Last night I was walking my 10 month old Aussie puppy with my girlfriend and as we passed a house, a woman started to call to her dog- Sure enough, her dog ignored her and came out to see who was walking past.. It was a pit mix, was walking slowly to us, but surely. She kept calling and the dog kept ignoring.As she got close enough to sniff my puppy, I hoisted mine up out of her reach. The lady was obviously offended because she yelled She's not gonna bite her!. I simply replied Yeah, but Mine will. because I didnt want the confrontation. Her dog's hackles were up, I didn't want to take any chances.Did I over-react by removing my dog out of the loose dog's reach? Any ideas on how to better handle it?
Dogs take cues from the humans present. The dog is a social animal. If the pit mix was aggressive it would be trying to get close right away. It was sizing things up as it approached and you probably broadcast fear by your scent and body language, Dogs are first social and then can change if fear is present. The walking in between and saying go away or shoo without fear or threat would be my bet. Picking it up can cause a reaction where your dog will instantly act defensively causing the mix to also react not in a playful way. The dog being held is learning to depend on the owner for protection and security instead of socializing. Often, a dog will jump up while the owner/handler is holding the little dog and the mix will think of it as a game until signals tell it that it is no game. Then, it's trouble. A calming voice and reassurance can be key in a successful outcome.
Though, there probably is a better way to deal with the situation, I would have done the SAME things -- if I were strong enough to hoist my dogs into the air. They weigh just a bit too much for me to physically pick up. I try not to walk alone, but try and always wait for my fiance to go with me, not that I cannot control my dogs, but there is always a chance of a situation just like yours. And owning APBTs, there is ALWAYS room for extra caution when taking the dogs out in public. I always carry some kind of weapon, a stick, back, yard stick..anything just in case a loose dog comes up -- I have only done had to use it a few times. I think you did what anyone would do in a situation like this and I don't think you were wrong. I own APBTs and I know better than to trust some dog running free NOT listening to the owner's come command to retreat. The dog's hackles were UP, what did that lady expect you to think? Geez, people control your dogs..
I think you done the right thing especially if the pits hackles were up. How are you to know if the dog was gonna bite or not. Best to be safe than sorry in this case. Don`t worry about it...there was not much else you could do and the woman should not be letting her dog roam off her premises. jmo. Unfortunately there is no law to stop ignorantees from owning dogs.
No you did the right thing. BUT if that dog were to attack your pup and jump up, you could have been very seriously hurt by both dogs. Not the wisest thing, but better since you saw hackles up on the Pit mix. However, I would have gone over to the other side of the road and not kept walking so near the house and the dog knowing the dog was ignoring the owner and kept coming.
The owner of what you described as a pit mix was firmly in the wrong because it was there dog that was not under voice control off their property being a nuisance. That said hackles raised can be indicative of excitement not just a dog that is on alert, so it depends on the overall overt subtle body language of the dog. Hoisting the dog up into your arms was an understandable instinctive reaction, but if you repeated the same behavior what you would unintentionally teach the Aussie is that dogs medium/large dogs approaching her is a reason to be anxious the Aussie would have detected you unease with the situation as the dog approached mentally associated the two. Since I have a breed that would be my back out if I attempted to lift it, what I do is step in front of the dog to body block the approaching dog’s access to it take control of the situation by first attempting to drive away the dog with a sturdy walking stick, if that failed my responsibility is to protect my dog from a real threat I would act accordingly.
