I wasn't sure how to make the subject, but here's what's happened twice now. I am walking my dog on her 6' leash in the neighborhood. On 2 different blocks a Chihuahua has bolted out of their house barking yapping growling at us from behind. We were both startled and jumped a bit. The first time she just looked at the dog and it backed off (barking and growking the whole time)and the owner came, appologised and took the dog back. Off we went. This last time the dog may have got to her leg I'm not sure, but I held her head up and moved my leg at the dogs face, not even coming close to making contact. The dog backed off and the owner was just sort of watching. I waited until the dog was under her control by the owner and left. She said "oh bad dog" and no appology. I was told I should have kept walking and not stopped. My thought was what if the dog kept following us and this way I knew the dog is under control and not running around. If the lil dogs escape again, should I just keep walking? We always stay on the sidewalk and she never goes onto anyones lawn or driveway.

Thanks for your advice.

Kick it. If the owner screams, tell her you wouldn't have had to do it unless her dog was under control. Also tell her you'll be happy to go to Animal Control and the police about her loose, dangerous dog. This dog may not be dangerous to you, but it definitely could be to a kid and it is to a large dog. If a large dog tries to put this scrap in its place, who will get blamed for any bites? The large dog.

Yup, after the owner's incredible show of indifference, I would boot it clear across the yard.

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....On 2 different blocks a Chihuahua has bolted out of their house barking yapping growling at us from behind......This last time the dog may have got to her leg I'm not sure, but I held her head up and moved my leg at the dogs face, not even coming close to making contact. The dog backed off......

Which dog got to which dog's leg?

I train my dogs to ignore other dogs and also to step behind me and stay there when I say to. In this case I think I'd face the small dog with my own dog behind me and give a VERY assertive "NO! Go home!" to the small dog.

But usually yes, I keep right on walking. The reason I'd modify that here was because you say the small dog was barking and growling from behind. Following? Following means I turn to face that dog with my dog behind me and send that small dog to his house.

Then I think I'd return (dog-free) and tell the owner just how much bad trouble she's courting.......... like a dead Chihuahua when the wrong dog is provoked. A lot of people think that small dogs are less important to train, and need to be educated.

I would also mention the leash law where you live -- even printing out a copy and having it with me.

Are Chihuahua' really even dogs? I thought they were some sort of overgrown gerbil.

the 2nd little dog ran up barking and may have nipped my dogs leg. The dogs were in their house and bolted out the door as I walked by, the first incident the dog ran down quite a few stairs to get to us, as we were walking ahead, I stopped so the owner could get her dog. The 2nd one was almost the same thing, the dog came running out of the house at us as we were passing the house. The first one I was concerned how far it would go and its a busy street, which is why I waited. The 2nd one I didn't know if I should have just kept going or not. Also this was months apart. I really don't walk around the neighborhood and stick to the shoreline, not only for the scenary, but less chance of an escapee from a yard or house. If it should happen again, I'll just keep going unless the dog follows us. I don't know if I could kick a small dog like that for the owners lack of responsibility. When I looked back at the 2nd dog, the dog was on it's side submitting, so my guess is, this dog has darted out before.

If your dog is on lead and the Chi dog is running loose, it's the Chi dog's owner that is responsable.
Call animal control!
Chi dog = bass plug with feet! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

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If your dog is on lead and the Chi dog is running loose, it's the Chi dog's owner that is responsable.
Call animal control!
Chi dog = bass plug with feet! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Bob's right, of course, about Animal Control.

The 2nd one nipped *and* submitted belly-up?

One thing I noticed throughout your posts was you own calm demeanor. I've learned from Ed Frawley's DVDs and from posts by others on this board that my own attitude should be calm, forceful, and assertive, and even aggressive if need be, but never excited or freaked out.

The shrieking and ineffectual fluttering that some owners (seems to be often the footed bass-plug owners) indulge in when there's an escape or confrontation doesn't just exacerbate the bad situation; I think it can actually trigger it. The more we can avoid that bad contribution, the better. JMO.

Word of warning.

A very medium-sized dog, completely loose and unattended, ran in front of me and the puppy, and firmly stood it's ground and barked at us the other week. I aggressively stalked right at him with with hard silent eye contact, but it was rather useless as he was 100% focused on my puppy.

So...I took a couple stutter steps like a place kicker and booted him in the chest as hard as I could. I'm not bragging when I say I'm decent sized and athletically inclined, I'm just providing context to the fact that the dog did NOT go flying like I would have imagined such a medium-sized, lithe-looking, dog would do. Actually kinda hurt my foot. He did get the point, though.

Train like you fight. Get used to a snappy push kick with the HEEL OR SOLE. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I walk both my Dobe and 6mo pup daily. We live in rual TN and loose dogs is the norm here. I do several things, first I attempt to ignore and just keep walking and as long as the dog respects our space, about 20 ft I do nothing more. I never allow my dogs to focus on the dog, I keep them focused on the walk and me. If the dog is charging or gets too close I change my body language toward the dog while keeping my dogs behind me while firmly and calmly telling the dog to "go home", so far this has been the extent of what I have had to do. Once the dog stops advancing I return to my walk as though nothing has happened. My backup plan is to always have pepper spray and I would empty it on a dog without hesitation if it didn't stop. As a last resort I would physically deal with the advancing dog. Like I said, where I live loose dogs is the norm and they charge the road at times. Handling the problem in the way I have has produced the results I want and now all we get is barking the charging really doesn't happen any more. By the way, the dogs we encounter are everything from pits, gsd, labs and mutts.