What to do when a dog starts chasing you?

cesar will get you killed wrote:

More than 1.5 second eye contact from a stranger with my american bulldog will get you munched if I'm not around.

Dude WTF that is not okay. That kind of bullsh!t is the reason innocent kids and passer-bys get mauled. 1.5 seconds? You've got to be f-ing kidding me.

Ha I was appalled reading that as well. That's some Michael Vick-type crazy stuff.

I've been running for 30+ years. When I see a loose dog, I cross to the opposite side of the road and immediately begin looking for a rock or stick. Most dogs are afraid of sticks, even if it is too small to do any damage. If the dog stays in its yard, I do nothing. It's just protecting its territory. If the dog comes out of the yard, I point the stick at them or throw the rock and yell NO! BAD DOG! I don't speed up but I keep running.

If the dogs or dogs keep chasing or get close to me, I turn around and scream like a madman NO!! BAD DOG!! and run a few steps back at them. So far, they have always run away. You cannot outrun a dog if it really wants to bite you and running away triggers a chase response in dogs.

I agree that dogs can sense fear. I've always had a mindset that if I was bitten and the dog didn't immediately let go, I would do my best to kill it even if I suffered a few more bites because I would want the corpse for testing to make sure I didn't have to take rabies shots. When chased, I sort of shift into this crazy man mindset. I really think that dogs can sense it and want no part of me. Of course, they keep posturing and barking, but they back off. A couple of times when I had a big stick, I've chased dogs all the way back to their yards. Interestingly, they didn't come out of the yard the next time I ran by.

the dog will catch you.. continuing to run, even to cross the street, is just plain silly. dogs are faster than humans, and the dog is chasing you for a reason... because you are running. i always turn around and yell "HEY! NO!" as loud as i can. it can make sh*tty dog owners a bit angry if they're nearby, but fk em. i was running in a nasty park once, and some 14 year old shthead had a pitbull on a chain leash lunge at me. i yelled at it, and he threatened to 'sick the dog on me if i didn't stfu.' oh well. i had to kick a dog in the face once this past summer, and i felt horrible about it, but that little fker was clearly trying to bite me as i ran in front of its house. oh well. shtty dog owners suck.

I knew that would make someone here (especially here) appalled. I also knew that reading comprehension isn't among the faculties of many viewing this message board.

Was it appalling to you when Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters were murdered, raped, and burned beyond all recognition? Would it be appalling to you if your daughter/wife/mother/girlfriend ended up like Anne Pressly?

To clarify, I said "if I'm not around". I can and do take my bulldog to many public places and there are no problems...ever. If any of my dogs ever bite a person without cause, they will be put down. But, if someone were to try and enter my vehicle, home, or yard while I'm not there, they won't even get 1.5 seconds. My dog better show aggression or it won't be fed by me anymore. You have no right to be there and if you can't read the sign, blame the public school system. But you can't blame me for choosing to not be a victim or choosing to protect my family.

If this is appalling to you, so be it. I'm very glad to say your feelings about the way I live my life don't affect me. I'm a responsible pet owner.

Michael Vick was a dog fighter, now that is appalling!

Sorry to hear about your knee.

What works all the time is to simply stop, face the dog, reach down to the ground like you are picking up a rock. It simple and it works.

.... if that doesn't work you could always run into a tree or a brick mailbox or something.

That's what I was going for and I'll try it next time. I have always just done what the natural instinct is and it had always worked.

I'll try to run on it tonight, but it's still pretty stiff and I don't want it to change my gait and cause other shit to happen.

I'm glad this sparked a conversation.

mailboxed wrote:

I'll try to run on it tonight, but it's still pretty stiff and I don't want it to change my gait and cause other shit to happen.

Yeah, you don't want to catch the flu or start heel-striking.

cesar will get you killed wrote:

I used "cesar will get you killed" as a name because of him promoting the alpha roll. An alpha roll on a serious dog will only make the situation worse and potentially get you really f'ed up.

cesar will get you killed wrote:

I knew that would make someone here (especially here) appalled. I also knew that reading comprehension isn't among the faculties of many viewing this message board.

How did we get from dogs to donuts?

What if a little kid got lost or a 7 yr. old climbed a fence and ended up in your yard?

fisky wrote:I agree that dogs can sense fear.

Agreed. Back in grade school, I will never forget the day when my sister and I were walking home from school, a big stray dog started to chase us. We both started to run initially, but my instinct after a while told me to just stop and stand still. I yelled at my sister to stop running but she kept going out of her fear.

The dog passed me when I stopped and went after my sister and bit her on her leg. I felt so bad for my sister because she ended up getting rabies shots in her stomach. It was sort of like having survivor guilt watching her get them.

These days while running, I won't hesitate to kick or yell at the dog if they start to come after me, especially if their owners are not paying attention ( ie; they are on their cell phone or have their dog 'loose' on a leash...).

Sorry to hear about your accident.

I just wanted to chime in with what several others have written.

I live on an Indian reservation and virtually 100% of the dogs are loose. It's almost impossible to run here without getting the attention of many dogs. Some clearly have homes but many others are strays. There are a lot of aggressive breeds, too - mostly pits but also dobermans.

Trying to outsprint them is the wrong approach. First, you can't do it, unless you're sprinting for a gate or door or something a few feet away. My hound can do a 20+ mile run with me and still break into a dead all out sprint over a couple of hundred yards if he sees a rabbit. Amazing. Plus, as pointed out, they like to chase. Running faster just excites them more.

Out here, simply stopping, bending over and acting like you're going to throw a rock stops them every time. Charging them with your arms up to make you bigger and letting out a guttural yell will also work. I've been confronted with thousands of dogs over 20 years and have never been even close to being bitten. Sometimes it's necessary to slowly walk out of their territory to keep them calm, though, as some will charge again if you start to immediately run again. The folks I know who've been bitten have continued to run.

Caution wrote:

Step 1. Is the dog's tail wagging? If it is don't worry, the dog just wants to play, just ignore it.

Step 2. If it's tail isn't wagging, sprint directly toward the dog, screaming. This will scare 95% of dogs away

Step 3. If the dog is still coming at you, you're f***ed, try and kick it.

I agree with this post. Also, I find that in general if you aren't encroaching on a dog's territory (yard and sidewalk in front of house), I find they won't mess with you. Typically when I see a dog that's not on a leash out in a yard, I either cross to the opposite side of the street or run a little further towards the middle of it before I come across the house.

If a dog is coming at you or barking and you suddenly speed up or slow down, it will typically take that as an invitation to chase you or as sign of aggression. I usually just keep my pace the same, pretend I don't notice the dog, and the damn thing will lose interest pretty soon.

But if a big dog comes after you, tail straight up, and is well off of it's owner's property, look for something to hit it with (rock, stick, metal piping), and turn around brandishing it and yelling. You are legitimately in danger at that point, and if you need to kill an attacking dog, the owner has no one but themselves to blame for not controlling their animal.

I hate when people say the dog is just playing. I don't care if it's playing or even if it's a little chiuahua. I don't want some dog jumping up on me, potentially knocking me over or making me trip over it and hurting myself. There is a couple up the street that just lets their dog run wild. I've seen it get out of the gate and take off running and they just calmly and quietly say,"come here, come here" like a couple of wusses. The dog keeps running and they turn back around and go in to their house. I told the wife that if their dog ever bites my dog that I am going to kick the shit out of their dog and then I am going to go to their house and kick the shit out of her husband.

A question for anyone who cares to respond. I was recently running alone on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere when four dogs ran out from behind a trailer home an charged me. Two of them (a black lab and a chihuahua) were friendly and seemed to want to play. The two others were a pit bull and some kind of medium sized mixed breed. Those two were barking, growling, and charging me repeatedly acting very aggressive.

I stopped and faced them and slowly backed away, screaming at them like a madman trying to scare them off and get the owner's attention (though for all I knew at the time the owner wasn't home and there was no one within two miles of me). They basically surrounded me with the two aggressive ones charging right up to me and then backing off. The mixed breed actually did bite me a few times but not very hard, it wasn't particularly big so I don't think it really could have hurt me very badly. If the mix had been the only one I probably would have just kicked it but I was afraid that doing so might rile up the pit bull and cause it to attack as well (and that thing could have messed me up). I'm not sure if that was the right response though, I don't know dogs that well or how they would react as a pack in that situation.

Anyway, as I backed farther away from the property they began to hang back more and hesitate to come after me, and then the owner came out and finally got them anyway. Has anyone been in a similar situation and should I have acted differently?

Tail wagging: Nope, a bunch of people in my neighborhood witnessed my dog chase down a baby rabbit and rip it to shreads, wagging her pretty white tail the entire time. She was smiling, too. Best bet while being chased: STOP running. Dogs are runners. They love the chase. They will give up if there is nothing to go after.

[quote]Conundrum wrote:

What if a little kid got lost or a 7 yr. old climbed a fence and ended up in your yard?

The dogs would welcome the child into their pack and teach the child to run on all fours and hunt with its mouth, bark at strangers, howl at the moon, hump each other needlessly, and beg for attention when their owner is present. The dogs know that if they don't teach the newcomer its job, it won't get fed by me. The last thing I need is a worthless mouth to feed.

Seriously, I don't even know where to begin with your presumptuous question. Be responsible for your actions and I'll be responsible for mine. If our society would get back to those rules, we wouldn't see near the amount of problems we have now.

I"ll weigh in with you and malmo. The raised arm set to throw stones has never failed to deflect an aggressive dog. Back out of their turf and only begin to run once they've clearly given up the chase.

This same thing happens to me. I was running and it came out of this bush on the side of the road and I didn't see or head it, it was very ninja like, I yelled "f***", like that would of saved me, it was about four thirty I the morning. So I stopped and the dog lunged towards my ankle it got me just not even enough to hurt. So I kicked at him and walked away slowly. He proceeded to follow me for a mile and half down the road and when I turned around he stopped and tried to hide himself. It was kind of funny but I was pretty freaked out. I just pointed at him and he went back towards his house. Every now and then I'll see him and he'll come close to me, smell me then walk away. I shoulda been a dog whisperer. Dang.