I am new to the forum and not quite sure what part of the world is it that you are in right now... but when you talk about packs of dogs running free, it reminds me of home
They are homeless dogs I would assume and very rarely dangerous. If they become a nuisance, usually bending down and pretending to pick up a stone from the ground is enough to make them keep their distance.
I like fire. Unfortunely, it doesn't work for dogs who aren't afraid of it. And it would be hard to use on a windy day.
I've had experiences with this, but only walking one dog and encountering one dog. I doubt that my current experiences will help you with walking 3 dogs! The other times I've walked with multiple dogs, I was fortune enough to not run into trouble. Had I, I would have been in major trouble, I'm sure!
I usually have a pretty good judgement of other dogs. If they are "friendly/non-threatening" I just try to shuu them away politely. Which can be difficult if they are persistent and your own dog isn't under control.
Sometimes, I will try and pick up my dog, tis' easy with one, but more of a task with two!
If need be, I can resort to kicking should that dog become a threat.
Most of time, I will just avoid situations like that, if at all possible.
How about a blow-torch?
To be honest, I think the super soaker with vinegar will work...aim for their mouth! lol.
That being said I thought I would share with you, My husband was walking the two pups on Friday. Now keep in mind, he has very little experience with dogs, and is learning as he goes along. As he is strolling along some kids in the neighborhood holler at him to look out. Out of no where an unleashed pit comes running right at Moto. Luckily this dog was not aiming to be vicious for everyones sake (Piggy is VERY protective of him, and Idon't know if Jason would know what to do). He handled himself very well.He stepped in between our dogs and the strange dog, looked it dead in the eye and yelled "GO AWAY" to which the dog did precisely that. The fact that he is 6'5 and had a huge voice works to his advantage. But Brad, when he told me the story I immediately thought of you guys. He told me the story as I was steering away a strange off leashed dog from Piggy.
Off leash dogs are incredibly frustrating!
I hope you guys have no problems. I will be walking three dogs by myself often come this spring. So keep us in the loop as to what works for Jen.
I think the vinegar idea is a good one too - thanx!
So far we have had no problems, tho yesterday we walked ALL the dogs (except Kona) and about 4 dogs approached us. Their heads where held low as if they where weary of us. I picked Maui up (he would bite them for sure), and tightened my grip on Hilo's lead - Jen tightened her grip on Ahi and Loa's leads... then... out of no where, Ahi decides to take a crap! Right there! With all the dogs slowly approaching us. It was great.... THEN Ahi did her normal after-poo freak out and pulled Jen down right on her butt (it is very snowy and slick out)!
Anyway, I got all our dogs to follow me (after I helped Jen up)... That gesture seemed to help make the other dogs more comfortable and they turned the other direction. Except for Kaya - the dog that comes around and taunts our dogs everyday... she continued to follow us. She is super sweet, but kinda a pain in the butt.
That is funny about Ahi's pooping being kind of the ice breaker. There are a few pretty famous "haunted" houses in Providence. For whatever reason Piglet needs to poop in front of them EVERY time we pass one.
Lemony water works as well as vinegar. Dogs don't like citrus, that's why there are citronella spray collars. Lemon juice is easier to come by and cheaper, though.
"Direct Stop" is citronella based. It is not a pepper spray and it latches right on to your belt. It costs about $10 and you can find it on Amazon.com.
Jen was walking Hilo and Loa and our neighbor's dog, who has charged me several times, charged them while they were on their morning walk (about a mile from his house too!). Hilo and the dog got into it. Jen used Jessica's suggestion and kicked the neighbor dog... she said it helped, but she thinks Hilo was the one that really finished the fight and sent the other dog running with its tail between its legs. So hopefully that dog learned his lesson.
Jen said that Hilo didn't even make a sound and that there were no real bites, just mouthing and "hugging", but it was clear it was malicious and not friendly banter.
We walk the dogs, in pairs, everyday at least once a day usually twice, for several miles... This is the first real issue in 6 months, and it came from the fearful skittish "abnormal" dog that lives right next door to us. Strange how things happen like that. No pack of wild crazed dogs, just some jack ass that is to lazy to put a lead on his fearful chow-mix.
The stupid thing is these people (our neighbors) are irritated with us because we walk our dogs on lead every morning around the same time they walk their dogs (not on lead). So they give us irritated looks because their dogs run up to our leashed dogs and they have to call them back, but they don't listen. Meanwhile, Jen has to deal with 75lb Hilo and 35lb Loa jumping around like freaks. I mean, who should be annoyed here? Them? <- I don't think so!
(in hindsight I should have posted that last part in the idiot thread)
Vinegar works well with animals. With water they're just wet. They're much more determined to get the vinegar smell off. If you squirt them right in the eye though, their eye will swell up and dry out for a couple days. I accidently did that to one of my buns. Vet said it was fine just put some rewetting drops in his eye and call it a day.
we have a lab that is a maniac that charges us, mostly weekends. Usually when it gets as far as the road between my sidewalk and his, i hand the leashes to John (the hub) and stomp my feet and yell "get back" and throw my hands up.
People tell me that it could provoke a fight and not flight response in this giant untrained lab beast, but to date my ranting works, and alerts his owners that they are spoiled, lazy and dumb.
but there is a german pointer thing that does not heed my yelling and we have to carry that stick around and hit it off the ground and point to him when he gets nasty, he skits and his hair stands up and everything and he is kept 'secure' by a poorly constructed fence with a very accessible gate. Usually he just snarls but has charged us a few times.
That pointer once came into OUR yard (which is not fenced) and charged Tsuki and the basset we fostered, I had to get the hose and turn it full blast on the dog.
I just found this thread so I thought I would add my two cents about using pepper spray to deter dogs. I'm a police officer and have both used and been pepper sprayed (during our training they emptied an entire can right in our eyes, and we weren't allowed to wash it out, not fun). Anyway, I've seen someone pepper spray a large dog that was directed by the owner to attack. The dog stopped for about a second, and then started licking the ground where the rest of the spray hit (dogs are so weird with smells, I'm not sure why they have to roll in dead fish at the beach or lick pepper spray on the ground). I guess it was effective because it took the dogs attention off us, but I wouldn't count on it working to keep dogs away from you. Also, if you are trying to use it into a breeze you would get more than the dogs would. Finally, as Jessica said, if you accidentally got someone with it because of any sort of wind there could be more problems.
Yeah, I had some pepper spray given to me by a friend and I was messing with it and took a small squirt to the ground. Just barely enough for something to come out. I couldn't breath, couldn't see, bad things happened. And I didn't even squeeze all the way down.
First of all I'm glad Jen, Hilo, and Loa are all ok. That must have been hectic. On one level you want to discourage Hilo from fighting but on another you want to give him a HUGE HUG for protecting Jen and Loa. Good boy Hilo!
I used to carry a towel that I would snap above the off leash dog's face- It makes a noise and is big and large moving things above dogs' heads tends to get their attention. We had a very dog aggressive female Malamute that hated loose dogs running up into her face.
The only situation I had, so far, with an off leash dog was with a stray, while walking Kuma. He seemd to just want to sniff and seemed friendly, but no vaccination plan complete, no play. So I just put myself between them and actually growled at the stray. He was confused but then got scared and trotted away. I'm crazy when it comes to dogs...
At the place we lived before there was a dog that didn't like me. I used to get joked at by everyone, cause normally dogs like me right from the start. It was a mutt, that didn't weigh more than 4Kg, but the little bastard would growl and bark at me like the world was ending. Even charged me a few times. One of them I decided it was enough and charged him back! That got him running for it, heheh.
yea, it is one of those things... I am not overly excited about my dog's protective abilities, but there are times I am really happy they are protective. It's not something I would a "selling point" for any of these breeds, imo, but it is a desirable quality in some cases.
Comments
I am new to the forum and not quite sure what part of the world is it that you are in right now... but when you talk about packs of dogs running free, it reminds me of home
They are homeless dogs I would assume and very rarely dangerous. If they become a nuisance, usually bending down and pretending to pick up a stone from the ground is enough to make them keep their distance.
These dogs are not homeless - they all have homes and are well fed. People in this area just seem to leave there dogs outside to roam free. It's odd.
Where do you live?
I like fire. Unfortunely, it doesn't work for dogs who aren't afraid of it. And it would be hard to use on a windy day.
I've had experiences with this, but only walking one dog and encountering one dog. I doubt that my current experiences will help you with walking 3 dogs! The other times I've walked with multiple dogs, I was fortune enough to not run into trouble. Had I, I would have been in major trouble, I'm sure!
I usually have a pretty good judgement of other dogs. If they are "friendly/non-threatening" I just try to shuu them away politely. Which can be difficult if they are persistent and your own dog isn't under control.
Sometimes, I will try and pick up my dog, tis' easy with one, but more of a task with two!
If need be, I can resort to kicking should that dog become a threat.
Most of time, I will just avoid situations like that, if at all possible.
How about a blow-torch?
To be honest, I think the super soaker with vinegar will work...aim for their mouth! lol.
I like the vinegar suggestion. No one gets hurt!
That being said I thought I would share with you, My husband was walking the two pups on Friday. Now keep in mind, he has very little experience with dogs, and is learning as he goes along. As he is strolling along some kids in the neighborhood holler at him to look out. Out of no where an unleashed pit comes running right at Moto. Luckily this dog was not aiming to be vicious for everyones sake (Piggy is VERY protective of him, and Idon't know if Jason would know what to do). He handled himself very well.He stepped in between our dogs and the strange dog, looked it dead in the eye and yelled "GO AWAY" to which the dog did precisely that. The fact that he is 6'5 and had a huge voice works to his advantage. But Brad, when he told me the story I immediately thought of you guys. He told me the story as I was steering away a strange off leashed dog from Piggy.
Off leash dogs are incredibly frustrating!
I hope you guys have no problems. I will be walking three dogs by myself often come this spring. So keep us in the loop as to what works for Jen.
LMAO! Blow torch???
I like the vinegar.
I think the vinegar idea is a good one too - thanx!
So far we have had no problems, tho yesterday we walked ALL the dogs (except Kona) and about 4 dogs approached us. Their heads where held low as if they where weary of us. I picked Maui up (he would bite them for sure), and tightened my grip on Hilo's lead - Jen tightened her grip on Ahi and Loa's leads... then... out of no where, Ahi decides to take a crap! Right there! With all the dogs slowly approaching us. It was great.... THEN Ahi did her normal after-poo freak out and pulled Jen down right on her butt (it is very snowy and slick out)!
Anyway, I got all our dogs to follow me (after I helped Jen up)... That gesture seemed to help make the other dogs more comfortable and they turned the other direction. Except for Kaya - the dog that comes around and taunts our dogs everyday... she continued to follow us. She is super sweet, but kinda a pain in the butt.
So I think its a work in progress for us.
"Direct Stop" is citronella based. It is not a pepper spray and it latches right on to your belt. It costs about $10 and you can find it on Amazon.com.
So it happened this morning....
Jen was walking Hilo and Loa and our neighbor's dog, who has charged me several times, charged them while they were on their morning walk (about a mile from his house too!). Hilo and the dog got into it. Jen used Jessica's suggestion and kicked the neighbor dog... she said it helped, but she thinks Hilo was the one that really finished the fight and sent the other dog running with its tail between its legs. So hopefully that dog learned his lesson.
Jen said that Hilo didn't even make a sound and that there were no real bites, just mouthing and "hugging", but it was clear it was malicious and not friendly banter.
We walk the dogs, in pairs, everyday at least once a day usually twice, for several miles... This is the first real issue in 6 months, and it came from the fearful skittish "abnormal" dog that lives right next door to us. Strange how things happen like that. No pack of wild crazed dogs, just some jack ass that is to lazy to put a lead on his fearful chow-mix.
The stupid thing is these people (our neighbors) are irritated with us because we walk our dogs on lead every morning around the same time they walk their dogs (not on lead). So they give us irritated looks because their dogs run up to our leashed dogs and they have to call them back, but they don't listen. Meanwhile, Jen has to deal with 75lb Hilo and 35lb Loa jumping around like freaks. I mean, who should be annoyed here? Them? <- I don't think so!
(in hindsight I should have posted that last part in the idiot thread)
we have a lab that is a maniac that charges us, mostly weekends.
Usually when it gets as far as the road between my sidewalk and his, i
hand the leashes to John (the hub) and stomp my feet and yell "get
back" and throw my hands up.
People tell me that it could
provoke a fight and not flight response in this giant untrained lab
beast, but to date my ranting works, and alerts his owners that they
are spoiled, lazy and dumb.
but there is a german pointer thing
that does not heed my yelling and we have to carry that stick around
and hit it off the ground and point to him when he gets nasty, he skits
and his hair stands up and everything and he is kept 'secure' by a
poorly constructed fence with a very accessible gate. Usually he just
snarls but has charged us a few times.
That pointer once came
into OUR yard (which is not fenced) and charged Tsuki and the basset we
fostered, I had to get the hose and turn it full blast on the dog.
Dog owning should be a privalege and not a right.
i think we just need a better neighborhood!!
but who knows..
I just found this thread so I thought I would add my two cents about using pepper spray to deter dogs. I'm a police officer and have both used and been pepper sprayed (during our training they emptied an entire can right in our eyes, and we weren't allowed to wash it out, not fun). Anyway, I've seen someone pepper spray a large dog that was directed by the owner to attack. The dog stopped for about a second, and then started licking the ground where the rest of the spray hit (dogs are so weird with smells, I'm not sure why they have to roll in dead fish at the beach or lick pepper spray on the ground). I guess it was effective because it took the dogs attention off us, but I wouldn't count on it working to keep dogs away from you. Also, if you are trying to use it into a breeze you would get more than the dogs would. Finally, as Jessica said, if you accidentally got someone with it because of any sort of wind there could be more problems.
The only situation I had, so far, with an off leash dog was with a stray, while walking Kuma. He seemd to just want to sniff and seemed friendly, but no vaccination plan complete, no play. So I just put myself between them and actually growled at the stray. He was confused but then got scared and trotted away. I'm crazy when it comes to dogs...
At the place we lived before there was a dog that didn't like me. I used to get joked at by everyone, cause normally dogs like me right from the start. It was a mutt, that didn't weigh more than 4Kg, but the little bastard would growl and bark at me like the world was ending. Even charged me a few times. One of them I decided it was enough and charged him back! That got him running for it, heheh.