No more doggy walks

That's bad! My dog

used to escape from a fenced in yard (I kept fixing one hole after the last), but she never attacked anyone - harassed, but

didn't atack. Fine line.

Anyway, isn't there a place nearby where you can drive your dog to where you can hike/walk

around together?

Hi littlek -- nice

to see you here. Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately, there aren't any such places around. No doggies allowed on

the beaches (to bad cause that's a great place for walking) and the doggy runs have been reported in the local papers from

time to time as being filled with nasty doggies and their owners. Guess the yard will have to do.

bandylu - we have

fairly strong leash laws here, so i carry a cell phone with me when i'm out with my dog. A friend of mine is well-known for

calling the police when there are unleashed dogs around. Seeing me with my cellphone at the ready seems to be enough to get

many dogs put on a leash quite rapidly. It pays to be buddies with a tough-girl.

luckly, we have a

park with nature trails ideal for walking the dogs. At least the people who let their animals off leash seem to have good

voice control over them. I seem to recall that in Germany, that was equivalent to being on a leash. We should bring that up

with Walter some time.

Have you considered pepper spray, Bandylu.

Hey, the spellchecker seems to work. At least

it doesn't eat text like some I can think of.

Bandylu, you could also try a water pistol with a bit of ammonia mixed with the water... better make it a colorful water pistol so it isn't mistaken for a real gun. You're probably so nervous now that you'd need to have someone else walk with you... family or friend. Two people should be able to manage to protect one dog, I'd think.

I walk my chows at a place where we all walk our dogs off leash. It's great for teaching them they must stay with me.

Voice control is considered adequate as a leash in most of our National Forests.

Yes, I'm afraid I have gotten too nervous to even try to take her any more. Now that the weather's gotten chilly, it doesn't bother me as much. We play in the yard and I get to run in and warm up in between.

I just wish my neighbors had some sort of control over their pets -- voice control would be fine -- but apparently they don't. What ever happened to responsible pet owners? For that matter, whatever happened to responsible people???

bandylu...

To me, it seems like the attacks on your dog are fairly agressive, and I don't think I would hesitate to call animal control to complain about these dogs that are attacking your dog. If this is what they are doing to another dog walking down the street with an adult, I'd be concerned about what might happen if children walked into their area, or even worse, if children tried to walk a dog in their area. I don't know...to me it just seems like a really serious situation waiting to happen. Plus, it's not fair to you and your dog.

Hi, Piffka...

Aren't there laws regarding agressive dogs in WA State? I thought that if a dog attacked another dog or a human here, that there could be some fairly stiff restrictions placed on that dog and its owners.

If a dog attacks a human in Washington, it can be put down. Same for three reported attacks on other dogs -- though I hope what they consider an attack on another dog is fairly serious, and not the little scraps my pooches get into at the dog run from time to time.

Have a talk with Animal Control, though. It really is a problem, though, esp. for the reasons Matrix stated re children. Being informed that the dog being loose could cause them to lose that dog might be enough to get the people to take charge of it. There're a lot of decent people out there who, for whatever reason, don't understand that their dogs need guidance and control, and that even a small dog can be dangerous in the right circumstances.

Really, if you're just going to let your pet wander around all the time, get a cat.

Hi Bandylu --

I'm in Pierce County, in Washington State. Each county has it's own Animal Protection Officers, who work through their Humane Society. In our county, our officers are Very Tough. They don't hesitate to enforce the laws, arrest abusers, or remove animals from homes. Their success rate in the court system is excellent. The judges in Pierce County don't like to rule against the Humane Society. Our Humane Society collects donations and uses the money to support their officers. Personally, I have been involved with several Humane Society cases, including the investigation of a local Horse Owner. I know, first hand, that the Humane Society is tough!!

Have you tried calling your local Humane Society (or whatever they call it in your area)?

I play soccer with Jack (my Border Collie), too!! I have one shoe with a very dirty toe!!

Hey!! Hello to my fellow Washingtonians!! Bandylu, move on out here.... we'll protect you!!

Thanks for everyone's support. To be honest, I never even thought about calling anybody. All I thought about was getting my poor doggy home safely.

In New York state, I believe every dog gets one free bite (i.e. the first reported bite -- of humans only, I think -- nothing will be done). However, we do have leash laws, though I've never, ever seen the 'dog catcher' around here (and I've lived here for 20 years). Of course, I also haven't seen many dogs running around unleashed -- until recently.

P&L -- Washington state is just a wee bit too far away from my kids (like clear across the continent). But the offer is appreciated.

Oh... well, OK... no problem.... give Jenny a scratch behind the ears for me!!!

Jack sends a tail-wag to Jenny!!!

Jenny will appreciate the scratch behind the ears, and were she awake (she's sleeping under the computer table as I type) she'd also appreciate the tail wag). See how happy she'd be?

I see myself that, generally, and certainly not always, dogs are more, uh, convivial and work things out, when off leash. Let me say that my dog is on leash. It seems to me that they are more territorial on leash. Or in car, or in house, yard, etc. And yet we need to protect against the random off leash terror. I don't have any answer to this. I keep my dog on leash so he won't run into the street or get after that pit bull a half a block away. That pit bull in the truck bed. Not that I don't like at least some pit bulls. Still.

But I know that my dog is much more aggressive On Leash. I speak naively, of course. If he did what he is bred to, herd the sheep, he would probably kill the odd interloper, if he could. But in a situation like doggy day care, where he has now been four times, he deals with the group ok. Not least because his friend the dobie protects him. Maybe he is confused on who to attack...

Hi Bandylu,
I'm sorry your and Jennie's walks have been ruined by the dogs of morons. Could this be a bad fad that will blow over by spring?
I know the feeling of fright when such happens, and afterwards well. Once, while Rupert was only about 6 or 7, as we walked past a house, an ENORMOUS Golden raced out and attacked Rupert. Rupert is a Lab/Golden cross, and smallish, only about 85 lbs. I swear, he disappeared under this Golden. The taste of the adrenelin!It was night,and the noise alone was horrifying: a loud snarling, and a loud screaming. Oh!And then the Golden's owner ran up and pulled Rupert out from under by his pronged collar. The final outrage!I bought Rupert under a street light-his ear was wet, but it was with saliva. And then the Golden's "mom" said "Well your dog was the winner". I turned to see the huge Golden lying in the gutter. Rupert, like Bruce Lee, had apparantly chewed out his liver while he was having his ear slathered on. Hmmmmm.
The end result is that Rupert now tries to attack not onlyGoldens, b ut yellow Labs, first.
And I quail each time I see a dog off-leash,especially a golden dog.