ATTN: Dog owners

I have a great dog that while insanely energentic and playful, doesn't have a mean bone his body. He also never steps past the front door without a leash. People need to be more responsible with their pets. I can't count how often unleashed dogs on walks, parks and hikes have ran up to investigate me. I don't mind it since I love dogs, but a lot of people don't appreciate a strange wet nose in their face or crotch. Not everyone is bound to love your pooch, so keep them leashed.

What a moron! I'm glad everyone is ok.

This dog owner sounds stupid as hell. My father had a full blood rotweiler when I was small and any time I visited she was gentle as hell. It disgusts me when owners act like that. I want to get a dog in the future and it will be medium or big. And it will not be allowed to roam leash free in an unenclosed front or back yard .

I hate that too.
As a dog owner and dog trainer, I am HUGE on safety for people as well as dogs.


FYI: If a dog runs AT you, stop running and turn toward it and cross your arms. DO NOT keep running since IF the dog is likely to bite you, you have now become a fun moving target and worked up the dogs adrenal response.
If you can judge dog language well, tell the dog to get lose, back off.
If not, wait til the dog loses interest. If your boring and non threatening, most dogs will saunter off pretty quickly.

I agree, but always be ready to defend yourself. Dogs go for the throat so...always throw your arms up to protect that first!

Very true, but if they can't go for the throat, they usually go for the hands and arms. Dogs know our hands are the primary means for influencing and manipulating our way through the world.

I had a similar incident to happen where a large frame dog started to chase me while running through my neighborhood. It was dark so all I could tell was a large framed and muscular dog similar to a rottweiler. I instinctivly stopped running, faced the dog and balled up my fists. The dog immediately stopped and went back to his yard.

One thing I learned from K-9 handlers, never EVER keep running when a dog is chasing you, it excites their prey drive.

How dare you run across the street from an unrestrained dog? /sarcasm

Dog owners who blame others for their poorly trained dogs... SMH

I have 2 labs and I can let them out the front without tie outs and they don't leave the yard if they're supervised. I don't leave them out unsupervised if they're in the front... They're not the best listeners, but I don't blame anyone but myself for that.

According to the leash law in my city, I can call the Police animal control division and give information on the incident. I'm thinking I should since had there been no car, I'm sure the dog would have taken a snap at me.

As a dog owner I agree that the owner in this situation was irresponsible. However, most dogs just want to play chase when they see someone running. The likelihood that it would bite is probably pretty low - just to ease your mind if something like that should happen again.

When I lived in the country I had a rot mix nip my backside while I was running. Just a small pinch nothing scary. I finished my run and let it go. I am hesitant to turn in a dog because the stupidity of the owner is not the dog's fault and unless I thought it was a real danger to others I won't report. But what really annoyed me was that after I got home and was walking my dog on a LEASE the neighbor pulled up in her car and asked if I collected another one. I said no its my dog. She then asked if her dog bit me. I told her and she proceeded to tell me I should come by when I wasn't running to make friends with him. WTF. She should have been grateful he nipped me and not someone else. She didn't keep her dog up after either but that was the only time he went after me. People are stupid. I care too much about my dogs to put THEM at risk letting them run free.

Well you should report the dog because next time it might be a childs face instead of your bottom.

When I lived in the country I had a rot mix nip my backside while I was running. Just a small pinch nothing scary. I finished my run and let it go. I am hesitant to turn in a dog because the stupidity of the owner is not the dog's fault and unless I thought it was a real danger to others I won't report. But what really annoyed me was that after I got home and was walking my dog on a LEASE the neighbor pulled up in her car and asked if I collected another one. I said no its my dog. She then asked if her dog bit me. I told her and she proceeded to tell me I should come by when I wasn't running to make friends with him. WTF. She should have been grateful he nipped me and not someone else. She didn't keep her dog up after either but that was the only time he went after me. People are stupid. I care too much about my dogs to put THEM at risk letting them run free.

Well you should report the dog because next time it might be a childs face instead of your bottom.

It was on a country road. No child would be wandering by ...

I have 2 Labs and a "Foxy" mixed breed. They are my children, and I treat them as such. I live in a neighborhood where me and 2 of my other neighbors allow our pets to be off the leash to play together when they are out. It's neighborly where I live.
But I did have an incident about a month ago where a lady was walking her 2 medium-sized K9s and mine ran to our driveway line--albeit they were technically on my property--to greet them. I immediately went and retrieved all 3 & apologized to the lady, who looked frightened. I don't allow my babies to play with stranger's K9s for the simple fact that "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!" I do allow them to go from my neighbors yard, which is on the same side of the street, but NEVER across or in the street. They are extremely obedient, and to date, I haven't had any street issues.

My biggest pet peeve is when I am in public with them and they are leashed and strangers just come up to us like we know them and wanna pet them! My black Lab/Pit is growling defensively. Do Not blame me for your stupidity. I don't know you.

In addition, since I do have swimmers & extremely active K9s who like to hunt, I feel it is irresponsible to have them leashed ALL the time. Just like humans, healthy K9s need exercise too, but not at the expense of causing an unsafe environment to people around them.

If this pet owner had shown a more appropriate response and attitude towards you, you probably would have not become so offended by the gesture.

Saying that humans are to blame for a how a K9 behaves is about as absurd as believing parents are to blame for how their children behave. You can hold them responsible--as in monetary damages or lawsuits.
To me, it's no different when you have a mean 3 yr old child biting another 3 yr old child in a preschool class. Do you leash the child? NO! If it were mine, I'd discipline him, and have him apologize to the child, then apologize to the parents of the child, and be responsible for the monetary damages that may have incurred.

More times than not, how people react to unwarranted behavior is what gets them in more trouble than the actual offense.

I have a secured garden so people walking past are never in danger of the dog chasing them. However joggers round here do tend to run along a few bridleways locally which are renowned dog-walking ones and, even worse, they do so in high-vis colours (don't people realise that a lot of dogs react to high-vis??). When out in the countryside like that, my dog is generally off lead and has certainly chased a few joggers because he thinks it's a game. However he's in absolutely no danger of catching them and he tires quickly, but the looks on some of their faces when they see a 170lb Neapolitan Mastiff charging after them can be quite amusing.....in fact I'm quite sure he's contributed to some personal best times

Most dogs are racist.

My dog has no problem with skin colour, but he doesn't like autistic kids and pretty much any other disability that can result in jerky, unpredictable movements. Oh and he also doesn't like men wearing beanie hats pulled down low or baseball caps...which is absolutely A.Ok with me as both items are an affront to fashion and round these parts are pretty much only sported by the errr.... 'lower class element'.

My biggest pet peeve is when I am in public with them and they are leashed and strangers just come up to us like we know them and wanna pet them! My black Lab/Pit is growling defensively. Do Not blame me for your stupidity. I don't know you.

This is the worst. My sister used to train a dog who had been beaten by his previous owners. He really didn't trust people and she was trying to teach him that people are alright, trying to get his trust back. People would come up and just pet him and he would get panick attacks.. He was wearing a muzzle as well, because they weren't sure if he would bite when panicked. Who comes up to a german shepherd with a muzzle?

Sounds like the dog owner needed to be leashed.

This...

Seriously, as a fellow runner and doggie mama, you have no idea the amount of times either i or my leashed dogs have been threatened by someone's unleashed ones. And then they have the nerve to yell at me when their uncontrolled animals go apepoop. After the last incident, i carry pepper spray.

People need to train their dogs better.

The same could be said about parents and children....just saying

whenever a dog runs at me i never try to speed up or get away. it kicks in their fight-or-flight and there is little chance you can get away anyway. the best tactic is to stand your ground or even yell at the dog.

If I am running without my pooch, which is rarely, I carry pepperspray or a tazer. I love animals, but I have no problem hurting one if it comes into my personal space uninvited and I feel threatened (usually I can tell the difference between a happy curious dog and an aggressive one, but not always) I will be giving that dog the shock of his or her life.