Walking The Dogs....

[4506517]

So I was out walking my two dogs this evening. They are small dogs, not pure bred, but a cross between Rat Terrier and Mini Pinscher. One is about 20 lbs the other is the runt of the litter about 12-15 lbs. Very friendly and sweet, they are happy go lucky dogs.

Tonight we were out walking, both of them wearing their harnesses and on a leash (traditional type not the reel type), minding our own business. We passed a home where the residents were outside. The husband was mowing the grass on a riding mower and the wife was outside walking around in the yard. We passed on the opposite side of the road from the home. Out of nowhere their German Shepard-type dog comes running across the road growling and snapping at my dogs. I quickly pulled back on my leashes and got my dogs close to me. To their credit Texas and Moe (my dogs) held their ground and didn't back down. I was carrying and thought I was going to have to put down the other dog.

I began yelling at their dog and stomping my feet at the dog.After what seemed like forever, Tubby and his wife finally realized what was happening and came and retrieved the dog. I told him he needed to mind his animal. I further told him I would have shot his dog had it bit either of mine. Then they decide to have words with me. He proceeds to have some choice words about me walking my dogs by his home. I pointed out I was not on his property, but on vacant state owned land across the road. He finally quiets down but only after threatening to "call the law". I laughed and suggested he do so immediately. This is in a county adjacent to where I work, so I have no authority here. I do however know almost all the officers that work here.

Anyway, anyone else have any irresponsible pet owners nearby?

 

[A10]

We have one idiot who walks with his dogs, and they are seldom on a leash. They cornered a cat of ours in our yard, and my wife shouted them down. I told the moron if I ever saw his dogs in my yard, I'd call animal control, and if they came after my cat again I'd shoot them. I don't see him around my part of the neighborhood but have seen him on other blocks near where I live.

 

[sureshotbob]

I have several people walk there dog's past my house daily. When ever my beagle Sammie know's there walking by he tends to go nuts . If he is outside he is contained to my yard by a electric fence {it work's great}. I live at a crest of a hill and have no sidewalk on my side of the road {must look out for car's coming over the hill} but there is one on the other side that most people use. I have one lady that walk's her black lab twice a day past my house I 've saw her in my yard 100+ feet from the road letting her dog do his duty. My wife approached her and told her that THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY so stay out . She denied that her dog did it's duty but we saw it happen. To this day when she walk's by on my side of the road she stop's and talk's to Sammie just to hear him go crazy.

 

[Arik]

Glad everyone is ok.

Everyone in my neighborhood seems to be very good about their dogs. My next door neighbor let's his labradoodle out on the front yard without a leash to pee. Thankfully that bread is a happy go lucky bread and she never wonders off and when she sees my 2 dogs the 3 of them just want to play. There is one dog we sometimes see on our walks (he's on a leash with his owner) who is a french bulldog. He's small and round, looks like a Boston terrier. He hates my dogs and always goes nuts. Unfortunately it's soooo funny I end up crying from laughter. He doesn't bark, instead ifs almost like screaming. It's something that has to be seen and heard to appreciate! The owner always apologizes.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Last summer I was out in the neighborhood walking our two small dogs (Schnauzer and a little terrier mix). Both dogs were on leashes, but I had grown lax and had a leash wrapped around each hand. Ahead of us (maybe 30 yards away) was a woman walking two Boxer dogs (leashed), and accompanied by two kids - probably around 8-10 yrs old. I was walking slowly trying to maintain the 20-30 yd. separation distance so there wouldn't be any problems with our dogs when suddenly here Boxers saw us and started trying to run back towards my dogs and I.

This caused their leashes to wrap around the woman's legs, and she fell down to the ground dropping their leashes in the process. Man, those Boxers covered that 20-30 yds. FAST. I was trying to get some separation by crossing the street - bad move - those Boxers were on top of us before I was halfway across the street. The Boxers' heads were about belt high to me, and I kept turning in circles to try and keep my dogs away from them while yelling "NO!", and trying to get a hand free so I could access a weapon. I had a Model 642 in my right hand pants pocket (yes, I have a CHL), and a folding knife in a pouch on my left hip, and because of the dog leashes wrapped around each hand, I couldn't access or deploy either gun or knife.

I was able to generate kicks to the Boxers' chests with my knees, but because of the close proximity, the kicks were pretty weak. I could feel and hear breath being knocked out of them each I time I kneed them, so I kept doing this while trying to figure out what to try next. Finally, the woman came and got her !@@#$% Boxers, but then started screaming at me like the whole thing was my fault.

I got to admit it, I lost it. I told the woman she was lucky I didn't shoot her dogs. Big mistake - this scared her kids and they started to cry and beg me not to shoot the dogs. I told the woman we both needed to be quiet and cool down, and that both of us needed to just go to our homes for the night. Yeah, I was trying to be the adult here.

I let her leave first, and gave her a few minutes so we wouldn't bump into each other again. I started walking to our house when a man came running towards us yelling "What's your problem? You got a gun? Are you going to shoot somebody?" I realized that by saying I had a gun, and by telling the woman (I assume she was his wife) that I was going to shoot her dogs was a bad mistake on my part, but coulda-shoulda-woulda...

I told the man to leave this alone, and that we both needed to just move on. He started asking if I had a gun again, and I my answer to him was: "If I do, and if I'm as bad and crazy as your wife has convinced you that I am, then why did she send you to confront me? Are you sure she really loves you?" That really surprised him, and he suddenly decided that a tactical retreat was now in order.

Thus ended our adventure, but it really opened my eyes and cause me to pull my head out of my backside. I now make sure I always have one hand free when I'm walking the dogs. I also switched my carry gun from a Model 642 to a Model 38 with a Model 638 as a back-up, and I make sure I can get to both of them easily. I now carry so much extra stuff (cell phone, pepper spray, spare ammo, etc.) that I now understand why Batman wears a utility belt.

Oh, I also learned to not say stupid things like "I've got a gun" and anything having to do with shooting someone or something. If the occasion ever arises, I'm going to follow Tuco's advice and shoot, and not talk.

Sorry for the long response, I'm glad you and your dogs are okay, and I hope it stays that way.

Regards,

Dave

 

[islamoradamark]

glad things worked out u keep your cool. and u got a new way to walk the dogs

 

[vigil617]

I have thought of this kind of scenario many times, as I own and regularly walk two Golden Retrievers at the same time, with leashes in both hands.

Sometimes dogs come out of their yards at us, usually peacefully but other times I am not sure and just hope for the best -- which usually happens, as my dogs are good natured and just want to sniff, play, etc.

I usually don't carry (I have a CHL) but sometimes I do, and I've thought of doing so all the time when I walk the dogs. I don't want to shoot anyone's pet, though, and in most circumstances I'm sure some OC spray or a sharp rap on the noggin with a walking stick would solve any problem I might encounter in the neighborhood.

I need to get some OC. I also need to remember that if my dogs are attacked while on the leash, I need to turn loose of the leash so they can have a chance to protect themselves to whatever degree they are able. Plus, I need to have hands free to do what I need to do.

Some here will disagree, and say I need to be ready to shoot, the same as I would be if a wild animal was attacking. (Which conceivably could happen, as I live in a semi-rural area, and coyotes and, I'm sure, wild dogs could be in the vicinity.)

I just don't want to kill someone's pet. I don't want my dogs injured either, but things would have to be pretty darn bad before I could go all in and shoot to protect them. I would beat the snot out of an attacking animal, though, if I had to.

 

[BearBio]

"I need to get some OC. I also need to remember that if my dogs are attacked while on the leash, I need to turn loose of the leash so they can have a chance to protect themselves to whatever degree they are able. Plus, I need to have hands free to do what I need to do."

While in college (undergrad), I managed pet stores. A guy (middle class, Dockers & sport shirt type of guy) came in to get a leash/collar for his Akita. Two young wanna-be gang-banger types were outside. As he left, the two wanna-bes "sicced" their dogs on his. He had enough sense to drop his lead. I was maybe 50 feet away and could hear the neck of one Doberman and the leg of the other snap from where I was standing.

In all my 50+ years of working with animals (stompings, bear charges, one venomous snakebite, a barracuda bite), the absolute worst bite came from a Cocker puppy that got into it with his sibling and I went to separate them. Seven weeks old and laid my thumb open to the bone for 2 inches!

If they fight, let them go! Shoot if you have to, club them if you have something but don't grab them!

 

[whitestang]

Two houses down from me there are two Lab-mix about 8 months old they have broken their leads a few times and then run all over but are not mean. I was a volunteer at a animal shelter for a year and you see a types of people come in to try and adopt a dog,some good some not so. There was a 64 year old lady about 30 miles from were I live that was attacked while she was jogging near her home. There were 3 dogs,she had to have stitches on both legs and arms her husband was on a bike and used it to stop the dogs or it would have been much worse. The dogs were put down by the county animal control.

 

[BearBio]

Two houses down from me there are two Lab-mix about 8 months old they have broken their leads a few times and then run all over but are not mean. I was a volunteer at a animal shelter for a year and you see a types of people come in to try and adopt a dog,some good some not so. There was a 64 year old lady about 30 miles from were I live that was attacked while she was jogging near her home. There were 3 dogs,she had to have stitches on both legs and arms her husband was on a bike and used it to stop the dogs or it would have been much worse. The dogs were put down by the county animal control.

I read about that one.

 

[vigil617]

Excellent advice, BearBio, and I should have been clearer in my post where I mentioned having hands free to do what I need to do. I absolutely do not advocate grabbing the combatants, as that's a good way to get bitten by either the foe or the friend, or both! Hands free is for spraying OC, wielding a stick, or in extremis, and only as an absolute last resort, firing a weapon with good enough aim to avoid unintentionally wounding or killing one's own pet in the process.

 

[Mydogmax]

Best thing to do is carry pepper spray. Better than nothing and much safer than saying you'll shoot them.
And oh BTW. Don't forget to pepper spray the owner too.

 

[SW_shooter]

I hope no one feels they have to shoot the dog.

My ex and I lived in an upper middle class neighborhood and we had one neighbor from a block away who would walk his dog up and down our street daily. For whatever reason his dog chose our yard to dump on. Everyday! This guy also never carried a bag or anything to pick up his dogs, uhm stuff. Well me and the ex got tired of picking up these deposits everyday. (we had two golden retrievers so we picked up plenty of theirs) So we started keeping the stuff in a plastic bag, after a few days we would take it over to this guys place and dump it on his yard. After a couple of times of us relocating his dogs stuff he changed his route for walking his dog.

 

[badge]

We use the " Grizzly Bear " spray as a first choice as discharging a weapon means there are projectiles out there if they do not strike their intended target. You can always go to the weapon if need be.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Best thing to do is carry pepper spray. Better than nothing and much safer than saying you'll shoot them.

Be advised that OC, Pepper Spray, Mace, etc. is not always effective. Years ago I used some OC on an attacking Rottweiler and it had no effect on him whatsoever. I was walking with a cane at the time, and after the OC failure, a few healthy swings at him (no, I didn't hit the dog), drove him off. If possible, I'd prefer a non-lethal approach over a lethal one, but only if the situation allows.

Regards,

Dave

 

[4506517]

Well, took Texas and Moe out for a walk on the same route tonight. Met a couple of other folks walking their dogs. Everyone was polite and appeared to take extra precautions to keep their dogs away from mine. I always try to keep mine away from other dogs so that there is no chance of any biting occurring.

As I was headed home one of the neighbors pulled up beside me in her truck. One of her dogs had slipped out and was missing. Thankfully the dog walked up as we were talking. That dog totally ignored mine and jumped right up in the truck. Good deal.

Nice to see some responsible dog owners for a change.

 

[Bentwing]

Walking the dog

Abouut 65 yeas ago when things were differnt I woud go by bus to my grand mothers in the country. She had a 60 acres mostly in pasture, trees and bush. but to gt to grama's I had to walk past the neibors place who had two black and tan hounds who would come out and nip at my heels.
his went on for some time untill I was up in our pasture rabbit hunting , I was about 13 at the time when lo and behold I came of them on our land.
I shot theme both with my mossbeg 151M b and threw them both into a everreen jungle patch. I neve mentioned what happened to those dogs to Gradma or to anyone, but that was the way was in the old days

 

[Fishslayer]

Oh, I also learned to not say stupid things like "I've got a gun" and anything having to do with shooting someone or something. If the occasion ever arises, I'm going to follow Tuco's advice and shoot, and not talk.
Regards,

Dave

Too bad ya didn't know all the cops in the area & could count on a brass pass. Then ya just coulda laughed at 'em.

 

[4506517]

Too bad ya didn't know all the cops in the area & could count on a brass pass. Then ya just coulda laughed at 'em.

Lol......it does come in handy at times.

 

[NCW Ray]

As a matter of fact it was April 28th of this year when we had a run in with 2 Chocolate Lab's and a Golden Retreiver while walking our 8 yoa German Shepherd and 8 month old German Shepherd puppy.


We were walking past a residence and the owner was in his lower fenced yard playing with his dogs. When I saw them we moved to the far side of the street in hopes of not agitating them but to no avail. The three dogs got extremely agitated running back and forth along their fence line. When we reached the corner of their property the dogs squirmed under the corner of the gate and came charging across the street and attacked our dogs. Our 8 yoa Shepherd is very timid when it comes to other dogs and was just trying to get away from the attacking dogs and our pup was scared to death and was also trying to get away. Two people down the street came running to our aid as well as the dogs owner once he was able to negotiate his fence. As soon as we got our dogs clear we made a hasty retreat not wanting to risk taking the time getting name & phone number from dogs owner should they break free and attack again. Once we were out of their sight I checked our dogs for injuries. Our pup didn't get injured but our 8 year old received a 3 inch gash on her right front upper leg and had to have stitches.


I called and reported the incident to Animal Control. I also sent the dogs owner a letter reqesting reimbursement for the Vet bill and the day he received my letter he brought a check for the full amount. He was very nice guy and very apologetic. I felt a bit bad about filing the report but had our dogs been two small kids...would they have attacked them?

Oh, and yes I had my 40c on my hip, no I didn't draw it or make any mention of it. But had the attack on my dogs continued, things might have turned out differently.