Dogs: How far can you go protecting yourself from attacks while running without getting arrested?

F'ing dog owners alway always say this...he/she is the nicest dog...he she wouldn't hurt a fly....as they are foaming at the mouth....baring teeth...growling or pinning me to the side of the road...

Such a nice dog!

I'd be more concerned about being an adult man who's afraid of dogs.

Chewbacca wrote:

I'd be more concerned about being an adult man who's afraid of dogs.

Some dogs are worthy of being feared.

It depends on the color of your skin.

Running away from a dog triggers their attack reflex, that's why us runners need to deal with dog encounters more than others. Hopefully my experience will come in handy.

I was just this year running in a wealthy neighbourhood abroad, there was this one mansion with white concrete fences and wrought iron gates. There were four lean dobermans going crazy inside the property as I passed. Seemed like no-one was home to control them, and they were all the more protective for it. Made me wary as I kept running by, while the beasts followed me to one of the gates and started jumping on it barking mad.

I was some 30 yards up the street already, when one of them somehow wiggled his way out through the fence and started after me. Scared the hell out of me. I stopped running, turned to him and continued to walk slowly backwards away. Raised one hand and talked as calm as I could: "I'm just passing, going away now". He immediately turned back and ran back to the gate, quickly wiggling himself back inside. I sure got my adrenaline shot for that trip.

Lesson learned: don't run away, keep your calm, show that you're not afraid. They will back down.

I think it was your clear use of English that turned the tables.

Chewbacca wrote:

I'd be more concerned about being an adult man who's afraid of dogs.

Chewbacca, I invite you to run with me in the forest (where I'm not running anymore).

There are 3 packs of 6-10 dogs each, which actually are aggressive and starving.

Dog World wrote:

I run in unwashed running clothes and sweat alot. Dogs don't come near me and I've never been arrested. Maybe this is what you should do as well.

Your telling me a dog that likes the smell of another dogs butt is scared of a few unwashed clothes?

Best actions:

Face the dog. Do not run. These are interpreted by dogs as not being afraid (even if you are).

Raise a fist, as if you intend to throw something or swing at the dog. Dogs seem hard wired to interpret this as a threat, and most will back down simply from the motion alone. If you can grab a rock or something to throw first, do so.

You may not have to throw it.

Slowly back away facing the dog. If you can get out of its territory it may give up.

Yell "NO!" Some dogs may attack not recognizing you as human. Hearing a human voice may help bring them out of prey chasing mode. Some are trained to stop at no. Yelling no, or bad dog, may alert the owner.

If all these fail and the dog continues to attack, beware. Many dogs will not automatically bite, they will just rush up close to you threatening and snarling.

They like to bite arms and hands hanging down, so keep your hands up out of the way. Beware of kicking out with your foot. If you miss, it may be bitten.

Look for a weapon or something to climb up on (parked car).

You want to avoid physical contact. It this occurs you need to fight like hell and anything is fair game in self defense.

You need to worry about trained attack dogs, who will ignore all of the above and just head straight in. These are few and you are unlikely to encounter one.

This applies to bigger dogs that pose a real threat. You can be more aggressive with smaller dogs

Great question one of my pet peeves is irresponsible dog owners and I have had the same thought. I run with my girl's and have carried pepper spray but the range sucks and wind can make it useless and even get yourself plus as mentioned the attacks happen quickly.

I have seriously considered packing heat but in the middle of a long run I would need a shotgun to hit a running dog with any accuracy. I think you would easily be cleared if it was within a few feet of you when shot but it would still be a hassle. Would make for good pr though.

I have called the sheriff and had him give someone a warning which worked like a charm the dog isn't out any more. Usually I just slow down and throw gravel and on bike I kick them which gives me great pleasure.

We go pretty far to protect ourselves from scrawny humans running through our territory. We bark and snarl but these emaciated creatures just keep invading our space day after day. They preen and act brave but we usually run away before the dog warden can get there.

I got attacked by two off leash dogs on a run. They were out with their owner and were on the other side of the street. They crossed the street and came trotting up to me. I stopped running as they approached to avoid getting chased. When they got up to me, it was bark, bark, bite, bite. One bit my calf and the other jumped up and bit me on the back. I immediately turned to face both dogs and yelled at them as loud as I could and stomped my feet at their heads. They were still barking at me, but backed up enough that the biting stopped. The owner came over and took the dogs away as I ran to a convenience store across the street to call police.

When I talked with the cops, they said that the worst thing you can do in a dog attack is try to hurt the attacking dog. Dogs who attack can become even more dangerous if they are wounded. The cops said that whenever they are attacked by a dog, they make sure they shoot to kill and do not leave a wounded dog running around.

I had 2 jack Russell terriers run through their invisible fence and start attacking my leashed dog on a run. My dog is a small lab mix 35 lbs. Small but much larger than the terriers. The little dog were very aggressive bitting at my dog. I kicked one of them hard. It skidded all the way across the street. Another lady walking helped me chase off the dogs.

My mom was attacked by a German Shepherd on a run. It was a former k9 unit. He was unleashed in a yard with no fence. He did exactly what he was trained to do minus the attack command. Ran down my mom. Bit her on the rear and took her down. She was lucky two other women were running on the same road and used rocks and sticks to beat the dog and get him to stop.

Pointing Out the Obvious wrote:

Chewbacca wrote:

I'd be more concerned about being an adult man who's afraid of dogs.

Some dogs are worthy of being feared.

I never thought I'd be afraid of dogs until one bit me while I was running. It was a bad bite - needed stitches. I'm a bit spooked now. And I had a dog as a kid and loved it, but once one sinks its teeth into you your attitude changes a bit.

i have always defended myself by kicking the dog in the head. it works well and so far as i know, i've never killed the dog.

once i was attacked by a whole pack of big junkyard dogs running at me from the septa tracks on 31st street in philly (any runner who lives in university city will know this street.). they just started pouring through a hole in the fence and coming at me like i was a wounded fawn or something.

i just kicked the leader in the face as hard as i could and they all scrammed. i don't think i hurt it particularly bad, although it was not for lack of effort.

honestly i don't know why these threads come up so often. it is such an easy instinctive solution to turn around make like Ray Guy with their heads...and it has never failed me. i even stunned a pit bull enough that it left me alone.

i have never faced an angry rotweiler or doberman so i've not used this tactic on those breeds. really only the rotweiler scares me. they are so damn big. the doberman's a problem because of their height, but i bet they have glass jaws.

oh...and also you yell and scream a lot....if you go berserk and scream at the dog that you're going to rip it's head off and schidt down it's neck, they dont' like that.

I've got a 100lb Rottweiler with a head like an anvil. And a pup too. Hitting them does not work. Trust me.

But they're the sweetest doggies ever!!

Bwahahaha

One of the problems with dogs is you don't really know their intentions until it's too late. I've had dogs aggressively run up to me while barking but once they got close they didn't actually attack.

Is this thread a meeting place for all the morons and would be hard men on Letsrun! Pathetic

Owners are the problem not dogs

2nd to the owners are idiots around here who have no idea how to act around animals and wet themselves just because a dog is barking at them