I'm Becoming Afraid To Walk My Dogs

[Are You Serious Jo]

If people would follow the law those of us with reactive dogs might actually be able to go out with them sometimes. All we ask is that others keep their dogs on lead in areas when it it is an on lead area! We should all be free to walk without being approached by other dogs. It's obvious that a lot of dogs are accidents waiting to happen with the old don't worry he's friendly crap when it's obvious the owner can't recognise a dog ready for a fight.

[BlackJaq]

My dogs have only been attacked twice - and neither times was while out walking or at a dog park. Both times were during an agility class, which isn't where you'd normally expect to see that sort of thing ...

My 4 yo has been roughed up and badly frightened twice by agility dogs at agility seminars with top OS presenters. People who should've had an effective recall and should've known better.

Foxy has also been attacked at agility several times. We are a small rural club and a lot of the dogs have had no previous training or socialization, which I believe was the problem with all the dogs that reacted so negatively. Every time except once, all dogs were on leash but the attacking dogs' owners still could not stop their dog launching

The once was my fault, when we had some off leash play time and a new dog came on the grounds (on leash) and Foxy approached it before I saw it.

I think it is a bit of a vicious cycle, where owners are reluctant to take their dogs out because of unfriendly roaming dogs and then their dog becomes one of the problem dogs due to lack of training and socialization.

Often dogs can also become reactive as a result of being charged by strange dogs, friendly or not, which is why I think many people need to gain better control of their dogs and I am not a fan of dogs off leash unless in designated off leash areas

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I do let Gus come out in the front yard with me occasionally to get the mail or put the bins out, we have a fence but no gate. My thinking behind this is so I can put him in the car or do these things without him thinking it's anything special or different when the front door is opened, or having him breaking his neck to get out there.

He's never just wandering, he has a sniff and hops in the car or goes back inside with a pilfered stick or has a wee and comes back in with me. I hardly feel like I'm the problem here though.

I feel like making the front yard less mysterious and exciting is making it more likely he'll come back in when asked, and less likely he will take off like an excited dervish if the door happens to be left open for a split second. I know this is as much a training issue as any, but I don't think exposure to our yard at the end of a quiet court of 6 houses is a bad idea.

Having said that, I certainly don't leave him out there alone or leave him wandering out of the yard. He has left it once to sniff the nature strip and was promptly called back inside.

Is your dog a da dog? If he is then this is extremely risky. Even if he isn't you are still taking a risk.

I would get a gate and then you wouldn't have to worry. You can easily train him not to rush a front door, to get in and out of a car - on lead.

[Steph M]

Nooooooo no no. Haha. Not even close. He's the happiest puppy ever.

It's a rental and unfortunately we've asked but haven't been allowed to put a gate up, even at our cost.

[mita]

I'm actually pretty shocked at the number of people here who have reactive dogs - and are advocating everyone else lock theirs up so they can take them for walks wherever and whenever...

Most dogs I have met running loose in my area have been friendly - in some cases way too friendly with anyone and anything approaching them. If I come across a loose dog, I'm likely to knock on it's owner's door and return it to them (in the case of the dog getting out accidentally), or popping them into my car and taking them to the local vet/pound for scanning and return to same. In more cases than not, the dog has been a first time offender in getting out of the yard and has been off having a lovely adventure looking for someone to give them attention/pats.

Where are the people with reactive dogs advocating that everyone else must lock their dogs up so they can take them for a walk?

That's very close to a 'blame the victim' mentality. And that high velocity loose -dog on leashed- dog attack, is the fault of the leashed- dog's being 'reactive' & its owner for owning it.

The incidents being recounted in this thread are not the 'doggy jousting' kind between dogs.... but flat-out high velocity attacks where the attacking dogs meant business.

Speaking only for myself, my dogs attacked in such incidents were not of reactive temperaments. Out tibbies are the calmest creatures. Same for our shelties that were also the targets of such attacks. Calm, sensible dogs.

These kind of attacks were not perpetrated by all-round reasonably fine dogs that just happened to get out & be loose for some reason. I've found a whole pile of such dogs.... we live near a strip shopping centre which is a magnet for dogs that slip their containment (nice smells). And I've got them off the streets to the safety of our front yard.

Phone ID & Council rego on collars got them back to owners promptly. Most represented breed has been staffies... & they've been absolute dolls to handle. Next, there's been a couple of labradors. All have proven to come from homes that the research so clearly points to as raising dogs least likely to show high level aggression against strange people & other dogs. The dogs have been part of a family that includes them, grooms, walks & socializes them. Interestingly, fitting that bill, was the very nicest of all the dogs I've plucked from being lost on the footpath outside.... a female pitbull.

What we're talking about on this thread are dogs from the opposite background.... those raised & mismanaged in such a way that they are more likely to develop behaviours where they'll attack other dogs.... with savagery.

Edited September 1, 2013 by mita

[Rebanne]

You don't have to own a reactive dog to be sick to death of all the offlead dogs harassing you and yours. I don't want your dog coming up to mine uninvited. Why is that so hard for some to understand? I don't care how friendly or well mannered it is, if you are not in an off lead area put the damn dog on a leash.

[megan_]

Yes - I want to go for a walk without being harassed - reactive dog or not. All people are asking is that others obey the law. What a selfish society we live in when that is too much to ask.

[Loving my Oldies]

Well posted, Trudy08. So much "dog skiing" around here, and, as I said on previous occasions, the proliferation of retractable leads is making things worse. One woman has a Dalmatian on a retractable lead so long that the dog is able to bounce across the road from one footpath to the footpath on the other side . Dog is totally out of control and if she sees me coming, she does not seem to have the will or the strenght to rein her dog in.

The dog is probably a delightful happy dog, but the owner has no idea of her responsibilities in walking and training a young, large and excitable dog.

[BlaznHotAussies]

Those retractable leads are freaking dangerous. I've been tangled up in one when a lady let her little JR run around me trying to get to my dog, who was of course cowering behind me (he has only really had experience with other BCs plus he's naturally submissive & timid...which is damn tiring to be completely honest!!) and as the dog was chasing him around me I was getting tangled in the lead. Somehow managed to stay standing and escape but it was really tricky because it was sun down. I get so annoyed when I see those stupid things because they just seem to be an excuse not to teach your dog to lead properly.

[Alison03]

Well posted, Trudy08. So much "dog skiing" around here, and, as I said on previous occasions, the proliferation of retractable leads is making things worse. One woman has a Dalmatian on a retractable lead so long that the dog is able to bounce across the road from one footpath to the footpath on the other side . Dog is totally out of control and if she sees me coming, she does not seem to have the will or the strenght to rein her dog in.

The dog is probably a delightful happy dog, but the owner has no idea of her responsibilities in walking and training a young, large and excitable dog.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

You don't have to own a reactive dog to be sick to death of all the offlead dogs harassing you and yours. I don't want your dog coming up to mine uninvited. Why is that so hard for some to understand? I don't care how friendly or well mannered it is, if you are not in an off lead area put the damn dog on a leash.

x 2

[frufru]

Yep, really sick of it!!

[Alison03]

Those retractable leads are being used to simulate a dog being off leash which is fine in a big area but not for walking the streets. As usual it's a tool being used for a purpose it wasn't designed for. All dogs on street walks should be on a short leash preferably at heel.

I've met dogs of all sizes who don't seem to know how to walk in a straight line and apparently neither do the owners. ????Which makes them hard to avoid. ????

[Alison03]

You don't have to own a reactive dog to be sick to death of all the offlead dogs harassing you and yours. I don't want your dog coming up to mine uninvited. Why is that so hard for some to understand? I don't care how friendly or well mannered it is, if you are not in an off lead area put the damn dog on a leash.

x 2

[Alison03]

Absolutely agree Sky, it's annoys me how an owner can sit on the grass in the park and let their dog wander where it pleases, rushing whatever dog it sees and then have the cheek to berate anyone with a dog on a lead that objects to be harassed by their free range quite often not so friendly dog. ????

[Steph M]

Well Trudy that's where I disagree if we're talking about an off leash park, you can't expect some dogs not to come up and greet you or your dog, I'm usually pretty on top of Gus, meaning I don't just sit in the grass but he often greets on lead dogs and luckily we've never personally had a problem, but I've seen some people with leashed dogs who do really get up in arms about dogs greeting them or their dogs.

Different if we're talking about an on lead park, but those people that come to the off leash parks and bark at others to keep their dogs away should really consider walking somewhere else if it's so stressful for them or the dog.

It's part and parcel of when and where you're walking, I understand they are public facilities but I sure don't go to parks and complain when there's children?

[Alison03]

Sorry Steph I wasn't clear about what I meant, I was just taking about an ordinary people park not a off leash dog park.

Of course in a dog park everyone must mix together, no point in going to one of those and expecting to be in your own bubble of personal space. I've only ever been to an off leash beach for small dogs, I've never had a problem, my little girl is easy going and mixes well. She's even good with tiny puppies. ????

I meant dog owners in an ordinary park letting their dogs off leash, I come across that regularly, some dogs are ok but others seem to take a dislike to my easy going well behaved little dog. I often wonder if she was more agressive would that put them off menacing her or would it make matters worse? ????.

[Steph M]

That's ok! I had a suspicion that's what you meant and hoped it was!

I'm with you there, the two are vastly different experiences, and rightly so. Hope I wasn't harsh! :)

[Alison03]

No you weren't harsh, just stating a point, we seem to be on the same page. ????

We want all dog owners to be considerate of each other but we don't want to be unreasonable about it. ????

I walked passed several large breed dogs with their owners today, very well behaved dogs, then I came across a small breed dog like mine that went bonkers when it saw us. Honestly smaller dogs are much more easier to handle, I can't understand why the owner wouldn't take the time to correct the behaviour. ????

[RubyStar]

You don't have to own a reactive dog to be sick to death of all the offlead dogs harassing you and yours. I don't want your dog coming up to mine uninvited. Why is that so hard for some to understand? I don't care how friendly or well mannered it is, if you are not in an off lead area put the damn dog on a leash.

YES! And can I take it one step further and ask even if you are in an offlead area, keep some control over your dog. Offlead area does not mean free reign to go up to every other dog in the vicinity, friendly or not.

And it seems walking the dogs at 6am still isn't early enough to avoid troubles. One day I was walking mine down a quiet suburban street, no people around, and it wasn't until I was practically right on top of it did I notice a large breed dog laying in the front yard of the house. I immediately crossed the road at the T-junction and went in the opposite direction, trying desperately to keep my cool for my dogs sake as I've already had several bad experiences, and the dog starts following us! Quietly freaking out, I kept walking without acknowledging the dog and my dogs remarkably did the same. It got the message and buggered off. I am SO thankful the dog wasn't DA and that my dogs followed my lead. I was gobsmacked they ignored this dog, and SO proud of them (one loves all dogs, the other does not like strange dogs approaching her, especially while on lead, so this in itself was a miracle). Continued my walk home shaking like a leaf.