Wwyd if you saw a huge dog running straight

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

for your small on lead dog?

Had this happen yesterday and interested to know how other people would have handled it?

The big dog had zero recall, owners were far away and it was running straight towards my (already nervous) dog with its head down.

I often get the reverse (though my big Golden Retriever is almost always off lead because of where we live). I get tiny terriers snapping at his heels and growling. I can see the body language a mile off and call my soppy Goldie back to me to walk to heel. His closeness to me usually puts them off.
Which is of course no help to you at all!

I put myself between big dog and my dog and shout a very aggressive Oi whilst making myself look bigger

Infuriating! If very small maybe pick your dog up. Try and throw a treat bomb away at the other dog, say ‘let’s go’ and get out of there! I’ve got a nervous rescue and this happens to me on a regular basis.

Make sure my body language showed no fear as the dogs pick up on that massively. It would depend if the big dog was looking to play or fight. Generally a dog looking to fight would not run up like that but stop and then run.

Another one is protect your dog with ‘middle’ YouTube videos available to show you what I mean!

I would also shout no if it got physical

I think if the huge dog is set on attacking and harming your dog then there isn't a great deal you can do to prevent it. However, I'd assume that this was unlikely and allow the dogs to say hello, and if necessary let my little dog off its lead (let go of the lead) to make it more comfortable as most dogs are happier greeting other dogs off lead, or alternatively it gives your dog a means of escape.

But do not pick your dog up. If the other dog is in attack mode then you are likely to get harmed too and if it is just social/playful then you're are stopping your dog being a dog.

Most dogs are pretty good at sorting things out between themselves, even if it can be a bit noisy.

Had this yesterday. Mine isn't a small dog but the running dog was very very large. Middle of nowhere with no owners in sight (I could hear some shouting a very long distance away).

I shouted very loudly off several times shooing the dog away. I was just at the point of grabbing the collar and dragging it away when it finally fucked off.

I have started to have no patience in situations like this.

I shout ‘go away you horrible dog’ and ‘call your dog’ very forcefully. DM always takes a stick now as she’s had too many scares. DF had this situation in the summer and instinctively picked his dog up - ended up with scratched legs. Luckily he was with a friend who managed to beat the dog off (again had a stick). No doubt dfs dog would have been killed and df lucky not to be badly hurt - very shaken though. Take a walking pole!

Fortunately I've only met one dog that I truly felt was a threat to my dog, this was when he was about 6 months old. My dog was off his lead and the threatening dog was barely controllable on its lead by to owners (huge husky type). My dog, who was a typical socialble puppy took a really wide berth.

It was scary, but not much I could have done is the other dog had got loose. Other dog owners had similar concerns about that specific dog. I haven't seen it for a long time now though, so I assume it has been rehomed or destroyed.

I tend to assume , following that incident, that my dog is a reasonable judge of character. Also the fact that it had only happened once in 4 years, I assume that the number of truly dangerous (as opposed to over enthusiastic) dogs out and about is low.

Cwy - disagree that most dogs are good at sorting things out themselves!!

@Sittinonthesand

Cwy - disagree that most dogs are good at sorting things out themselves!!

I live rurally where most dogs are well socialised as puppies and spend a lot of time off lead, they all seem to do pretty well amongst themselves.

Pick up the dog and turn my back to the big dog . I'm
Not afraid though . I would kick big dig if it were aggressive

I've had this happen - there's a place I walk every day where it's impossible to socially distance from other dogs for about 200 yards as you can't go left or right, so when I've seen dogs bounding towards us I calmly turn around walk confidently back the other way. Sometimes even when they're on lead I do that as I would have to squeeze past them anyway. It's good to read the dogs body language from a distance do you can work out how it's going to go.

It depends on the body language of the other dog. Was it showing aggression or friendship signs?

Lack of recall isn't necessarily a sign of anything more than poor training and any dog has the ability to lose its recall.

I wouldn't immediately jump to assuming the dog is aggressive and nor would I react as if it was.

Thanks interesting responses, I didn't really handle it that well as was taken by surprise a and panicked. I shouted/screamed get off repeatedly and tried grabbing the big dog.

Scared the shit out of me tbh 😕

I think another time I'd drop my dogs lead so he could try and get away and I'd focus on getting the big dog off (no idea what breed the dog was but it was size of a boxer with head like a staffy, a big and strong dog.)

I was so pisses off with the owner who, when he eventually caught up, made out it was my fault for panicking!! Ffs I had no idea if the dog was friendly and he had no control over it.

Still feel upset about it this morning, have worked so hard on improving my dogs confidence and really hope this hasn't set him back.

Cwy - unfortunately I live in a rural area that has seen a huge increase in walkers recently, many of whom don’t seem to have well trained dogs. Three genuinely frightening incidents just this year!

There is a difference between dogs meandering with owners who might wander over for a sniff and then go back again and bounding out of control dogs running at you.

Was the big dig aggressive though?

Also, just because a dig is big it fiend necessarily mean they are going to savage smother dogs.

It’s impossible to say if you overreacted without knowing more.

Let's try that in reverse. Wee dog running at my big placid pup. It's rubbish either way, tbh.

It's hard to tell.

But I don't like the assumption that big dogs are automatically aggressive - the dog that landed me in A&E with stitches in my hand was a tiny little thing and didn't even reach knee height.

Size doesn't equal aggression and lack of recall often means nothing except poor training on the owners part.

judge it at the time, is the dog an out of control puppy, is it excited or aggressive,
my dogs hackles would be up.
and she would start a snarl, perhaps.

i would say shoo

Too many off lead dogs - at this time of year in the countryside ALL dogs should be on leads to protect the nesting and young wildlife.

The law needs strengthening but until that happens please be careful about handling this type of situation. My natural instinct with a small dog was always to pick it up but that puts you in danger. It is a very frightening situation . A few years ago my large dog, on a lead being held by my DS was attacked by a loose dog. The loose dog came of worse and needed its ear stitched back on as my dog's natural reaction was to protect my child. It was a terrifying incident.

my on lead was surrounded by curious larger dogs, i said shoo, and the owner suggested i should not walk that way! ffs

Chardonnay according to the owner their dog was over excitable but not aggressive, my dog was scared and growling. Apart from anything else a large dog can bounce/jump on a smaller dog and injure them that way. The big big was all over my dog who was trying to get away 😕

I think I could have reacted differently but didn't have a lot of time to think or read the dogs signals.