Confrontations with off leash dogs - Page 2

Thanks for all the good tips guys!  Citronella spray seems to be the most effective deterrent, especially when the dog is aggressively charging at you or there is no owner in sight to get their dog away.  It's really a shame that people don't have to apply for some sort of license to own a dog and pass a test on dog behavior, at least in the cities and suburbs.  Just think of how fewer dogs would be in shelters because their owners couldn't "deal" with them, and how much safer responsible dog owners' walks would be!

I keep Zoe on a prong collar and a short short leash on our walks.  I have a thick knot tied just behind the leash clip for me to grasp between my fingers, since she doesn't pull much at all now, and in the right place to keep her in heel position so I can keep my right hand free.  The only time I let her go out ahead of me is when I'm running, and she helps pull me along going up hills.  I use this leash

It is extremely comfortable to hold, and the round woven nylon seems to help absorb some of the shock from any sudden pulls.

It's really tough when that situation occurs because there's really no way of dealing with it effectively because the owner of the off-leash dog is usually a jerk. I walk with citronella spray and a stick, just in case.  I haven't had to use them that often, but I have had to deter from places I wanted to go because some jerk decides some spot is a dog park and just lets their dog off the leash.  I live in the city and some dorks will have their dogs off-leash on a busy street and think nothing of it!  There's a nail salon that brings a dog to work and when they see us, have let their dog out to rush us.  They'll stand there and think it's funny and we're trying to keep the group we're walking calm.  A strange dog barking and rushing you doesn't bring out the most friendly responses.

The worst part is the reactivity it can cause your dog.  My family and I had three puppies we walked together and invariably we'd get to a house that had a lab and Jack russell out in a yard and they'd invariably wiggle or push their way through the fence to get to us.  After just a couple of times of this, the dogs were just waiting for confrontation and to this day (they're 5 now), they remember that house and wait to get ambushed by the dogs, even though they long ago were given away.  The jerk homeowners would never fix the fence and those dogs weren't friendly.  It made our dogs reactive to other dogs and made it harder to walk them.  Even using treats and praise couldn't break them of it.