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I'm absolutely dumbfounded by some of the responses here. Why is it MY responsibility to calm the dogs? Shouldn't the owners take responsibility for not allowing their dogs to terrorize innocent passers by?
My last straw before I quit walking around my neighborhood was when a large dog (don't know the breed) ran out into the street and barked ferociously at me. That time, I didn't run (I was frozen in fear). When I finally turned around and tried to walk away slowly, the dog ran in front of me and blocked me. He (or she?) never actually bit me or attacked, but I was being blocked from moving. The owner came out and called it, but again, no apology to me.
I don't think a tootsie roll or dog treat would have helped in that situation.
To the Op I agree with you. The owners should take responsiblity for their dogs. I live in a neighborhood much like yours. The owners here instead of letting their dogs go into their Fenced backyards to do their business, let them out the front door to run amok. I no longer go walking in certain areas because extremely large dogs are constantly running loose. You need to stand your ground and firmly tell the dogs to go home. Or something of that nature.
Another idea my neighbor utilizes is that she cares a squirt bottle full of water. When strange dogs go up to her she squirts them with water. It usually startles the dogs enough that she can gain control and send them home.
I had a job that forced me to ride at night. At the time I had a CC so I could legally carry while riding. We lived in a Condo so working out at home wasn't an option at 2 am. I started carrying after a couple dogs attacked me. It's the ones that don't bark you have to really worry about. The ones that bark are just trying to scare you. I never had to kill one but one time I had to use my bike as a shield until the owner came out. I told them if they didn't call the dog it was going to be dead.
Afterwards I called the Police so they could talk to the owners and I never saw that Doberman out at 3 am again. Lot's of people think that if they let their dog outside at 3 am they don't need to watch it. I had to explain to another dog owner that a lady pushes her baby in a jog stroller cause she can't leave the baby alone while she works out. If the dog attacks the stroller or jogger that lady is going to own her house.
I carry a bottle of coke and I've had to use it many times to squirt dogs that want to chase.
I'm absolutely dumbfounded by some of the responses here. Why is it MY responsibility to calm the dogs? Shouldn't the owners take responsibility for not allowing their dogs to terrorize innocent passers by?
My last straw before I quit walking around my neighborhood was when a large dog (don't know the breed) ran out into the street and barked ferociously at me. That time, I didn't run (I was frozen in fear). When I finally turned around and tried to walk away slowly, the dog ran in front of me and blocked me. He (or she?) never actually bit me or attacked, but I was being blocked from moving. The owner came out and called it, but again, no apology to me.
I don't think a tootsie roll or dog treat would have helped in that situation.
The reason you need to take responsibility is that you are talking about a situation that is not all that uncommon (except that you seem to run into it a lot more than the average person, and/or to react to it a lot more than the average person). Since it's a fear issue, it's to your benefit to take charge of the situation, thus reducing your fear on those occasions when you encounter a dog that may or may not belong to a particular person. (Strays exist, too, after all, and you can't be mad at their non-existent owners or hold them responsible for their behavior.)
Dog owners should be responsible, I agree. However, responsible according to the law, and according to community standards, may not be the same thing as what someone with a greater than average fear thinks should be responsible. A dog in its own yard barking as a passerby is pretty generally considered to be within acceptable norms (if irritating). So, your responsibility is to deal with your fear issues and the dogs in a way that serves you, and that's what the suggestions that are being made are intended to help you with. No one here can change the behavior of the owners of the dogs in question, though it has been suggested that YOU approach those owners about the problem. However, we can tell you what might help you deal with the dogs on your own when you encounter dogs whose owners are either non-cooperative or nonexistent.
Oh, and you might have been surprised if you'd thrown a dog treat of some kind near the dog in the direction you wanted to walk away from. It might have distracted him and done the trick!
If you moved from the big city to a rural small town, chances are there are no leash laws And if the dogs bark but remain on their own property (even if they rush at you), then there would likely be no violation even in places where there are leash laws. You can carry pepper spray with you, or you can carry a spray bottle that contains dog repellent in it (same basic thing), and the dogs will learn to keep their distance.
However, it seems to me that a large part of your issue is that you're not getting apologies for the dog's behavior, and that perhaps the owners WANT the dogs to appear menacing to people who they don't know (it may not be people in the neighborhood that they are concerned about, but people coming in from outside the neighborhood that might not be so nice) and that, I can't help you with.
I do wonder at the fact that 90% of the dogs that you pass charge you. That seems excessive and I'm wondering what it is that's inspiring this reaction. Not to say that you're inviting it or that you are to blame in any way, but wondering what it is that's causing such a huge percentage of dogs to react to you in this fashion.
Actually, you are blaming the victim here, albeit in a passive aggressive way. Look, a person has an absolute right to walk down the street and not be charged by aggressive dogs. And wondering "what's causing" dogs to react to the OP is the same thing as saying, "what are you doing wrong?"
And this is what militant pet owners don't get. Dogs are animals that are genetically geared to protect their turf. But the safety and comfort of people always take priority over the needs of dogs. The OP has the right to walk the streets of her neighborhood without worrying about getting bitten or mauled.
Personally, if you feel threatened by a dog, I think a dose of pepper spray would do the trick. They'll figure out quickly that you're not to be trifled with.
Actually, you are blaming the victim here, albeit in a passive aggressive way. Look, a person has an absolute right to walk down the street and not be charged by aggressive dogs. And wondering "what's causing" dogs to react to the OP is the same thing as saying, "what are you doing wrong?"
And this is what militant pet owners don't get. Dogs are animals that are genetically geared to protect their turf. But the safety and comfort of people always take priority over the needs of dogs. The OP has the right to walk the streets of her neighborhood without worrying about getting bitten or mauled.
Personally, if you feel threatened by a dog, I think a dose of pepper spray would do the trick. They'll figure out quickly that you're not to be trifled with.
Actually, you are blaming the victim here, albeit in a passive aggressive way. Look, a person has an absolute right to walk down the street and not be charged by aggressive dogs. And wondering "what's causing" dogs to react to the OP is the same thing as saying, "what are you doing wrong?"
And this is what militant pet owners don't get. Dogs are animals that are genetically geared to protect their turf. But the safety and comfort of people always take priority over the needs of dogs. The OP has the right to walk the streets of her neighborhood without worrying about getting bitten or mauled.
Personally, if you feel threatened by a dog, I think a dose of pepper spray would do the trick. They'll figure out quickly that you're not to be trifled with.
You may have noted that I did, in the post you quoted, recommend pepper spray or something similar. One doesn't have to be blaming the victim to try to help them figure out what about their behavior or the neighborhood (you did note that I put that in in another post as a possible cause unless this happens to the OP everywhere they go, didn't you?) might be causing dogs to want to attack or to bark at them more than the next person. It would be less than helpful to pretend that that particular aspect doesn't exist - most dogs don't react to everyone the same way, after all. If there's something simple that the OP could do (wear a different perfume, project an "alpha dog" persona, whatever) that would eliminate the problem everywhere, not just on this particular route and not just with dogs with owners but with strays, wouldn't it be helpful to know that?
Oh, and I'm not a "militant dog owner", though you choosing to phrase it that way is extremely enlightening about your own attitude. Just someone who has dogs, who pays attention to dog behavior, and who wants to help with the problem using that knowledge.
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