What should I do if another dog attacks mine?

[Pandapup]

I just got a puppy and this is a fear of mine. She is now of an age where I can take her out for walk and I want to think about my plan, should this happen.
Do I call my dog back to me, at the first sign the other dog looks aggressive? Or just encourage my dog to keep walking? And what if my dog is attacked? Is the advice that I cannot really intervene for I may be attacked myself? Obviously I would shout for the other owner, but say that are at the other side of park etc?
My dog is still just a puppy but I think she will be a hesitant / fairly timid dog and unlikely to be approaching other dogs to play that often. Although I may be proved wrong.

Dog attacks with the intention of serious harm are rare, and there is often very little you CAN practically do safely if that happens. Especially without the assistance of another person/the other owner.

Most fights tend to be noisy, boisterous and short lived with little to no injury. These kinds of fights tend to have naturally pause points where you can then get yours under control and walk away with her.

However, there are things you can do to reduce the risks to start with:

• keep your own dog under control, don't let them approach another dog without checking first with the owner
• understand dog body language (the ladder of aggression is a good place to start) so that you know what you are looking for as a warning
• be prepared to clearly and firmly ask another owner to get their dog under control if it causes you concern
• stay calm and try not to let this be too big of an anxiety; your dog will benefit from you being as relaxed and confident as possible around other dogs

"rare" was not the word I intended to use - more like "don't happen very often"...

We have a puppy who is very good on and off the lead and her recall is good . When she is off the lead and I see another dog approaching I put her on the lead she is very unlikely to get attacked on the lead

I did wonder if putting them on the lead at first sign of another dog gives my dog the impression there is something to be fearful of?
Also being off lead gives my dog the opportunity to run away and stops lead reactivity?
I am very new to dog ownership I don’t really know if any of these points are relevant

If you plan to walk your dog off lead, as a fellow dog owner the best advice i can give you is do not do it unless the puppies recall is 100% and if another dog is on lead, call your dog back and put it on one too. Most dogs are kept on lead for a reason. Mines small enough i can pick her up as i fear the same thing, shes not very big at all. Can of bite back from Amazon if your particularly worried.

Thanks for your thoughts

I did wonder if putting them on the lead at first sign of another dog gives my dog the impression there is something to be fearful of?

It's unlikely, especially if you work to make going back on a lead a fun activity with lots of praise and rewards for doing so. If seeing another dog, means going on a lead and going on a lead is a fun activity then the chain of events is unlikely to trigger any fear.

Also being off lead gives my dog the opportunity to run away and stops lead reactivity?

Think about distance here. If you clip onto a lead at a fair distance from the other dog and then maintain that distance, there is nothing to react to, iyswim. Lead reactivity tends to be
a) because the other dog is closer than yours is comfortable with, but the lead prevents yours from increasing the distance
OR
b) because the other dog looks interesting and is close enough to be tempting but not close enough to be able to greet, so your dog wants to greet but the lead prevents them, thus they get frustrated
OR
c) a seemingly weird combiniation of the two

Greater distance helps in all of those scenarios. It also helps the other owner if their dog is reactive, which in turn helps you because your dog is less lilely to be on the receiving end of any barking etc.

Ideally you want your dog to ignore most others dogs (because they seem boring) and only engage with friendly, well rounded and reasonably well behaved dogs they can learn about doggy interaction from. Which means you being selective on their behalf

I would always put my dog on lead for another on lead dog. I think putting them on/off lead is good anyway as then they don't learn lead=end of walk or end of fun.

I also used to treat my dog as we walked past other dogs so he paid attention to me not them.

Hes not very interested in other dogs now

Op please don't worry about your dog being attacked. I've been a dog owners, walking them twice a day, for over 30 years and have never had a dog attack in all that time.

I feel all the negative hype currently surrounding dogs is very upsetting, it causes so much unnecessary worry.

Just relax and enjoy your dog and make sure he has ample opportunity to socialise with others so he is comfortable with other dogs and learns how to behave with various characters.

I did wonder if putting them on the lead at first sign of another dog gives my dog the impression there is something to be fearful of?

The idea isn't to make them scared, it's to stop them from approaching other dogs (who may not be friendly).

Generally if all dogs are off-lead, it's not a problem for yours to approach and say hello, but you do need to be able to recall them if necessary. If another dog is on lead, you should put yours on the lead too, so that they can't approach and potentially annoy the other dog.

Also being off lead gives my dog the opportunity to run away and stops lead reactivity?

Hmm, the problem is that if your dog approaches an on-lead dog who is aggressive or scared, your dog could get hurt.

True dog fights are very, very rare. Scuffles are relatively commonplace but most dogs don't set out with intention to physically hurt each other. Snapping and snarling sounds horrific but it doesn't necessarily mean a fight will break out. I wouldn't say it's something you really need to be concerned about as long as your dog is under control :)

Most dogs get along fine even if they snap and mouth and bark at each other they will rarely go into a full on fight. It might sound bad but it’s rare .
It’s normally the owners that start to panic kick off , and start acting like idiots that cause the dogs to behave badly when actually the dog are probably thinking WTF I only wanted sniff her bum and say hello 😂

So ensure your dog has excellent recall.
Try not to pick them up if you walk past another dog that your scared off .
Train your dog so that you are more interesting than other dogs .
If your walking past a dog that appears to be aggressive or pulling at the lead - don’t stop just keep on walking
If you stop you’re just prolonging the incident
I tend to find if you concentrate on your dog and let other owners concentrate on their dog walks are generally quite nice
Of course there are assholes who don’t give a shit - but they are everywhere and you will soon know who and what dogs to avoid when out for walks .
Also Try to keep yourself calm when walking your dog - dogs are like sponges for human emotion so if your calm and chilled the chances are you your dog will be calm & chilled
If your stressed and angry the chances are your dog will be stressed and angry .
Read up on dog behaviour and how their body language is with other dogs

Thank you. I will try not to worry myself

Watch some videos of happy dogs playing.

Some of it looks (and sounds!) a lot like fighting.

Don’t be the sort of dog owner who freaks out at normal puppy play.

Put your dog on a lead around other dogs unless they are known trusted dogs. Thats my advice. If you know a dog and know they get on and can play nicely then thats fine. Otherwise dont risk it

Your puppy's focus should be on you on walks, with nice sniffy time & the occasional brief greet with another dog.
You can have a dog on a loose, relaxed lead greeting other relaxed dogs with no issues at all - lead reactivity will come from your nervousness & a tight lead & stress.
I would give other dogs a wide berth for now, keeping her focus on you & praise etc.
If you are extremely unlucky & an out of control dog comes up, keep yourself between that dog & puppy, positive voice & walk away. You are so so unlikely to get involved in a fight, please don't focus on that because it will make you nervous which will make puppy nervous.
Be a calm, positive tower of strength & fun!

If (and it’s a big IF) the other dog could not be called off by the owner, you would need to choke the attacking dog.

My god you get some mad 'advice' on these threads!

The advice if your dog gets attack by other types of animals - eg Cow - is to let them off the lead and that's what I would do if a dog attack, to give your dog the chance to respond in the right way for them.

I did wonder if putting them on the lead at first sign of another dog gives my dog the impression there is something to be fearful of?

Long argument on a thread the other day about this. ppl disagree but I think it's completely right - putting your dog on lead every time means you are basically training your dog to be nervous and hyper-aware of other dogs and that can't be good.

We really enjoy watching our dog play with other dogs so don't always assume other dogs aren't friendly. It's also important for your puppy to meet a range of other dogs in positive encounters as part of their socialisation.

You quite quickly pick up on other owner's signals regarding if their dog isn't friendly and I would never allow my dog to approach an on lead dog without checking with the owner first.

There are several things you need to try and teach your dog:

1. perfect recall
2. do not approach other dogs without your permission
3. be totally calm and unresponsive to external stimuli

I failed miserably at all 3 so my dickhead dog stays on the lead

Dog attacks are very rare. I wouldn't worry too much about that. if you don't like the look of a dog because their too big or look too boisterous for your dog call yours back and put yours on a lead so the other owner knows your dog doesn't want to play. if dog approaches anyway just keep walking normally. don't stop and stand still as this makes a dog want to investigate.

My dog has been attacked four times by same dog (a massive Golden Retriever). First time it took us all by surprise and we couldn’t tell who started it (though my dog yelling and trying to escape - both dogs off lead). Second time both dogs off lead but their dog charges to mine (mine faster so escapes until owner grabs their dog). Third time I spot the dog in distance, put mine on lead. They do sod all until their dog running full pelt towards mine. They shout - no recall. Mine gets attacked again - and worse as on lead so he can’t escape. Fourth time same thing as third - stupid owners let their dog run towards mine. This time mine runs behind me and I have my ball thrower so when the out of control dog tries to get behind me I hit him and say no until Owner eventually catches up (and doesn’t even apologise)

But point of this is rant is (1) I won’t put my dog in a lead if I see the aggressive dog again (unless he is on a lead too of course) and (2) you can’t do anything in situation where other owner is not capable of restraining their dog.

But in any other situation I don’t let him run up to other dogs unless they are off lead and there’s a whole lot of waggy tail excitement (which is the usual, especially if it’s a JRT as he particularly loves those!)

@ImpatiensI

If (and it’s a big IF) the other dog could not be called off by the owner, you would need to choke the attacking dog.

My god you get some mad 'advice' on these threads!

The advice if your dog gets attack by other types of animals - eg Cow - is to let them off the lead and that's what I would do if a dog attack, to give your dog the chance to respond in the right way for them.

I did wonder if putting them on the lead at first sign of another dog gives my dog the impression there is something to be fearful of?

Long argument on a thread the other day about this. ppl disagree but I think it's completely right - putting your dog on lead every time means you are basically training your dog to be nervous and hyper-aware of other dogs and that can't be good.

No need to put dog on lead for every dog, but you definitely should for any dog on a lead. Dogs on leads are usually fairly uncommon (depending where you walk) so I doubt your dog would learn dog=lead/something to be nervous of if you only put it on a lead around on lead dogs and let it play with off lead dogs. The important thing is to be able to call your dog back from any dog so you have proper control of it and you can interrupt play if it’s too boisterous/either dog isn’t happy.

No need to put dog on lead for every dog, but you definitely should for any dog on a lead

I don't want to get dragged into another endless argument but - no, I don't agree with you. I see a lot of dogs on lead locally, increasing number actually maybe due to bad advice or unsure owners?

If you put your dog on a lead every time it will certainly pick up a cue from you that something is wrong and it will spoil both of yours enjoyment of the walk. So I don't do it and I wouldn't advice anyone else to do it. But it's just my opinion!

My dog has never been attacked, but I did witness a dog attack. At a national trust property full of families and other dogs. The attacking dogs owners strolled off like nothing had happened and the owner of the attacked dog was too flustered to really think straight.

I pleaded with them to call the police, and I plead with you too now to remember that you’re absolutely not overreacting/wasting time etc etc. A friend had a great experience in terms of support from the police when their leashed puppy was nearly killed by an off lead dog on a busy beach. My friend was tortured by all the “what ifs” of how he could have protected his pup better. The attacking dog wouldn’t release and my friend has concluded he should have stuck his finger up it’s bum 🙈

And take an attacked dog to the vet. Just because the skin isn’t broken doesn’t mean there isn’t tissue damage - dogs teeth are long but not particularly sharp.

I hope you will never never need to use any of the tips on this thread and I’m sure the majority of dog owners never need to x