Survival Question:

Doggies….specifically a hyper Doberman or Rottie. It will actually come across the street to try and bite. Before I react with deadly force, what kind of chemical spray will make an upset doggie disappear?

I don’t particularly want to hurt it, but I’m not getting bit. I am also going to try some tasty doggie biscuits to help make friends.

Answer:

Call the police. It is the owners responsbility to keep their animal confined to their property and under control.

As a dog owner, I am appalled and embarrased. I feel these types of owners need to be told their behavior is unacceptable.

Other that, I'm certainly no expert, but I think a can of Fox Labs OC spray would probably deter a lot of critters. However, I would try to give them a "warning shot", shooting between you and them. Let them get a whiff without hitting them direct on. Certainly OC spray hitting their delicate mucas membranes head on is likely to be pretty hard on them.

Again, I'd like to repeat I don't have any real experience with truely agressive animals (fearful animals or guarding animals are a different thing) and for all I know it will really torq them off and cause them to attack. Certainly OC spray isn't 100% effective on humans.

Get the police involved.

-john


Edited for clairity.

DevilDog305,

The situation you describe is not fair to you, your neighbors, and especially the dog. I have trained dogs for thirty three years and I have found that all dogs have an Achilles Heel. You just have to find out what that is. I train dogs to overcome their particular fears. But someone else’s dog is not your responsibility.

At your first opportunity, contact the dog’s owner. No dog, trained or otherwise, should be allowed to run loose. In most cases, the dog will be the one to suffer either by becoming lost, stolen, injured, or killed. In the remaining cases, someone is injured or worse, usually a child.

The owner is always at fault when a dog is allowed to run free, however an owner’s irresponsibility should not be permitted to cause harm, injury, or death to another animal or human. In many parts of the country, a loose threatening animal is legally allowed to be summarily shot.

If the dog’s owner does not take immediate action, contact Animal Control. They have been trained to provide a remedy. With the number of deaths caused by dogs highlighted by the media in the last few years, local governments are also held liable for not taking action. You also have a moral obligation to protect yourself and the innocent people that pass through your neighborhood.

Bottom line, this situation needs to be addressed before someone is badly injured or worse.

I love dogs but letting a dog, any breed, run loose is like leaving a loaded gun out in the front yard.

Just imagine what would happen if the dog comes up against a 6 year old girl!! An uncontrolled dog is a danger to children, wildlife, other dogs, and the dog itself.

If you know the neighbor, call the neighbor and complain. If you feel uncomfortable about that, then just call the police.

These are the types of pet owners who give all pet owners a bad name. I run into these types of owners or their pets more than I would wish to. When I walk my dogs I tend to do so with the idea that today may be the day we are attacked again.
I have used sprays but find for my personal use I prefer a walking stick they can be used to steer a wayward dog away from you, hold them at bay or applied forcefully to the tender parts of their bodies depending on the circumstances.
My dogs are usually begging me to let them handle the problem but that would be negligent on my part out side of very special circumstances.
I would in your case contact the owners soonest and then the town council or law enforcement in your area. But be prepared to defend yourself no matter what the others do.
We have an owner of 3 mastiffs in my town that has her dogs so out of control that she complained about me just walking by her house on the road. Said her dog were uncontrollable when other dogs walked by and said I was not to go by her house any more. I reminded her that roads were public property but that as a nice guy I would route my walks around her house for the most part. I also told her that her dogs would end sadly for all involved if she did not get them under control. But like most bad owners she does not care. Someone will be hurt before she sees the light.

I've used humane live traps to catch unwanted critters (including dogs) trespassing on my property. When I catch a stray dog, I do one of two things. I turn it over to the local animal control authority (usually SPCA), or I take it 50 miles out of town and turn it lose. Either way, no more problems.

Of course, you have to be discrete about the capture and transport, but it isn't that difficult.

I guess I could just catch them and kill them, but it ain't their fault. They just need to find a better home to live in.

A live trap big enough to catch most dogs with costs me maybe $50, and I can re-use it many times, or rent it out to other like minded individuals. It is a worthwhile investment, and no one, including the dog, gets hurt that way.

If you go through the trouble of catching them, please don't turn them loose. Please turn them over to a shelter or rescue organization.

Otherwise, they are likely going to just die anyway, probably slowly, painfully and scared.

Yes, I know the shelter may put them down. But it is probably better than starving to death or getting hit by a car and dying in a ditch.

-john

Don't get me wrong here, if I turn em loose, it is just to get them into another jurisdicition where the orignal owner won't think to look for them. I wouldn't put them out in the boonies where they have to fend for themselves, they're likely to get caught by the SPCA in a different town. I'd give take them there myself, only the laws prevent them from accepting strays from folks not from that area, so I do the next best thing. Either way, I don't think I've made the animal's plight any worse than it was when I caught it, maybe I even gave it a better chance.

It is depressing to go to all the trouble to catch the animal and turn it in, only to have it show up in my yard two or three days later after the owner has gone and bailed it outta doggie jail. That's how plan #2 came into existence. Nothing else ever seems to work, not even calling the cops.

Dogs are Mankind's oldest companion and domesticated animal. Ironically, we persecute the ones who stayed outside the campfire's light and maintain the same genetic material. I once cared for a wolf while his human was away. Spot was a carefully socialised male chosen for his easygoing personality. A nieghbor had two of the currently infamous pitbulls, another fine breed ruined by people. They broke free and nearly killed a standard poodle before turning on and cornering the newspaper boy blocking them with his bike after feebly trying to intervene. Spotty decided enough was enough and went over a 7' fence. He 'resolved' the situation just as the police and animal control arrived. I got Spot leashed as the AC officer complimented my Mallinois Shepherd's bravery. Spot decided it was time for a victory howl, said sound sending shivers through our very bone marrow. The AC officer then noticed his yellow eyes, rather large feet and gave me a knowing wink. Sadly, Dogs reflect all of our own specie's shortcomings <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />.

For god's sake don't just turn them out. I have killed several dozen that well meaning people like you have tried to "help.' They turn feral. They kill livestock. They get shot. Period.