A few weeks ago, I was walking home with my Siberian Husky after a nice neighborhood walk. Suddenly, I hear some heavy barking, and a pit-bull charges out from one of my neighbor’s backyard and starts barking at us crazily.
If he were a truly aggressive pit-bull, we would have been toast.
Instead, I backed away from him slowly and shouted out to my neighbor. Of course, he was doing yard work at the time, and did not hear me over the noise of his lawn mower. He had left his gate open so that he could get easy access to his recycling bin.
Dude! … I mean really?!
Luckily another neighbor heard me, came out, and secured the dog.
Several days later, I was charged by an Akita. She came over, and started bullying my Husky girl. A boy came running after the dog, and then just stood there. He did not know what to do.
I raised my voice and said Stop to the Akita, which surprisingly, she did. Maybe she was just momentarily startled. I asked the boy to please remove his dog, but he just hit his dog on the muzzle. Since the dog did not have a collar on, the boy was unable to effectively remove her.
However, since the Akita was no longer focused on my dog, I was able to move away, and then Akita Inu finally followed the boy home.
Dude! … I mean really?!
And then today, I was charged by a large Labrador. He was being walked off-leash in the neighborhood even though he had 0% recall.
Then one of the owners said, “Don’t worry, he is not aggressive”.
Another one said, “I am doing off-leash training with my dog and I did not see you.”
Dude! … I mean really?!
- Point – Someone who lets an untrained dog run about off-leash in public neighborhood streets has no understanding of dogs. I very much doubt they know whether their dog is aggressive or not.
- Point – Leaving a dog with no recall, off-leash, is dangerous to other people, other dogs, and to the dog himself. There are not too many cars in my neighborhood, but all it takes is just one.
- Point – Perhaps the Labrador is not aggressive, but then my dog could be aggressive. In which case, a fight could have broken out when the Labrador invaded my dog’s space and forced a butt sniff on her.
- Point – One DOES NOT do off-leash training on public neighborhood streets. Find a private enclosed area to start recall training, and once the dog is more advanced, take him to an off-leash hiking park.
What to Do When Charged by Off-Leash Neighborhood Dogs?
I usually just ignore the owners and walk away as soon as they get control of their dog.
I don’t really want to converse with them, because I would likely lose my temper and that would upset the dogs even more.
I am not sure if that is the best thing to do though. I would like to try and convince them not to leave their untrained dogs running around off-leash.
What do you think?
- What do you do when charged by off-leash neighborhood dogs?
- How do we get our neighbors to keep untrained dogs on a leash?
I agree with the previous poster. Although this article is older it is so relevant! After getting charged once again with snarling dogs on walkies today I hit the internet to see what other people did in the same situation. I love this site so I came here first! The problem in my area is dogs behind those invisible electric fences. They get out and the owners claim the electricity failed. Funny how it’s always just the fence and never their house, eh? All their other electrical devices seem to functioning just fine. Through previous escapes I think many of these dogs have figured out that if they put up with a little discomfort there is a way out. These are unsocialized, dog-agressive dogs who I never see out on walks with their owners EVER and usually come in pairs. To date (in a year and a half) we have been charged by two German Shepherds together (twice), two Rottweilers together (twice), a Pitbull and mixed breed dog together (today), one lone Boxer mix and one completely unidentifiable mix (three times). The only non dog aggressive one out of the bunch was the Pitbull, thankfully.
I have two Border Collies, one 12 year old ex-super mum who no aggressive dog ever dares to mess with and her grandson, one fearful and reactive 1.5 year old male. My gut reaction is always to take my cue from my super old lady and her doggy tone of voice (she utters one vocal correction to dogs going for her and they just stop) in these situations. She is off leash and can deal with these dogs perfectly herself but I am with my very reactive fearful young dog on leash who is still learning that calmness is his friend. I draw myself up, remain calm, think in my head “this is MY walk, you will absolutely NOT mess with my day” and say in my best commanding, ‘do not mess with me’ voice, BACK OFF while indicating away from me with my hand. The words are irrelevant as the dogs don’t speak English but the tone and body language seem to work. To date this has been successful for me and the startled dogs vacate our vicinity fairly sharpish (perhaps it is me and my old lady in a combo counter assault. They try her first and get rebuked and then head for my frightened pup and get rebuked again by me) but it is so frustrating dealing with these lackadaisical owners.
I live in a small village and these encounters always happen on the various small country paths where I am completely alone with no back up and the owners houses are far away. I am trying to train with my reactive dog who is always on a leash, be it short or long, to deal with his fear issues and the carelessness of these people keep setting our progress back. I consider myself lucky to date that my voice has stopped a fight before it starts (and miraculously lucky to have a dog like my old lady to back me up) but what would I do if this failed and I found myself alone with my two dogs and two aggressors? The mind boggles at the behavior of some owners. I am struggling to find the right channel to report these things as I am a foreigner who is still learning the language where I am, as I have only relocated a little while ago, but talking to the owners never seems to work. The article says it best:
Dude! … I mean really?!
Although this article has aged a little, the issue has not. I disagree with one minor thing: Even if the dog is well-trained, they need to be on leash except in off-leash parks or unpopulated areas. First, it’s the law; second, how hard is it to hold a leash? If your dog is that well-trained, being on-leash should be extremely easy.
My biggest problem with off-leash dogs has come in our own territory. There has always been someone in the neighborhood who lets their dogs roam loose, and those dogs expand their territory. I’ve lived in three different places where dogs allowed to roam freely harass my dog. I once lived in an apartment complex with an aggressive Boxer who was continuously allowed off-leash despite my warnings to the owner of an impending dog fight. (I also have a Boxer.) One morning, we were outside for our potty break, and the Boxer was let outside off-leash, barreled across the parking lot, and tore into my dog. I later found out that she had attacked the other dog in the building on several occasions. Thanks to people like this (not dogs, PEOPLE), my Boxer now hates off-leash dogs and goes immediately on the defensive when she sees one. At present, I have to limit her walks because there’s a property behind us where yet another owner lets the dog roam loose, and his Lab started off after her the other morning, coming into our parking area. I did the “stop” command with my hand up, but my experience is that after a few encounters, the dogs stop listening to that.
The other comment I have about uncontained dogs is that you don’t need to be out walking a dog to have problems with an unleashed dog. Pedestrians generally do not relish encountering dogs that are not leashed or contained.
Out of all the wandering dogs I have dealt with only one of them should have ever been allowed to be loose. She was an older chow chow that was a very serious guard of her property (untrained). She never approached, never lunged, never came within yards of anyone unless they invited her over to pet her. Really sweet dog, pretty much ignored whatever dog you were walking, and followed a little behind to make sure that you weren’t staying.
The only real way you could get trouble from that dog was if you walked onto the property. Then the dog was replaced by a lion and you were in some serious trouble.
That’s, until you stepped back off of the property XD. No fear or running required. You got off her land and she immediately had no problems with you anymore.
But as to the issue, the only thing I can think is to have your local animal control on speed dial. If they get enough calls about a neighbor letting their dogs wander they will hopefully get the message and fine the owner. Nothing says “deal with your dogs” like a big hole in the pocketbook 😀
My dog too. After numerous attacks from much larger dogs, being charged and bitten, he doesn’t want any dog near him, barrs his teeth and gives warning growls and snaps at them when they get close. And the owner still lets her off-leash dog keep on coming while she tells me that it’s my fear on my dog causing the problem. Lady there wouldn’t be a problem if your dog was leashed and could have a proper introduction to my dog in a controlled and safe environment.
Thanks for the great advice!!!!! :-)))
Hate hate HATE out-of-control off leash dogs in on leash areas and the owner attitude that usually goes with it.
If the dog is minding his own business, I don’t say anything — just go the long way around. But that is usually not the case. Usually the dog comes running at my dog, who, after a number of bad experiences like this, doesn’t take well to be charged by a strange dog while he is on leash. Go figure. Nor do I take well to being put in the middle of a dog fight by an owner who is 50 yards away either doing nothing or yelling, “Don’t worry! He’s friendly!”
I tell the owner to get control of their dog. I tell the owner that this is not an off-leash area. And if it happens more than once, I tell the owner more than that. But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter. It’s not that the owners are UNAWARE that their dog is off leash and out of control in an on-leash area. It’s that they don’t care. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about your dog. And they don’t care that much about their own dog.
I was charged by an off-leash pit while walking my two dogs on-leash. I peper sprayed the ower!
Good for you! I also carry pepper spray because when I walk my dig, we are almost always charged by an off leash dog.
Way to go Suzanne. Just tonight I was charged by three different dogs while walking my two dogs. One of my dogs is a young puppy that I am training to walk on a leash. I was told by each one of the Owners that their dogs were harmless. I told them I couldn’t guarantee how my older dog was going to react because she is very protective of the puppy. First and foremost our dogs are animals. No matter how well trained you think they are, you cannot predict their behavior.
Yay!!!
This happens to us in our own yard. We just moved into a 3 family house in “the country” where one of the occupants thinks she is the animal psychic and expert rolled into one. Her GSD has rushed my dog 2 times and it’s turned into a dominance thing with her. She feels she should have the right to keep her untrained dog off leash. Our dog is ALWAYS on leash, even in the (unfenced) yard.
I’m so sick of all the problems I have had since we got our dog. It’s NEVER my dog (always on a leash). It’s these other jerks.
I did make the mistake once of thinking my Shiba, Kioko, would come back during a beach walk. There was no one but my two friends and their dog with me on this beach for miles so it wasn’t much of a problem. I figured, Kioko has a really good recall at dog parks, in the house, in our yard, at our friend’s ranch, etc. He should be fine here? Not so much with seagulls around. >.<
He went chasing down the beach after each colony of seagulls while I fretted away, wondering if I should pick up the pace the whole time. I concluded I didn't want him to think we would match his pace under any circumstance, so we continued walking. He got about a mile ahead of us and turned around and saw we weren't following so quickly. We watched him turn around and slowly saunter back, smelling all the seaweed and taking his dear sweet time He came back with the biggest stupidest smile on his face ever.
I can't decide if he was ignoring me because of the colonies of seagulls, or because he couldn't hear me when I first called when he was quarter mile out due to the waves (yes, I let him get a decent distance before worrying and calling him back in vast, empty places like this).
At least now I know what distance to expect him to stop and check on me when he's hunting. And I need to work on deciding when best to recall in different locations.
By the way, this dog is 8 and one of the best dogs I’ve had as far as recall and staying close. We go on walks leashed in my neighborhood and he is allowed off leash only in specific places. For example, we go out to visit a friend of mine who has acres of land on a regular basis. He’ll run with me through the trails or behind the golf cart / atv if we’re doing heavy work. If he does wander I don’t mind much because he’d come when called. Squirrels have never been a big problem as he’d stop the pursuit and come right back. It was just this one time with seagulls. Hence me questioning his recall due to the waves drowning out my voice.
Here’s a link to an ongoing discussion in regard to off-leash dogs in public parks. Very similar situations to the ones described here. This a discussion that has been resurfacing for 6 years in this particular park in Richmond Va. Nobody seems to have real solutions to put the problem to bed permanently:
http://chpn.net/news/2013/03/07/problems-with-off-leash-dogs-in-the-parks_26522/
i have two passive females, an irish setter and a smaller mixbreed. both adopted, yet well behaved, and always on leashes.
i have this problem with one of the family’s down the road. not only do they not put their aggressive large dog on a leash, but they themselves(father and pre-teen son) ride around oblivious on bicycles.. letting the dog run amuk. And occasionally the dog charges at mine. at first i changed my schedule, to avoid running into them, but now i’vve realised that they don’t follow one.. so finally today i told the guy to either put his dog on a leash or stay away from my dogs. he said: “Why? he’s not doing anything.. its a public road..”
Dude! … I mean really?!
i have anger management issues when dealing with stupid people like this. Also his son was watching, and i didn’t want to have a child watch his dad get messed up.. so i took a deep breath and walked away.
now I just visualize the guy getting mauled by someone else’s off leash dog.
maybe i’m sick in the head 😛
it really is frustrating. i get what your going through. thanks for the excellent post 🙂
oh forgot to mention:
i am a reformed off-leash dog walker. i used to let my last dog, a large labrador, run amuk.
And one day he got stolen.. i somehow managed to recover(long story) him, and then he hurt his leg during another leashless walk.
After that i grew a brain. kept him on a leash for the rest of his long happy life(14years). He became so well behaved that i could even take him to my office with me. and because of him they officially turned it into a dog-allowed workspace!