Other dogs and their owners ....

[Laralou]

Hi, not too sure if this is in the right place but I was wondering if any of you have any pearls of wisdom about how you would have handled this situation ...

Bellas 5 months, loves her walk and has gotten over her initial wariness of other dogs ( she was petrified at first !) now loves to greet, sniff, play the usual.  However yesterday she was on her extendable lead in a "dogs on lead" zone at the park and out of nowhere a black staffy came flying at her, pinned her to the floor in a dominant/aggressive manner.  She was shreiking and yelping and couldnt move.  Anyway I pushed the dog off (silly in hindsight) and picked her up.  At this point the owner appeared yelling at her dog ( as it was jumping up me ) and I informed her in no uncertain terms that she should keep her B*!!#Y dog on a lead.  She started mouthing off but my first thought was to get Bella away and check that she hadnt been hurt, and fortunately she was ok, well physically at least.   

Anyway afterwards its been playing on my mind, did I overreact?  How do you deal with these sorts of things ?   I live right next to the park and the woods and we are up there everyday so I know Im likely to see her again.

[black taz]

i think most people on here would have reacted in the same way as you did - i don't think there is a perfect answer to this - you just go with your gut instinct at the time

I had a similar incident last week but the owners where the other side of the (large) field.  The staffie did not attack but it too a very dominant stance over Taz and would not let him move, until i walked over to them and told the dog to go away (fortunately he did).  the owners remained the other side of the field and the dog took ages to return to them.

[Chocolatecoco]

If they dont have sound recall shouldnt be off a lead in my opinion, but the fact that it was in a leads only area is even more disgusting.

You were thinking of your dogs saftey and to be honest i can only say that i would probably have done the same. well done for looking after your dog and refusing to get into an arguement with her

[laurenollie]

I remember posting something similar when Ollie was a similar age. We had a run in with another golden cocker!!! I rember the noises where horrible and I didn't know what to do other than pick Ollie to get him out the way,when i did pick him up the other dog was still holding on to his leg so i shook it off! Same as you Ollie was fine after! I think the noises always seem worse than anything but in your situation I would of been wary with it being a staffy type dog - i know i probably shouldn't but I'm terrifed of these 'types' of dogs!

Anyhow

I posted on here and if i remember rightly the advice i got was that I shouldn't of picked Ollie up, I think because it takes them out of the situation and unable to react in a 'doggy manor' and it also means if they are fighting back a bit they could take it out on you being the nearest thing. I think was told to try to break it up/distract the dogs

Luckily we haven't been put in this situation again, and if it looks like things are getting a bit heated we call him away and luckily this has worked!! i would of been the same as you and abused the owner  !!!!

L&O x

[Sarah1985]

My dog gets rolled over all the time by agressive and overly dominate dogs. I generally try not to step in unless the dog is showing signs of actual agression. With regards Over friendlyness i try not to get too worked up about it as Dexter knows how to deal with it now. Lie on your back and they'll generally go away.


It does annoy me, especially now i have a 4 month old. Shes so small and some dog seem to have zero control over their legs and where their big feet are stamping. It really used to scare Dexter when he was a youngsta. Luckerly my puppy doesnt seem to care and I dont have shreaking so its easier for me to stay calm and not panic.

Its difficult to know what to do with regards picking them up. Generally Id say dont pick them up as they'll make the association with approaching dogs and having to be picked up which can lead to "if mum thinks other dogs are scary I better see them off." But on the other side, getting trampled and getting frightened is no help either lol.

 If its just boystrous overfriendlyness id try and remain calm and keep them on the floor where possible. They'll learn how to react in that situation and itll get less scary each time.

I recommend reading a book on doggy body language. It really helped me stay calm when a dog charges over as I can now read signs of agression vs wanting to play and I know when i need to react and when im better looking at it as a life lesson.

With regards shouting at her. Ive done this several times to people and with good reason. She should have been close enough to her dog to step in when yours gets scared, then you wouldnt have had to pick your dog up. I dont blame you at all. Some people need telling how annoying their dog is. Plus how dangerous it is to let their dog run up to a leaded dog. Dogs in our park are leaded for a reason and thats reason is usually aggression related. Theres no way she could have known your wasnt leaded for this reason. Next time her dog does it it might run up to a dog that does more than shreak. So if you can bite your tongue by advise would be to remind them of this fact.


Hope that helps.

[mooching]

If it was me, I'd have dropped into our local police station and reported it, giving them a description of the dog and owner. The law states that a dog must be under it's owners control at all times, and it's an offence for it not to be. Besides, what if the dog had done that to a child?

[BabyB]

I think that because your dog was on a lead (and unable to 'get away') then you did the right thing by picking her up.  

Getting tangled (and worse) in her lead could have had disastrous consequences.

No idea what to say to the woman if you saw her again.  I'd gauge what she was like with me before I got 'stuck in' again.

I hope your little 'un (and you) are ok, and to not let this make you wary when out  

[Helen]

I don't condone the fact this dog was offlead in an onlead area - that's just wrong.

The fact that you were able to easily push the dog off your pup to me means there was fortunately no real attack.  By picking up your pup you could be communicating to your dog that there is something wrong and this could lead to further fear incidences - it already sounds like she is a little timid by the way she reacted so I would try and socialise her with some calmer less forceful dogs so she gains some confidence     

If it was me, I'd have dropped into our local police station and reported it, giving them a description of the dog and owner. The law states that a dog must be under it's owners control at all times, and it's an offence for it not to be. Besides, what if the dog had done that to a child?

   

There are no bite wounds nor any signs of an aggressive attack - just an unruly dog.  I also do not believe that because a dog acted like this that there is any indication that a child could be harmed 

[Little-Miss-Molly]

I am really wary of staffies and we owned one for 12 years until she sadly passed away with cancer  , she was fantastic around kids ( we had 4) but for some reason hated other dogs, and I mean really aggressive. We kept her on a lead all the time unless we were somewhere in the middle of now-where and was sure no other dogs were around and then she had a good run, she was very good on recall but the problem we always had was other dogs that wasn't on a lead coming up to her, I think if you know your dog is aggressive you should keep it on a lead around other dogs, Staffies do have a bad reputation because they have been used for fighting so can do a lot of damage if they get into a fight. I would of done exactly the same thing and had a few words with the dog owner, the problem is, if that dog attacked your dog the police would not get involved because the owners can't be prosecuted unless you yourself had been injured, so the vets bills etc would be down to you    

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Dave got pinned by another dog on the same walk that Normy was bitten by an Adder earlier this week (fun day for all that one ). To be honest, Dave deserved it as he was being an annoying little squit and not taking no for an answer from a lady dog lab that he was um, trying to 'date' . The lady dog really lost her temper with him (as was well within her right) but when he submitted, she didn't stop and it was starting to get a bit nasty so I walked over and shouted 'Hey!' whilst clapped loudly which interrupted them enough to calm it all down and they went their separate ways - Dave none the worse for wear with his usual 'woah cool your jets woman, I was just saying you're really pretty - what's your problem' type expression that he always does in these situations .

So my point, after lots of rambling, was.... if you are really worried, rather than physically stepping in, a loud noise can distract them enough to break it up sometimes.

[Lilly's Mum]

I did this once too when Harve was a pup, but was abused by the owner for 'shouting' at his dog!

[Laralou]

Thank you for your replies, and I do take on board the "sometimes its better to not pick them up" advice.  The last thing I want to do is reinforce a fear response, shes a little sweetie and I know she will find her own way of telling the rough ones to bog off.  I think I did panic a little bit to be honest, Bella is doing really well confidence wise and Im glad to say that on her walk today she met a number of dogs, had a lovely play and seems to have forgotten all about it now 

Lets just say if I see the woman or her dog Ill be turning around and going in the opposite direction.  I am of the same view that if someone cant control their dog that they shouldnt be off lead.  The whole point of on lead zones is to make it safe for other park users and children.  This was by the playground as well ! Grrr !
Thanks again Lara x