has the smell of a first time dog owner who hasn't thought things through. On the other hand, my experience is that people who think they are magically exempted from leash laws do not change their behavior unless there are consequences for them. Asking nicely doesn't work. Cold shoulder doesn't work. Dollars to donuts we're going to have this problem again.

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LuLu "Lupin"- Padfoot

1251362

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 6:49am PST


	I gave up walking my pets outside of my yard because of off leash dogs. Typically I take them to my parents farm and we run around there. I actually have to go outside first to make sure there's no dogs around before I bring my crew out. My oldest dog has been attacked way too many times just because we walked outside and didn't realize there was a neighbor dog hanging around loose. She did apologize though, so maybe she will leash him from now on. or at least teach him to stick near her with a good recall...

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Kato

Birds!

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 6:58am PST


	I wouldn't be so hostile to them. Maybe they're new dog owners, maybe the pup was good off leash but suddenly reached the rebellious teenage stage right then. Maybe that was their first encounter with their pup taking off. We've all had our moments. I've also found that dragging the dog backwards or putting any tension on the leash makes things MUCH worse. Instead of getting flustered, change your view of the situation. If there's no stopping the other dog, welcome it. It helps calm things down and make things go smoothly. No dogs like being charged by other dogs, but it is a good skill to have in the event it does happen. So, look at it as a learning opportunity. Calm yourself and think of the good that can come out of it. I really can't stress enough about not pulling the dog back. A bit of a different situation, but the principals still apply. A dog here normally "stalks" us when we're out walking. I know the dog, and he's nice. Kato loves him, but the dog doesn't exactly come all the way up to us off the bat. I would normally have to pull and tug Kato to keep walking. In return, Kato kept pulling and tugging and getting in a huff. One day, I just said to heck with it and let Kato off leash. He looked at the other dog, got a quick sniff, and then continued walking back with me. All the posturing and whining and pulling went away when I just let him have a moment. I'm not saying you need to let them off leash, but stopping and letting them take it in helps.

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Koorazh

You can't catch- me!

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 7:10am PST


	After our previous experiences, I am not willing to take the chance of letting a strange dog charge my dog and get in his face when his hackles are up and he is growling. It might work out. It might not. I'd rather not take that chance with both my dog and me (since I will also be standing in the middle). Pulling on the leash might add to my dog's stress but more importantly it creates distance between us and the approaching dog and time for that owner to get her dog under control, which she eventually did. It also sends the clearest signal to the other owner that her dog's approach is not welcome. I might have spoken more gently to her for a first offense, and for that I feel mildly guilty. But my guess is that it will not change her behavior at all. She will not control her dog, and that leaves me to do it.

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Kodiak

The cheese ninja

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 7:25am PST


	This a good argument for following leash laws, no matter how well your dog behaves! You could send an email or leave a note saying "I wanted to apologize for snapping at you. It occurred to me later that you may be new dog owners. I know it's fun for the dog to be off leash, and that he has a good temperament. But my dog has had several bad encounters with off-leash dogs, and he is wary. A lot of dogs are freaked out by meeting an off leash dog while they're restrained on a leash. It's not a natural way for dogs to meet, since one dog feels trapped. For this reason, it's really important to always have him on a leash." If you can manage, keep the tone non-blaming. If they keep doing it, feel free to scream at them and call the police and/or Animal Control.

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Trigger

*Blackdog*

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 7:54am PST


	I too stopped walking Trigger in particular for this very reason. I hate to disagree with you Kato but leaving my reactive dog snarling, hackles raised to face a charging strange dog has always left us in a far more perilous situation than when I forced us to turn tail. Many times just the change in direction would stop the charging dog, particularly if it was coming from it's own yard. It would at least appease and stop the ones who seemed to be territorial or curious instead of just flat out aggressive. I had control of my on leash dog even if it meant turning and leaving the situation against his wishes, at that point my hope and goal was always then to somehow gain control of the other...whether that be via that retreat, by hollaring at the charger, resorting to using some sort of a mace or whatever. A face to face meeting for Trigger and a charging dog will NEVER go well together, and I rarely speak in absolutes. I don't care who's holding the leash or what vibe that individual is giving off, it's not something he has ever been ok with. I know even if there's going to be a meeting of the two having that strange dog approach from the rear instead of his face gives the other dog a better chance of not getting seriously hurt right out the shoots. In turn, moving gives his mind a chance to change gears and me an opportunity to put distance between us all while I'm able to keep an eye on the situation going on behind us and protect his rear with a boot if I need to. If another dog is ever going to hurt him I'd much prefer they try for the hind end rather than his head. Me standing there pretending to be calm doesn't change what Trigger has already learned about what usually comes next. I say pretending because I have also already leaned about what usually comes next and there is no changing that. Telling me I can or should be able to think nothing of our horrific experiences in the past is silly. If every single time you went to work you got punched in the face would you be able to keep your anxiety and fear in constant check every time you left your house to go there? I think it's really an unreasonable expectation to expect people who's pets have been harmed, sometimes even killed, to just stand there with a smile on their face and zero anticipatory reaction in response to a charging stranger. Same goes for people who have been attacked themselves. That's not the way the brain works nor is it a choice how the brain causes the body to react. Would be nice if it did, that would mean no one would ever need to suffer from any kind of phobia, but that's not reality. OP - don't feel bad about telling your neighbor like it is. Ignorance is not an excuse to put one's dog as well as others in danger. And beyond that, once she was made aware of the situation because you literally WARNED her to get her dog, she had no right to ignore it. You did nothing wrong as far as I'm concerned.

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Squ'mey

too old to eat- any more KD

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 8:26am PST


	Trigger . Sorry Kato..but with a large reactive dog..who is prepared to back up what he's barking...I can not let an off leash dog come barreling up. If there is a leash law..you obey it..plain & simple. Just because your (generic, not specific) dog is friendly doeas not mean mine (specific) is. I do not have a problem if your off leash dog is totally under control..but if it is charging me..I will deal with it to keep my dog safe. OP...let's hope that your vociferous reaction resonates with your neighbour & they realize it is much better to obey the law to keep their puppy safe. Edited by author Tue May 29, '12 8:27am PST

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Kato

Birds!

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 8:55am PST


	To each their own, I've had plenty of experiences with this and have found what I described to work best. Kato was reactive and would most certainly back up his bark with bites if dogs came in too close. He had done it quite a few times. And after seeing it the first time, I was tugging and pulling to get out of there. I found letting them have a learning moment helped best. Either way, I still don't think it appropriate to yell at people like that. I get the reasoning behind it, but it's a bit extreme imo. No way to live life.

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Trigger

*Blackdog*

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 9:11am PST


	Kato - not all dogs would take that freedom and choose to have a "learning moment" though. And I wonder how many times OP should have had to ask the other owner to get her dog before she had a right to get upset? What would have had to happen before she had a right to get angry? She was very scared while the other owner did nothing in response to her pleas...getting angry about that is no way to live life? I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. The threatened safety and wellbeing of my dogs, my kids and other loved ones is about the ONLY thing that gets my feathers ruffled. IMHO if there was ever a good reason to get riled in life about something that would be it.

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Koorazh

You can't catch- me!

Barked: Tue May 29, '12 9:25am PST


	In a perfect world, I would have said what I needed to just the way that Kodiak suggested. But I was upset -- because I was put in a position to have to decide how best to protect myself and my dog by someone who had abdicated her responsibility ON PURPOSE and was standing there watching it unfold. If I could rewrite that moment, I would have communicated along Kodiak's lines the first time, and saved the anger for the second time after I had put the person on warning. But honestly, I have yet to see an owner who habitually ignores leash laws and doesn't control his/her dog correct his/her behavior, because it is packaged in entitlement. Laws are for other, lesser, mortals. And that attitude is also infuriating.

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