Scared to walk our two dogs

zaksmum

I always carried one of those little water cannon things - bigger than a water pistol - whenever there was a dodgy dog in the area. A squirt of water in the face will startle an aggressive dog and usually it will want to get away from you quickly. And of course it won't hurt the dog. A friend carries dog treats, so that if a dog looks like it might fight, she just chucks it a treat which has always worked in defusing the aggression.

hethmar

I take it that everyone is pushing the police to investigate this?

spugzbunny

Cripes - is this in Derby? Which area? If this was near me (and I don't have a dog!) I'd be scared going out. I'm pretty scared of dogs, especially strange dogs.

Barneysmom

Not being funny but I don't think pepper would stop a dog like this, you need something a lot stronger, maybe carry a small bottle of vodka or gin, that would hurt their eyes a lot more and no long term damage.

SDavies

try and walk the other way or drive to a near by nature reserve or something similar
take someone with you on walks or join fellow dog walkers

EmptyPockets

spugzbunny wrote: »

Cripes - is this in Derby? Which area? If this was near me (and I don't have a dog!) I'd be scared going out. I'm pretty scared of dogs, especially strange dogs.

Yes. The most recent attack, the one I linked to above, was in Shelton Lock. Two more before that were in Alvaston, which is where I live.

EmptyPockets

SDavies wrote: »

take someone with you on walks or join fellow dog walkers

Well me walking the dogs during the day is being put on hold for the time-being - I'll only walk them with my husband now, when he gets in from work. Which is why they aren't getting as much, for as long, as we'd like. (I don't drive).

EmptyPockets

hethmar wrote: »

I take it that everyone is pushing the police to investigate this?

From the reports I've read in our local paper, and having heard a police officer being interviewed on the local radio, yes they are taking it extremely seriously and are doing everything they can to find the person/people behind it. I'm not sure if all of the attacks have been involving the same dog, or the same owner...

EmptyPockets

chris_n_tj wrote: »

Years ago I worked at a place that was down a very quiet lane, in the winter is was dark and lonely. Mum gave me a pot of ground white pepper to keep in my pocket, I never went without it. Glad to say I never had to use it.

It is legal as well.

Chris n TJx

I think I may also take your Mum's advice, thanks Chris x

Tropez

It is a horrible state of affairs but unfortunately all too common. The staffy has basically become the thug's status symbol of choice lately and there are all too many of them badly trained or purposely trained to be violent and aggressive. The story you link to is on the extreme end of the scale but in my area alone there have been nine reported attacks by staffys recently (within the past two months), two of which proved fatal to another dog and one of which is believed to have provoked a heart attack in a dog walker who later died in hospital. There are far too many areas of this particular location where you can find multiple gangs of youths with one or two clearly aggressive dogs in their possession causing all sorts of alarm and upset to other people without any action taken against them even after reports.

I, personally, will not walk my dogs in the local area even though I do not know of any dangerous or poorly trained dogs in the immediate area. I pay a small fee to a friend of mine who owns farmland to lease a field of his to walk my dogs on. Prior to that, I payed an annual fee to a local private park to walk my dogs there. I would much rather pay small amounts of money to walk my dogs in comparative safety than risk being attacked.

Personally, I think it is about time dog licences were re-introduced, with every dog out of the house being required to have a visible form of ID on its collar, with hefty fines and/or imprisonment for those who fail to licence their dogs. A recent report published by the RSPCA indicated much lower rates of dog related injury in countries or jurisdictions where dog licensing exists.