Emotionally Charged; protecting your dog from off leash dogs
Not a week goes by without a client, and usually more than one, asking me what to do when charged by an off leash dog.
Some of these encounters end harmlessly, while others can cause the dog on the receiving end of the charging to develop anxiety issues around other dogs when on leash. This in turn can lead to leash reactivity. It is important to note that how the dog on the receiving end of the charging processes the charging has nothing to do with how “Friendly“ the charging dog is. Meaning, that even a dog who is perfectly appropriate happy, relaxed who approaches a dog on a leash can still cause the dog who is being “charged” to develop anxieties. The dog on the receiving end decides how scary the encounter was, not the behavior of the charging dog.
You’re a five tips on how to handle Off Leash dogs regardless as to whether or not, their humans are close by.
Terminate them with the bite terminator. a.k.a. a pop open umbrella. I’ve done dog bite prevention trainings for some of the largest utility companies in New England and their go to to help keep their employees safe from dog bites when out in the field is, what they referred to as, the dog bite, terminator, a.k.a. the pop-up an umbrella. Popping open an umbrella at an oncoming, charging dog can do two things. One, startle the dog which hopefully causes them to retreat. This will enable you to have time to safely move away. Two, help create a barrier between the charging dog and you and your own dog. This is helpful in situations where popping open the umbrella does not have a startle affect on the charging dog and you need to block the charging dog from yourself and your own dog.
Make it rain….chicken. Tossing high value food at oncoming, charging dogs can distract them enough for you to safely get away with your dog while they clean up the chicken that “fell from the sky“.
Shields up, captain! Sprayshield. This small can of concentrated citronella is a good deterrent when sprayed at any oncoming charging animal. It’s important to note that spray shield is not recommended for severely aggressive animals, and I would not recommend using it on a wild animal who is aggressively charging. I worry less about blowback with using the concentrated citronella then I’ll do with pepper spray.
Call the popo. No seriously, call your animal control officer every. Single. Time. Allow your ACO to do their job and enforce the leash law in your area. Please do not worry that you are “bothering” your ACO this is what they are here to do.
Don’t be stubborn. If there is an area where you are charged by off leash dogs time, and time again, regardless of the leash law, it is best to just stop visiting that area with your dog. I know this is something we shouldn’t “have” to do, however, when it comes to keeping our dogs, safe, physically, mentally, and emotionally, please don’t fixate of what’s fair or not, and let’s just focus on keeping our dogs safe. There are plenty of places you can take your dog that are enjoyable for both you and your dog without the threat of being charged by an off leash dog
One final thought is that even if you have been charged by off leash dogs without any detrimental consequences to yourself or your dog, it does not mean that it won’t happen in the future so best to be prepared and safe!
Sara Sokol is owner of Mr. Dog Training in Brunswick Maine; A positive reinforcement dog training facility, offering both virtual and in person classes, that has been voted best training in Maine for 8 years in a row..
