Two dogs swarmed my dog - what to do in this situation

[Harriedharriet]

We were walking our dog (a German Shepherd) on leash. On the other side of a two lane bigish road a woman was walking a Lab and another similar sized dog. The two dogs focused on our dog barking at him. Then, they started to pull the woman and ran together across the road toward our dog. The lady could not hold them, they refused all comands and the ran in rings around our dog barking non stop. Our chap was staining to get away, he was on leash which dh did not drop. The dogs were not snarling all the time but there were a few. It felt like a second before the dynamic could change. The woman just stood back calling them. I was shouting at them "NO" and trying to big arm them away. Had they attacked they would have really damaged our dog and maybe us.
What should one do in that situation? I was very shaken up after it and partly because I felt so helpless in my ignorance. The two dogs working together was very frightening.

This has happened to me a few times. I've usually screamed at the offending dog and its worked. However I always have a spare leash around my waist. Its sounds awful but if another dog were to latch on to one of my dogs the leash around my waist would be around the other dogs neck and I would choke it until it let go. As far as I'm concerned the other dog owner has a responsibility to keep their dogs under control.
One of my dogs has been bitten a few times by off leash mutts and I take no chances now. I have big dogs and I know mine are more than capable of looking after their selves however I dont want my dogs to enjoy it as then it becomes a problem.

I’m guessing carrying an alarm doesn’t work?

@MrsJunglelow

I have been in a similar situation and honestly, there’s very little you can do as they are so fast.

I kicked one of the attackers but was only able to do that because it had my dog down on the ground and was holding her down.

The best advice I can offer is to train a good recall and if at any point you see another dog in the distance whose body language you feel is a bit ‘off’ take no chances and walk away.

I agree. The best advice is head it off at the pass.

I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ve had similar issues with my boy (a lab) being approached by unfriendly dogs and it is really unsettling. I’ve now learned to scan around us and we change direction if there are other dogs in the near/middle distance that look iffy. I’m talking body language, not breed/type. Walking the dog is definitely not a passive activity, you have to have your wits about you 100% of the time!

I also do the distraction treat thing. It really does help to break the tension and give you a chance to walk away. Then I shout at the other owner to keep their dogs on a lead if they aren’t friendly and they have that little control.

My dog was attacked by a GSD and a Lab a while back. They are a well known combination in our village. We met them off lead in the woods. They went for my girl straight away, she backed herself into a bush to try and hide her back end as the lab was really going for her rear legs

I yelled (a lot!) and got between her and them as well as I could, and tried to fend them off with my walking pole. Owners arrived and manged to drag them away. They apologised, but I did have a few things to say along the lines off "Keep your XX*!! dogs muzzled!". It's not like this is a rare event, they have gone for other dogs before. Their owners know this

Luckily my dog was OK, but shaking. The owners and I don't speak anymore!