Runners -- How do you deal with dogs?

Otrogen

The other day I was running in my neighborhood and had an incident with a dog. There are a lot of dog owners in the neighborhood, and most of them are careless at best. Usually I'll have dogs run out of their yards barking at me (but they'll appear mostly friendly so I'm not threatened by them); or they'll be free in the yard and run to the edge of the yard and start getting aggressive, but they don't bother me as long as I don't step foot in the yard. In my state, dogs are supposed to be on a leash or behind a fence at all times.

Yesterday, though, I was running along a street and had a dog I hadn't seen before run out of his yard, haunch down beside me in the street, and start baring his teeth and barking and growling at me. It was clearly a territory thing -- when I got out of range of his front yard, he left me alone. But then I had to go back (it's a dead end circle, and the backyards are fenced with no way to cut through). Even though I was running very slowly on the opposite side of the road on the edge of the yard across the street, he still rushed out and barked at my heels and growled and whatnot until I managed to inch out of his "territory" again.

I'm really not sure how to handle this. Lots of people say you always mace/pepper spray an aggressive dog. Many say that just makes them angry. Another supposed solution: Stop moving, inch away slowly, and never act like you might be aggressive/a threat. But then others tell me the answer is to go bat**** crazy to establish myself as the alpha. It's all very contradictory @_@.

TL;DR -- Running into dogs while out in the neighborhood for a workout seems pretty inevitable in the long-run, so what do you do when it happens?

chad_phillips1123

....talk to the owner or call animal control to see if there's something they can do before the dog does something that gets it put down. I mean if it's that aggressive when you're running by, what if a kid goes through the area?

Also if there are a lot of careless dog owners around, I'd carry a small thing of pepper spray just as a last resort in case one gets "too friendly".

cmriverside

chad is so reasonable.

I would have done the challenge thing. If he tried to actually bite me, I think I would have kicked him.

lucystacy71

I take my dog, Bo, with me when I run. He's a Great Dane/Pit Bull mix. He's actually rather gentle and won't start a fight, but he's also very protective of me. The other day a strange dog growled at me when I was walking down the road. Bo immediately ran up beside me and stayed between me and the other dog, who immediately retreated.

cindydownes

When I was biking, I took a spray bottle of water. When they got near, I sprayed them. This worked.

k8eekins

The other day I was running in my neighborhood and had an incident with a dog. There are a lot of dog owners in the neighborhood, and most of them are careless at best. Usually I'll have dogs run out of their yards barking at me (but they'll appear mostly friendly so I'm not threatened by them); or they'll be free in the yard and run to the edge of the yard and start getting aggressive, but they don't bother me as long as I don't step foot in the yard. In my state, dogs are supposed to be on a leash or behind a fence at all times.

Yesterday, though, I was running along a street and had a dog I hadn't seen before run out of his yard, haunch down beside me in the street, and start baring his teeth and barking and growling at me. It was clearly a territory thing -- when I got out of range of his front yard, he left me alone. But then I had to go back (it's a dead end circle, and the backyards are fenced with no way to cut through). Even though I was running very slowly on the opposite side of the road on the edge of the yard across the street, he still rushed out and barked at my heels and growled and whatnot until I managed to inch out of his "territory" again.

I'm really not sure how to handle this. Lots of people say you always mace/pepper spray an aggressive dog. Many say that just makes them angry. Another supposed solution: Stop moving, inch away slowly, and never act like you might be aggressive/a threat. But then others tell me the answer is to go bat**** crazy to establish myself as the alpha. It's all very contradictory @_@.

TL;DR -- Running into dogs while out in the neighborhood for a workout seems pretty inevitable in the long-run, so what do you do when it happens?

I rarely run alone but whilst running with my sister, as I'm soon to do, she insists on taking a tiny citrus scented water spraying bottle which she's used twice. Generally, the neighbourhood dogs are well socialised. The water bottle is more for the coyotes. The coyotes sometimes choose to run through our streets in the early mornings.

airangel59

I'm not a runner (I walk) and I have pepper spray with me (for 4 legged as well as 2 legged potential issues). Thankfully haven't had to use it but at least I have something other than my once frozen water bottle to fight with.

kill3rtofu

It sounds like you're doing a pretty good job so far. I'd just say to try not to return to where you know the hostile dogs are. Owners probably won't be too happy if you try to tell them what to do, even if it is for the best. Not worth it. Avoid

AvalonsUnicorn

....talk to the owner or call animal control to see if there's something they can do before the dog does something that gets it put down. I mean if it's that aggressive when you're running by, what if a kid goes through the area?

Also if there are a lot of careless dog owners around, I'd carry a small thing of pepper spray just as a last resort in case one gets "too friendly".

This! If a child were to get bit or worse The dog would have to be put down. Chances are the owners now about the aggression and just don't care. If They did care the dog would be properly contained. I personally think you'd be A: doing the dog a favor and B: teach irresponsible pet owners a lesson. Most pounds will charge a fee if your animal gets picked up. and C: possibly saving the dog. What's to stop it from running out in front of a car or something? Dead end street or not It DOES happen. I witnessed it with a neighbors dog when I was 14. It ran out and we had a speeder on out dead end street and sure enough it killed the poor thing because they were to lazy to watch it or fix the fence it kept getting out of. So Do everyone a favor and call animal control! My experience? I've been around dogs my entire life!

MANDallasTX

I have two personal protection suggestions.

Carry a "Pocket Air Horn," it is normally used as emergency tool on boats. The volume of the blast will definitely startle an approaching dog. Especially when you consider a dog's hearing is many times better than ours.

A second more noxious suggestion would be to carry "bear repellent spray." If it works on a bear it will work on a dog or human attacker.

Nicolee_2014

That totally sucks!
It strikes me so odd that in America most places don't have fences? (I could be wrong but when I was there I couldn't believe how open people's properties were). Down the road from my Grandparents house they have 2 vicious dogs which look like they can get you but they have an electric fence thing or something that stops them going past the boundary.

I live in Australia & we have boundary fences all the way around. So, unless a dog has got out of its yard then they are always behind a fence.

I hope you find a solution to your problem.

StellaHarmon

I have dog issues nearly every time I run. I always carry pepper spray with me. I have never had to use it, but have had to take it out in preparation and the dogs retreated. It would not be reasonable for me to carry air horns, spray bottles, or water bottles on my long runs. It would be to much for me to carry.

Otrogen

It sounds like you're doing a pretty good job so far. I'd just say to try not to return to where you know the hostile dogs are. Owners probably won't be too happy if you try to tell them what to do, even if it is for the best. Not worth it. Avoid

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I know that by legal definitions, this dog can now be classified as "dangerous". But I've run down that road every single time I go running in my neighborhood and this is the first I've seen of that dog, leading me to believe he's usually contained but got out. I still want to say something to the owner but I don't want to start all kinds of trouble, y'know? Small neighborhood, and southerners get reaaaally ticky about their dogs. The owner is much more likely to be defensive and say he's trained his dog well and that it's successfully protecting his home than he is to apologize.

I hate carrying things on a run, so much so that I only work out in shirts with media pockets for my mp3 player and simply do not carry water with me. I could swing a little thing of pepper spray though. Guess it's off to order ._. Thanks for the suggestions guys. The air horn honestly sounds the best but again, nowhere to put it.

tennyllia4

I Carry "PEPPER SPRAY" That's for dogs and WEIRD0's both can be a Major problem