Crowded Sidewalk With Opd Lunging At Us

[Guest JENuine]

Hello, everyone! As well as being my first post here, I am new to being a greyhound owner as well. (We are now just over three weeks into this adoption.)

 

When I am out walking, if I see someone with a dog (or dogs) on the other side of the street that doesn't seem to have full control of their pet, I am quite thankful to be on the opposite side!

 

As we were out walking this morning, I noticed the following group on the sidewalk across the street, going in the opposite direction: a boy on a bicycle, a woman on a scooter, and a maybe Lab mix dog on a leash with the woman. No problem. Well, that is until we were on our way back home...

 

I had just done a loop around a neighborhood park, and we were on a sidewalk that borders the park and a next-door school. This particular section curves so, at certain points you can't see ahead the full length of the sidewalk. Also in this particular section, there are bushes directly to my right and a tiny strip of grass to the left that borders a fence for the school. All of the sudden, I see the kid on the bike, and he calls behind, "Mom, dog!" Rather than them yielding to us because there are more people in their party, they go straight through, with their dog passing at my left where, by the way, my own dog is walking because I'm using a European leash and was taught to have my dog on my left side. Since there are bushes to my right, there's nowhere for me to go and crossing over to the left would have meant cutting in front of the other group (and they're obviously going faster than we are due to the scooter and bicycle.) Since I've had little advance warning of them approaching us, I am stuck on very little sidewalk, trying to pull my dog in as tight as I can. Meanwhile, their dog, while not barking at us, is lunging at its leash and is clearly way too excited. To be honest, I'm freaked out inside because I don't know if this other dog is a potential friend or foe, and I'm kind of miffed at the lack of trying to share the sidewalk with others. My husband said I should have had my pepper spray gun in my hand right then, but I was feeling too overwhelmed to have thought of that at the time. If I can help it, I try to avoid having to pass people with unruly dogs, but, obviously, this isn't always possible.

 

How do you deal with encounters in tight public spaces with other dogs that you are uncertain about? Thanks in advance!

[NeylasMom]

If I thought the dog looked threatening, I would have if at all possible turned around immediately and quickly walked away until I could get somewhere out of range of the approaching dog, or if you could do so safely without having the kids on the bike or the scooter run into you, I would have quickly cut across and away from them.

 

If neither of those were possible, and given that the dog was acted overly excited but not aggressive, I would have quickly put myself between the group and my dog and either kept walking quickly past them or if that seemed impossible, fed treats to my dog until they were past.

 

I think you will find that you will become more adept at spotting potential trouble spots or people and avoiding them. I am really always on alert to some extent when I am walking and making sure we move to the side where I ask Zuri to sit if we need to wait for someone to pass.

 

I'm also not above using a very stern voice or my body to keep a dog away if the owners are respecting my request to not let their dog/child/whatever approach.

 

More than anything else though, I would encourage you to stay relaxed and always carry treats with you that you can give to your dog in situations like these. That way, if there is an unexpected greeting, your staying calm will likely mean it will go better, and then you can reward your pup for a nice greeting with the treats once it's over.

 

And while carrying something for protection if an aggressive off lead dog attacks you, I think you're going to find yourself in a heck of a lot of trouble if you spray an on leash dog with kids nearby.

[Trihounds]

If the dogs aren't going to 'meet' each other...most do on our walks unless owners agree it isn't a good idea for any reason, I'd stop and put my dogs behind me and keep them away from the passing crowd. Left side / right side walking, doesn't matter - dogs get sheltered if a dangerous situation is a possibility. Most of the time my dogs just want to be social!

[kudzu]

I like NeylasMom's suggestion. Just doing an about face, you & hound as a unit, would have put you between the oncoming dog & yours. It also might diffuse a little of the dog's tension by preventing this from being a head on encounter. If after turning you start walking then you are moving parallel to the other dog. In my experience parallel walking is one of the best ways to help new dogs to adjust to each other. Second best idea to me is putting yourself between the oncoming dog & yours. Those things have worked well for my dogs who were either not necessarily friendly to or simply still a little anxious with other dogs. It also seemed to give a few overly rowdy dogs pause. "Hey, why's this lady getting between me & that new dog?"

[Laurenbiz]

I constantly switch sides with Bernie during my walk with left and right. (I've never heard of that European walking either, sorry!) Bernie's safety is my top priority, so I always move him to whichever side is farthest away from the road, or whichever side is farthest away from an upcoming dog encounter.

 

Unfortunately, you just CAN'T control someone else's dog. An idiot down the street from me lets its somewhat aggressive black lab wander around in its front yard. Two times (I have now learned!,) when we passed by on the opposite side of street as that house, that dog ran up to us, growling and barking. (Not really aggressive, but not totally nice, either.) I always immediately got in between the dog and Bernie, and I loudly and sternly said, "Back" to the dog. On one occasion, I nudged the dog with my foot to get it to move back.

 

Both times, the owners were there! The first time, after the dog trotted back across the street, I said, "Get a leash!" to the morons standing in the driveway. They continued to just chat with each other, as if nothing had just happened with their dog, and they totally ignored me. The next time this happened, I just stood there and glared at the guy after the dog trotted back to him. "Oh, sorry 'bout that," he said. :angryfire

 

My point is that other idiots will be out there with mis-behaved dogs.

 

I carry Spray Shield animal deterrent spray. I keep a runners belt filled with treats and a poop bag, and the spray clips on the belt. I always strap on that belt for our walks. Maybe I look like a big bozo with a mace-looking thing on my belt, but I figured I'd look like a bigger bozo having to carry home a bleeding dog after a dog attack! I thankfully have never sprayed it. But, if any aggressive dog gets near Bernie, I wouldn't hesitate at all.

[Laurenbiz]

PS - Also, I would suggest that if you're in close quarters with an aggressive dog, get your kicking on!

 

If the spray would also be sprayed at your dog since you're in a tight space, then I'd really just kick the aggressive dog. Seriously. That's another reason that I always wear actual tennis shoes and not sandals on our walks.

 

A lady in our GPA chapter had her Greyhound viciously attacked by a loose GSD in her neighborhood last year. I saw the pictures. The skin had been torn in an upside-down V-shape on the Greyhound's left side, starting about 6 inches behind the neck at the spine, and going in the V-shape down toward the left shoulder, and down on the left side of the chest. The The dog needed, I believe 4 surgeries. I'm still horrified by this, and I don't take chances!

[carronstar]

Agree with all the advice above. I walk my girl in a small park in New York City for most of her walks and we face other dogs, off leash dogs, kids on bikes, kids on scooters, groups who think it is fine to walk 5 across and block the entire sidewalk, etc. I walk my girl on my inside so that she is safe so we do the switch from left to right depending on direction. I also always have treats. When in doubt, I stop well before the dog/people in question (whenever possible) and treat my girl while letting them pass.

 

This is not to say that my girl isn't friendly and that 90% of the dogs we meet in the park on a daily basis aren't friendly, just that I would rather have her safe and controlled.

[Guest JENuine]

Thank you so much, everyone! You've shared some very helpful practices.

 

Laurenbiz, I think the European leashes may also be referred to as British leashes. It's a leash with clips at both ends and multiple metal rings. You can attach the clip so that you have a small loop for your wrist, just like a traditional leash. The difference is you can also attach the clip further down to a different ring so that the loop is large enough to wear over and across your body like one might wear a messenger bag. When used in this fashion, you can just walk with your hands free and you have your whole body to use as leverage, should the dog try to bolt or pull.

 

I had been shoving various items into my pockets, but I am going to get a runner's belt now. Maybe you won't feel so silly now being so loaded up, now that you've inspired someone else.

 

My husband walked the dog last night and told me that he had an encounter in what was probably in the same area. Someone was walking what looked like a Husky mix. Based on what had been mentioned in this thread, my husband said that he moved Onyx his right and talked calmly to her. The other dog went right up to my husband and put its front legs on him! It was probably just an overly friendly dog, but he told me he was still glad that he put himself put that dog and Onyx.