Dealing with off-leash dogs on a walk
Hello all,
We just moved and I took the dogs on a walk around the new neighborhood tonight. We were almost home when we were walking by a house with an open garage and 2 men outside. As soon as we passed the house, I heard one of the men say "Oh, sh*t, come here Joey!". I didn't see a dog, but I assumed he had a dog outside, and the way he reacted didn't exactly put me at ease. I didn't look back, just urged the pups to walk a little faster as we were almost at our house. We were almost to our driveway when this huge german shepherd comes running towards us. My dogs are okay with other dogs but they're not very tolerant. If another dog does something they don't like, they're going to let him know, and you never know how other dogs are going to react to that. When the dog approached, he had his hackles up and his tail straight in the air-not very friendly behavior. I was on guard immediately and basically dragged the dogs into the house while this dog was circling us. At one point, he jumped in front of us and just stood there. We managed to side step him and got inside safely, but I was so shaken. What should I do? Just avoid that part of the neighborhood? I feel weird about confronting the owner since we're new to the neighborhood. I'm not sure if the dog being off leash is a normal thing or if it was just a fluke, but it makes me want to avoid that house either way.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jenna, Jasper and Cersei on
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We haven't met many people yet as we just moved in, but we did meet a guy who I believe lives next door to this guy's house, so maybe he will know something.
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Permalink Reply by Vicki/Kurt Pegel on
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My Sophie was just attacked this past friday by a dog in our neighborhood. I called the police because she was bitten. They decided not to give them a sitation, because it happened in front of their house on the end of the driveway right by the street. They said the dog was probably defending its territory. Geez, I am so upset, Sophie has about 8 stiches and a drainage tube, and is taking slow to recovering. Please be careful and like Marcie said talk to others to find out what the dog is like, sure doesnt sound very friendly the way it sounds. I wish people would be more responsible.
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Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that, it sounds really scary. That's so crazy that the cops couldn't do anything. Hope that Sophie gets well soon!
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Permalink Reply by Rachael McClanahan on
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I hope it was a one-off experience and that you are able to safely walk your dogs. I can say from experience that it really sucks not being able to walk your dogs around your own neighborhood due to unleashed and free roaming dogs. I agree that it might be a good idea to talk to the person, but take someone with you, just in case he does take it the wrong way!
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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From the guy's reaction, it sounds like he doesn't usually let his dog out unsupervised. We occasionally let our dogs in the front yard with us unleashed. Unfortunately, they will run out to a dog they see, so we try to be careful. If your neighbor is like we are, he would have put Joey inside if he had noticed you coming. Keep an eye open and see if you see a trend of how often that garage door is open and when. Did the neighbor chase after his dog? His actions and attitude would tell me whether I wanted to talk to him about it or not. We had a similar situation the other day, and the lady was running after her dog- fortunately he listened and went back to her. She was apologizing profusely. Since my dogs have done the same thing, I can't point blame if no one was hurt. Good luck.
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