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A question for owners of aggressive dogs (Read 1445 times)


Feeling the growl again

    Thanks for all the comments, folks. I must say I'm a little surprised that nobody said I did the wrong thing. By the way, I didn't "kick the shit out of" the dog. Just one quick solid kick to let it know not to mess with me. The dog was obviously fine and got its pride hurt, if anything. My one regret is that I didn't stop and get the guy's name so that I could report him to animal control. I also would have considered filing a complaint for attempted assault. It would have been fun to really tell him what an ass he is, too. But, I probably did the right thing by just continuing my run. Sigh.
    You should have run backwards in front of him, added insult to injury! Seriously, you never know what these people will do. I once made the mistake of flipping someone off after they bumped me with their car and they chased me for over a mile, taking two more serious passes at hitting me. You're best just to keep going.

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     

      You absolutely did the right thing. I got bit by a dog last fall (I posted about my experience - I'll see if I can find it) and I am now terrified of dogs when I run. Luckily, the dog's owner was very nice, but I still ended up having to go to InstaCare for a tetnus shot and because it wouldn't stop bleeding. Coincidentally for me, I had recently gotten rid of my own dog just a few weeks beforehand, and my dog looked a lot like the one that bit me. It was a very traumatic experience. I used to run by that house often, and I haven't taken that route since.
        Yikes... the cats are even worse!! I've only run up on one of these twice (well, twice that I'm aware of)... but I nearly had to clean out my shorts both times.
        OMG!! How do you even handle something like this, I have a fear of dogs from being attacked (sort of) when I was about 3 - I can't even imagine what encountering a mountain lion would be like when a simple mid sized dog scares the living shit out of me.

        They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."

          I'm thinking about buying one of these for the next time a dog chases me... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWFBp34zS6E&feature=related
            What is it with little dogs? Napoleon complex?
            This is so true--my experience is that little dogs are more aggressive than big dogs, or at least more willing to bite. When we first bought our house the neighbor down the road had two obnoixious corgis...I hated those f-ing dogs. I was dog-sitting for my parents' shih-tzu/cocker mix and those corgis ganged up on him and tried to bite him. I'm not ashamed to say that I kicked them away...not a hard kick to either one but enough to tell them who was boss. Luckily that neighbor moved away a few months later.
            I've had plenty of larger dogs join me on my runs (which is kind of nerve-wracking when they first appear, but it's usually apparent very quickly that they are just friendly).
            That would be my dog. She loves to join runners. Most of the time we're outside with her when she's off-leash in the yard so we can go grab her before she gets too far down the road, but there have been a few times that she's gone on our neighbor's 5-miler. Fortunately people around here kind of expect dogs to be off-leash (either in their yards or walking down the road...it's rural), and we haven't had any problems with anyone. She's not aggressive in terms of barking/snarling/nipping, but she does look like a pit bull (she's actually lab/boxer), she's incredibly fast, and looks pretty scary running out of the yard. We're also fortunate that the only people running/walking by are neighbors and other "regulars," we're too far out of town to get any random passers by so by now everyone knows her and knows she's friendly. I don't blame the OP for kicking the dog, you have to make a decision based on your interpretation of the situation. If a new runner ran past my house and my dog when running after him, I might be annoyed if he kicked my dog but I can understand that some people might have interpreted her running as aggressive. That being said, I would probably ask the runner to "meet" the dog so that they would see that she is not aggressive, and apologize that she had scared them. Hopefully avoiding the situation in the future.
            2009 Goals:
            PR 5K (Ha, current 43:10)
            Run a 10K
            Meet Seasonal Weight Loss Challenges
            Complete my first Sprint Tri
              I once had a dog tag along with me. The only thing that concerned me was if the dog got lost or hurt (hit by car, attacked by another dog, etc). In the end I figured I would enjoy the dog's company, and try to not think about worst case scenarios.


              Right on Hereford...

                I hate it when strangers' dogs join me on my run. I get all kinds of dirty looks from people who think it's my dog that is off-leash, pooping, getting in fights with their dogs, or scaring their kids.
                Teresadfp


                One day at a time

                  I once had a dog tag along with me. The only thing that concerned me was if the dog got lost or hurt (hit by car, attacked by another dog, etc). In the end I figured I would enjoy the dog's company, and try to not think about worst case scenarios.
                  That happened to me a couple of months ago! A dog started following my friend and me. I didn't think about it, because I didn't consider it my responsibility. Several blocks away, out of the corner of my eye I saw the dog dart out into the street. I instinctively closed my eyes and then heard THUMP. Ugh, what a sickening sound. The car stopped, but the dog ran off! It was limping a little, but we couldn't catch up with it. I wished I'd remembered the exact house it came from, but I couldn't. In the future, I will at least try to shoo dogs off.


                  Feeling the growl again

                    That happened to me a couple of months ago! A dog started following my friend and me. I didn't think about it, because I didn't consider it my responsibility. Several blocks away, out of the corner of my eye I saw the dog dart out into the street. I instinctively closed my eyes and then heard THUMP. Ugh, what a sickening sound. The car stopped, but the dog ran off! It was limping a little, but we couldn't catch up with it. I wished I'd remembered the exact house it came from, but I couldn't. In the future, I will at least try to shoo dogs off.
                    Even the best intentions can get you in trouble sometimes. I was once running an 8K, and a golden retreiver came out and started running with us. Well, after a couple minutes it got distracted and cut off the guy in front of me, who tried to hurdle it but ended up kicking it on the way over. The dog got knocked over, and when it got up the first thing it saw was me so it took a good try at snapping my calf. So it got kicked again, this time on purpose, and I ended up having to stop and mock-charge aggressively a couple times to get it to leave without chasing me before I rejoined the race. One thing I will say, if the owners would just take a LITTLE time for discipline it would solve the problem. I was thinking about this thread yesterday as I ran a route that has TWO dogs on it that I have had encounters with previously -- and kicked both of them hard enough to teach them who is boss. Neither dog has left the property to chase me since, and they were both out yesterday.

                    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                     

                    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                     

                      I, like you, would have done the same thing. I think I would have considered booting the owner also.


                      #2867

                        Neither the dog nor I were at fault. I was doing as runners do and he was doing as dogs do.
                        Yep, that's pretty much how I feel. I never blame a dog for attacking me, I blame the owner.
                        By the way, I didn't "kick the shit out of" the dog. Just one quick solid kick to let it know not to mess with me. The dog was obviously fine and got its pride hurt, if anything. My one regret is that I didn't stop and get the guy's name so that I could report him to animal control. I also would have considered filing a complaint for attempted assault. It would have been fun to really tell him what an ass he is, too.
                        My general philosophy is to stop and stare a dog down; I've never kicked a dog that didn't bite me first, and I haven't kicked every dog that bit me. I just make sure that my crotch and hands are protected as much as possible and try to get the dog to back down by asserting my dominance; if it then bites me I kick it in the head hard enough to make it unhappy but not hard enough to do permanent damage. I then call animal control at the first opportunity (assuming the dog was not on it's own property when it attacked me.) From my article on what to do when a dog chases you:
                        The second time I was attacked by a dog and felt a need to kick it, the dog bit at my hip through my winter running clothes and clawed at my legs. Thankfully, I had full length pants on. The owner threatened to call the police on me when I had the gall to kick his dog when the dog ran out of his yard, ran across the street, and attacked me. I told him to go ahead and kept moving, and then called the police a few minutes later when I got home. That guy gave me the evil eye every time I ran by and he was outside after that, but he always grabbed his dog when he saw me coming. Unfortunately, I think he only controlled the dog when he saw me coming, because about a year and a half later the dog had to be put down when it attacked a kid on a bicycle. It was not the dog’s fault, but I guarantee that the dog’s owner still has not taken responsibility for what happened.

                        Run to Win
                        25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

                          "I don't blame the OP for kicking the dog, you have to make a decision based on your interpretation of the situation. If a new runner ran past my house and my dog when running after him, I might be annoyed if he kicked my dog but I can understand that some people might have interpreted her running as aggressive. That being said, I would probably ask the runner to "meet" the dog so that they would see that she is not aggressive, and apologize that she had scared them. Hopefully avoiding the situation in the future." Why isn't your dog on a leash? Why should you subject us to this problem, regardless if the dog is friendly or not. --we don't know that. I'm a dog owner myself, but bottom line, outside the fence -- on a leash...
                          This is so true--my experience is that little dogs are more aggressive than big dogs, or at least more willing to bite. When we first bought our house the neighbor down the road had two obnoixious corgis...I hated those f-ing dogs. I was dog-sitting for my parents' shih-tzu/cocker mix and those corgis ganged up on him and tried to bite him. I'm not ashamed to say that I kicked them away...not a hard kick to either one but enough to tell them who was boss. Luckily that neighbor moved away a few months later. That would be my dog. She loves to join runners. Most of the time we're outside with her when she's off-leash in the yard so we can go grab her before she gets too far down the road, but there have been a few times that she's gone on our neighbor's 5-miler. Fortunately people around here kind of expect dogs to be off-leash (either in their yards or walking down the road...it's rural), and we haven't had any problems with anyone. She's not aggressive in terms of barking/snarling/nipping, but she does look like a pit bull (she's actually lab/boxer), she's incredibly fast, and looks pretty scary running out of the yard. We're also fortunate that the only people running/walking by are neighbors and other "regulars," we're too far out of town to get any random passers by so by now everyone knows her and knows she's friendly. I don't blame the OP for kicking the dog, you have to make a decision based on your interpretation of the situation. If a new runner ran past my house and my dog when running after him, I might be annoyed if he kicked my dog but I can understand that some people might have interpreted her running as aggressive. That being said, I would probably ask the runner to "meet" the dog so that they would see that she is not aggressive, and apologize that she had scared them. Hopefully avoiding the situation in the future.
                            I agree - kick it. Better in the back than in the front where the teeth can catch you. And it will not hurt the dog as much either. Sometimes picking up a large stick or a rock and acting like you will throw it at the dog is enough to make it stop and turn the other way too. I fully agree with leash laws. I have a 50 pound Siberian Husky which stays on a leash at all times when its out in "public". She's not aggressive at all, but how is a stranger supposed to know? That's why I have no sympathy for the dog owner in your story. The owner is more easily intimidated. if I run up to him snarling as much as the dog saying "LEASH! LEASH! LEASH!" that has had an effect. Of course it helps me that I'm 6-3 and 200 pounds.
                              +1 all preceding posts, and another vote of confidence in your reaction. Do whatever you have to to keep safe.


                              Blaaahhhh

                                One thing I quickly learned when running and riding bikes is that dogs that are normally friendly and quiet can become quite aggressive when they see a person go running by. Not many owners seem to understand that. I run on dirt roads near where I live and I hate having to plan my route based on avoiding dogs.
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