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On the other hand he might just have been unpleasant, as you say.
Its never a good idea to assume that you know how any dog will react in a given situation - even one you know well.
I have four dogs, two working Collies, a racing Trial Hound, and a huge amiable Rhodesian Ridgeback who acts as a companion for Mrs FR. I say amiable, but a recent incident served to remind me just how difficult it is to know how a dog will react in certain circumstances.
Walking with the dogs in the shade of the forest Mrs Fr and I suprised a couple of poachers. Now these types generally react in one of two ways try to bluff it out, or leg it. This pair elected to leg it, but not before one of them had brandished a baseball bat at us.
Bad move.
The Ridgeback, completely out of character, lost it and really went for the guy. Faced with nine and a half stone of dog lunging at him, the chap dropped his bat and ran for it. Now the Ridgeback is bred to protect cattle from lions - and they're pretty quick once they get moving. With the gap between him and the jaws of death diminishing by the second he elected to climb a tree.
The dog took a lot of convincing to come back under control even from her beloved mistress (who can normally control her with a word). The man took even more convincing to come down from the tree.
I am talking here about a dog I've known for five years. In that time I've heard it bark perhaps twice, seen it break into a trot maybe four or five times. Its generally so cool you could hang a side of meat in it.
My point is that you just never really know, so all those "He just wants to play" types are really skating on thin ice. I wouldn't have taken any odds on that reaction. From the collies perhaps, but strangely they just looked at each other as if to say "Well b*gger me - did you see that?"
Its a fine line and the owner cant tell if the dog is scaring someone or amusing them. You need the other persons perspective, and only they know what it is.
Blimey - a ridgeback ! Doubt you'll see those poachers again FR !
My own dog loves to play football as well, but he is a fairly strong dog, gets excited and bit rough and therefore I would never ever let him play football with a child in case he knocked them over or hurt them unintentionally.
A pet dog is merely 'The wolf on your doorstep', afterall ...!
Anyway - I'm sure its working - I doubt any of FR's sheep have been eaten by lions lately.
The second consideration was that, living remotely, being out of the house for considerable parts of the day, and having a wife that is, in some ways quite vulnerable, I wanted something that would at least make any ne'er do well's think twice. (and we have just as many in the sticks as there are in the city) The dogs size achieves that.
The third consideration was that it had to be something that Mrs FR could bond with and control. This particular animal (and this doesn't necessarily apply to all Ridgebacks) clearly had a placid temperament, and preferred females to males.
Only then did I think "Its a Ridgeback - bred to protect cattle from lions".
My point in mentioning the fact was that having lost its temper the dog could easily have killed the man in question, as it was basically fearless. I like to think I know my animals - however this incident gave me cause for reflection.
I just get a bit worried when I run past large breeds like rotties. Owner sees big soppy family pet, I see 9 stones of attack dog :-)
But I thought Labradors were bred to lie asleep in front of fireplaces?
One of them, all curious, decided to sniff a candle in his home (I was at a dinner party there). A lit candle...
He diddle arf yelp!!
¦oD
here in the woods, we have wild boar and panthers to avoid...as well as dogs, but then, the wild boars attack the dogs at the mo!
Er - isn't that where they were talking about doing the IM distance tri next year ?
flipflop - the person in charge of the dog that bit you committed an offense and could be sent to prison for two years. If anything like that happened to me I would get my phone out and call the police forthwith. Of course they wouldn't come, but it might scare the sh*t out of the dog person, who wouldn't hear the fuzz at the other end of the line telling you to p*ss off and stop wasting police time
It seems we are blessed where I run. Most of my routes take me through 2 miles of a "dog wood" where dogs are allowed to run off the lead if they're otherwise under control. I have only had a single nasty encounter. I have another route of 10 k (quite useful, that) which takes me through a remote farm with two big dogs, a German Shpeherd and a labrador. They always used to bark like mad and I always clutched my keys etween my knuckles to make sure I could get my retaliation in first. But I'd just run past them, staring straight ahead. And although they usually ushered me off the property, they never attacked. And one day the farmer was in the farm yard so I stopped to pass the time of day as you do. The dogs came up and said hello. Since then they haven't batted an eyelid when I've run through; they don't even bother to cross the farmyard to say hello. I am obviously not worthy of their attention
However, i have a warning for the people who live on the ford at Islip near Kidlington who seem to have several big black dogs. They made such a fuss as I approached the ford from the other side one day that I decided not to risk it. Next time I'll have my phone along and the cops can listen in as i am mauled to death in my soaking running gear. I just hope the mutts choke on my foot pod.
My soft old spaniel now long departed had views about people with sticks or people whose purpose in life was not clear. Thus elderly people bearing canes, and a slight Japanese man doing toe touching exercises all came in for the raised hackle and growl treatment.
Can't have it both ways. She really looked after me. She took it as her job to make sure no harm came near me, and she was the one who decided what was harm.
My lodger is also difficult - likes to sniff the back of people's legs. No harm in it but tell that to a runner.
But of course bicycles and runners (and I am cyclist and runner) own all the footpaths here, so me and my elderley lodger can go-
nowhere.
And it's not just dogs of course. Toddlers on the pathway are fair game for cyclists. 8 points for a two year old, 6 for a three year old and so on.
Terrible word that, the S word. No no. Can't use that. Have to decide who has Priority. And of course it has to be Me.
Oooh dear. Must be a down day. My corns are showing.
Whilst out runing last year I had a dog go for me. I was apporaching from the front, and the dog was on its lead - a retractable one. I moved into the middle of the road - running down a country lane - and the owners didnt pull the dog in, it came accross and bit me.
Since then I have always crossed well out of the way, even if I am approaching fron the front or behind the dog
This morning though a village dog decided he fancied a run and would not turn back He acompanied my husband for 12 kilometres, husband said he felt quite guilty when he returned the dog to its owner who said that his wife had been out looking for him.
I think that it's only polite to warn somebody if you are approaching whether they have a dog or not. I don't need to slow down because I'm so slow that I'd have to be stationary to slow down but I do make sure that I keep very aware of the dog. I usually say a friendly "hello there" to the dog.
I have no problem with dogs, I've been around them all my life (mostly big dogs, German Shepard, German pointer) but I run with someone who is scared of dogs and I can see how unnerving it is for people with a fear to have dogs running up to them no matter how "harmless" the owner might think they are. It's up to owners to think about other people's perspectives when their dog is charging around being "harmless"
Runners do have a responsibility too though - make yourself known by making some noise if approaching from behind, do not look a the dog directly or run directly towards them if you can help it - they see this as a dominance challenge. I never change pace or look at them - this would indicate interest, and ignoring them if you want them to ignore you is best.
FR's story about the Ridgeback shows that dogs are not always predictable if they feel threatened. I used to run pubs, so my Rotty is very much a "people" dog, he loved being in the bar with people and I would always bring him down at closing time on a lead for a fuss with the regulars before his night time walk. Obviously we encountered a few conflict situations too. No reaction other than mild interest to raised voices or even people pushing each other about - but the moment he suspected any of it being directed at one of "his pack", his hackles would go up, head erect and a low growl start to rumble out - either they back off or he would start to bark and snarl, at which point you would not normally be able to see them for dust and he would be tearing your arms out of the sockets. You can never be quite 100% sure what a dog will see as a threat or how they will react.
If you are approaching a dog and think it might be a bit funny, do a great big yawn - sounds mental, but dogs only yawn when relaxed, and will take yawning as a sign you are not aggressive or a threat.