So today my wife, my dog and I were walking through our neighborhood when a mastiff, yes i said mastiff charged out of his front yard at us. We were across the street on the sidewalk just walking like we normally do when he came out of nowhere. He went after my dog and they both kind of bit each other and eventually we got far enough away to regain our composure. But the dog was so big compared to my dog ( I have a lab). When he had his mouth around his neck i was really freaked out. I mean this dog was huge. I called the police and reported the dog attack. This is the second time I have seen this dog in the front yard. The first time it was chained to a cinder block. I am still in disbelief that the idiot owner lets it roam loose when it is not nice to other animals or people. Anyhow... What the hell do you do when you have a dog attacking you or your pet. I mean i always see the elderly walking with sticks but I always thought if a dog comes at me I can kick them. I never though the dog would be enormous. I mean my wife said she thought about pulling the leash and running away as fast as she could but would the crazy dog just chase after us? Any dog whisperers out there that know what you should and should not do?
Academy has a kind of pepper spray for dogs or animals. It's maybe five or ten bucks. Just carry it with you when you go walking. No permanent damage, but will hopefully give you time to get away.
Speaking of Cujo... my parents neighbors have a black lab as well. They named this dog cujo. They never trained it worth a lick. It is so scary walking past their house because the dog jumps so high he can almost get over the chain link fence. It is really scary.
You need to carry a stick. I use a golf club because it allows me to give aggressive dogs a good, preemptive hit but also can be used to pry jaws apart. The pepper spray will work on most dogs but don't count on it. My female husky mix has been attacked twice while walking. The first time I had nothing but the boots I had on to help her out and it didn't do much. I kicked the sh#t out of the attacking dog but he didn't stop. The second time I had the golf club and that worked well. My dog never even got bit after I hit the aggressive dog once. He may have died later because I hit him as hard as I could considering how fast things unfolded. I plan on purchasing a larger, "big brother" dog for her because of all these morons who lets their dogs run loose.
You need to first ask yourself some serious questions. Like what have I done wrong to this Mastiff? What has my dog done wrong to the Mastiff? After coming to a conclusion you should proceed with further action.
Is it legal for you to shoot a dog when it's attacking you or your pet? If not, that would be a nice permanent defense. One click = no more dog.
That would be the LAST thing you would ever want to do. If a dog can sense that you are afraid of it, it will be even more aggressive to you. I would carry a ballbat or golfclub the next time you go walking. If the mastiff is out, I would not make eye contact with it (directly) but watch it from your peripheral vision. It pisses me off to no end that there are idiots out there that won't follow a leash law and/or keep their dogs under control when they have been known to be aggressive towards other dogs and people.
i carry a pocket knife when i walk my dog. there is actually a big old rotweiller who always barks at me and my lab when we walk - he growls and jumps up on his fence - one of these days he is going to bust out. ive already got it scoped out - the neighbors next door to the rot have these bricks lining their garden - if the dog ever charges ive got a knife in one hand and a brick in the other - i think i could stop him. and like manny said, dogs can sense fear - you must stand your ground and in your loudest, meanest voice tell the dog to stay the f*** back.
Mastiff chained to a cinder block? Where do you live? Either pick another route or friggin' move. I'd recommend talking to your homeowner's association, but I've got a feeling there ain't one. On a more serious note, you should report the dog to animal control every time you don't see him on a leash at the very least. That dog could kill a kid if something isn't done about it.
