I was walking my dog on leash the other day when some jerko has his off leash. Couldn't see his dog was off leash 'cause he was too many houses ahead of us. We found out when the dog started charging us while snarling & barking. My training & instincts told me to stay quiet & calm & have my dog sit. Luckily, the owner ran to us & picked up his dog before it could cause damage. Just wondering what I should've done if we were in that situation & a fight actually broke out. The jerk owner never even apologized or asked if we were o.k. My attention was on my dog & to praise her for listening & trusting me so, besides I was really shocked so no I didn't yell at the guy.

Ms. Steinbuch,

You did OK.

Sat your dog. Got you in a position to 'protect' your dog. Stayed calm. Exuded a confident and in control demeanor.

You need to work on a glare. Some times you don't have to say anything to convey an angry disgust and contempt with your eyes.

The zipper-head is responsible for controling his/her dog. You can't do it for him/her if he/she is not predisposed to be responsible.

You could walk with a walking stick. Use it like a spear to keep the other dog at bay.

You did OK.

Two cents.

what you said happened to me on fri. 120+ pound mastiff loose in the yard, charged in the street and over to us. Owner finally came over. I got between the dogs and nothing happened and told the owner he needs to keep his dog on a leash and there is a law. Of course he gets lippy with me cause his dog got loose.

Well if you are my husband and the dogs won't back off you and the owner won't even attempt to grab his own dogs collar or get control of it in any way, you sucker punch the dogs in the ribs as many times as you can to get it off.

Ever since the attack with those three boxers Levi has been dog aggressive. This continues to be an issue wherever I take him and I know it would never have been so if one moron hadn't been exactly that!! GRRRR!

People are so stupid...I was walking my male APBT the other day. He has had some issues with his joints so I have switched to a new regime of suppliments and changed his feed. We usually run in the mornings but he has not indicated he wants to run as much as he did although I am seeing improvement every day. So we are on our cool down walk all I hear is this snarling bag of nerves come hauling butt across the street right for my boy...now granted at this point I am really none to frightened for my boy, but this looked to be a brittney spanial on the other hand was IMO running to a nasty encounter. I did not have time to plant my boy in a down so I just lifted him up by his collar (so he could not get hold of the attacker) pulled my boy to my side almost behind my body, issued a loud and calm "NO!", the dog kept charging now snarling and barking so I dropped kicked him in the chest and he tumbled back away from us, the owner comes running to the dog and apologises. I told him it was better I kick the dog then let my boy grab hold of him...he says Ok and goes back in the house. The next morning I am running my female Am Staff, the guy is outside again, this time with a baby stroller and his dog ...OFF LEASH, he sees me and grabs his dog by the collar. My girl stays in a tight heel and we pass, I think to myself what is the matter with this guy?????

I just don't get it....sigh

You should have let that owner see you kicking his dog. I'm sure it would not be a pretty thing to watch. I am guessing an accident is waiting to happen.

some people are so irresponsible or frankly just plain stupid.

Yep, I was walking my dog tonight and a very large white dog (possibly part samoyed) charged out of his yard across the street from where we were walking. My dog instantly alerted, I pulled him behind me, told him "stay", braced, ready to kick and yelled "get back". The dog paused slightly. Luckily at that time the owner yelled, ran out and grabbed his dog. He yelled at it all the way to his yard and then hit it with a plastic waste bin (kitchen sized). I actually felt sorry for the dog as it slunk back to the house with it's tail between it's legs....

My dog just stood still, I was so proud of him!

Wow, these stories never end. How incredibly sad. Here's mine: A few mos ago, we were hiking with my dog, when we began to go onto the trail I saw a big black Lab mix runing down the trail charging for my dog. I put my dog behind me and swung my leg at that dog so hard, I'm actually glad I missed. Otherwise I would've knocked some canines out or seriously hurt that dog. The owner came running behind it, but didn't say a thing. Just leashed it up immediately and walked off. He knew he was being stupid letting his dog charge after us.

 Quote: Alex Corral

.... The owner came running behind it, but didn't say a thing. Just leashed it up immediately and walked off. He knew he was being stupid letting his dog charge after us.

This almost counts as a happy ending to me, nowadays. So many time the owner is so incredibly stupid (or maybe defensive) that s/he berates the responsible owner with the leash for protecting his own dog.