I first thought about this a short while ago when a neighbor would let her dog loose, and the dog had a tendency to chase whoever was out at the time. I wasn’t sure if the dog was vicious or not. So I thought to myself what would be the best way to deal with him if he chose to attack me.
Anyways, I now know that the dog is fairly friendly, and the neighbor keeps it in the yard now (esp. after the mail carrier filed a report). But we do still have a problem with dog attacks where I live. And as I’ve said, I was wondering: Would throwing treats to an attacking do have any effect? Would it make him friendly, now that you’ve shown you are a friend and source of food? Would it at the very least distract him long enough for you to get away? I know it isn’t what they recommend doing. But I am just wondering what effect, if any, it would have. Also, as long as I’m asking, what effect would throwing a stick for the dog to chase have? If anyone knows the answers to these questions, don’t hesitate to post. Also, I know this isn’t GD, but if anyone has any thoughts on the matter, I would appreciate that too.
I would not advise throwing treats to an attacking dog, not only because it would encourage the behavior, but because it would show you to currently be carrying something the dog wants. If the dog is truly attacking, I doubt hitting it in the head with a steak is even going to help. Throwing a stick is an even worse idea; dogs are fairly intelligent, and are not going to magically be hypnotized by a flying object. If you are being attacked by a dog the best thing you can do with a stick is to strike the dog in the head hard enough to make it bounce off the ground.
Don’t know about treats (pros or cons). I once had a similar problem, and I thought about mace. I had a contact at the time with the SPCA. He cautioned me against trying this in fear of upsetting the animal even more…especially if my aim wasn’t quite right. Don’t know if there’s any data on the effectiveness of this, though. - Jinx
Maybe, but not likely. Alot depends on what type of dog we’re talking about. A trained attack dog, forget it. A guard dog, very unlikely. A stray dog, more likely since it is more likely to be hungry and be willing to accept chasing a threat away for getting some chow. The neighbourhood pooch (i.e. the OP), possible but not likely. The animal is not likely to be interested in you as a source of food, it is interested in you as a threat. Throwing a stick will have no effect because that is a hunting game that a dog plays and if it is in fighting mode it isn’t interested in playing.
Unlike against people chemical sprays are generally very effective against dogs, although not is for certain of course. Becoming friends with the dog is a good idea overall to prevent any attack in the first place. Supplying treats might be a good way to do that, I’m not really sure but it makes sense, I’m not a dog expert/trainer in that sense.
There aren’t too many books exclusively on self defense against a dog, although plenty of books have a section on it.
Back in college I took a bicycling class, and we discussed techniques for dealing with loose dogs (approach at moderate speed, then burn away as they get close; hit 'em with your bike pump; etc.) The topic of keeping dog biscuits in your front pack was brought up, but the instructor reminded us that the next poor sap who didn’t have any biscuits would probably end up in pretty bad shape. Makes sense to me, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Note, with the stray dog, I’m not trying to imply that is likely. Throwing a treat a food is still not likely to work, but it is more likely then with other dogs.
If you don’t have any and you’re being pursued by a nasty dog with no easy escape route, take off your handy heavy jacket, wrap it around your arm and let the dog grab the arm. Now use your free arm to hurt the dogs eyes and nuts (if they have them) with sticks, dirt, rocks…etc.
On the radio show Calling All Pets, the resident animal behaviorist got a call from a letter carrier. He asked about dogs that rush up to him, acting agressively. She advised carrying treats. Don’t hand it to the dog, she said; toss it behind the dog. That way the dog gets a payoff for staying back.
I’ve been doing that for a year with my neighbor’s dog. He used to follow me along the fence, barking furiously, when I worked in the yard. Now, he keeps a friendly distance.
My wife and I attended an obedience training class for instructors before getting our Rhodesian Ridgeback because they are notoriously very head strong dogs (Pic is not our dog, but an identical match…muscles and all!)
Anyway, the obedience trainer was happy we can to him because most dog owners don’t take the time to learn about their training…my wife and I really wanted to because we wanted a dog that when people met him said, “Wow your dog is so well behaved”
And that is exactly what we got…now he is also still head strong, but he knows who the alpha male and female are. And knows it well.
On to the OP - Throwing treats at an attacking dog is the wrong thing to do. The trainer who recommends that must have misunderstood the question…an attacking dog is attacking for one of several reasons…fear, territory, protective rights, frustration etc…etc…
The thing to do is to not look the dog in the eye, not engage the dog aggressively and stand there. This says several things to the attacking pooch. That you are not afraid and are not going to give chase, and that you will not engage through eye contact. The dog will stop it’s charge but a few feet from you and maybe even in a threatening manner. But they will stop. Case in Point.
The neighborhood where the trainer lived had a very mean dog move into it. It was a rotti who was large, unneutored male. He (the trainer) was walking one morning when it ran out from behind their garage…barking a hissing, terrible screech…a bark where you know you are getting bit. The trainer turned his head away from the dog, squared off to said dog and stopped moving…the dog charged up full on to with-in a yard of the trainers knees…barking and stomping his feet…but never touched the trainer…and at this point the owner came out appologizing and saying he was sorry…but the point is…the dog stopped what most people would have thought an iminent charge and bite.
To clarify Phlospher’s advice, it won’t work on every single dog, but it’s generally much more effective than trying to fight the dog off, throw treats, use pepper spray, etc. Besides, if a dog is so hell-bent on biting you that this doesn’t work, there’s not really anything you can do anyway.
A few rounds of .38 Special or better will work on every dog. If you live where you aren’t allowed to defend youself, a chunk of 2x4 is almost as good.
Last summer when I was walking the baby, A huge Doberman came charging out of an alley and jumped up at the stroller. I let out a blood curdling yell and rushed the dog as aggressivley as I could, knowing I was going to get bit, and possibly get f-ed up pretty bad. To my surprised, the dog turned tail and ran away as fast as he could. Now this was a Doberman, who are generally intelligent dogs, not prone to sensless violence. He probably realized that he messed up and did something he shouldn’t have. In fact, there might have had a baby in his house, and he was just making sure my baby didn’t belong to his pack. I hate to think of what would have happened if it would have been a well mannered breed.
So what should you do in a situation like that? You have a baby or small child that you have to protect, so standing still might not be much of an option. I’d have to go by instinct, go on the offensive and protect the child at any cost to myself.
nitroglycerine - All things being equal, your response was the correct one in my opinion. Animals transcend the mother-offspring role quite nicely. I’d imagine your own abilities defending your child would be enhanced by a large degree.
When I walk in my neighbourhood I am constantly challenged by the loose farm dogs. I just keep walking at the same pace and don’t make eye contact. If they keep approaching, I stop walking and still avoid eye contact. So far they just seem to be satisfied with stopping at that point and allowing me to continue my travels.
The cyclists and joggers have had to resort to pepper spray and it seems to have worked fine for them. There are a couple of nasty chocolate labs down the road that received a faceful of Mace from a jogger and they seem to be avoiding people on the road now. (As a bonus they also stopped chasing cars too!)
Coincidentally there’s a thread on this right now on one of my Doberman lists and one person just suggested a mini-airhorn. Heh.
I have only used to treats to build friendships with dogs. The last thing I want to reward a dog for is approaching me aggressively.
Just for trivia’s sake, I’ve also read that a well-timed yawn “tells” the dog that you mean them no harm and really have no interest in a fight. I personally haven’t been in the position to try this yet.
A former martial arts instructor raised and trained German Rotweillers as attack dogs and once told me the story about how he Thai-kicked an attacking American Rottie dead on the spot, snapped its neck. He then rolled up his pant leg and showed a deeply scarred area of flesh where the dog tried to catch the kick in his mouth.
He never really offered any advice on what we, his students, could’ve done in that situation.
Several years back I was taking a morning stroll when two German Shepherds caming racing out of their yard, screaming right toward. Remembering the lesson I’d learned from a very wise man from Georgia, I stood stock still. The nearest dog came up, placed his paws on my shoulders and stared me in the eye. (I’m 6’5" tall.) His friend stood beside. We stood like that for a couple of minutes. His owner came out, whistled; and that was the end of the incident.
I had a paper route when I was a youth, and had to deal with dogs on a fairly regular basis. I found that a boot to the head was effective in a couple instances, but that was when I was on a bicycle and the dog was nipping at my heels. Just swing the foot backward and pop the dog right in the nose.
Firecrackers worked, too. They were briefly re-legalised in my state during this time. Small, mostly harmless crackers. There was one customer on my route that had a pack of about eight dogs in his fenced yard. Every time I would go to collect my money from him, I’d have to stand outside his gate while the dogs barked and snarled and tried to jump over the fence and rip my throat out. So one day I happened to have a pocket full of firecrackers. I wasn’t really in any danger, but I simply lit one cracker and dropped it on the ground at me feet (well away from the dogs, so there was no danger to them). It went off, and every one of those dogs turned tail and disappeared around the back of the house, faster than I’d ever seen dogs move. The owner came out just howling with laughter (he was an older man who probably had his share of fun with firecrackers when he was a boy). Now, I tried this with another customer’s dog, one that was actually loose and chasing me. Though in this case I dropped the firecracker on the ground and covered it with my foot, because the dog was much closer and I didn’t want to hurt it. Covered by my foot, it went off with a pop instead of a bang, but it was enough to startle the dog out of chasing me. It had the same effect on the dog as the previous dogs, but in this case the owner was not amused and cancelled her newspaper subscription.
I did the treats thing, too, though not in an attack situation. One house had an aggressive Doberman inside a fence, and every single day this dog would run along this fence as I passed by, barking like he wanted to kill me. I did have fears of him jumping that fence - it wasn’t very high. So one day I happened to be carrying a box of donuts with me. When the dog came running, I just dumped a few donuts over the fence, and the dog chowed down. Never barked at me again!
