Why do people get mad when you get upset that they're dangerous dog it is running freely off of a leash is charging at your

I have the same issue on the running paths around where I live despite the fact that there are large signs everywhere that dogs must be on leash. I have a toddler that I run with in the jogging stroller and it is irritating and dangerous that some dogs run free. If you bring it up to the owners, they get belligerent and say "he's friendly" until something goes wrong and then they say "gosh, he's never behaved that way before".

I can do voice inflections well so I adopt an obnoxious New York accent: "CONTROL YOUR ANIMAL!!!" It escalates tension between s**thead owner and me, but I don't care. "WHAT A HAURRUBLE BEAST!" etc. It's hilarious to watch their befuddlement, the obnoxious accent freaks them out.

My preferred quip is to stupid dog owners is this:

Me: Could you please control your dog?

Dog owner: But my dog is friendly!!!

Me: Well, I'm not.

[mime kicking or punching motion for added effect, laugh at gasps of horror]

Few dog owners consider that putting their dog on a leash is in fact, partly to protect their dog from various things it might encounter. Wild animals, other dogs that may not be friendly, anti-social/sketchy people, cars, sharps/poisonous things, geographical elements etc. Everyone thinks their dog is smart and tough, but it almost certainly isn't.

Example: I run in a conservation area that features a river canyon, 100ft+ cliffs into very shallow water. There is a barrier near the edge to warn people (drunk people would walk off in the dark before it was installed), but one can easily duck under/jump over it. A few weeks a go a dog ran off the edge and died. Unfortunate that the owner had to learn that lesson at the cost of the dog's life.

Reluctant dog owner wrote:

Dog owners are gennerally the most obnoxious people on the planet.

In their mind, their pet can do whatever it wants and anyone in the way of that (such as a runner) is the devil. If the dog mauls a kid to death they'll still justify, "he/she (the dog) never hurt anyone before." The absolute best thing to do is avoid or ignore these type of people at all cost. No sense arguing with a dummy.

I'm not a dog lover, and I saw this all the time living and running in Hoboken. People act like their dogs are their children and are way more important than your safety. Can't tell you how many times I'd be running and the dog is on one side of a sidewalk and the owner is on the other side and the leash is set up like a tripwire for me. I'd always say something to the owner, but never seemed to do any good. Just a total lack of common sense.

When they have those extendable leashes and the dog is on one side and the owner on the other I just run through the leash and choke the dog if I have to. I'm no hurdling a target that can move suddenly.

When dogs, leashed or otherwise, indicate intention to approach me, I show them the raised back of my hand. It's a signal most dogs understand well. Owners sometimes get mad, but to hell with them.

With pitbulls and similar dangerous breeds the most important things are to avoid eye contact and not to surprise them, particularly close to the owner. I usually give them a lot of space and watch them peripherally.

Dog owners are generally some of the most delusional people on earth. It's ok for their dog to piss on your car or crap on your lawn, but don't dare complain that it tries to bite you ...

Agreed. This happened to me today. I was out walking some secluded trails and a dog (looked like a small pit) started running at me out of nowhere. I then heard the owner, who was rounding a bend behind some trees, yell at it and the dog stopped. There are signs to have dogs on leashes all over the place but I find that dog owners don't care. I was getting ready to kick the dog in the f**king face. Good thing the owner decided to be an owner. I don't mess around with dogs off leashes, especially when they are legally supposed to be. I'm not afraid to gut a dog.

Rural dogs are the worst. They can be very territorial and used to having free reign in their area. Sometimes, this includes the road, particularly if it is a dirt road. I typically run in a rural area and I've had dogs (1) stalk me as if I were a deer or other animal, (2) charge me out of their driveways, and (3) bite me hard in the thigh. I had to scream and kick the heck out of that dog to keep him away from me. I've also had a dog follow me (for fun) for miles. I had no idea who it belonged to until the owner showed up looking for him.

I once passed a dog who charged out into the road. I yelled at it and it retreated. The owner anticipated the 8 mile loop I was on and then intercepted me in his piece of junk truck to yell at me for 'abusing' his dog. It was a summer day and I was in nothing but shorts and shoes. Crazy dog owners in the country are nuts.

Don't even get me started with the idiots driving in cars with the dog sitting on there lap. And talking on cell phones whilst driving is illegal?

Many people value their dogs because they believe their dogs will protect them. Protect them, in part, from the perceived threat that is posed by crazy people like you who run. Many people like being out in public with an unleashed dog, as its similar to being out with a gun.

Instead of having to pull out their gun when they feel threatened, they move around with an unleashed dog. The dog scares many people away.

A dog charging at you is like them pointing a gun at you, or even firing shots in your direction. This threat to your health, safety and sanity is not interpreted the same as if they pulled out a gun and aimed/shot it at you. Conveniently the consequences of having their dog threaten you are far less than if they threatened you with a gun. It is somehow more socially acceptable to be out in public with an unleashed dog than to be out there with a gun.

They get mad with you for being upset because:

1) their dog threat did not work properly, since instead of running away from them in fear you are confronting them (confront them and you become a bigger threat)

2) you are questioning their basic judgement (and their irrational fear)

3) they know that ultimately they have less control over their dog than they would over a gun trigger

4) if you overcome their dog, or the dog misfires, they may have to deal with you without protection

The owners almost always say "he won't bite". They do this in an attempt to absolve themselves of some responsibility ("I did not know the gun was loaded")

Some might say dogs are less likely to kill you than guns. I have been threatened by both, and the fear was equally real

Your interpretation of the psychology is spot on! Here’s a twist on the gun or dog. A guy in our town last week was walking his tiny Pomeranians had his dogs charged last week but and one picked up in the mouth by a Malemute, the dog walker couldn’t control it . He took his gun out and shot the Malemute dead. He was charged with using a gun recklessly and it was confiscated as the Malemute walker was close,and the dog walker, Malemute owner’s mother, was charged with having a vicious dog. Another walker got a hold of her son’s second big dog a coonhound.

The best thing I’ve found to do when a dog is charging at you is to pick up or act like you are picking up something. They always get scared. I did this last week and the owner yelled at me that she was “going to shoot me”.

Mid packer Sam wrote:

Your interpretation of the psychology is spot on! Here’s a twist on the gun or dog. A guy in our town last week was walking his tiny Pomeranians had his dogs charged last week but and one picked up in the mouth by a Malemute, the dog walker couldn’t control it . He took his gun out and shot the Malemute dead. He was charged with using a gun recklessly and it was confiscated as the Malemute walker was close,and the dog walker, Malemute owner’s mother, was charged with having a vicious dog. Another walker got a hold of her son’s second big dog a coonhound.

This is interesting. I wonder how it would have been different if he had kicked the Malemute instead of shooting it, and if the Malemute had charged him instead of his dog. I know that a number of states will charge you with a misdemeanor if you have a "dangerous dog", which is usually defined as having bitten another person/animal when not provoked and not on the owner's property.

I've shot 2 dogs in the past 5 years due to worrying my sheep, and in one of those instances it had attacked walkers on a public footpath running through my farm. People don't realise how dangerous a dog is to animals and humans when there blood is up, and natural instinct is kicking in. I'm not from US btw, so dont know if its illegal or not to shoot somebody elses dog, but here in the Lake District in northern England it is perfectly legal to do so if a dog is running dangerous and worrying farm stock.

change this to WHITE PEOPLE.... WHITE PEOPLE (& some Latinos) are insane about their g.d. dogs... who deserve to be shotgunned, run over with trucks and cars, pepper sprayed, captured by the dog catcher and until heavy fines are paid etc. If you own a dog, you OWN it, $hithead.

As a responsible dog parent who goes to great lengths to keep my dogs contained in my backyard it irks me probably more than non-dog owners when dogs are allowed to roam free because it gives me, as a dog owner, a bad reputation.

I'm with anyone who gets annoyed at irresponsible owners. Keep giving them hell. I'm a dog lover, but no: I don't think it's cute when someone's negligence leads to their off-leash dog wanting to "play" with me. If I wanted that I'd go to a dog park. Hell, you can't take your dog off-leash to Petsmart, but these people think they can everywhere else.

Just recently I told one of these people that I have a pet mountain lion that's never bitten anyone, would it be ok if I let it roam off-leash on the trails like they did their dog? Zero verbal response, but they got the message.

Lastly, I gotta say that what most people call a "pit" isn't an actual pit bull terrier at all. Just want to educate on the actual breed. There is only one breed of dog called a pit bull and that is the American pit bull terrier. They are not human aggressive and therefore make the worst guard/watch dogs imaginable. And they're on the small-to-medium side of the size spectrum, as the breeds they came from in Ireland and England were small as well. Having said that, they require a responsible parent just like any other breed.

What many people call "a pit" is really just a backyard breeder's mix of something like an American Staffordshire bull terrier or an English bull terrier and something else used "for size". True APBT (American pit bull terrier) aficionados like their pups pure and on the small side so they can be great working dogs. Long story short, by definition there is no such thing as a "BIG PITBULL". That's something else entirely.

Anyway, unless you're working livestock or hunting or training them on contained private property, keep your dogs on-leash, people.