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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Fran grew up teaching everything from chickens and goats to dogs and horses. These days, Fran works with DOG GONE IT rottweiler rescue, is registered with AKC as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and continues to train dogs in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also writes a canine question & answer column for a local news paper, The Hilltop & High Desert Shopper News.
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Fran Williams
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[Edit]
8/11/2005
Thanks for the good advice on Jealous Dobe. Things have resolved and they are getting along famously, however we have a new problem and I am sure it's one almost every dog owner has encountered - unleashed dogs running on the street attacking leashed dogs.
This morning as we were walking and enjoying the sunshine a little unleashed intact male Yorkie with delusions of grandeur attacked my neutered male Doberman. Fortunately Moose is obedience trained and even with the little dog attacking all he did was snarl, snap and defend. It could have been an awful lot worse. I told the owner to leash her dog and that we have a leash law here, but we have two other new dog owners who have recently moved in (one next door) who let their dogs run. Now it would seem that I have to give up walking my dogs because these new people don't care to comply with the law and if one of my dogs bite, even in defense - THEY are always looked at as the vicious ones just because of their breed. Any suggestions? (paws4arub, Florida)
Dear Paws, So glad things are getting better and that I was able to help! Keep up the good work. As new things come up we will just simply keep going and work you and your pal through it.
Now as for loose owners oops I mean dogs (or do I?) it is one of my major pet peeves that people do not take responsibility for their actions and they 100% are at fault here for letting their ankle bitters run loose. If your dog made a grab on that dog it would be all over the newspaper about how mean your dog is. Anyhow my stand on this is, if the people are too stupid to train then I shall train the dog (the loose one) so I carry pepper spray, now keep in mind the spray I carry is spray that will bring down a Grizzly (since I worked with them a little we all carried it) if it is not legal to carry pepper spray in your
state then of course we have to comply with the law, but if it is legal get a spray that you can carry clipped to your belt or in a shirt pocket and you do have to practice your aim (you might also ask your local post office what they carry to ward off attacks).
A shot in the nose is usually all it takes (just one) if it’s a bad dog and it’s really going to get your dog then I would go for the eyes but only if I had to. The point is it teaches that dog to stay the heck away from other dogs and it is not deadly, it wears off or can be washed off with little or no harm but the lesson is learned.
In the case of the ankle bitters (I mean small dogs) I would spray right in front of them, that’s usually all it takes the smell makes them run so there is no need to really make a direct hit if you can avoid it. If its not legal in your state then we will come up with some thing better but try this first. (Editor’s Note: pupforum sells DirectStop Spray, designed for just this purpose. It is a citronella spray that does not affect humans, but will deter animals. It is legal in all states. See our shop for details.)
As for the new people this will train them really fast as it will their dogs. You must be in the right state of mind to do this and that is the fact that YOU are doing the right thing and not only protecting your pet but yourself from harm (if a fight happens you get could get hurt) and if these jerks yell at you, holler back, "Its cheaper than your stupid *&^% oops I mean sueing you!" Please note my breed is Rottweilers and I have run in to this same problem a few times. Also it's so very important you keep walking your dog it's good for both of you and really some thing that needs to be done. Take Care Fran Dog Gone It
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