How I sort of protected my 80 lb. dog from a 12 lb dog:

Last night walking in our neighborhood w/ Gunnar off leash, a JRT decided he wanted to take on Gunnar. I ALWAYS carry a weapon but this time (wouldn't you know it) I had picked a small crop to take with me instead of the longer, stronger walking stick. If I had the longer stick, I would probably have been more successful in hitting the SOB that charged Gunnar.

We always pass this one house that has two dogs, one a JRT, the other a passive pug or something like that. The JRT runs the length of his yard barking his head off the entire time we pass, every time. He is contained by an electric fence. Never before has he run through it until last night. Unfortunately we were literally about 2 feet from his yard so it was able to get to Gunnar before I realized he was busting thru the fence.

The dog blasted thru the fence and charged straight for Gunnar's face, jumped up and did something. I don't know what because I was in the wrong position to see if he actually bit Gunnar. I'm hoping not because I couldn't see any bite marks or blood on Gunnar.

I swung my crop at him and missed as he charged back onto his property but then he came at Gunnar again. His running back on his property bought me about 3 seconds and I was able to put Gunnar behind me so the JRT couldn't get to him and thankfully didn't get him again but here's why I'm posting...

That little piece of sh*t scurried back and forth so fast - I couldn't do a damn thing about him except keep Gunnar behind me so he had to go around me to get to Gunnar. I always thought an aggressive dog encounter would circle around one fact - was the dog too big to handle?? Well now I know that's not my only potential problem. Now it's is the dog too fast to fight off??

Just the speed with which it darted in and back, in and back at Gunnar was unnerving. I felt completly frustrated. Just as I would swing the crop at the dog, he'd somehow be completely out of my reach and then instantly back again near Gunnar. It was like I was fighting some invisible little monster. I initially tried to kick the dog but he was too fast. I found shifting my weight in order to kick took too much time so I swung at him instead .

Gunnar, by the way, was completely unmoved by this event. I was completely undone by it! So, for all us "little ladies" who might assume we could easily handle 10 pounders, think again!

Judy, I have to admit that your topic first gave me a HECK of a scare! See, my initials are JRT!

At any rate, here's my suggestion... When I walk my own pup and another dog wants to be OVERLY frisky, I always (ALWAYS) put myself between the two. I had a Jack Russell do the same thing the other night, and he was on leash with the owner smiling. I stepped between them and kept circling. I'd MUCH rather that I take the brunt of any yappy-dog attack than my pup!

Luck!
-Jim

 Quote: judy troiano

It was like I was fighting some invisible little monster.

Judy - the same thing happened to me this weekend only the "little monster" was a Pomeranian. The dog wasn't charging Ellie's face but instead was trying to nip at her hind legs. I tried momentarily to turn and ward off the little scurrying, frenzied, barking dog but it was really to no avail -- there was no touching that fuzz-ball as he weaved around our legs. My best defense was "leave it" and "let's go". I think both of us had a "what the heck just happened" look the rest of the way home.

One thing I have found is that if I keep moving and keep Ellie "with me" -- once we get past the offensive dog's house they usually stop sounding off and retreat.

The incident isn't funny Judy, but you still managed to crack me up. That Gunnar is as solid as a rock. What a dog he is.

Chihuahuas are the common place loose dog in my area (as well as a Pitbull or 2), so I know what you mean about the little ones. They move fast, probably JRTs move faster but they go around and around and are relentless. Which makes me go around and around, Lear too, which tangles me up in the leash and almost fell once. So now we (Lear and I) just face the little buggers and stand there. So far they haven't come all the way to his face though. I'd be so ticked I would kick and feel badly afterwards, but would definitely kick.

Poor Judy!

Gunnar probably didn't see the little monster as a threat, lucky JRT - very bold for such a snack-sized dog

I understand your frustration though... those little terriers are so damn quick, they make me dizzy. I sometimes just want to step on them (just to shut them up, they're so yappy!!).

Anyway, as undignified as this is I would've just charged the little freak while yelling and roaring at it (like you mean it!!). This is often much more effective than trying to kick or hit a dog.
Besides, unless you're prepared (and are physically able) to really deliver a very hard kick, most dogs will just think you're playing around. You'd be surprised just how much punishment a stubborn dog will take without so much as a blink - the big stupid slobbery labs are the worst around here, you can't get rid of those!!!! The owners never have control either, but for some reason insist on letting them run wild off-lead

To prepare for any future rat attacks , you could practice your kicking skills on a ball-on-a-string that's being swung around by a helper. It should improve your coordination and speed

But hey, at least Gunnar was a well behaved gentleman as usual and you didn't end up having to deal with a small bloody corpse of a JR.
I had an encounter with a stupid little dachshund (20 lbs at most) yesterday that came charging very aggressively while I was walking my dogs.
It bolted right out from underneath a car and surprised the heck out of me!
Stupid thing thought it would take on my 96 lbs. male shepherd and tried to latch onto his face. Fortunately Taro seemed more surprised by the attack than anything and kind of cocked his head to the side, like "what the...??" and looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
I yelled and stomped at the little bugger and it tucked its tail and ran away screaming... (yeesh, I didn't even yell that loudly)

Point is, if I had tried to kick that dog (or step on it), I probably would've gotten myself tangled up in my dogs' leashes and wouldn't have accomplished a whole lot ('cept fall on my face maybe ).

Rough neighbourhood for you eh, Judy?

I hope you can land the kick next time. It's certainly far more satisfying than scaring the dog away by yelling and charging!!

JRT's are so fast and aggressive, that you may land a kick and end up with his teeth sunk into the calf of your leg or your ankle! Lacking a stick, I think you'd do better to squirt the little devil with water. Small dogs can often be run off by squirting them with water right in the face. The little guys just usually seem to hate the water in the face. I know it works for my two min pins. My male will stop when he's told, he's not very territorial, anyway. My female tends to be a holy terror. Of course, neither of them are out of the yard except on leash, but I don't allow them to run the fence and carry on, either. The best way to get her attention and stop her in her tracks is to squirt her right in the face with water. Either a water gun, or a small dish detergent squeeze bottle with regular water in it.

Well, since you all seem to find a little humor in my pain and anguish , I'll add one more thing...

I think Gunnar has some passive/aggressive tendencies . Here's what he did to get back at the JRT before we left:

After the "attack" we walked on past the house but, as I said, we had to go by the yard again to get home. Well, the dog is doing the same thing, yapping and running, but this time, staying on his yard. I could swear Gunnar started egging him on.

He looked at the JRT, then he walked a few feet closer to him, stopped and stared at the JRT and walked a few feet closer and just as he was at the JRT's yard, Gunnar put his head down and started sniffing the ground. It was like he was saying, "You don't scare me ya little dipsh*t, you're not even worth looking at". And, I must say, since I was denied the joy of literally kicking the crap out of the furball, I did the next best thing...I let Gunnar figuratively kick the crap out of him - well his ego anyway .

OK, here's where it got ugly; Gunnar then stepped onto the dog's property and promptly sat down on the JRT's yard in the puppy sit and looked at the JRT like, "Nah nah nah nah nah"! The JRT went wild but couldn't get past me. I know, I'm evil. I let Gunnar have his 2 or 3 seconds of revenge and then we left.

Now for all of you guys who will tell me I'm putting a human spin on that, well, yes I am, but how else can you explain Gunnar's "need" to suddenly sit and on the dog's property of all places? And to all of you who want to tell me I shouldn't have let Gunnar do that because I was putting him in danger, well, not really he was protected by a rock wall on one side, garbage cans on the other side and me in front of him so I weighed the risks and, well, my evil side won out!!

And so, the saga ended with me smiling and Gunnar walking home with his tail held high!

Yay Gunnar!

We call those little dogs "mosquitos" or "lunchables" around here. Carbon HATES them with a passion. I know lots of people love these little things, but I just can't see the appeal. They don't seem like dogs to me.

Yesterday I had a dog charge me and Carbon, too. A Dalmation that bolted from his house when the owner opened it to go outside (the owner didn't see us, but the Dalmation did!). He tore off straight towards us and came to a stop a few feet away, growling and barking and advancing with stiff legs. I yelled to the owner who was elderly and trying to limp over to us to call off her dog and she yelled, "He's deaf!"

So it was all body language from me until she got there. It was weird because as soon as she told me he was deaf I became very aware of my body posture and what I was communicating to the dog. Good, if unplanned, lesson for me.

Gunnar is such a cool customer, Judy. You have to admit that a video of you spinning in circles, kicking at JRT with Gunner just looking curious about the whole thing would be pretty humerous! Glad you're both okay though, I've seen those little guys give some seriously nasty bites.

Brenna is constantly attacked by a little yap yap down the street and she's completely determined to make friends and ignores the entire aggressive posturing and growling the little mop attempts to intimidate her.

I always take my cue from Brenna in how to deal with these little monsters...when she doesn't give her usual happy "I want to play", I step in between.

The pitbull, which I've commented about before, was the only one I've been scared of...I can't stand the fact that people just let their dogs run off leash thru the neighborhood without any concern how it effects other people or animals.