Dogs and running...

I have no idea where to post this since it's part question part rant...

I jogged my normal jog this morning and saw a woman walking her enormous blood hound.  He came up and sniffed me as I passed.  No problem.  About a half an hour later when I was looping back around to get home, I saw them again.  This time he charged me, and I could hear his owner yelling "Barneby - stop!".

I know - giant bloodhound - name is Barneby - where's the punch line?  I'm not kidding. 

So I think I was frightened but I kept chanting in my head "Dogs like to play - dogs like to play - dogs like to play" over and over again in my head.  A few seconds later he reached me, jumped up and bit my elbow.  My heartrate spiked to 192 bpm (thank you Polar F11).

I kept going.  It didn't really hurt that much.  Did I do the right thing?  Should I have stopped when he started charging?  Now that I'm home and feeling more fiesty, I wish I would have yelled at that lady to keep her dog on a leash.

well you really should have yelled about the leash, what if there was a little kid instead? gosh, are you sure your o.k.? just reading it scared me. good job though not freakin out.

you probably should have stopped when he started charging, yes. the fact that you continued running probably excited him more. If it ever happens again, stop, turn around and stand still. if it lunges, lift your knee to stop him (basically uppercut him with your knee).

That said, this is easy in hindsight but not so easy under stress. you probly did the best you could under the circumstances. Also, I would tell the owner that if you ever see the dog off a leash again, you will report it. And, take a picture of the bite, because you never know what can happen with a dog bite, and you could need proof it happened.

i hate how irresponsible some people are with their dogs! I take my dog running with me and always keep him on a leash, it would be unheard of not to.  He's well trained and knows to stay on my right hand side, so when we approach other people, if he starts to show that he's excited and might want to play with the other people I am sure to keep his leash extra tight and let the people pass on my left.  However I know not every dog owner is responsible and don't have well trained dogs.  On many occasions other runners have taken their dogs out, un-leashed, and got mad when I yelled at them to get their dogs undercontrol so they wouldn't attack mine.  Usually I notice far in advance when there's a leashless dog, so I can either alter my route, or yell at the owner.

If the bite broke the skin you might want to go get tested for rabies, just in case, if the owner was irresponsible enough to walk her dog without a leash, he may not be properly vaccinated.

I run near a park where stupid irresponsible pet owners let their dogs off leash all the time. It's not a dog park. And lest you think I hate dogs, I don't--I have a large German Shepherd female so I completely understand we don't always have control of our dogs.

When dogs see humans run, they think either PREY or PLAY. Either way can have disastrous results for runners.

If the bite broke your skin, you should get your arm checked, since dog saliva can lead to all sorts of infections.

Thanks for all the replies - especially hockeygirl.  I never had a dog growing up.  When my mom was 8 months pregnant, my dog got out of the yard and my mom had to chase him all over the neighborhood.  She got rid of him before I was born, and never got another one.  As you can imagine, my mom has told me this story a million times over the last 30-something years. 

The dog didn't break the skin with his bite.  I just checked while I was washing.  I felt his teeth, and when I got home and took my tshirt off his paw print was on my shoulder.  I guess he took a nip on his way down.  I ran a mile and a half more to get home and my elbow was still covered in frothy-white dog slobber.   When I first passed them, I was amazed at the size of this dog.  He just raised his head up to sniff me the first time I passed and his head was almost as high as my chest.  Granted, I'm only 5'4", but still.

More than anything, I think I was just frightened.  Next time I will come to a full stop, brace myself, and prepare to lift my knee to lessen the impact.  

Unfortunatly, along the bluffs behind my house - people rarely keep their dogs on a leash, but if a dog is prone to jumping and nipping, an owner should be more considerate I think.

One other thing I've found effective for stopping dogs that I use while riding a bike (dogs like to chase bicycles too) is to look the dog square in the eyes and yell "NO!" at him as many times as it takes until he stops.  Even the poorest trained dogs seem to hesitate when they hear that word.

It isn't about consideration.  If someone has their dog off a leash, and you live in a community with leash laws, you should call the police.  That dog bit you; it's dangerous.  I carry pepper spray with me when I go out in the neighborhood, and part of the reason for that is when my brother was out walking my dog and they were attacked by a neighbor's loose dog.  It's not just inconsiderate - in a lot of places, that's illegal.

You should file a police report locally.  It's not real convenient, but that's really the only way that anything will be done.  i run with my pitbull (yeah, I know what people are thinking, but he's been through 4 levels of obedience, has been certified as a K-9 good citizen and is currently training to be used in therapy for the elderly) who is always muzzled and leashed when I run through the park, and a few months ago he and I were attached by a german shepard that had been let off the leash.  The next day I went alone and the same woman was there and still didn't have the dog on a leash and I was bit again.  I yelled at her and she told me it was my fault, so I went to the police, filed a report and now they have someone patrolling during high traffic times to enforce the leash law and I have noticed that she keeps her dog leashed now.

Nothing makes me madder than this.  Yes, file a police report and make sure they go to her house (If known) to check for rabies.  Bet next time he's on a leash.  Or call the dog warden.  You may be protecting some little kid or some elderly person.

Ppl ALWAYS let their dogs off leashes where I am.  I will say most ppl do collar their dogs until I'm past.  No, this isn't a dog park either.  They smile and say "he won't hurt you".  When I was jogging I always snipped back, "if he trips me you don't want a lawsuit do you?

I also have a pepper spray on a thing around my neck, under my shirt, so it doesn't bounce.  (ok, it expired 4 yrs ago).  But if their dogs are running up to me..........and they always do, I whip that thing off right in front of them,  take a stance and hold my arm out and say, "you'd better get your dog".

I've also grabbed up a big stick when I see a loose dog coming toward me.  They aren't always handy tho.

I live out in the country and my dog isnt on a leash. When I run he comes tagging along and i dont put him on a leash its not irresponsibile because he never bites anyone or goes up to people. Hes SCARED of other people so he sticks near me or wonders out into the fields and ends up coming back. If he were to bite someone which I HIGHLY doubt I would take full responsibility.

Hi all,

I have a dog and run with her a lot, always off leash.  She's been trained to behave appropriately, such as running on the side of the trail, not tripping people, getting out of the way etc.  Basically, if you want to have your dog off leash you have to take responsibility.  The behaviour of the dog and the owner you encountered was not ok. 

I totally agree with hockeygirl44 about kneeing the dog.  That's the safest way to knock the dog away from you with minimal risk to you.

I also agree that you need to report this animal.  It is really unlikely this is the first time that this has happened, and it is not ok for the dog to bite people.  If you can locate the dog/owner, you need to identify them to the police and make sure that at minimum the owner gets a fine.  I love dogs, but this one may need to be put down. 

Also, if the dog broke your skin, you probably need a tetanus shot.

This kind of owner gives the rest of us a bad name which is so frustrating.

I would have DEFINITLY confronted the owner on this one. Do you have a leash law in your area? Regardless....did the owner even say anything to you about the bite?!?

I have to say that I agree with reporting the animal. Most biters are repeat occurances...either he's bitten/attacked someone before or he'll do it again. If anything maybe it will convince the owner to leash her dog. I don't agree that this dog needs to be "put down". I blame the owner for this one...the dog should have been in control at all times. If the owner can't do this with her voice/actions then the dog should be physically restrained.

i let my dog drag the leash and walk with me all of the time through the local park. i would feel bad except he is a long hair chihuahua who weighs about 6 pounds.  all of the kids and the local park bycicle cops know him and think its funny for the 300+lb guy to walk a rat dog. if it were not for him, i would never have started the exercise/diet kick that i am about 6 weeks (and 30 pounds) into.  when another (larger) dog comes along, i just pick him up and carry him. 

As a dog owner (one of which is a pit bull, so I'm extra-sensitive to dog issues), this kind of thing rackles me.  Irresponsible owners who let their dogs off the leash when they shouldn't make us all look bad.  Since I do have a pit, I NEVER let him off the leash because he is dog-aggressive, and people just basically freak out anyway because they think pits are just going to attack them.  Apparently, we should be more worried about bloodhounds.

ANYWAY, you don't need to necessarily file a police report, but you definitely should go talk to that woman.  Maybe her dog was still a big puppy and just got excited?  It didn't break that skin, that's good, but a dog that play bites (or real bites) is completely unacceptable.  Filing a police report might make her life a living hell and you want to be sure it's necessary.  My old roommate's dog bit someone (again, not a pit bull) and it was on house arrest for a month and couldn't leave the yard.  The dog was so frustrated after that month that its personality changed forever. 

You could always carry a little bit of pepper spray with you to insure this doesn't happen again, also.

That would have completely freaked me out.  How scary.
Did the lady even try to apologize?

I am a dog-owner, and when I run with my dog, she is always on a leash.  She loves people, and always tries to jump on them, so I have to be careful when we approach anyone and I pull her leash tight so she can't jump.  She gets so darn excited she ends up literally running on her back legs for a few yards.  People end up laughing because she is just a little jack russell, and there she is panting (she's a very heavy breather) and running on two legs and trying desperately to talk them, but it still stresses me out that she might jump on someone, especially someone who is scared of dogs, and I'm really super paranoid about it.  I've tried to train her not to jump, but haven't been successful.  She's just way to full of energy.  So I'm just uber-careful with the leash.

I run with y dog all the time. But he runs away so has to be leashed at all times. Im sorry to here the dog bit you. Next time a dog attacks stop running. Stand up very straight and very tall imagine you are the biggest person you ever met try to look lke an alpha person a leader. dont look right ino the dogs eyes but stare into its face. and very calmly so no but with athourity. I hope that helps.

I have also found in my neighborhood that most people do not leash their dogs, and 99% of the time cannot control them.  A blood hound though is a very big dog - I always stop when a strange dog charges, and hope the stupid owner can get a hold of it before "Fluffy" tears my leg off.  Completely irresponsible jerks.

I have two dogs that are always leashed when they leave my property.  They are sweet dogs and people always ask "Do they bite?"  I always reply, "Of course they do, they're dogs!"  They never have (and they are about 13 years old), but that's what dogs do.  They don't have speech and they don't have fists.  They have little doggie brains that don't process things like human brains.  You never know what might flit across their little doggie brains at any time and result in a dog-reasonable response which is totally unacceptable to people.

When my dogs are in our very large yard, they are controlled by an electric fence.    I get VERY irrate at people who come into my yard, (strangers, not neighbors) to cut through, especially if they bother my animals.  I came close to taking a rake to a woman whose dog came in to our yard (she was carrying his leash, but he wasn't on it).  She tells me, "he was on his leash".  WAS... didn't keep my dog from getting bit!!!  Fortunately, Belle (my dog) was fine.  I can tell you, that dog owner won't be back for awhile...I think I went nuts...it was probably scary for her!!!

I was surprised that so many people said I should report the dog bite, so I did some checking and this is what I found out. 

There is a leash law (county level) in place that applies to the area where I run.  Unfortunately, the area is rarely patrolled.  I got the impression that the cops go up there from time to time and cite owners of certain breeds (rottweilers, pits and shepards were specifically mentioned) when they get complaints.  Imagine that - my county does dog breed profiling AND racial profiling.  Okay - I'm kidding.  I don't know if they do racial profiling. 

Basically, the officer said that a dog owner must be in control of their animal at all times.  He continued to say (in not so many words) that if this can be done without keeping the animal on a leash, it's technically not a big deal to see dogs off the leash where I run.  BUT msspeach has a good point.  Dogs are dogs, and their ideas of acceptable behavior can never mirror ours no matter how well we train them. 

He had me explain in great detail the incident and said that bloodhounds are not typically aggressive dogs, and it's unlikely the dog was trying to hurt me.  He said a dog that is genuinely attacking will typically growl, and a dog simply seeking attention will just bark.  The dog that bit me didn't bark or growl.  He just charged - leaped up, and bit. 

In the nicest way, the officer sort of hinted that the dog's behavior was not without provocation.  I was a stranger jogging in the direction of his owner.  Regardless, there are leash laws in place, and the trails are shared space between humans, dogs, and horses.  A small child would have easily been knocked down.  It's amazing I wasn't knocked to the ground.  I think my forward momentum deflected the impact a bit.  Bloodhounds range from 110 to 130+ pounds. 

Ultimately, the officer didn't encourage me to file an incident report this time, but he did say that if it ever happens again with any dog I should call the sheriffs department immediately.  Penalties range from an infraction to a misdemeaner depending on the number of times the owner has been previously convicted for not being in complete control of their animal.