A dog is charging at you. What should you do?
By the time a dog is charging toward you, it’s really too late to take the optimal strategy. You kind of have to wing it and hope for the best. The time to prepare for a dog charging at you is now, well in advance. If a substantial dog has charged at you, in the past, and nothing bad happened to anyone, then you got lucky and now you know that you really need to be prepared for when it happens again. If a dog attacked you and a person or dog was hurt, then you definitely know that you need a strategy for next time.
Because I work in public with my dogs, I have had dogs charge at me and my dogs many times. I have been bitten by dogs at least 10 times, usually by a stray dog I was catching and refused to let go of. I haven’t been bitten in several years, so maybe I’m learning. Every bite is a communication, a chance to learn. If any dog bites any person or dog, it is definitely not the attacking dog’s fault. That dog was let down by one or more humans who had a chance to prevent that bite, but did not prepare. My little Fozzie, my sweet 13-pound poodle, was bitten one time when I did not react quickly enough. Since that time, I have vowed to always be aware and prepared, so it won’t happen again.
Anticipate.
Plan.
Observe.
Don’t react impulsively.
Take decisive action quickly.
Advice you may read about how to deal with a dog attack tells you to be a tree, stand still, look away, arms up to your chest. You are also advised to kick the hell out of the attacking dog and don’t stop. Both strategies are valid, but obviously you can’t do both at once, and the trick is reading the situation.
Kelsy and I were on a search that took us out into the middle of a large field of grass. Two off-leash golden retrievers spotted us, from a distance, and came charging at us at full speed. Kelsy could outrun them, but she wouldn’t. There’s no way I could outrun them. They were going to be upon us in seconds and I needed to prepare. What did I do? I started talking to Kelsy in a happy voice. She was 80 pounds and solid. Kelsy was generally friendly, but she could be bossy, and she wasn’t afraid of anything. One likely scenario was that Kelsy would scold these energetic dogs and instigate a fight. Then I would have my work cut out for me, breaking them apart. I was ready to do that, but I wanted to avoid it if possible. I positioned Kelsy behind me and I did not put tension on the leash. I held it short but slack. I told her, “Good girl, Kelsy, they are just coming to say hello.” The dogs ran up. There was a bit of tension. I said, “Wag your tail, Kelsy,” which she did. The other dogs wagged their tails, too, sniffed her for a bit, and then ran back in the direction they had come. While I do feel confident I could sort out three 80 pound dogs that got into a scuffle, I doubt I could have managed it with no injuries to any of us, and I was very glad that an attitudinal intervention redirected their behavior. What are you going to do if you are in the middle of a field, with or without a dog, and one or more dogs comes charging at you? You need to think about it in advance.
If you are not in a wide open area, then you have options, and anticipating a potential attack can really pay off. If you are walking your dogs or if you are alone, think about routes of escape and avoidance. You and your dogs can step behind a car parked on the street. This can either avoid a conflict or give you some cover. Are there garbage cans lining the street? You can grab one and use it to block the dog. If your dog is small, consider throwing your dog over a fence into a yard and out of danger. If you are hiking on a trail, look for places to step off. When I am on a mountain search with my 120 pound search dog, Tino, if I see people or dogs approaching, I look for a route to step off the trail. Tino just barks, because he is excited, but people can be intimidated, and dogs can react poorly. Is there a fence you can jump over? Is there gravel you can grab and throw? If necessary, can you climb up on a car? Be in the habit of imagining scenarios and preparing to give yourself some options.
Also, it pays to arm yourself. A can of pepper spray is definitely advised. Be sure to have it handy. It should always be in the same pocket or in a belt holster. Get the gel type so that spray mist doesn’t blow back at you. If you are hiking in the wilderness, it’s a good idea to have bear spray, which would work on a dog as well if necessary. I have a pocket knife with me at all times. I have always carried a pocket knife for at least a couple of decades. I use it multiple times every day for various little tasks, and I can open it quickly with one hand without thinking about it. I would never want to use the knife unless absolutely necessary, but I would use it to save one of my dogs if I had to. A collapsible baton is also advisable, if you can carry it conveniently and are practiced at using it.
Can you read the behavior of a dog that is charging at you? You should be in the habit of reading dogs, your own dogs and other dogs. Pay attention to the nuances of their barking. We walk a loop in our neighborhood, and I often hear Oggie, a pit bull who stands on his deck and barks at people walking dogs by his house. If I listen closely, even if I’m on the far side of the loop, I can usually tell how big the dog is and which way he is being walked just by the volume and tone of Oggie’s bark. I can get my dogs up a trail or up a dead end to get out of the way of trouble. One day, Oggie and his person came walking around a corner, approaching me and Fozzie and Viktor. Fozzie is scrappy and he is a troublemaker. He barks at dogs that don’t need to be barked at. I did manage to keep him quiet this time, but I could see he was about to bark. Oggie was very excited and pulling hard. I could see that he was just about to knock his owner down and come running up to us. Quickly, I got Fozzie and Victor around behind a guardrail, and I positioned myself in front of them. Ozzie did knock his owner flat and yanked the leash from her hand. His face and body told me that he was just very interested, not intending harm. I turned my body to the side, bent at the waist, and put my hands down, relaxed, in front of my dogs. I said, “Hey, Oggie,” in a soft voice. He got right up close to Fozzie. I was ready to grab Oggie’s collar and pull him away if necessary. I did put my hand on his chest and keep him back a little. His owner finally recovered herself after her hard fall, and came and got him. In this case, I correctly read that Oggie was just a little overexcited, and not intending harm. I kept my response low key, prepared for action but hoping to avoid it. If I had reacted by shouting or kicking, I could have created a problem instead of avoiding one.
The one time I really let Fozzie down was when we were at a big event for dogs. I was walking with Fozzie and looking at my phone, working on an assignment. We walked past an arena for agility. The fence was about four feet high, I think. An Aussie who was running the agility course saw Fozzie and sailed right over the fence and raced toward him. At first, I was thinking this was a happy, friendly dog, which she was. She was also really amped up and looking at Fozzie like he was a little sheep. I reacted too slowly, and she clamped her teeth onto his back. I did grab her, but a moment too late. There are times when you are prepared to act and then you hold back, to avoid making the problem worse. Then there are times when you need to act right away, whether you are prepared or not. As soon as I saw the dog jump the fence, I should have put myself between her and Fozzie whether she was friendly or not. I mean, she was obviously a good dog, but she just got overexcited in the situation. A quick reaction from me could have saved Fozzie from a bite, and also could have saved this otherwise good dog from having a bite on her record.
If you have to kick a dog, you can do it with minimal harm to the charging dog, but enough to disrupt the potential attack. Porter and I were at the beach when a medium/large dog came sprinting out of the woods at him. This dog was barking, and it was a little hard to read, in the split second, if he was just going to run up and sniff, or run up and bite. Just as the dog came within range, I kicked him like a soccer ball, under the ribs, jolting him off his feet. This startled him and he went running back to his owners in the woods. I don’t know for sure that he had intended to harm Porter, but I didn’t want to take the chance since I only had a small window to react.
If your dog and another dog get into a fight, apparently, and it looks like they are really tearing each other apart, there’s a good chance that it is all posturing, and they will come apart without a scratch on either of them. This takes place in a flash, faster than you can possibly see or react. In most cases, it’s going to be a mistake for you to try to grab one or both of them by the collar. This will probably result in you being bitten, and then you won’t be able to stop a fight if it really becomes one. If the dogs actually get into a fight and are physically hurting each other and not disengaging, the correct way to break it up is to grab the back feet of the aggressor. If you have two people there, grab each dog by the back feet. Lift their feet up off the ground, like the dog is a wheelbarrow, and pull the dogs apart. Keep pulling until you have a barrier between you. If you do this technique properly, it’s not going to look pretty, but it could save a dog’s life.
Should you just become a tree sometimes? Yes, if you are having trouble reading a dog and you are uncertain what to do. Turn your back, bring your arms to your chest, and look away. This can diffuse a tense situation. Also, if a dog decides to bite you anyway, it won’t be in a vital area. Better than becoming a tree, you should become adept at reading dogs so that you know the best way to respond to a potentially volatile situation.
When you practice reading dogs, you really start to see a lot of nuance in their expressions. At first, you don’t have to know what every little angle of the tail means, or the difference between whale eye, a sign of impending attack, or a sideways glance intended as a calming signal. Just start seeing everything dogs are showing you. They are giving you a wealth of information about their emotions and thoughts, if you look. Notice the angle of the ears, how the tail is set, how it moves, the corners of the mouth, where the eyes are looking and how the head is tilted. Observing dogs should allow you to predict what they are going to do next. When a dog is charging at you, that is not the best time to be noticing all of these things for the first time. You should practice reading dog language every day so that, if a potentially dangerous situation arises, you will be prepared and practiced at reading what dogs are telling you.
At least once a week, I see the same elderly woman walking very slowly with her elderly little yorkie, beside the road. I’m glad they have each other and they go for walks, but on the other hand, they are totally defenseless if an off-leash dog should attack. They will be dependent on strangers coming to their rescue, hopefully in time. Another elderly neighbor has a beautiful black German Shepherd. I see them in their unfenced yard, practicing obedience, which is great. However, if the dog ever sees a strong motivation to break away from his owner, he is going to knock him down hard, probably with serious injury. I see small dogs walking off-leash, which will probably be okay, until it isn’t. If you look around at the dogs you see every day, you will probably notice potential attack situations that don’t materialize just because of sheer luck, not because anyone was careful or prepared. You have an opportunity to be prepared, to protect yourself, your dog, and the charging dog.
A dog that’s going to attack you probably isn’t a vicious attack dog, trained to be mean. It’s probably going to be a really nice, friendly dog who sleeps on the couch most of the day. In certain situations, some nice dogs just get overstimulated, overexcited, or somehow triggered to attack. It doesn’t mean they are bad dogs. It’s just an unfortunate set of circumstances that happens now and then. Be prepared, so you can prevent injury to yourself, your dog, and the attacking dog, who is probably very nice most of the time.
If you have questions, please ask me in the comments section.
About a year and a half ago, we were attacked while walking our then three dogs down our road. We are the only people on our little road who fence their dogs.
Buster, a large Cane Corso type, came roaring out from behind his house, leaped into the street, and went for us. We were not on his property or even in motion. I had the three dogs and was waiting for my husband to catch up. He had to run into the middle of the mess swinging to get Buster to back off. I was trying to keep all three dogs behind me to be a buffer.
The commotion carried, and the people sent a child to come retrieve him. Of course he did not bother listening her any better than to the adults there.
We first met Buster as an untrained puppy -- who ran out into the street to meet us that time. But he is owned by people who do not know how to have dogs, and he grew into an untrained adult dog. The second run into the street was not the same as the puppy one. Sadly, his going after us was solely the fault of his humans letting him down as owners.
Thankfully, my Anatolian Shepherd took my NO! as meaning him and did not engage, or the situation could have ended very badly. As it was, it was terrifying but no blood was shed.
We reported the situation to the authorities and sent a letter letting his owners know what had happened, but it was returned. Now we walk on our own land and not on our road.
I don't know what else we could have done, but I like the bear spray idea. My husband was all for carrying a cattle prod, but that appears to be illegal. Walking elsewhere is just more peaceful, especially as we now have two Hound mix pups who I don't think would back down readily.
This is great! I need to read this few more times to process it. But I know I need to be better prepared with tools like pepper spray to protect my dogs when walking them. I'm pretty observant about what is going on around me, and what my dogs body language is tell me, but watching the other dog is very important too.
I think it's important to remain calm. Layla and Max feed off my emotions, so if I can remain calm it will help them remain calm. And part of me remaining calm is to assess potential problems in advance, so I feel prepared.
The other thing I was thinking about is the advice I've heard about throwing the advancing dog treats. This makes me laugh, because usually the advancing dog does not care about your low value treats, it just cares about your dogs. Unless it's some goofy friendly dog that you don't really want to interact with, then it has worked for me.