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The doghouse

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Original poster

German Shepard just charged at me, terrifying!

223 replies

FreshHelll · 09/07/2022 08:51

Was walking in a park just now. Saw a man walking, then looked to my left and saw about 15 meters away, a black German Shepard charging towards me at full speed. Terrifying, l shouted to the owner, put him on a lead. Then the dog charged again. It's was very frightening, a fully grown big dog making a very fast bee line towards you. Time sped up, l sort of did a standing phoetal pose. I shouted again, put your fucking dog on a lead! The man said quietly, lm very sorry. My adrenalin was pumping, l was hyperventilating. Just posting to get it out of my system. It was a young dog but fully grown. Please keep big and young dogs on leads. If that happened to a young child, it would be awful!

OP posts:
concernedguineapig · 09/07/2022 11:32

I think it should be made law to have dogs on leads in public. Too many people let their dogs off when they have no recall.

Call me boring.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 09/07/2022 11:35

concernedguineapig · 09/07/2022 11:32

I think it should be made law to have dogs on leads in public. Too many people let their dogs off when they have no recall.

Call me boring.

Not boring. Just wrong.

My dog shouldn't suffer because twats can't control their dog

coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 11:40

So a large dog ran in your direction- and you were terrified?

Totally understandable, really.

Did he bite? Growl? Attempt to attack you?

It doesn't matter. OP was frightened and by law, that's enough for the dog to be considered dangerously out of control.

Or simply ran in your direction? Could have seen something behind you? It is relevant what happened - because it sounds more like an OP who is scared of dogs rather than the dog actually doing anything dangerous?

But legally speaking, it's completely irrelevant. The dog charged at her twice before the owner managed to get back under control.

It doesn't actually matter why it was running at OP. The law says dogs have to be under control at all times. Whether it was going to hurt her or bite her is neither here nor there.

I'm just confused how he charged once from 15m, and then charged again. What so he stopped? Stopped when you shouted at the man to put him on a lead?

I suspect it ran, stopped, and then instead of returning to its owner, carried on running.

But it really doesn't matter. If the owner can't control it and stop it charging at people, he needs to keep it on a lead. It's really not difficult.

NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:41

It's not other people's problem that your dog is a teenage bugger, though.

If your dog has no recall then they DO need to be constantly an a lead - for their own safety as much as anything else.

Look, I agree. But you can be training them with a long line, get to the stage you don’t use the long line anymore because you think their recall is solid, they hit teenage stage and they go deaf. Hopefully as a responsible owner you then put them back on line, do more training. But you can’t 100% guarantee you’ll never have an isolated incident of your dog’s embarrassing behaviour. If you’re a frequent offender and don’t give a shit your dog has bad recall that’s different, but not all incidents are the same.

007DoubleOSeven · 09/07/2022 11:41

No ones doubting the op's fear at the time or how scary this was for her. Equally, I agree all dogs who have a tendency to not recall should be better trained and kept under control (and u speak as someone who's dog has developed selective hearing in his old age).

But, the op is continuing to ignore all requests for more detail about the situation, which does suggest that (in spite of her real fear) there was some overreaction on her part.

If the dog 'charged' a second time, did the owner let him off the lead after the first?
From the ops posts, the owner apologised properly and put it on a lead, which is the right thing to do, the dog then attempted to run again but couldn't because it was restrained.

I understand that this might have been alarming to the op, but its not out of control if its on a lead and unable to reach her or others.

I'm not disputing for a moment the responsibility all dog owners have to ensure their dogs - especially those inclined to behave unpredictably whether friendly or not - remain under control, but there does seem to be an element of stirring to this thread.

007DoubleOSeven · 09/07/2022 11:42
  • I speak
coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 11:45

NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:41

It's not other people's problem that your dog is a teenage bugger, though.

If your dog has no recall then they DO need to be constantly an a lead - for their own safety as much as anything else.

Look, I agree. But you can be training them with a long line, get to the stage you don’t use the long line anymore because you think their recall is solid, they hit teenage stage and they go deaf. Hopefully as a responsible owner you then put them back on line, do more training. But you can’t 100% guarantee you’ll never have an isolated incident of your dog’s embarrassing behaviour. If you’re a frequent offender and don’t give a shit your dog has bad recall that’s different, but not all incidents are the same.

Oh, I agree - the teenage stage is a nightmare, but if that was my dog, I would be mortified and falling over myself to apologise for his behaviour.

I know the owner in the OP apologised but there seems to be a lot of responses on this thread that don't see a problem with a dog charging up to a stranger as long as it doesn't bite, which really worries me.

NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:45

Also, “charging” is emotive language. Replace it with “ran” or “bounded” abd what does it do to the narrative?

I have no doubt the OP was scared, and therefore the owner of the dog was in the wrong. But if nothing actually happened and the dog wasn’t aggressive, whilst it is upsetting for OP it happened at all it seems a bit much to be all Stephen King Cujo references and hyperbole if it was just a young bouncy shepherd pushing its boundaries.

DayreeMilk · 09/07/2022 11:45

concernedguineapig · 09/07/2022 11:32

I think it should be made law to have dogs on leads in public. Too many people let their dogs off when they have no recall.

Call me boring.

I'm not sure what "I'm public " means?

My dog has excellent recall and is off the lead when I walk her. We're generally in the woods, the hills, along the river bank. Despite what MN claims, I've yet to meet anyone taking a stroll with small children. We meet other people with dogs. I don't consider that "in public".

Near roads etc, she's on the lead.

DayreeMilk · 09/07/2022 11:46
  • In public
NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:47

But yes, I absolutely agree that dogs aren’t allowed to bound up to anyone they fancy and no one should be tolerant of bad training. Definitely.

Clymene · 09/07/2022 11:48

The guy said I'm very sorry and obviously put him on a lead or the OP would have answered the question about what happened. Nothing.

So the dog has recall and we have no idea how far the dog was away when it was 'charging'.

Original poster
FreshHelll · 09/07/2022 11:48

I'm not afraid of dogs, At All. I love dogs. I have happily trained puppies of a variety of breeds and sizes. I've even had a Great Dane lie on top of me to wake me up in the morning, slobbery fella, nice but dim.

I am very well aware of the behavioural difference between a young dog curiously bounding up to you and a dog attacking prey. This was an attack behaviour. He did it once, went away, then did it twice. The owner was laissez-faire and not fit to have this dog. I've always kept a young dog on a lead in public, until they are trained on a beach to recall. Some people should not own dogs.

OP posts:
coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 11:49

NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:45

Also, “charging” is emotive language. Replace it with “ran” or “bounded” abd what does it do to the narrative?

I have no doubt the OP was scared, and therefore the owner of the dog was in the wrong. But if nothing actually happened and the dog wasn’t aggressive, whilst it is upsetting for OP it happened at all it seems a bit much to be all Stephen King Cujo references and hyperbole if it was just a young bouncy shepherd pushing its boundaries.

Whether it charged, ran or bounded - it doesn't matter. I'm going by what the law says, here, by the way.

The law says if a dog frightens someone, then that's enough for it to be considered dangerously out of control. That's honestly all it takes for you to be subject to a dog control order and being made to keep your dog leashed and muzzled or life.

The law doesn't care if the dog is a bolshy teenager pushing it's luck, or a genuinely aggressive dog intent on pinning you to the floor and biting you.

Stellaris22 · 09/07/2022 11:57

But, the op is continuing to ignore all requests for more detail about the situation, which does suggest that (in spite of her real fear) there was some overreaction on her part.

This.

SeemsSoUnfair · 09/07/2022 12:04

concernedguineapig · 09/07/2022 11:32

I think it should be made law to have dogs on leads in public. Too many people let their dogs off when they have no recall.

Call me boring.

Dogs need to exercise, walking on a lead is not enough. They do need, at appropriate times, to be off lead and have a bit of freedom to run around.

With an estimated population of 10 million dogs in the UK, dog owners are probably much bigger and more regular park users than most. Parks should be cordoned off into areas and/or times that allow well behaved dogs to be exercised freely with areas/times for people with concerns or do not want to have any risk of meeting a friendly off lead dog.

TeaWithFlorence · 09/07/2022 12:11

NoSquirrels · 09/07/2022 11:03

I’m really sorry you were frightened. Sounds like the owner was too.

I always think it’s useful for everyone to have a good understanding of dog behaviour, and actually even more important if you’re naturally frightened of dogs. Then you can accurately judge what’s an attack or aggressive behaviour, and what’s an excitable young dog bounding to play. Learning positive assertive body language posture yourself to use to signal to the dog ‘back off’ is also useful.

What would be even more useful is if dog owners kept their out of control dogs on leads so that people wouldn't have to guess whether it's going to attack them or wants to play. Why should the onus be on people who have no interest in dogs, to learn about dog behaviour because the owner can't be arsed to leash his dog?

It's no good putting a dog on a lead after it's already charged at someone. If you can't trust it not to do that, it shouldn't be off the lead.

SimonaRazowska · 09/07/2022 12:11

Ok, but what exactly is terrifying about a dog running in your direction?

What did you think he was going to do?

Pups can be exuberant, and are still learning

Most dog run up and... just sniff a bit, right?

NeverDropYourMooncup · 09/07/2022 12:15

coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 11:21

She doesn't need to answer - it's irrelevant.

The dog was (by law) out of control. That's enough.

Show quote history

Is the dog out of control if he was responding to a recall command enthusiastically and the OP with her history of fucking up training dogs 'going rogue' just assumed he was running towards her to eat her?

coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 12:20

SimonaRazowska · 09/07/2022 12:11

Ok, but what exactly is terrifying about a dog running in your direction?

What did you think he was going to do?

Pups can be exuberant, and are still learning

Most dog run up and... just sniff a bit, right?

No - unfortunately they don't.

Many dogs run and jump at you. It may not be aggressive but an enthusiastic pup can scratch, bruise and rip your clothing very easily.

coffeecupsandfairylights · 09/07/2022 12:21

Is the dog out of control if he was responding to a recall command enthusiastically and the OP with her history of fucking up training dogs 'going rogue' just assumed he was running towards her to eat her?

If the dog was under control it wouldn't have approached in the first place.

catandcoffee · 09/07/2022 12:23

SimonaRazowska · 09/07/2022 12:11

Ok, but what exactly is terrifying about a dog running in your direction?

What did you think he was going to do?

Pups can be exuberant, and are still learning

Most dog run up and... just sniff a bit, right?

Are you for real 🙄

IanStirlingrocks · 09/07/2022 12:25

SimonaRazowska · 09/07/2022 12:11

Ok, but what exactly is terrifying about a dog running in your direction?

What did you think he was going to do?

Pups can be exuberant, and are still learning

Most dog run up and... just sniff a bit, right?

And this sort of attitude is why people who don't like dogs have to cope with being scared of dogs who barge towards them, jump at them, spread mud all over their clothes, scratch them whilst their brainless wonders coo "he's only a baby, he wants to play"
I love dogs and will pet any that let me, my mum and my sister hate them and get very scared. They are entitled to walk in peace.

It doesn't matter what happened when the dog got to op. She was scared because a large dog charged towards her twice. She had no way of knowing at that point that it wasn't aggressive.

IRememberXanadu · 09/07/2022 12:27

eatyourcrustspls · 09/07/2022 11:12

OP why aren't you answering - what did he do when he got to you?

Exactly

Stabbitystabstab · 09/07/2022 12:29

There's a lot of "Those" owners on this thread.
All totally irrelevant, if you can't recall your dog, it stays on a lead. Simple.
Train your fucking dogs.
I have an arsehole dog that absolutely refuses to come back, so he stays on the lead at all times.
Sad, but he's an un-trainable nobhead.