By the way how did you relate my comments to a racist behaviour?
Fyi that I don't have any problem with any nationality or any race!!
Obviosly I'm talking about the unresponsible dog owners who are not controlling their dogs.. Not all owners!
To have a dog under control is a difficult question even if the dog is peaceful. I have cared for a cute Yorkshire Terrier often since almost a year, but only in spring allowed her off the leash. It generally works excellently, but in case of doubt, I will used the leash, for instance if a chap nearby is cooking sausages
My sister-in-law a decade ago (from 1992 until 1995) had a beautiful black dog of size, who followed my word even in the open absolutely. Later she had a "Deutsche Schäfer" , a very nice one, but I only met him about 3 times per year, and even when taking him out I never led him off the leash. It would have been a difference had I met him weekly.
To repeat it, I here refer to peaceful and nice dogs. Reminds me of two dogs out from the same mother.. One was always nice and became very old, the other one was "educated" by the owner to be aggressive and at about age 8 had to be put out on public order. The peaceful one on certain days slept under the desks of a colleague and me, and we had no problem at all. So that "aggressiveness" of dogs is generally caused by human beings.
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As above, go to the veterinary doctor and ask him and then proceed as recommended
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NO, such cannot be the solution. Nobody knows the plans of that lady .... And I might recommend the advice of President Theordore Roosevelt "Talk softly and carry a big stick " and in case of doubt USE the stick !!
A ski-stick is light weight but very effective
As it happens, I agree with you, and I don't carry weapons. I'd only hypothetically shoot a badly behaved dog owner.
I will hypothetically help you burry said badly behaved dog owner!
Oh gee, why didn't you clarify earlier, could of saved 4 pages of comments.
Swiss Cantons have different dog laws, the laws in Bern are that any dog or human that is bitten, MUST be reported to the canton authorities by the vet or the doctor.
Take your dog to your vet and the other lady will be reported to the canton vetinary office, who will investigate and probably fine the woman.
In Bern, the dog laws also state that dogs must be sometimes allowed to run freely off the lead.
All new dog owners have to attend dog training classes, but unfortunately at present, existing dog owners do not need to attend.
Good advice given there, to take a stick or a ski stock: you could then raise it when the agressive dog approaches, most dogs would then back off.
Unless I am missing something, OP admits her dog was not on lead either. OP states that she bent down to put the lead on her dog when she saw the other dog approaching. Next time OP should bring a walking stick to break up any confrontation but if planning to report the other person for not having their dog on lead OP should be prepared to be reported as well. Dog fights are always scary and I hope OPs dog is not injured.
I used to pass on foot a house with multiple large dogs, two labs and a golden, in the US. I had to go this route and on foot to boot and I have a little terrier who is reasonably well behaved and not dominant and aggressive. The golden was aggressive and they had free run of the property. When you got close, he would growl and try to bite when I turned my back on him or walked past. And, there was no speaking with the owners...they wouldn't hear it and didn't care. To fix this, I carried a large stick. I find most dogs and animals are afraid of sticks, if especially on the largish side. I never want to hit or abuse in any way an animal but I used it as a deterrent and it worked. This may work for you and if ever the dog does attack you can give him a good whack! If the dog is so aggressive that he attacks and bites drawing blood, you have a right to protect yourself and your possessions (your dog).
Report it for sure to a vet at least. I'm for dogs running off leash, they need to exercise, but if a dog is highly aggressive they MUST be on leash unless in an enclosed area.
This strategy also works with dog owners as well as dead horses.
What is with the suggestion of carry a stick to hit the dog??
Should cyclists carry sticks to hit pedestrians who get in their way? Should car drivers carry sticks to hit cyclists who get in their way?
Why a stick? Why not a knife? Or a gun?
Yes - a gun. Carry a gun - if you are approached by a dog off the lead shoot it - that way it won't do it again. In fact, shoot the owner too, that way the owner won't have any more dogs who would be off the lead.
Don't stop there - shoot everyone who disagrees with you.
Before this thread mutates into a ridiculous 'racist' thread, Sean Connery was not labelling you a racist , but rather drawing a parallel to foolish stereotyping.
- A lot of people own dogs, but a few are bad..... so not all dogs or their owners are bad so it's foolish to label "All" and not expect some repercussions.
- Same with drawing a racist stereotype. A few people can really damage the reputation of the many.... but this is usually pushed by a short sighted opinion.
Try not to label "all" dogs and their owners, you will find that 95% of them will push back at you.
You have stated that you didn't intend to mean 'all', so I think we can accept that and move on.
"My" dog is a little b*gger and will give me the middle finger when I call her back. Hubby has no such problem with her. For that reason, when I walk her, she stays on the lead. Oh, she's a JRT, say no more eh?
Hehe, I chuckled at this...I can definitely see how you'd come to that conclusion. My guess is that most pedestrians and cyclists don't come at you with big, sharp teeth bared to bite you. At least, I hope not!
No, they usually just send a registered letter.
...... Angry old people on trams on the other hand.
It's interesting you mention golden retriever.
Typically most think of these dogs as placid. But of the 4 situations in which my dog has been attacked by others, two have been golden retrievers off leash, another seemingly a mix of german shepherd and something else, who is normally always on leash and muzzled because he has serious aggression issues but one day wasn't (I had done a thread about this) and a snappy jack russell who was leashed but just on a rabid like frenzy who snapped my dogs face when the owner relaxed the leash.
I see where you've got confused. Let me explain:
The stick is not to hit dogs who get in your way, it is to hit dogs that are attacking your or your dog. You see, "getting in your way" doesn't mean "attacking you" and "attacking you" doesn't mean "getting in the way". A subtle linguistic distinction, but important.
Also, there is a distinction in law between an animal and a human. For example, if I shoot a dog, I'm not guilty of murder.
HTH.
All dogs are unpredictable, all dogs should be on a leash in public areas, no exceptions.
Yes you are.
This was discussed earlier. Thats not the topic nor point of the thread. Nor is this against the law or anything wrong to do. Particularly, as the OP mentions, their dog is non aggressive, non confrontational, good with with other dogs i.e. safe off leash.
Yes, because as was also mentioned by the OP, they have encountered this dog before, who has been aggressive and launched itself, snarling at their dog when passing before, and they have pondered the thought of encountering that dog off leash and what it might do, and there they were, encountering that dog off leash.
No the point was planning to report for the other owners dog attacking and biting their dog. You can not report an owner for having a dog off leash in isolation. It is not against the law if you are in control of the dog. Thus, the OP need not be prepared for being reported as there is nothing to report.It was the OPs dog that was in control by the OP, and the other dog that was not in control by the other owner and subsequently attacked like the OP thought it would when encountered before.
As you seem upset that I groaned your post so you went and groaned two of mine, this is why I groaned your post, because this was all mentioned and you start by saying, "unless I am missing something" , yes, basically all the key detail.
I'm going to have to pull you up there NotAllThere......... this isn't a very good idea.
Once you've hit the dog, you will have effectively "attacked" it, and the Dog will most likely attack you.
prior to this, the dog was focused on your dog.
You would be best to use the stick as a distraction rather than a weapon.
I would suggest that you carry a long walking stick, at least as long as you are high.
Use the stick by simply pointing it at the approaching dog, and yell a stern warning to the dog.
Stand between your dog and and the angry dog and hold your ground.
This will create a barrier and confuse the approaching aggressive dog.
the dog will most likely stop and bark at you for a while but it won't try to pass the point of the stick.
I assure you, dogs respond completely differently to pain when they are excited and you don't want to make the situation any worse for yourself.
I also promise you that I'm not talking crap here. I've used this technique myself and it works.
The same thing applies when two dogs are in a fight...... you are best to grab YOUR dog, not the attacking dog.
The attacking dog, could flip around and attack you.... the chances of your dog doing the same are equal, but it's more likely your dog will let go straight away.... and you can forgive your dog.
When I'm on my own and a dog attacks me, the best thing to do is to simply ignore the dog.
I stand still and look at absolutely anything else.... a yawn is an excellent form of body language to show disinterest for a a dog.
Then just look at the barking dog, and look away again.
The dog usually stops barking momentarily, and you can walk away.
All generalisations are wrong, no exceptions.