Aggressive dogs outdoors

Wolf_1989 said:
Meet Thor. He's one of my two canine companions and we're out in the woods where we live a lot.
He's 110 lbs, 10 years old, and a German Shepherd - Norwegian Elkhound mix.
Yeah, half German Shepherd, one of those spooky scary dogs some people are afraid of and want banned.
He's never been aggressive with anyone. He's a big teddy bear.
But if he comes up to you and circles you, more than likely he's after your ham sammich.
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This brings up another point. I love dogs and all animals really but that doesn't mean I want to be hassled by them or have their snot and slobber all over me when I'm trying to relax. If you're a good dog owner with a great dog, awesome. Just either keep it on a leash or train it so that you can keep it away from people on the trail.

Ryanol said:
I guess I was correlating it with gun rights: more or less saying that if your for restrictions on dogs/owners > since you compared them to guns or weapons it stands to reason your pro gun/weapon regulation.

Which I believe you are.
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Absolutely. I'm all for regulating dangerous devices, or in this case animals, to keep them out of the hands of kids, the mentally impaired, criminals, and morons. However I'm also for de-regulation for law abiding citizens. It should be harder to get a gun but once you do you should be able to do what you want with it to include concealed carry without a license.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
We have a small municipal park near me, clearly posted at all entrances, no dogs allowed. Time and again, I've come around a bend in the trail and an unleashed dog is bounding towards me. At least leash the dog! I'm crippled, I walk with a cane, a big happy friendly dog can knock me down just being playful.

I walk with a Canemasters oak crooktop. One of these days ... Bam! :(
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I hear ya. I have a bum left knee and wont be running any marathons either. Funny how we don't take much notice to many things until they happen to US !! Human nature I suppose. In this province every year it seems, native (Indian) children get badly mauled or even killed and partially eaten by semi wild reserve dogs. There's a brief hub bub, some head shaking and tongue clucking, then we all move on to daily life. The world is like CNN. It's a big deal, until the next big deal comes along. Goes to show that pretty much anything can happen to any of us, at any time. So maybe it's better to have a bit of knowledge and some prep for emergencies. Like..................basic survival skills ?
;)
 
Before this goes ballistic with BAN/ Don't BAN shouts and burning pitchforks....

I DO NOT support the ban of dogs or guns. I do support responsible ownership of both.

I would rather rap the owner but it means getting through the dog first ;)

It only takes a handful of idiots to ruin the opinions of people when most owners are responsible and 95% of dogs are well behaved pets.

Bill
 
This story struck lots of interest to me. I am a huge dog lover and have 2 myself. My story is a little similiar, but was 1 second from turning deadly.

I have been a concealed carry permit holder for almost 4 years now, and carry a Glock 33 with me everyday, everywhere, IWB holster on right side. I have never ever once had to draw my gun from it's holster. This past summer, I had pulled into a restarant to get breakfast. As I exited my car, I had to walk past a pickup truck to get to the door. Turns out, a huge Rottweiler was in the bed of this truck and as I walked by, he lunged at me growling, barking, teeth showing, slobbering everywhere, like he wanted a piece of my ass. Scared the ever living shit out of me and within 2 seconds I had drawn my gun, pointed at this dog, finger on the trigger. The dog had his two front legs up on the side of the truck as he was going about his super aggressive behavior. I for sure thought this dog was going to come out of the bed of this truck and come after me. I continued to walk backwards, away from the truck still pointing my weapon at this dog and as I got further away, it became clear that he would stay put in the truck.

At this time, my heart was still beating like crazy, adrenaline pumping big time, and I began to wonder why in the hell someone would bring a dog that is this aggresive towards others, and leave him in the bed of a truck, unattended. Boggles my mind. This dog, nor the owner had any idea how close I came to shooting, had the dog exited the truck, it would have been lights out, done deal. Luckily for all, this did not happen. Again, these irresponsible pet owners need to wake and something needs to be done with the owners that neglect there responsibility.

I would have hated to kill someone's dog, but I will not be a helpless victim to this kind of crap or with any other criminal activity, especially when my family and myself could be put in danger. FWIW, this is the one and only time I have every drawn my weapon in the 4 years of conceal carry, and it scared the piss out of me.
 
My Lewellyn Setter goes with me wherever I go, even in some places with "no dogs" or "no pets allowed" signs. He is always on a short handle, or either a leash or a check cord. He and I do draw the attention of any unleashed dog in the area. If I were on a trail and met up with Essav, I would yield the trail and move far enough off of it that neither of them could reach the other. Not because either of them are aggressive, but out of respect for a person's space. When we ride on a bus, he sits in the window seat where no one needs to worry that he will bother them as they pass by. In a store, he has to heel and when I stop, he has to sit and wait until I give him permission to move. He and I are given special privilidges of public access because he is a service animal, not a "dawg" or pet or "furkid". Irresponsible pet owners are a bane to owners of service animals because their lack of responsible ownership and control cast a shadow over all service animal owners. Be forewarned that attacking/injuring/killing a service animal is regarded the same as if it were a police dog or search and rescue dog. The civil and criminal penalties are rather stiff and the monetary values of the animals are comparable. That said, you are not likely to encounter an agressive, dangerous service animal or one off leash. Many of us do use harness vests with service I.D. patches even though law does not require them, simply to reduce the hassles with business owners and the public.

ETA: The actual cost of training and placing each service dog or hearing dog is approx. $20,000.
 
In New York City, service animals are common enough, and get to ride buses like the rest of us animals. :)

We even let them in post offices. One day a clerk called me because a woman had a dog in the lobby. I went to see: it was a tiny dog in a pet carrier. I laughed and told the clerk if it wasn't running up and down the line, it wasn't really there. Another time a man brought his unleashed German Shepherd into the lobby, was told to leave. Ignored that and let his dog run around jumping on people. The local police station is only one block away ...

Even some "mean" dogs can be calmed down, but mean owners are obdurate.
 
I posted a thread a while back about a german shephard mix nearly eating a .45 because he charged my son and pup. The owner had let him off the leash and was in her car about 100 yards behind. If my leashed and terrified puppy hadn't jerked me off balance, the dog would have been taken the dirt nap. I can't remember previously being so enraged as I was at that idiot owner.
 
have a rotweller at the top of the street that i have to pass when walking by. thing got loose 2 times that i know of, i grabbed it by the pinch collar twice. the kind of collar that has the points on the inside to dig into the dogs neck to control it more. the second time it got loose it jumped off of a porch about 10 feet off the ground. thought it broke a leg when it landed. now the dog acts vicious every time it sees me. must have went back for more training to pervent people from grabbing its collar. this dog acts like this towards one other person i know of. one of these days its going to attack someone and the other person is female about 80 pounds. this dog goes an easy 140 pounds. have some muzzle pepper spray for dogs and thinking about a walking stick. things are getting out of control. oh yeah, this dog wheres that collar 24/7. a coworker who works with dogs says that dog has to be a "problem child" for them to wear that collar on him like that. those collars are supposed to be used for training only. not when the dog is chained up
 
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Shotgun said:
This brings up another point. I love dogs and all animals really but that doesn't mean I want to be hassled by them or have their snot and slobber all over me when I'm trying to relax. If you're a good dog owner with a great dog, awesome. Just either keep it on a leash or train it so that you can keep it away from people on the trail.
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If I take my dogs where there might be humans around, they're leashed. It's for their own protection.

But really, if you encounter me and my dogs "on the trail" that means you're more than likely trespassing. I tend to avoid public places as much as I possibly can, and if we're over in the wildlife area/state park, and I see people, I try to disappear away from them as quickly as I can.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
In New York City, service animals are common enough, and get to ride buses like the rest of us animals. :)

We even let them in post offices. One day a clerk called me because a woman had a dog in the lobby. I went to see: it was a tiny dog in a pet carrier. I laughed and told the clerk if it wasn't running up and down the line, it wasn't really there. Another time a man brought his unleashed German Shepherd into the lobby, was told to leave. Ignored that and let his dog run around jumping on people. The local police station is only one block away ...

Even some "mean" dogs can be calmed down, but mean owners are obdurate.
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In many areas of the country, such as here, service animals are rarely encountered. At the last city street festival, Jake and I were there for the dog show, but mostly for socialization training. I had the chance to educate a lot of people, young and old, about service animals, most notibly an EMT. She was shocked when I told her that if I was to be treated and transported, the service animal had to go with me in the ambulance. Most of the officers I talked to were also ignorant about service dogs and even a couple of workers from the local animal shelter. Educating the children and introducing them to Jake was the bestest.

State and Federal park rangers (and postal employees) seem to be the best informed about service animals.

But... I am responsible for Jake's behavior. If he is disruptive and ill behaved, I am expected to take him away (regardless of him being a service animal with rights of access). If he makes a mess I am expected to clean it up or if he causes property damage I am responsible for the repairs. Thorough training minimizes the risks to myself, businesses and the public.
 
Wolf_1989 said:
If I take my dogs where there might be humans around, they're leashed. It's for their own protection.

But really, if you encounter me and my dogs "on the trail" that means you're more than likely trespassing. I tend to avoid public places as much as I possibly can, and if we're over in the wildlife area/state park, and I see people, I try to disappear away from them as quickly as I can.
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Sorry, I quoted your post to illustrate a point and not to say that you're a bad owner. As far as I can tell everyone who posts in this forum is a responsible pet owner. Yourself included.
 
I've been bit trying to save my dog from other dogs. He went to the vet, I went to the ER. After that I've taken the wax wood stick to more than one bitter and I'll do it again. Sadly. Lots of people can barely handle themselves let alone having pets.
 
Shotgun said:
Sorry, I quoted your post to illustrate a point and not to say that you're a bad owner. As far as I can tell everyone who posts in this forum is a responsible pet owner. Yourself included.
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Well, no harm done. Thank you for not bashing me.
 
Had a dobi before he was quiet and most of the time if people walked toward him he would go around them. Now i always had him off the leash but he would listen and heel when asked. No problem there. One time walking the pup at night (he had to go). A guy walks over and blocks his way, dog tries to walk around him and the guy blocks his way again, on the fourth time Amour started to growl at him. I could see from body position that there would be trouble. By this time i were about 10ft away. I called him over and grabed his collar The fool started to yell at me that i got a mean dog and i should have control over him. Thats when i walked over telling him the dog has more self control then i do. If he blocked my way like that i would take him out on the second time he done it. I wont stop beating him till he would be out. I can just see what kind of a stupid dog this guy would have. Mind you Amour was the only dog allowed into the library as the lady said he acts better then most kids and some of the adults that come over. But he his share of getting into trouble.
Now my dad has a german shepard and she is a hands full. As sweet as they come got more energy then any normal dog should have. She listen to me better then my dads. Again i keep her off the leash and train her to listen to me.. Yes i got a ways to go still, As she gets excited and cant stop. I guess what im trying to say is that some pups are ok to be off leash. Some should never be off the leash but most of the time its the owner fault. Not teaching them properly or treating them proper. O.k i been ranting for way too long. Like all of you i love dogs. There is a reason its said that a dog is a mans best friend.. Not a cat a horse or .....
Need to find some pics.

Sasha
 
Me and my roommate have 2 pitbulls and we routinely walk them on the trails by the river near our house. I do know that ours look scary however they behave and come when we call them. One is still a puppy and she just likes to play. We are always concious of who and what is around us when they are off leash. I wouldn't hesitate defend myself from an aggressive dog in the woods, but keep in mind that you will then have to deal with the owner that made the dog that way.
 
That sucks buddy, I've had the odd hike spoiled by such encounters also. I think it was around a year back that I had gone off trail to avoid an encounter with a guy and his pack of scary looking dogs. When I was well off trail I realised that one of the bigger dogs had followed me and was snarling at my Bull terrier who was stood by me cowering, I drew my knife and was quite prepared to fight the dog should it have gone for me or my dogs, the owner was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately the dog thought better of it and left us be.
 
To be honest, I'm dead afraid of dogs. Well, dogs I don't know. If I've seen him before, played with him, it's fine. But new dogs? Brrrr..... I've seen a bear, and I'm more scared of a dog than a bear. They say dogs can sense you being scared. So I carry a knife. Helps boost my confidence a bit. :) But honestly, I wish all dogs could be on leashes. I mean, it's a bit scary to see all these dogs walking around. And knowing America, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
 
I totally agree that people need to be educated on what type of dog they have. Expecially the more agressive breeds. And people need to be responsible for there agressive dog breeds!! I have a blue heeler and they are known to be agressive and she is well exersised and socialized and she is still can be agressive anytime if I'm not aware and prepared. I have to always be aware of our situation and what's going. Dog owners of agressive breeds need to be responsible for there dogs. And I wish people would follow leash laws. Sure it's awesome to have ur dog off leash but it can cause so many problems for people with other dogs that have problems.

To add a story of an iddiot who caused a dog bite. I essay the beach with my dog and we were on a secluted beach this guys come out of no where and my dog runs up to him and starts barking not a growl but a warning bark. The guy starts yelling and cursing at my dog and kicking sand at her face. So she bites his ankle. So I'm talking yo the guy after and he says I've been bitten 5 times by dogs already.... Um well duh u idiot maybe it's the way u react to them
 
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