what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

I'm really upset about this because I don't want to have to stop walking my dog, but this has happened several times already, each time with a different dog in my neighborhood, and I don't know what to do.

Today's incident was the worst so far. I was walking my dog and someone else's dog had gotten out I guess and was loose on the street. As soon as that dog saw us it made a beeline for my dog and started trying to bite her and was trying to get on top of her. I tried to push it off and then it started growling at me and I thought it might bite me. My dog is about 65 lbs and very strong so it's impossible for me to control her on the leash in this sort of situation. She is very sweet and not confrontational so she was obviously scared and trying to run away but since she was on the leash kept pulling me in circles in the street. Thank God no cars came by! So I kept trying to pull my dog away while yelling NO at the other dog to try to scare it. Finally a teenage boy came out to get the dog and it still took him a while to get the dog under control. He apologized but I was really ****** off because it was scary and my dog and/or I could have been hurt!

If you've continued reading this far, thank you! Basically I'm wondering is there ANYTHING I can do if this happens again to scare another dog away? As I'm sitting here right now I'm thinking I'm going to have to stop taking my dog on walks by myself all together. And I know once I tell DH about this he will probably tell me I shouldn't take her out alone. It makes me so mad that people let their dogs get out or in some cases just don't keep them leashed. We have one neighbor whose dog seriously gets out at least once a week!

So if you have any solutions for me please share! The only thing I can think of is to maybe carry a water gun or something loud. But I don't know if either of those things will work.

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

I am sorry this happened to you. I am so glad your dog is ok.

I posted a similar thread. I will link it for you.

Some suggestions we used and have learned...we bought doggie mace through amazon and would always carry that.

http://www.lifamilies.com/chat/topic.aspx?&P=1&ID=642108&Highlight=protect#P7417266

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

thanks for sharing your link! hopefully my question doesn't spark up more controversy! I was thinking of mace, but I wasn't sure for a couple of reasons. 1, it could get in my dog's eyes too. And 2, I would feel really bad about hurting someone else's dog BUT like other poster to your thread wrote, at some point I guess I have to keep myself and my pet safe. Its just really awful how some people let their dogs get out unsupervised all the time!

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

Doggie mace is not the same as human mace. It cannot permanently harm an animal or humans eyes (so I read, so the websites say).

So order some through amazon.com. I bought 2 brands, one of them was by Premier which is a well known pet brand that makes all sorts of things like harnesses, etc.

Luckily we have never had to use it yet but we do carry it when we walk our dogs.

We bought Mace Brand Muzzle...and Premier brand SPRAYSHIELD both through amazon.com.

Message edited 12/8/2011 6:02:29 PM.

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

I'm always afraid of this too especially when I'm walking my little dog...
my trainer says the best thing you can do for your dog is drop the leash and allow him/her to defend itself. With you holding onto the leash, they can't defend themselves properly.

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

Posted by LoveMyHubby605

Posted by Goobster

Posted by PhyllisNJoe

I'm always afraid of this too especially when I'm walking my little dog...
my trainer says the best thing you can do for your dog is drop the leash and allow him/her to defend itself. With you holding onto the leash, they can't defend themselves properly.

Eh...for me, if my dog is little (and they are) and the other dog is big, DH and I say we would PICK our dogs up and fight for them. No way am I letting a big dog tear my dog to shreds before my eyes. No way.

Now if my dog is small and the other dog is equally as small, this could work. But otherwise, I believe a small dog is a goner up against a larger dog. For sure.

Another thing DH and I always think of doing is dropping our dogs in a garbage can to protect them (in the event one is in sight).

ITA! I'm sorry, but that would be my first instinct. Neither of my dogs are fighters and they are pretty small so I would pick them up and jump on a car or fight the dog myself. This happened to us once where DH and I were walking our pom and a huge rottie started running out of his unlocked gate. DH just scooped our dog up faster than I thought DH could move and thankfully, the rottie was called back by his owner. There is no way our dog would've been a match for him IF he was looking to attack.

And even if they are similar sizes, some dogs just are so submissive that they won't fight. My friend was walking her goldendoodle and another large dog got away from his owner (a young girl who should never have been allowed to walk it) and started attacking my friends dog. My friend's dog just rolled over on her back and luckily, my firned had her husband with her and he was able to wrestle the dog away but my friends dog had long scratches on her belly.

I am a huge dog lover but if a dog is after my dog I am going into a blind rage and punching any dog part that doesn't belong to my dog.

Re: what can I do when I'm walking my dog and another dog attacks us?

I hear what you guys are saying... but just lettin' ya know what the trainer told me. A dog can't defend themselves while being held back. Hopefully, I won't ever have t find out