E350- An Off-Leash Dog Charged My Dogs… Here’s How I Handled It

[SPEAKER_00]: If the dog would have went up to Lakota to attack her, I would have let Burly go to protect her, or to at least disrupt what was going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello everybody, welcome back to my podcast, and my second YouTube channel.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was unfortunately approached by an off-leash dog today and it was terrifying.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what happened was, is Burley, I have a massive, he's a massive, massive, he's a South African Borble, I have a Dutch Shepherd.
[SPEAKER_00]: And my Dutch Shepherd, Lakota is a, what I call level three dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I work with obedience, level three is that Yoda dog,
[SPEAKER_00]: They could be off leash and they will listen to you no matter what.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so she was off leash.
[SPEAKER_00]: My master is not so much that dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: He listens good, but he has some instinctual drives that I don't, I'm not naive too, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So, we're out for a walk and beautiful day, beautiful morning, everything is great and I look up and I see this black lab staring, so Lakota's in front of me, let's say 25 feet and this black lab is staring at me at 30 feet away.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, he's really close to her.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then I have Burley which is 25 feet away from both of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So she's ahead of me and this black lab just starts growling, showing his teeth and then kind of bouncing over to Lakota.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now the reason why I was happy to see that because the reason why dogs will bounce is it's a very insecure, tough guy, chest puffing type of maneuver, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So they're basically like, I'm big and bad, you should run away.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Lakota being the confident, how should I say, female she is, she just stood there and was like, what are you going to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: She's Lakota is an extremely conscious, a ten-year-old, extremely confident, no BS will put you in your place no matter how big, small, older, young you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I love about her.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, it's, it kind of stinks because my wife and I were talking about this is I don't know if you guys have ever had this happen within your life with dogs, but every year that I, that I, I should say every dog that I've had have kind of passed down specific traits and very specific type of teachings, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: 16 to 18 we think around this is really really old.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had her like all my 20s half of my 30s So she was a dog that literally has been with me through Everything like being an adult essentially and She was the best she was a mut that I got on on a pet smart adoption floor and was the best dog
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sure you guys have had those unicorn dogs like she just was amazing and anyway She was able to teach Lakota a lot of this stuff that I love about Lola and so now that Now that I have Burley Burley is not gonna be that dog at all
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so it kind of stinks because it's kind of an end of an era because what Lola taught Lakota Lakota has a lot of features and personality traits and behaviors of Lola.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it was great.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so anyway, that's where she got all that like confident type of personality and behavior and temperament, which I absolutely love.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I kind of ends with her unless I get another puppy, which I highly doubt I will do anytime soon, or at least in Lakota's lifetime.
[SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, so Lakota's standing there and the dog, and I'm basically at this point, Burley, if you guys have been following along with his adventures, because he's a knucklehead.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's an intact, super protective breed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I am, here's what's going through my head.
[SPEAKER_00]: and please do not come near us now burly has never bit anybody or anything and to be completely honest with you um potential people who might try to rob me at some point in life close your ears shut your eyes and only you ever would but he's big enough to scare the absolute living crap out of
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[SPEAKER_00]: So he is very big though, and he's very strong, and he can be reactive, again, because
[SPEAKER_00]: because of who he is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so...
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was really worried about the dog coming near us because he's a type of dog that can Honestly set another dog up to attack him or come after him like he's big.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's voiceless.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's intact.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's he's big strong structured power Type of behavior and so I'm just in my head like don't come to don't come up on us Because I don't want Burley to to even feel like he has to fight.
[SPEAKER_00]: I never really want that to come out of him ever
[SPEAKER_00]: Every single dog that has approached him, he's never had an issue with, and in fact he's played with most dogs that he has interactions with, which is kind of ironic considering he's an intact male dog that can be reactive, but He's just doing anyway.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's move on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So so I could tell that the owners weren't around in this dog had just gotten out and listen
[SPEAKER_00]: If the owners were right there going, oh my god, I'm so sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't have cared.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be like, hey, I get it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Should happens like
[SPEAKER_00]: My dogs have gotten out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure before like it happens.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm not that person, you know, like it'd be different if somebody was allowed watching their dog do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I'd be pretty ticked off and have something to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: But obviously, this dog had just snuck out during the chaos of probably getting kids ready for school or something.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to me, it wasn't a big deal, especially because the dog didn't do anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: It was terrifying and if it could have gone worse or it could have gone really worse.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I recall a Coda and then the dog just stands there and just looks at us and burly lunges and growls, you know, maybe two or three times and then re-engages with me, which
[SPEAKER_00]: I even texted my friend who's a dog trainer as a misforced and I texted him I'm like dude, you're not going to believe what happened today because him and I talk about dog stuff all the time and he knows about Burley and how protective he can be and he's going to be shocked when he hears that Burley didn't try to drag me down to protect his sister, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because there he is, like the most protective dog breed in the entire world, watches his, air quotes sister for those who were listening to the podcast, watching his sister get growled and ran up on by a strange dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thinking to my head, this is not good for anybody, for anything, but
[SPEAKER_00]: Dogs are truthful and what they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, like he was just like growled and lunge the couple times, nothing too, like he didn't commit to too much.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't get pissed off at me for stopping him, which sometimes he can do, because he's just like, don't get in the way of what I'm supposed to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we walked away, Lakota recalled it and we walked away and thankfully the dog stayed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the reason why I'm making this podcast in this video is because a lot of my clients,
[SPEAKER_00]: ask me what to do when an off-leash dog happens and that or when an off-leash dog approaches and it happened to me this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Immediately, I was like, man, I've been talking about getting metaglasses, so I can like share experiences from walks with my dog, and I was like, man, if I had the metaglasses, that would have been so valuable for people.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the first thing I do is what I did, let me just back up and be more efficient here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what I did, which I suggest you do, and there's a lot of variables.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the first thing I do is I look at the intention of the dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: that will allow me to figure out what I need to do immediately.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's a very, you have to think fast because things can escalate really quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Lakota, again, the dog was about the same size as her.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that she can stand her ground because she lives with a gorilla twice as big as her and she keeps him in check.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, if the dog would have went up to Lakota
[SPEAKER_00]: I would have let Burly go to protect her or to at least disrupt what was going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that may seem irresponsible.
[SPEAKER_00]: to some.
[SPEAKER_00]: But to be honest, another dog running into the situation would likely diffuse the situation more than anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's say this dog went up to Lakota and they had this little spat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Boom, I would have released the beast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he would have went over and probably scared the shit out of both of them and disrupted what was going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or at least the other dog could have went after Burley and Burley could have defended himself much much probably better
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to say, because it makes me sad, but she is 10, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, she has TPLO surgery, she had a bad, she has a bum knee, I don't want her fighting random dogs.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I would at least at the young guy and he probably would have got beat up or at least protected her or whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just what I would have done, honestly.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I had a veterinarian way back in the day, years and years ago, before both these dogs.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he told me that he was approached by some very aggressive dogs, and he had pitples at the time, and they were basically getting attacked, and he tried to keep his dogs away from getting attacked.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he just let go of the leashes and let them defend themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: because he, you know, and I never forget it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said to me, he's like, I wasn't about to let my dogs get chued up by trying to hold him up or not be able to defend themselves and making them really vulnerable and naive or sorry, vulnerable because you're basically taking their head and you're spinning them around.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's what I would have done.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, it wouldn't have been like, I don't know what actually what it would have been.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I know if this off-leash dog attacked my older dog and I had a young 170 pound dog of muscle, I would have let him go.
[SPEAKER_00]: just to defend her, or at least disrupt it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, be the same thing if like, you're out there walking, like if somebody was out there walking and your younger sister got picked on, like what would you do?
[SPEAKER_00]: Watch?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, step in.
[SPEAKER_00]: right so uh but it didn't happen like that thankfully and it actually went pretty smooth but it could have been really bad and so a lot of times the first thing i do is i and this is what i did is i yell and scream to try to alert any dog owner that is like oh crap where's the dog so i was like hey hey hey get out of here loud loud loud loud get out of here you know kind of yelling at the dog a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-
[SPEAKER_00]: And what I have done in the past, which honestly could have been the same exact dog, I'm not sure what dog this was, but some of the things that I've done in the past also, depending on the dog, has been putting my own dogs in obedient skills to then go address the dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes you don't have that luxury, so let me get back into it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'll explain what that means in just one second.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes my ADHD, and not even know if I have ADHD.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just know that my mind is all over the place all the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: So forgive me if that's, if that fends anybody, if I, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, move it on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: yelling scream hey knock it off get out of here where basically where your owner's owner's alert what's going on or it's also helpful God forbid you ever were into a situation where there was a life or death altercation between dogs yelling and screaming will also alert anybody else that's around
[SPEAKER_00]: and that's also really helpful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say you're out with your dog and an awfully dog approaches and your dog is now a victim in getting attacked or you, you know, are getting attacked.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yelling and screaming is also going to alert somebody else to come help you, hopefully.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's, but for me it was more like, hey, where's your owners?
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, that didn't happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that I like to do if the dog is close is kick, scream, do whatever you can to get the dog away, especially if they're acting aggressive.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, of course, for those of you who are watching who are like, I have the most friendly dog ever, and the dog ran up to us that are friendly too.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is a different conversation.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what we're talking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most people watching this who clicked on this video are also or watching this podcast or also people who have unfortunately had this happen before.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I am trying to get that other dog away and by all means necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know some dog trainers, even dog walkers, who spend a lot of time outside that will carry sticks.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will carry Hulk pepper spray, which you can get on Amazon, HALT to deter off leash dogs.
[SPEAKER_00]: but sometimes that doesn't work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes you don't think about it, sometimes it's too late, or sometimes you just don't have it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So y'all kick and scream, try to get the other dog away, but ultimately turn around and go the other way, is what I did and what I suggest for everybody.
[SPEAKER_00]: To fuse the situation, to try to get the other dog away.
[SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that's really helpful,
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is what I did, this I'm going to go back to my story of what I did before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say you see an off-leash dog and they're running towards you or around you.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I have done in the past, again, could be the same off-leash dog and if any of my neighbors are watching this,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's okay, crap happens, I'm not mad, all is good, but what I've done in the past with dog similar to this is I'll just down like if I see a dog running up to us from a distance, I'll down my dog or in some cases tie your dog to something or give your dog to somebody else, especially if you can see the off-leash dog is just a friendly off-leash dog that got away, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you don't have a friendly dog,
[SPEAKER_00]: you want to make sure like okay I don't want there to be a dog fight I don't want this dog to get nearest I need to make sure that I interrupt the package if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what I've done in the past downstays take my spare leash off which if you're in an environment where you could run into off leash dogs I recommend.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get your spare leash, go up to the dog, leash the dog up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your dogs are in a downstay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you have somebody's dog, call the number on the tags, find the owner, call your partner, your friend, your neighbor, say, hey, can you come help me?
[SPEAKER_00]: I got this loose dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: My dogs are in a downstay.
[SPEAKER_00]: To be honest, like what I would do is I would,
[SPEAKER_00]: put my dogs in a downstay and if the dog was solo, I would either call the tag or I would then try to go and bring the dog to another part of the neighborhood and let it back go and then go to my dogs and then walk away like it's never a good situation but the best case scenario is for you to keep your dog safe and if you can interrupt the other dog
[SPEAKER_00]: making sure there isn't a dog fight, nobody goes to the vet, you don't get bit, you don't have to go to the hospital, that's the best case scenario.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, it's kind of like a car accident, it's like, you never want it to happen, but if it does happen, what's the best thing to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, let's go back down the list.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see an off-leash dog.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess I should say, if you can go the other way and avoid it, do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, it was like I saw a ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm walking and then all of a sudden I look up and there's just the black lab just sitting there looking at us like with his head tilted like hey what are you guys doing on my road and I was like my heart dropped and I was like oh boy because she's right next to Lakota you know and I'm like and then he started showing his teeth and I was like oh man this is not going to be good so
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, try to go the other way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Carry things that can help you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Halt spray sticks, whatever you can.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and again, like having good obedience is such a powerful thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But a lot of my clients who have younger dogs, unfortunately, end up like puppies and stuff, these types of dog attacks or these awfully stressful things can really alter the trajectory of how they behave and their personality and even their reactions and relationships to other dogs, unfortunately.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many times, I'm sure people out there, if you have, let me know in the comments, we can chat about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many times, dog owners who walk their young dog or their puppies or their newly adopted dog have this happen, and it messes the dog's personality up, but it also messes up their confidence quite a bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: and that sucks.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so to be proactive to that, and also to be able to defend yourself and what to happen, yell, scream, halt, spray, kick.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do everything you can, they get those dogs away.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're dog small enough, pick them up and keep them safe, put your arm under them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the dog can't jump up and pull them down.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pull their feet down, pull their tail down, pull their belly.
[SPEAKER_00]: God forbid down.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are things that I've seen happen which is morbid but unfortunately it's what I want you guys to know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've lived through these things through countless stories of my clients and so these are really important things but things do happen and again a situation like that this morning could have been extremely bad but because I had a good recall on my dog
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the grace of God, this other dog was not aggressive or had illident.
[SPEAKER_00]: We were able to get out of there with no problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope the dog found his way home, his or her way home.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the other thing I did is when I came out, I obviously went around and then right when I got in my neighborhood, it's like a circle.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went back and I went back around.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the other thing I did is I got in my truck.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then after I got my dogs home, I got my truck.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went out and I just checked out like if the dog was still out to see if I can help the dog find his way home.
[SPEAKER_00]: His or her way home.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot of times these dogs.
[SPEAKER_00]: I used to be an animal control dog control officer.
[SPEAKER_00]: most like I would say 80% of the time dog owners had no idea their dog was out there at work or I come to the front door like hey, and I'm like hey, and I hope you're and they go wait where's Roscoe?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like he's he's out there, you know, so a lot of times dog owners just don't know and I mean, yeah, you could say ultimately it's their fault, but dogs do dog things, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So I never
[SPEAKER_00]: The only time I really get mad is when somebody has a dog on the leash and they're not controlling their dog, because that is just awful, you know, especially if, you know, they know their dog is going to do something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like a lot of times when I'm out with my dog and I see other dog owners, because so many people are dealing with so many different things we just turn around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, not all the time, but, you know, especially in the winner, when all the dogs have been, not me, but I don't see, I don't see too many of my neighbors out walking in the winner Um, as much as in the summer or the spring or fall, the nice nice or seasons, but I try to get two or three walks in a day, you know, but I'm also bundled up like an Eskimo and some would say I'm crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: but I like going for a walk with my dogs and unfortunately sometimes off-leash things happen and I just wanted to share this story with you guys and tell you what I recommend and how you guys can eliminate or decrease the likelihood of an incident happening just like I did this morning
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so hopefully this was helpful.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hopefully you liked it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening and watching.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye everybody.