Interesting walk this morning...

1783 Views 28 Replies 14 Participants Last post by TheStig, Oct 8, 2011

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · Oct 6, 2011

I took Gunner to the park this morning, and overall, I was thrilled with his progress. He didn't have any issues getting out of the car and seemed relaxed and happy to be there. We walked along the lake on our usual trail and encountered several friendly people and dogs. Every time, he had very good manners and was relaxed and friendly. We met little dogs and big dogs, and he was very polite with all of them and all of the dogs were leashed and well behaved.

Halfway around the lake though, out of nowhere this little terrier mix comes flying up behind us with no owner. He was yapping and growling and obviously trying to start something. Gunner turned around but wasn't being aggressive at all...he was more curious than anything. He was calm and sat down while I tried to block the other dog. I wasn't fast enough though and the dog went for an all out attack on Gunner. Gunner yelped and I grabbed the other dog and basically threw him off to the side. About that time, a lady came walking up behind us and was actually smiling and said, "I'm sorry..sometimes he doesn't like other dogs." I was PISSED. I kept my temper but said, "Well, he needs to be on a leash then and you're lucky my dog is so well mannered." The lady kind of rolled her eyes and jogged off with her dog still barking at us. A few minutes later, I saw the dog attacking another dog. Gunner was fine and I didn't see any bite marks, but given that dog's tiny size....I'm thankful he kept his cool.

Reactions: 5

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

PatchworkRobot

· #2 · Oct 6, 2011

Good boy Gunner!

Some (actually many) people are completely clueless when it comes to dogs, especially their dog. Good for you for keeping your cool.

Reactions: 1

Sinister

· #3 · Oct 6, 2011

Very nice! Sometimes I wish this dogs attacking would get hurt, maybe teaching the owner a lesson.

Reactions: 1

dobienut

· #4 · Oct 6, 2011

glad he is ok ! i have had that happen to me before not a good situation to be in

Reactions: 1

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 6, 2011

Sinister said:
Very nice! Sometimes I wish this dogs attacking would get hurt, maybe teaching the owner a lesson.

This lady was an idiot....I'm sure it's only a matter of time before her little darling attacks the wrong dog. What I couldn't get is that she had a leash in her hand...she was just letting him run free. She actually acted like she thought his reaction was cute. I'm glad Gunner didn't fight back though. I would hate to feed into the doberman reputation over a stupid little ankle biter.

Reactions: 2

dax0402

· #6 · Oct 6, 2011

Good boy Gunner. You made your Mom proud!

Reactions: 1

o0 sHaDoWoLf 0o

· #7 · Oct 6, 2011 (Edited)

OliviaB said:
This lady was an idiot....I'm sure it's only a matter of time before her little darling attacks the wrong dog. What I couldn't get is that she had a leash in her hand...she was just letting him run free. She actually acted like she thought his reaction was cute. I'm glad Gunner didn't fight back though. I would hate to feed into the doberman reputation over a stupid little ankle biter.

This exactly what happened to my last doberman when was a pup but the attacker was a larger dog. It created a dog aggresion problem for him. This happening before he became my dog. Maybe put out a warning to AC thay a terrier runs loose attacking other dogs and the owner allowing it. Who knows he might attack a tiny yorkie or something and really cause some injury. If AC catches her they could give her a ticket for not having her dog leashed.

Reactions: 1

StarlightDobe

· #8 · Oct 6, 2011

Sinister said:
Very nice! Sometimes I wish this dogs attacking would get hurt, maybe teaching the owner a lesson.

The only problem with that is then the owner of the dog is going to yell and scream that the bigger dog mauled the little yapper and all holy hell will break loose. Never mind the fact that the lady's dog was off leash and running wild aggravating other dogs, just let the wrong dog retaliate and she will be screaming that it was an unprovoked attack by a doberman or pit bull and then the poor people whose dog did nothing but react to a P.I.T.A. off leash mutt will get all the trouble.

Reactions: 5

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 6, 2011

o0 sHaDoWoLf 0o said:
This exactly what happened to my last doberman when was a pup but the attacked with a larger dog. It created a dog aggresion problem for him. This happening before he became my dog. Maybe put out a warning to AC thay a terrier runs loose attacking other dogs and the owner allowing it. Who knows he might attack a tiny yorkie or something and really cause some injury. If AC catches her they could give her a ticket for not having her dog leashed.

Good idea...dogs are allowed but NOT off leash in that area. I wrote an email to the director of the park and if I see the dog again, I will alert one of the workers. The dog was extremely aggressive but since he's small, I guess no one took it seriously. But you're right, if he got a hold of the wrong dog, he could do serious damage. Not to mention he was trying to bite me when I picked him up off of Gunner. Even a small dog bite can be nasty!

Reactions: 2

SReed912

· #10 · Oct 6, 2011

Oh my.....The little guy's owner thinks it is cute right now, and is extremely lucky your Gunner had such good manners. I just wonder what her reaction is going to be when, and it will eventually happen, her aggressive dogs picks a fight with a not-so-well mannered dog and is seriously injured....This story really rattled my cage!

Reactions: 1

willydobe

· #11 · Oct 6, 2011

It is really best that Gunner kept his cool. If he had not, the way that the story would
have been told was that the big mean Dobe picked on the tiny defenseless dog.
Good boy Gunner.

Reactions: 1

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 6, 2011

SReed912 said:
Oh my.....The little guy's owner thinks it is cute right now, and is extremely lucky your Gunner had such good manners. I just wonder what her reaction is going to be when, and it will eventually happen, her aggressive dogs picks a fight with a not-so-well mannered dog and is seriously injured....This story really rattled my cage!

Yeah, her reaction is what really bothered me. I could understand if he got loose or something, but she was allowing him to run loose and attack other dogs. She joked about him having little man syndrome or something and acted like it was funny. I was really amazed that she could be so stupid. I don't blame her dog either. Clearly he has had no proper leadership and has been encouraged to act this way. I just hope he doesn't die one day because of it. He's going to pick a fight with the wrong dog and that will be the end. He couldn't have been more than 10 lbs..Gunner could have had him for lunch if he'd wanted to.

Reactions: 1

MeadowCat

· #13 · Oct 6, 2011

And this is why I carry citronella spray. That kind of incident can easily scare a puppy and you don't want your pup to be scared, dog reactive, leash aggressive, or anything like that. If it had been a bigger dog, there could have been some damage.

I would not hesitate to spray a charging dog with citronella. It's harmless, but it should stop them. My job is to protect my dogs and I'm going to do that, even if the other dog is small. No dogs get to enter my dogs' space when they are leashed responsibly.

Reactions: 5

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 6, 2011

MeadowCat said:
And this is why I carry citronella spray. That kind of incident can easily scare a puppy and you don't want your pup to be scared, dog reactive, leash aggressive, or anything like that. If it had been a bigger dog, there could have been some damage.

I would not hesitate to spray a charging dog with citronella. It's harmless, but it should stop them. My job is to protect my dogs and I'm going to do that, even if the other dog is small. No dogs get to enter my dogs' space when they are leashed responsibly.

Good idea!! Where do you get it from? I would feel a lot better having something like that to help protect us. I am a responsible owner and my dog is always leashed and under control. Unfortunately, a lot of other people aren't that responsible. Sometimes I have my baby in the stoller with us too. I've always been scared of this situation happening while I have my child with me.

Reactions: 1

MeadowCat

· #15 · Oct 6, 2011

I get it at a local pet store, but I'm sure you can buy it online, too. Maybe try Amazon first? I think I've seen some on there that's cheap with free shipping. I decided I'd rather be yelled at for spraying someone's dog than for my dog biting another dog.

SReed912

· #16 · Oct 6, 2011

MeadowCat said:
No dogs get to enter my dogs' space when they are leashed responsibly.

great quote!

Reactions: 1

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 6, 2011

MeadowCat said:
I get it at a local pet store, but I'm sure you can buy it online, too. Maybe try Amazon first? I think I've seen some on there that's cheap with free shipping. I decided I'd rather be yelled at for spraying someone's dog than for my dog biting another dog.

Ok, thanks! I'm definitely going to find some. I think that would be better than pepper spray, right? I don't want to hurt the other dog...just scare it off. And I'm with you...if someone is dumb enough to let their dog run up to us, they are lucky a spray in the face is all they get.

MeadowCat

· #18 · Oct 6, 2011

Yes, pepper spray would hurt the other dog (and possibly your dogs or yourself). Citronella spray is just a deterrent.

You could also try the "throw a handful of treats at the charging dog" option. It almost always works, but I find it's harder to carry around a handful of treats (and they have to be good, smelly treats!).

Reactions: 1

bean

· #19 · Oct 6, 2011

OliviaB said:
Yeah, her reaction is what really bothered me. I could understand if he got loose or something, but she was allowing him to run loose and attack other dogs. She joked about him having little man syndrome or something and acted like it was funny. I was really amazed that she could be so stupid. I don't blame her dog either. Clearly he has had no proper leadership and has been encouraged to act this way. I just hope he doesn't die one day because of it. He's going to pick a fight with the wrong dog and that will be the end. He couldn't have been more than 10 lbs..Gunner could have had him for lunch if he'd wanted to.

She's also the kind of idiot who probably thinks it's funny/cute when he growls and snaps at family members when they try to take a bone or favorite toy.

Gross. It's sad because either that dog will end up paying for her lack of responsibility and idiocy in the long run - he'll either be hurt or killed by a larger dog with a short fuse, or maybe end up put to sleep if he hurts or another small dog or child or the like.

Reactions: 3

OliviaB

Discussion Starter · #20 · Oct 6, 2011

bean said:
She's also the kind of idiot who probably thinks it's funny/cute when he growls and snaps at family members when they try to take a bone or favorite toy.

Gross. It's sad because either that dog will end up paying for her lack of responsibility and idiocy in the long run - he'll either be hurt or killed by a larger dog with a short fuse, or maybe end up put to sleep if he hurts or another small dog or child or the like.

Exactly. People like that also scare me because you know that if my dog had actually fought back, somehow it would have been blamed on him. Little terrier VS. doberman.....obvious who would have won. I don't want to worry about a lawsuit because of some idiot like that who can't control her dog. Or worse yet, my dog ending up with a vicious label because he bit a dog and did damage...even though the other dog started it. I'll definitely pick up some spray. I have to protect us in every way possible from morons like that.

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