Where are you guys running that you're getting attacked by dogs?

Did a run recently where some jackasses had a viscous dog in their yard right across the street from a school. They way it came after me made me afraid for the kids that go to school there. Made me want to start running with a pistol and zero shits.

dog whisperer wrote:

Did a run recently where some jackasses had a viscous dog

Those viscous dogs are the worst. Just hang on to you like syrup.

The first time I was delivering newspapers and the dog threw itself at the screen door barking madly as usual. This particular time the screen didn't hold and it bit my forearm before I knew what was happening. Puncture wound, got tetanus shot at Drs office.

Second incident was on cycling solo on a rural road. Dog chased me down and nipped the heel of my shoe, so no broken skin.

Third time was running on a semi rural road, dog came running out from house, crossed road and nipped my shin without pausing. Broke skin, but not deep.

Houses out on country roads; parks and trails where people may legally/illegally be letting their dogs off leash; people letting their dogs off leash on urban, trafficked bike paths; sometimes see in people's yards on urban streets and brave enough to come out on the streets.

I'm at 21 years of running and have been bitten by dogs 3 times with thousands of dog encounters. I have 2 dogs myself and am like a "dog whisperer"-- dogs are nearly always super super friendly with me. I know how to act around dogs and dog owners and do a "cough" to alert dog owners or run wide around them.

Last year I was running at a park I run at nearly daily. I was coming towards a couple I see all the time, who lets their dogs off leash (not legal). This one time their dog comes my direction, and me thinking he wants to be friendly (while I'm being friendly with the dog too) decides to randomly bite me! I'm bleeding badly on my leg and feeling like I'm going to pass out.

So yeah, there you go-- dogs bite! "Oh he won't bite. He's friendly!"

Growing up, I lived in the country. I was quite limited by aggressive dogs to which roads I ran. would they have bitten me? Not sure, but I wasn't messing with any farm dogs. If I road my bike into town, there was one farm that had a white German Shepard. As I approached the road in front of their property, I would see this dog come tearing across the yard. It was a race to see if I could get far enough down the road before it got to me. Eventually I tried other, longer routes into town to avoid the issue all together.

In the end, zero bites for me, but older brother did get bitten twice on runs.

I've never actually been bitten, but have had dogs chase after me on numerous occasions. I've no idea if this is the right thing to do or not, but I'll turn and charge at them yelling as loudly and aggressively as I can.

It's worked so far

I've been running for over 25 years and have been bitten twice. Neither were any big deal, but one required rabies shots (which are terrible).

I was running on the C&O in Washington DC and was heading from Georgetown towards Maryland. Right about at the state line (after going through that tunnel), a dog just popped out from the residential side and bit my ankle. Small dog and I wasn't even scared. He ran away into the wooded side and was gone. Just like that. Not a terrible bite, but it was bleeding. I had been running from my office so when I got back someone mentioned something about rabies shots and I just laughed it off. It stuck with me for a day or so, so I called my doctor and he was adamant that I get them, especially since it was a small dog that randomly bit me and ran away. Erratic dog behavior.

Other time was on a trail near a bad part of town in North Carolina. I got surrounded by two pit bulls and a German shepherd. No one anywhere in sight, and I honestly thought I might be going down. I talked them down, but the German Shepherd nipped at my leg and broke the skin. I thought, "oh no, not again," but they left and I ran home and called the police. The police knew the dogs, had the owner in custody and the dogs were all within date on their vaccines. Thank God. Cop did tell me I was lucky, though.

I have a dog and love dogs, so I am not an animal hater. I don't run with my dog because it is annoying.

Rojo, you are definitely one of those guys who thinks their dog will never bite anyone and then when it happens you will be shocked, SHOCKED!, that it happened. Your dog has shown signs of aggressive behavior, that you have documented on this website, so you ought to use a leash. But you should be commended for giving two pound dogs a good home.

I run the hills above Oaxaca, Mexico. An ideal running environment.

I used to carry a dog stick. I watched them closely and had to use it sometimes. Then I started running with ultra marathoner Richard Stoutner. He owns multiple dogs.

"Ignore them", he says. NO eye contact. You own them.

OK. I do, and it works. 99.5%. I got knocked down by a dog last year. He just wanted to play. Tripped me up acting frisky.

It ain't foolproof I admit. It's weird, dogs are different in Mexico. You'd have to be here to see how it works.

Big Red wrote:

I run the hills above Oaxaca, Mexico. An ideal running environment.

I used to carry a dog stick. I watched them closely and had to use it sometimes. Then I started running with ultra marathoner Richard Stoutner. He owns multiple dogs.

"Ignore them", he says. NO eye contact. You own them.

OK. I do, and it works. 99.5%. I got knocked down by a dog last year. He just wanted to play. Tripped me up acting frisky.

It ain't foolproof I admit. It's weird, dogs are different in Mexico. You'd have to be here to see how it works.

I was in the Baja region a few years ago and went out into the desert to do a long run. A local told me to watch out for dingos, but I didn't see anything but wild dogs. They followed me but I had a 9mm so I wasn't scared. I didn't want to shoot them, and I didn't have to.

I live in a small city in central California and used to do a lot of my running in rural areas where people do not confine their dogs. 99.9% of all threatening dogs will back off if you turn and confront them with an aggressive manner and loud voice (I'm a small woman but I can be plenty scary to dogs). In 40+ years of running outdoors, usually alone and never carrying a weapon, I have been bitten exactly once, a little nip on the hand by a scruffy 35-pound mutt. But there are the very rare truly aggressive dogs who will attack a person not on their territory, and a big powerful dog can do a lot of damage to even a healthy adult. I hope my luck continues to hold.

Live in a city. Only bitten once in my life. I can't remember what breed it was but it was a big dog. It jumped up on me as a ran by and gnawed on my arm a bit. It seemed like a puppy that just wanted to play, it wasn't aggressive in any way. Can't remember if it even broke the skin. I definitely agree with a lot of people here that it's worse in rural areas since there are just more dogs running free. I've been chased quite a few times in rural/under developed areas, but rarely did it seem like the dog actually wanted to do me harm, and every time I was able to shoo it away.

border layer man wrote:

dog whisperer wrote:

Did a run recently where some jackasses had a viscous dog

Those viscous dogs are the worst. Just hang on to you like syrup.

Not getting enough love. I laughed

Define "attacked".

I've had probably thousands of dog encounters where they come within yards of me. A few hundred where real action was needed on my part to convince the dog not to try anything stupid.

Maybe a few dozen where the dog was kicked or whacked with a rock to correct its aggressive behavior. Over 30 years. I don't feel bad about defending myself. It's not my responsibility to take any risk, once they are within feet you can be bit without having time to react.

The really scary encounters where I truly felt I was in real danger can be counted on one hand. The most recent was a couple years ago, this pitt bull mix charged from a garage and its owners with head down and ears laid back...bad sign. Even when I yelled and mock-charged as it got close, there was no sign of hesitation or subservience. Just attack. It faked a couple times, then launched itself for my neck. I reflexively caught its collar a couple inches before it got my throat (I had a bruise on my chin afterwards where its snout or teeth hit). I used its momentum to pile-drive it into the far side ditch, stunning it long enough for the owners to catch up and get ahold of it.

Most dogs will back down. But it only takes one....

Central Park, New York City, about 110th Street, at noon, 1974. The dog snuck up behind me silently and got my hamstring.

Its only a matter of time before you meet a mean dog, or at least one that wants to attack/bite you.

There are many places where I have been attacked by dogs while running. By attacked I mean I was forced to take actions (stop, yell, raise fist, climb tree, throw rock, fend off with stick and/or climb onto parked car) to avoid vicious snarling barking dog lunging at me.

Attacked over 50 times when running.

Despite efforts, 3 times I have been bitten by a dog while running which drew blood.

Pretty much I have encountered mean dogs just about everywhere I have lived and run.

Does not have to be a populated area: I was bitten by a dog associated with backpackers on a trail in the middle of the La Garita Wilderness area in Colorado.

Here is a list of states where I have lived and run and this has happened to me: NJ, FL, HI, CO, IN, VA.

Diverse locations in these states where I have been attacked by dogs while running: low density suburban streets, beaches, rural country roads, parks and trails. All in areas open to the public.

I believe that the farther away you get from densely populated areas in the US (City streets) the greater the chances you have of being attacked by a dog. Maybe less enforcement of leash laws in the country. Dog owners think its ok to let dogs off leash because 'no one is around'. Country dogs trying to defend their large territories.

I have owned dogs, am not afraid of dogs, and dog sit for friends when they go on vacation.

Half of the attacks have occurred when the dog owner is present and making feeble attempts to call back their untrained dog. about 10% of dog owners took no action to try to call off their dog. Either they were ignoring the attack they were watching or wanted it to occur. Many attacks with no owner in sight.

On the Rexius Trail closer Spencer Butte, woman with her dog not on a leash. As I approached the dog knocked her over, came at me and got me on my thigh. She grabbed him almost immediately and I kept running. I was wearing pants and the dog barely broke skin. No lasting impacts that I am aware of

I guess I am not the only one who chooses his path by the possibility of an encounter with a dog.

My wife ran a route she chose based on convenience and had a dog nipping at her legs for a tenth of a mile. I asked her why she did not take her pepper spray. She forgot it that day. I ran the route the next day and the little mutt was there and wanted more action. The owner just watched. We told her that if the dog ended up dead, it would not be our fault.I am considering carrying poisoned hot dogs with me on my runs down that road.

I've been a runner all my life, and been attacked by dogs many times.

For the most part I thought that I could handle any dog, until I met some that were quite physically aggressive and wouldn't back down. One was a great dane where I wasn't even running, but walking home from the university in Tucson. This dog saw me coming and had an aggressive stance about a block ahead of me, and as I came any closer, would mimic my movements to block me, sending a clear message to not advance. I didn't get any closer than a quarter of a block to this dog, turned around and made a loop from the other direction.

Still I thought that I could face down almost any dog. I was running through an alley, a woman was unloading her car when her off leash german shepherd charged at me from behind. I had my eyes on it and stopped, she yelled at it but it kept coming and leaped up at my chest, as I dug in and gave it a body block, as wolves do. It went "ooofffff" turned around, went back to the woman, and I kept on running.

However the climate has changed. Now there are MANY aggressive pit bulls and similar dogs around which are bred by THEIR NATURE to be extremely aggressive and dangerous. I have been attacked numerous times by them, despite my attempts to avoid confrontations, and have stopped running in certain areas due to their threats to my safety. Yes I have been bitten, but more than this have numerous times have dogs charge up and stand snarling with their head and teeth at my groin, glaring up at me daring me to flinch an inch, while their idiot owners wander up saying "oh don't worry, he won't bite, he's just being friendly" you F@$!@$#G IDIOTS no he isn't, he's attacking me.

The animal control places are useless, just coming out and telling people to put their leashes on the dogs that they carry in their hands, but never fining them.

Pit bulls and related breeds are a huge threat these days, along with their very stupid and ignorant owners. You can't just kick such a dog or stare it down, as it would rip you apart and you'd be in very bad shape, IF you survived.

The danger is compounded in that we are not ALLOWED to carry anything that would help to protect us from the dog attacks.