In the past few weeks about every other time I've been out with my dog, she has been attacked. She's a very obedient dog and I require her to be submissive to other dogs and people, as this generally de-escalates the situation when someone's unleashed, untrained dog runs up while hiking or biking.
So, the first solution is to avoid the areas with large concentrations of irresponsible people and their dogs. However, I do enjoy mountain biking and hiking, with my dog, and am not willing to quit that. I'm thinking that a good shot of bear or pepper spray would discourage most of these dogs, and maybe pulling it out and instructing the owner to get control of their animal or I'll spray would work. I do carry concealed hiking and biking, but I'm not discharging my weapon unless I feel my life is in danger. However, at $20-40 a can this stuff isn't cheap when I might use a can or two a month, and I figure the cheaper stuff probably isn't worth much. Anyone have any recommendations?
I fully believe this to be an owner problem not a dog problem. Certain breeds have a propensity to attack both animals and people but the owner is responsible for their behavior. If you can't control them, put them on a leash, and if you still can't, don't bring them out in public.
A little back story if anyone cares to read:
However, twice recently she's been attacked. The first time was a guy walking with his unleashed, very large wolf hybrids (the entire county has a leash law). The larger one ran up and attacked, but wasn't really serious about it fortunately. He managed to pull the male off, but the other one was trying to get around me to my dog. The guy takes off up the trail dragging the one dog, with the other one still trying to get at my dog. I was amazed at the irresponsibility of this, and should have called authorities. What if it had been one of the many little kids on the trail?
Second time was this morning, bike riding, my dog following along perfectly, and five little yappy dogs run out and attack. I kind of wish mine had fought back, as she could have broken their necks, but she just stayed with me as I unsuccessfully tried to get on by. The owner came out and beat them all off.
Here's a picture of her. She's an Australian shepherd, border collie, heeler mix. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She's fairly small and very lean built, but is a great dog. She can do a 10 mile loop with me on the bike in 45 minutes, tops out at about 28 miles an hour, and is very obedient and smart. I'd love to get her on some cows or sheep.
So, the first solution is to avoid the areas with large concentrations of irresponsible people and their dogs. However, I do enjoy mountain biking and hiking, with my dog, and am not willing to quit that. I'm thinking that a good shot of bear or pepper spray would discourage most of these dogs, and maybe pulling it out and instructing the owner to get control of their animal or I'll spray would work. I do carry concealed hiking and biking, but I'm not discharging my weapon unless I feel my life is in danger. However, at $20-40 a can this stuff isn't cheap when I might use a can or two a month, and I figure the cheaper stuff probably isn't worth much. Anyone have any recommendations?
I fully believe this to be an owner problem not a dog problem. Certain breeds have a propensity to attack both animals and people but the owner is responsible for their behavior. If you can't control them, put them on a leash, and if you still can't, don't bring them out in public.
A little back story if anyone cares to read:
However, twice recently she's been attacked. The first time was a guy walking with his unleashed, very large wolf hybrids (the entire county has a leash law). The larger one ran up and attacked, but wasn't really serious about it fortunately. He managed to pull the male off, but the other one was trying to get around me to my dog. The guy takes off up the trail dragging the one dog, with the other one still trying to get at my dog. I was amazed at the irresponsibility of this, and should have called authorities. What if it had been one of the many little kids on the trail?
Second time was this morning, bike riding, my dog following along perfectly, and five little yappy dogs run out and attack. I kind of wish mine had fought back, as she could have broken their necks, but she just stayed with me as I unsuccessfully tried to get on by. The owner came out and beat them all off.
Here's a picture of her. She's an Australian shepherd, border collie, heeler mix. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She's fairly small and very lean built, but is a great dog. She can do a 10 mile loop with me on the bike in 45 minutes, tops out at about 28 miles an hour, and is very obedient and smart. I'd love to get her on some cows or sheep.