Off-leash dog charges at my dogs. Part two.

I've shared some stories before about off-leash dogs that have come charging at me and my own dogs. Feel free to ready part one here.
Well, I have another story.  This happened just this morning.

Chris, Halo, Leopold, and I were on our daily morning walk when we noticed an off-leash german shepherd across the street.  There was no owner in sight; I'm guessing it had gotten out of its back yard somehow and was wandering the neighborhood alone.  When we noticed the german shepherd , it was already making a bee-line for us.  To my eyes, the german shepherd did not approach in a submissive, friendly state.  It's head was up, its ears were up, its tail was up;  I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw the dog heading for us. 

Almost as soon as the german shepherd reached us, it tried to attack Halo.  Halo, who was just being a dog, tried to defend herself and pulled on her leash to get at the german shepherd .  Chris had Halo's leash, and so he pulled her away from the german shepherd , trying to break them up--he kicked at the german shepherd a couple of times (thank goodness Chris had thick boots on this morning!).  The german shepherd kept trying to get at Halo, so Chris kept pulling Halo away; he and I both yelling at the dog to go away.

Eventually the german shepherd backed away from Halo, then turned its attention on Leopold, whom I had on a leash.  The dog tried to go for Leopold, too.  Just as I've done with all other off-leash dogs that have harassed me and my dogs, I let this german shepherd know that I was taking control of the situation by taking a step towards it and firmly telling it "no" and to "go home".  The german shepherd did stop his advance every time I stepped towards it, but it did not retreat much, and when it did retreat, it would stop and look back, still fixed on Leopold, and start approaching us again.  Every time it tried to approach us again--even tried to take one step--I moved towards it, and firmly (and loudly...) told it to leave and go home, claiming control of the area around me and my dogs.  I had to keep moving towards it halfway down the block until it finally stopped trying to approach us and scooted off between some houses.

I waited to see if it would reappear, and when it didn't, we felt we could continue our walk and get safely home. (wherein we called the police to let them know that a possibly dangerous dog was roaming around our neighborhood; maybe it wasn't dangerous to people, but we have a lot of dogs in our neighborhood!).

Afterwards, I looked over Halo to see if the german shepherd had done any damage; I thankfully found none.  I'm also thankful that both Chris and I were out walking the dogs this morning, each of us handling one.  Sometimes only one of us will take the dogs for their walk.  I can only imagine what would have occurred had there been only one of us walking Halo and Leopold this morning.  Managing our own two dogs on leash while trying to fight off a german shepherd would have been a shit show!

This whole experience is a nightmare come true for me.  In the past, the biggest dog I've had to deal with in this manner was a golden retriever.  But german shepherds are big dogs, and while this one wasn't huge for its breed (I've definitely seen bigger), it was still a very large dog--much larger than my own dogs.  And I know that German shepherds can do a lot of damage, so it was a pretty terrifying situation. My body was still quivering with adrenaline long after the encounter. However... Nightmare handled.  

What do you do when an off-leash dog charges at you and your dogs?

I’ll tell you what I do.  And I’ll tell you why I do it. 

I was on a morning walk with Leopold and Halo today when an off-leash, med-large dog saw us, and then ran, barking, full-speed towards us.  The owner tried to call off her dog, but clearly did not have control over her dog (annoying…).

What did I do?  I did not retreat.  I stood tall, held my ground, and then actually took a large step closer to the charging dog.  In a loud, commanding voice, I said “That’s enough!” The dog stopped charging us and stopped barking.  Then I told the dog to go away (both verbally and with an arm movement).

Why did I do this?  I did this to try to take control of the situation.  The owner clearly did not have control over her dog, so I stepped up and took a “dominant” role.  And by that I mean that I did my best to put out a calm, confidant, and assertive energy.  I stepped closer to the dog and used an arm motion when telling it to go away because dogs tend to be more visual communicators than verbal (for more information on this fact, please read mypost on the best way to communicate with dogs).

My goal in reacting to a charging dog this way is not to be aggressive, but to take control of the situation by using verbal and visual cues to let the dog know that I have done so. 

This is not the first time an off-leash dog has charged at me and my dogs:

Chris and I had recently moved to the Annapolis area and were out walking Leopold (we had yet to adopt Halo).  We were strolling down the street in a residential neighborhood when two Boston Terriers suddenly appeared in a yard across the street.  They ran to the edge of the yard and started barking at us.  They were off-leash, and I wondered if they had somehow slipped out of their yard and were roaming free.  I considered trying to catch them to find their owners, but decided there were actually in their own yard because they didn’t seem to be leaving it.  We decided to move along and started back on our way.  As soon as we turned our backs on these dogs, one of the Boston terriers bolted out of its yard and charged at us, barking wildly.

As soon as this happened, I turned back to the dog, took steps towards it and said in a very firm, raised but controlled voice “That’s enough!”.  The charging dog stopped dead in its tracks and both dogs stopped barking.  “Go home!” I said, and pointed to the dogs’ house.  The two Boston Terriers put their tails between their legs and ran back home.  Chris told me later that even he was scared. Ha!

Why did these dogs charge?  From my understanding, these two boston terriers most likely saw us as “intruders” approaching their territory.  They were barking at us to scare us away; when we turned to walk away, in their minds they had been successful, which only encouraged the behavior (positive reinforcement, if you will).  It gave them the confidence to scare us even further out of “their territory”.  This is why I took a step towards them.  In a way, I believe I was telling them it was not their territory, and that they needed to go back to their own. 

Having another person’s dog charge at you can be somewhat frightening, I know.  And some people may not feel comfortable confronting the dog in such a way as I described above.  The alternative is, of course, to let the dog complete its charge and harass you and your own dogs.  And running away will of course not work, because dogs instinctually will chase (as you saw above, even walking away can trigger chasing behavior).  I’d rather stop the charge before the dog gets to me and my dogs.

Of course, it’s important to assess the situation and decide on a response accordingly, but it’s also important to remember that most dogs will respond to a calm, assertive show of “dominance” with respect, not aggression. 

Walkin' Easy with the Easy Walk Harness

Walking your dog is an easy enough concept.  But I’ve learned that going for a walk with your dog is not the same thing as going for a pleasant walk with your dog. 

Most dogs do not know how to walk nicely on a leash at first.  It takes time for them to learn and there are many things you, as an owner, can do to help your dog on his path to walking nicely on a leash.  Ultimately, what a dog really needs is training, but how can you train your dog if you can’t control him to begin with?—this is of particular concern for large, powerful dogs. 

Leopold and Halo are large dogs.  They’re not gigantic, but together they weigh more than I do.  That’s a lot of pulling power—and their strength gives them the potential to pull me all over town if they wanted to.  But they don’t.  If I’m walking the dogs by myself, I take them both out at the same time and we all go for a pleasant walk together.  So how do I manage?

One key to my success in walking two large dogs at once lies in the type of restraint I use: the Easy-Walk Harness.

I was first introduced to the Easy-Walk harness years ago when I was volunteering at a humane society in Madison, WI.  Easy-walk harnesses were pretty standard at the shelter because of their humane-ness and effectiveness.  The clever Easy-Walk harnesses allowed all volunteers to manage dogs of any size.

What is an Easy Walk harness?

an Easy Walk Harness

First, I’ll tell you what its NOT.  It is not a regular harness:  On a regular harness, the leash attaches to a ring somewhere on the back.  In terms of physically restraining and controlling your dog, these normal types of harnesses are the worst thing you could possibly put on your dog because they actually make it easier for a dog to pull their owner around.  When the dog pulls, its entire strength is “caught” by the harness, the force of which then transfers to the back, which is attached to a leash, which is attached to you.  Regular harnesses, while they prevent choking, are best used on dogs that have already learned how to walk nicely on a leash.  They are for trained dogs.

The easy-walk harness, however, is a great tool to help you maintain control of your dog so that you can successfully work on training.

The trick of the Easy-Walk is that the leash attaches to a ring on a loop on the chest.  (I’ve seen knock-off brands that have a similar design; but they don’t use a loop—and the loop is key!).

How does an Easy Walk harness work?

It was explained to me by staff at the humane society years ago that the easy walk harness works so well because of the loop.  When a dog pulls, the loop pulls the two sides of the harness together at the chest, which causes a bit of constriction.  The dog’s movements are restricted just enough that it can’t continue pulling so hard.  The manufacturer (Premier) claims that the Easy Walk works by causing gentle pressure across the chest and shoulders that steers your dog to the side and thereby redirects its attention back towards you.  Whatever the reason, the Easy Walk Harness works.  And from my experience, it seems to work better the bigger the dog is (I think this has to do with the angle that the loop is being pulled).

I’ve tried many different kinds of restraint devices including regular harnesses, gentle leaders, choke chains, and prong collars.  Nothing I’ve found works as well as the Easy Walk Harness.

At this point my dogs are trained to walk nicely on a leash and normally don’t actually need physical restraint anymore.  However, I still like to use Easy-Walk harnesses because occasionally they decide it’s important to chase a bird or enthusiastically greet another dog, and they are difficult for me to control (especially both of them at once) without the harnesses on.

If you're interested in trying out an Easy Walk harness, I've seen them sold in most pet stores.  I would recommend actually taking the harness out of its package while still in the store and trying it on your dog.  Most pet stores are ok with you doing this and will probably even help you get the fit right.

The easiest way to get one of these things on.

The ins and Outs of an Easy Walk 

Getting a dog into and out of an Easy Walk is very confusing for people at first.  I’d like to give a few tips to help make it easier. 

First, leave all the clips shut except the one that goes under the belly (the manufacturers have cleverly used a different color of webbing for the strap that goes on the belly for the user’s convenience).

 

If you only unclip the belly strap, the loop that’s left is the one you slip over your dog’s head.  Hold onto the strap that does not attach to the leash and slip it over your dog’s head.  Then reach under and behind the legs to clip the belly strap on. 

I keep my hand under the clip so I don't pinch my dogs' skin.

Be careful not to clip your dog’s sensitive armpit skin in the harness!  We’ve accidentally done this to both dogs (poor Leopold and Halo!), so now I like to keep my hand between the clip and my dog’s skin when I snap it shut.

You may notice in my photos that Leopold's Easy Walk harnesses look a bit different from ones you’d see in the store.  I’ve added some fleece to areas of the harness that were rubbing his fur off.

Want to get started walking your own dog with an Easy Walk Harness?  I've seen them for sale at most major pet stores, or you can get them from amazon.com here: PetSafe Easy Walk Harness for Dogs  Most pet stores allow you to take the harness out of the box to fit it to your dog; when I worked at Petsmart, we would help customers fit the harness to their dog right there in the store to make sure it was the correct size before they purchased it.  If you get the harness online, refer to the size chart on the product page.

Happy walking!



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