Big dog escaped and now I'm scared to walk my dogs.

[FittyForForty]

Firstly I do suffer from anxiety and had one of my dogs killed in similar circumstances.
I've had CBT therapy and discussed my anxiety around walking my small breed dogs because of other dogs attacking them and the incident where my pup was chased into the road.

I no longer take my dogs to parks but just do pavement walks which they are happy with as they never go off lead anyway (they have a garden to play in freely)

But there's a guy who has a massive black dog, like a mastiff or cane corso or something. And I always worry I will bump into him. Yesterday DH was outside and this guy passes and the dog lunges for a cat and come out of the guys hand. He just loses the lead completely and this huge dog is running up and down the road after this poor cat who climbs a tree.

Now I know that he doesn't have control of this dog and it chases small animals I'm scared to walk my dogs again :(

I know it's my mental health but it's also a real issue, there IS a large dog who chases small animals abou with an owner who can't control it.

Have you got on to The Police & The Dog Warden?

I am in no way surprised about how you feel. That is a massive and out of control dog. I'm not sure what you can do about it though other than try your best to avoid it if you see it. I also walk my dog on lead and generally keep clear of parks (especially at weekends) as I have a small nervous dog. I cannot stand dog owners who shout that their dog is friendly as it approaches my on lead dog. These dogs have shit recall and once they realise my dog is nervous and on a lead, well you can imagine how much fun that is.

I guess you could have a conversation with the guy but I presume he's likely to be defensive regarding his dog anyway. Personally if I saw that dog coming down the road I would turn around and move away quickly.

Firstly OP, I'm so sorry you lost you lovely pup under those circumstances. That must have been incredibly traumatic for you💐
I have small breeds myself and this is also a concern of mine.

As for the out of control dog, by law you only need to feel threatened or at possible risk of injury in order to be able to report it.
It does not actually have to have injured you or anyone else. I'd definitely be tempted to log something so that there's a recorded history of incidents should anything else happen.

You can buy protective (kevlar?) jackets for dogs to help prevent serious injury. There's a UK company that makes them but I can't recall the name. Some googling would probably bring them up for you though.

I’m no fan of Cane Corso type dogs but this sounds like an accident to me. It’s very easy to get caught off guard by a big dog and either get the lead pulled out of your hand or through your hand, I’ve had it happen to me and always have a loop around my wrist these days.

As for the cat chasing, many dogs would do the same thing, especially sighthounds, the difference there is that a sighthound would probably have caught the cat.

Hopefully the owner was suitably concerned and has now learned a lesson to prevent it happening again.

It is scary but it's also what dogs do - they are predators and will chase small, furry things.

Try not to let it put you off walking your dogs.

I'm no fan of this breed. But try and bear in mind that plenty of dogs 'would' chase cats but that doesn't mean they're dog aggressive (or aggressive to all other animals) or would do the same to dogs.

Dogs aren't stupid and they usually know the difference between a small dog and a cat.

I have a spaniel. She's the most beautiful, loving, gentle dog I've ever encountered (towards people). Absolutely joyful towards all other dogs. Great with horses and cows...because they don't run. She makes friends with them, touches noses, wanders away.

She has a sixth sense for what WILL run though. Sheep. Cats. Squirrels. Rabbits. Ducks. She's not 'safe' around these at ALL and will try to chase them every time. If we encountered a cat and I accidentally dropped the lead she would 100% chase it.

Can you pick your dogs up if something was to happen?

He was laughing and half heartedly chasing him and calling his name. No urgency at all.

If it was my cat he might not have gotten away as he is alot older and hasn't climbed a tree in years.

The dog always barks and pulls at other dogs passing by.

All this will do is encourage the dog to jump at the OP (and her dogs) when previously it would probably not have bothered.

Dogs often chase cats and small furries but that has nothing to do with how they'll treat other dogs.

The dog always barks and pulls at other dogs passing by.

That could be anything from excitement to reactivity to fear and yes, aggression. Lots of dogs pull to get to others, it doesn't necessarily mean the dog is going to attack.

Sorry I didn't make it clear in my OP. I avoid him because his dog always tries to pull to get at my dogs. I always cross the road or turn around but he shouts at his dog alot because it tries to pull him at any one else around that has a dog.

If he was just a big happy dog I wouldn't be worried. It's his behaviour every time we meet that's made me nervous of him.

But I always thought 'well the guys got a good grip on him'

But now I've seen with my own eyes the dog can get away from him it's just making me not want to walk them at all :(

I have a 2.5lb chihuahua, It's not worth the risk!

He sounds like a knob then. We have a dog who barks and pulls to get to other dogs and it’s purely excitement, if you take him to meet the other dog he’s super friendly. We’re working on it with a behaviourist who also says the same thing but to other dog owners a big dog with a big bark could be quite scary.

I've posted on similar threads before.
There's an XL bully that escapes where I live, it ends up on the local FB page and the owner is so blasé about it.
I'm scared to walk my little dog so I understand your fear.
I'm not suggesting you do the same but I bought pepper spray, my adult DD is convinced I'm going to get arrested for having it but I'll do whatever I have to to protect ddog.
I only have it on my person when I'm out with ddog, we wouldn't stand a chance against an off the lead unmuzzled XL.
It's been reported to the dog warden but I don't know what action they've taken.
I'm really not advising you to get pepper spray, just trying to show some solidarity, I know how scary it feels when you love your ddog and the anxiety it causes with the thought that it may be injured or worse ❤️

Get some pepper spray. I’ve just had a very worrying 3 weeks where my scum bag neighbour just had someone move in with her with a cane corso. The thing looked and sounded a nightmare, but I reasoned with myself it’ll probably bite someone else before my son so then it’ll
be gone. Well yesterday we came home to a street full of police because it had got out and bitten a man up the road. Now it’s gone thank god, but the comments on our face book group about how sad it is their poor dog who wouldn’t hurt anyone 😬

I totally understand. We moved house a few months ago but in our old area there was an XL Bully nearby who lunged at my JRT/Chihuahua cross every time he saw him and I was scared to walk him. The dog was always on the lead but I didn't want to risk it as my dog wouldn't stand a chance. So we used to drive to another area to walk our dog, could you do that ? Just for peace of mind.