Jack Russell went for my GSD - sick of this

[Saavhi]

Was walking my dog by the river just now he was on lead (due to leg injury) when this Jack Russell charged towards us and watched us very intensely. Could see the owners running to us looking a bit panicked. I didn't feel good about this so walked away but as we got 2/3 feet away the Jack Russel went for my dog's neck. Lasted for about 20 seconds. My dog is not a fighter so just whined and was turning around on the spot. I know it's a small dog but it was highly aggressive. The owner did find us later to apologise but I said it wasn't good enough.

This is the second time my lovely dog has been attacked by an aggressive dog that was not on lead - first dog was a Weimaraner and I posted about it on here. I am sick to death of this, I feel bloody awful. My boy has a beautiful disposition (vet called him the loveliest GSD she sees) and he is always complimented on his manners by strangers.

Also, behaviourist (we called in for barking in the house) told us he is perfect when on walks as he is very much a mirror and listens to instructions well. I would say my dog is 90% back to normal after the first attack in September but I'm sick of irresponsible owners causing harm to my dog - I have put my absolute heart and soul into him (training, classes, behaviourist etc).

If people's dogs "hate GSDs" why don't they just give us a wide berth? Can't tell you how often small dogs lunge and snarl at my boy and he just doesn't respond. Hope that continues

Rant over.

It's a shame that the actions if some GSDs have caused many dogs to be fearful of the breed

I dont think the dogs chose to be fearful, they dont read the papers

i cant undrstand owners who let their dogs run up to dogs on leads, very bad ownership regardless of the breed

My Jack Russell is a really submissive sweet little thing that loves everyone and everything. Not very Jack Russelly at all.
She got attacked by my neighbours German Shepherd once and bruised her tail so bad that it hung limply for a month. The neighbours dog wasn't overly aggressive more excitable and is probably the product of bad or no training.
Hope your dog isn't too affected by it all as my dog whines and hides if she ever sees the same breed now 2 years on.

So sorry to read this OP. It really is not acceptable at all. My dog was attacked yesterday. She is very reactive and always walked on a lead and is muzzled when we are out. Apparently some idiots can't understand that if you are walking on a dog friendly beach but your dog is muzzled and on a lead then there is generally a good reason for this.

I'm sorry to say that I kicked the terrier type that was attacking my dog and it yelped and ran off but it seemed to be the only way to stop it. I feel badly for the dog that it has such an irresponsible owner. He was down at the water's edge and seemed clueless as to the mayhem his dog was causing.

I’ve kicked a dog that was going for my lovely lab. It was slathering and snarling and straining at its lead as we passed it. We got about ten yards away when it suddenly came hurtling at us. Luckily the dcs were a little way ahead with dh. I got between it and my boy and before it could bite I got my foot underneath it and propelled it into the hedge. It just stood there, obviously totally shocked that I’d fought back. The feckless idiot fucking owner didn’t say a word. He came and got it and just walked away. All I managed to do was hiss between clenched teeth ‘Get that fucking thing on a lead!’ I’m still not sure if they actually let it off the lead or not but hopefully they’re a bit more careful now.

I kicked a dog that was going for my staffy x. He was on lead. Owner went mad at me. He didn't want to fight it but it grabbed his face.

This same dog had previously attacked my jrt and when I grabbed it off him, bit me and drew blood threw my jeans.

Then it attacked the postman and he came in my house to wash the blood off his hands. He'd used my parcel to defend himself and the box was full of bite marks and had blood on it.

The owner had no control over it. Last straw was it attacked my working Lakeland when he was about 10 months old. I was about to go mental at it but he nailed the bloody thing and after that it gave us a wide berth.

Thankfully moved house now and walk elsewhere. The owner was clueless. She just didn't see why the dog should be on a lead or at least muzzled.

I have two GSD and have found most dogs tend to not want to start a fight with a pair (excuse to get another OP )
The best technique I’ve found for getting rid of an approaching dog is to charge back at them while telling them to get back in a very firm voice, usually with a hand signal.

Works 90% of the time. If it got closer I would kick it to the moon if I had to and wouldn’t give two shits about doing so.

Wow so many experiences here that I can relate to. I've had so many bad experiences walking my gorgeous rescue terrier cross that I'm anxious about taking her out. There is one particular dog with a totally feckless, irresponsible owner that lives very close to us that we've already had one close shave with, it feels like a matter of time until it happens again. It's not fair. Others in the same boat have my sympathy.

Please please please report this type of thing to your local dog warden (or council depending on your local set up). If possible take photos of owner, dog, and get registration of their car.

I know it's a PITA but owners who allow this to happen need to be reported- from here they may be ordered to keep dog in lead, or muzzled. The the very least they will be reminded of their duty to control their dog....

I totally sympathise. Any dog who runs towards another dog (whether other dog is on lead or not) is the result of a useless owner. If dog owners haven't spent the time training their dog good manners they should put it on a lead every time they see another dog.

I'm sick to death of useless dog owners....

Sorry for you and your poor doggy, OP - I reserve a special form of loathing for owners who let their dogs run up to on-lead dogs and get in their faces. As someone else has said, you never know why the other dog is on a lead but unfortunately, there are far too many twatty owners around who have no control over their off-lead dogs - I've lost count of the number of times I've heard 'it's ok, he/she's friendly' when a random dog runs up to mine and gets right in his face and they then look offended when mine growls and snaps!
We have a miniature poodle so small and fluffy but I wouldn't dream of allowing his size to be an excuse for allowing him to piss other dogs off. I love GSDs but he's scared of them and will bark if he sees one so I either do a quick about-turn or if we can't do that, crouch down next to him and stroke him, which tends to calm him down. I 'd never let him off-lead to just run up to one - he'd only bark and wouldn't get close enough to do anything more but I wouldn't allow him to stress another dog in that way. Shame quite a few other owners are not as considerate as I am constantly asking people to call their dogs away - my boy is scared of most large dogs and the owner telling me that their large breed is friendly, when mine is barking and hiding behind my legs and clearly frightened makes me furious!!
Hope you don't get anything else like this for a good while, OP!!

Thanks for the replies. My boy had a great interaction with a small border terrier puppy yesterday- thank God as I was afraid he would become fearful of small dogs. And as he is a timid dog the possibility of it progressing into fear aggression.

A couple of times I have been asked by people to stop/wait as their dog doesn't like GSDs/big dogs. No problem whatsoever!

Seeing my dog in pain/terrified because some idiot can't be bothered to slip a lead on their dog makes me want to simultaneously cry and scream. We experienced a slight behavioural change following the first attack. It's very demoralising when you do everything right (which isn't always easy or cheap) and some arsehole sets you back.

Some of the joy of walking my boy has been taken away and that in itself is upsetting. Plus the fact it is so easily avoidable!