Mean dog (Read 1337 times)

** LOVE ** (What a gorgeous group of dogs! I love dobes with natural ears!) My friend's pup:

http://runningahead.com/forums/post/31975ccd0c174ffea62582fed0b22435#focus http://runningahead.com/forums/post/29cad2629f87490e995f4714cb2690b6#focus

http://runningahead.com/forums/post/31975ccd0c174ffea62582fed0b22435#focus http://runningahead.com/forums/post/29cad2629f87490e995f4714cb2690b6#focus

Thanks Trent. Useful stuff there. I'll stick with kicking their throats and then stamping on their heads. This is what I wished I had done whilst I was getting my bites stitched in hospital.

Covering 3000+ miles per year for the majority of the past decade, you can imagine I have run into more than a few mean dogs or at least ones that chase me. Now I like dogs, I have had one since I was 10. But mine were always trained that they would be severely punished if they ever went into the road after anyone. My current dog will bark and run out to the inside edge of the ditch, but has NEVER gone into the road after anyone, even if they stop and taunt him...he knows better, it wasn't all that hard to train him like that, and I have no fence. I have ZERO sympathy for dogs and dog owners when they chase me. Maybe it's not the sog's fault he was never trained properly, but it's not my fault either and when it's me or the dog I win. I first will stop and yell at them, even turn and walk/jog back at them. This intimidates 95% and they leave me alone. 5% still come on, and another 10% try it again as soon as I turn my back to exit the area. If they get within kicking distance, they get kicked. HARD. If their owner will not train them by teaching them a lesson, I WILL. About a month ago I had a dog come at me very aggressively. I'd been mildly chased by this one before but this time his 70-something owner was in the yard so I think that was the difference. She watched him go, and said nothing. I yelled at her to control her dog...nothing. I yelled at the dog, and he paused. I turned to leave and he came in for my calf, so I spun and kicked him in the head. The woman started screaming, and even got her husband to chase me down in their truck and lay into me about how their dog doesn't bite. I pointed out that A) he cannot PROMISE me that his dog will NEVER bite -- there is always a first (he did stay mute when I challenged him to promise that), B) the law does not care if his dog does not bite, it is illegal for his dog to chase me on a public road and I am within my rights to file a loose dog complaint against him, C) if he fails to do his legal duty to control his dog, I am within my rights to kick it, and D) it is not my responsibility to have to try and determine whether every dog I encounter is a biter -- I have to assume every dog may and I don't give a sh!t if he claims his dog never bites because I have had people tell me that as I pry their dog's jaw off my leg. I said if he is so stupid as to chase me down because I was forced to kick his dog in self defense due to his negligence, in the future there would be no more freebies and each time the dog sets foot on the road I will file a loose dog report. I used to get chased by that dog about 1 of 3 times past that house, and I haven't seen it since. I will NOT change my routes because someone refuses to take responsibility for their pet. #1 this would exclude too many roads, and #2 it just isn't right.

The dogs' or the owner's? It is owners like this that get folks like the OP to hate all dog owners.

Word.

"Hey! I thought you said your dog didn't bite?!" "That.... is not my dog."

Classic punchline. Oh - and I'm calling horse-puckey on your story up there, by the way. If two bullmastiffs attacked you with intent to harm, you wouldn't be here. They were toying with you before eating you. HTFU. Or run faster.

Well I have a slightly different perspective to add, which is probably going to get me lots of flak but here goes: I live in rural (actually RURAL) Vermont. I live about a mile from the end of a dead-end road. Since there are only two houses beyond ours, we don't get a whole heck of a lot of traffic, car or foot. My dog is a very sweet, very friendly boxer/lab mix who had the unfortunate combination of genes to wind up looking like a pit bull. I'll admit-she's a tough looking dog, though she has never shown any sign of aggression to anyone or anything. There have been a few times that people have jogged or walked past our house and Nikita will run to greet them and cover them in sloppy dog kisses. I recognize that not everyone wants to be covered in dog slobber. When this happens, I run down to grab my dog as soon as I can, and I introduce the jogger/walker to her so they can see she isn't mean. I then ask them if they normally run at a certain time of day so I can make sure she isn't outside off-leash at that time. In short, I try to accomodate their needs (to use the road). Keep in mind that this was your first time trying out a new route....if the owner had no reasonable expectation that anyone would be running by, they probably thought it was OK for the dog to be outside off-leash. Getting back to the original post, I recommend that you stop and talk to the owner and ask that she introduce you to the dog so that the dog is familiar with you--that alone might stop it from chasing you. At the very least, it won't perceive you as a threat so it probably won't bite you. I wouldn't jump to calling the animal control people unless it's a continuing problem. And I would NOT recommend taking treats with you unless you want the dog to follow you home too. Again, my perspective is somewhat different because I come from a place where it's commonplace to have dogs off-leash, both in their yards and out walking them too. We even have a couple of dogs that sleep in the middle of Main Street. But don't hate all of us dog-owners, when you're running or any other time.