How To Handle Situations With Off-Leash Dogs

[KickReturn]

Hester and I have been charged by small dogs literally hundreds of times over the last two and a half years. Until I learned that he was a master at de-escalating such events, I found the most effective strategy was to charge as fast and aggressively as I could straight at the offender with Hester in tow. Strange and counter intuitive, but the look on a little yappers face when he sees me and the big fellow coming full steam is priceless. Every single dog we did this to skidded to a stop and beat a hasty retreat. One Schnauzer fell when trying to reverse direction and skinned his little bum. YMMV

[CharlieRhea]

Sr Grey Lover, that might work but i'm thinking Charlie would think he should go after another dog if i do that. It's the irresponsible owners

i'd rather run after lol

[Padfootx13]

I love that this has stimulated other questions and advice!

 

We have been working with Padfoot on the "watch" command for the past 1-2 months and he is making great strides. He does it about 99% of the time in our home, and has been improving greatly on redirecting his focus on us when there are other distractions (ex. on-leash dogs) outside. The only time that he wont do it consistently is if the dog is about 5-10 meters away and moving TOWARDS us, at the same distance if the dog is moving away or towards us to the side, he responds well. I imagine it's just a matter of time and consistency before we get him to trust that he can look at us while the dog is approaching face-on.

 

As far as our situation goes, I told one of the leasing agents about the situation and haven't seen the Pom off leash-or at all-since. I will report them again if I see it off leash again. I didn't make any remarks about our dog being trained to go after fuzzy small things or having a prey drive to either the owners or the agents because really, the people with the Pom are simply breaking a rule of our apartment complex, and everyone should be held accountable for following the rules if they want to live there. It shouldn't matter how my dog would react to it, they are still breaking the rules.

 

I think muzzling would be fine, I'm not too worried about Padfoot getting hurt with me right there being able to take care of the Pom, but I find it very hard to give him treats through the muzzle. We are still working a lot of loose-leash walking, "watch" like I mentioned earlier, "halt", and "wait" at doors so we always have treats with us to reward him. Anyone have tips for treating through the muzzle?

[moofie]

I muzzle two of my three because that's the law here, so if it stops you from being bitten, that's a good thing. I've also trained one of my dogs to redirect her prey drive onto me, or specifically the treat I am holding whenever we see another dog. See another dog, get a treat. It seems to work.

I do that with one of mine as is very foody and will automatically sit for a treat.

 

Hattie took about 6 months socialization after adoption to be ok with other breeds, I don't think I'd fully trust her especially offlead but she can cope with the normal park experiences of dogs running over to us. I muzzled was just easier to manage situation knowing that she couldn't bite, even if other owner doesn't have control of their dog if yours bites & is the larger its easy to come off the bad Guy. Our experience was that while many dogs are bit rude socially most weren't aggressive, but around owners appartment I expect little yap may view as its territory.

[moofie]

Some use tube of cheese spread with muzzle insert & squidge a bit to lick, but not tried it myself. If the dog issue is mainly around the complex could always do training where you don't have such risk of dog interference & remove muzzle.

I won't even attempt treating getting up cat alley just move quickly & get away from them, otherwise the dogs get too frustrated and can lash out.

[duncan41]

This won't help when you're out with Padfoot, but I suggest taking a picture every time you see the dog off leash and you safely can, and send it to your rental office. We had to do this and it helped, plus you'll be creating a "paper" trail if you do have to kick the dog to keep Padfoot safe or if there is an encounter.

 

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Off leash, aggressive dogs make our work with Leo so much harder, although he's still doing remarkably well.

 

YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. Nothing is accomplished without proof. Our county mandates photos WITH a date stamp in order to take action. Regardless of who, what, why, where or how, date stamped photographic evidence cannot be denied.

In the meantime, formulate a plan of action and don' t leave the house without going through your mental checklist of scenarios and responses. Be prepared to take whatever action you feel necessary to stay safe.

 

I am sorry you have joined this sad group who have been victimized by irresponsible animal owners. My dogs have been "approached" by 23 different unleashed dogs just in our little subdivision, and attacked three times by the same dog! Fortunately no physical injuries but one did exhibit extreme defensive behavior for a long time afterward. We have been very lucky. Others have not.

[PatricksMom]

Also, I don't know what your leasing agents are like or if they're in the office most of the time, but our boys love, love, love to go visit the ladies in the office (who keep treats for them) and as we've dealt with various issues it's really helped that they know and love our boys.

[Padfootx13]

 

YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. Nothing is accomplished without proof. Our county mandates photos WITH a date stamp in order to take action. Regardless of who, what, why, where or how, date stamped photographic evidence cannot be denied.

In the meantime, formulate a plan of action and don' t leave the house without going through your mental checklist of scenarios and responses. Be prepared to take whatever action you feel necessary to stay safe.

 

I am sorry you have joined this sad group who have been victimized by irresponsible animal owners. My dogs have been "approached" by 23 different unleashed dogs just in our little subdivision, and attacked three times by the same dog! Fortunately no physical injuries but one did exhibit extreme defensive behavior for a long time afterward. We have been very lucky. Others have not.

Our leasing agent also requested that we take photos in order for them to issue a fine-they have talked to them, but cannot issue a fine without proof. We weren't able to take photos the first time, but now we always make sure we are prepared to in the area that we most frequently encounter them. It is a shame that most people don't seem to think their dogs can do any harm if off leash for whatever reason.

 

 

Also, I don't know what your leasing agents are like or if they're in the office most of the time, but our boys love, love, love to go visit the ladies in the office (who keep treats for them) and as we've dealt with various issues it's really helped that they know and love our boys.

They do like to see the dogs over there-they have treats there too! (Despite the no pets sign on the door) One of the agents actually said that when they were little her parents surprised her with a greyhound after their first dog passed away but they couldn't keep him because he had space aggression issues and they were young at the time. She loves seeing Padfoot in the office or around the buildings.

[gracegirl]

If the sign on the office door says "no dogs" but you bring them in anyhow, you're breaking a rule. Just as the Pom owners are breaking the off leash rule. I'd be pretty ticked off if someone who was breaking rules reported me for breaking rules. Know what I mean?

[Padfootx13]

I know, I've personally never brought him IN the office just in the apartment building where the office is located. We run into the leasing agents there. I've seen them feed other dogs treats in there though.

 

ETA: That being said, it is up to them what rules they enforce and if they want to enforce the on-leash rule and not the one where they say dogs are allowed in the office, that's their prerogative. If I were to bring Padfoot into the office, I would be leaving myself open to dealing with the consequences of breaking that rule. My reporting the pom or other dogs off leash has more to do with letting management know that it's happening. If I walked into the office with a dog, they would clearly know that I am breaking a rule.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Padfootx13