Hello all:
Please note this is not meant to be an attack on anyone, but simply a post to raise awareness around the current situation I am seeing and have personally been involved in several times now.
There are a few topics around this I am going to cover.
I am sure many people are experiencing the same or similar things.
1. This morning my dog and I were in an ON LEASH dog area and trying to do the right thing. We were charged aggressively by an off leash dog. The owner had their dog walking around the area off the leash. Again, this was in an on leash area.
The reason for making this post today (as apposed to other times where something similar has happened but I did not make a post about it) is because today was very close to a serious incident. Serious incident, meaning a large power breed dog, in this case and American Staffy X ran/charged at myself and my dog. I know this is something many people have been faced with.
Now, I know what to do in situations like this so I was able to prepare myself in time to settle my dog and stop the other dog from escalating. By this point, the owner had finally managed to get their dog after 3-5 unsuccessful recall attempts and said “oh my dog just does that, they bark at other dogs” to which I replied, “Yes that’s aggression and you should have your dog on a leash” to which they then said to me “you have the aggressive dog” to which I replied;
“I’m a dog trainer and I deal with reactive and aggressive dogs all the time and what I can tell you is, the level of intensity of your dog and intention of charging (over 20 meters) towards us is the aggressive behaviour.” At which point the owner turned around and walked away ignoring my comment nor wanting to take any responsibility for the situation.
Now, I don’t blame them for doing that because in this case, the owner was a young teenage girl, probably between 15 and 17 years old. The responsibility should not fall on a young teen to walk a powerful breed like that. If it is a choice of their own then the dog should be kept ON leash.
The reason for this post is to try and educate people on the urgency to call it out when you see it happening or let anyone know who has their dog OFF leash in an ON leash area to leash their dogs, even if there are no other dogs around.
This is because it may seem like there are no other dogs around, but within a second, another owner can appear with their dog on the leash. Especially if they are running or on a bike, the movement will trigger the off leash dog to chase the on leash dog.
In most situations regardless of whether a dog is aggressive or not, an off leash dog charging at an on leash dog is almost always going to create aggression because the on leash dog will at some point, feel trapped and there will be some form of conflict resulting in reactivity. This will likely trigger a fight between the dogs.
Why I feel there is a sense of urgency in this matter is because power breeds: German shepherds, Rottweiler‘s, Dobermans, Pitbull’s, American staffys, staffy X’s have the potential not only to fatally harm, but to cause serious damage to other dogs and people.
This also puts the aggressor or attacking dog at major risk or in serious jeopardy, because if it is a fatal incident, the dog may be put down, and if it is a non-fatal incident but the dog redirects to a human , the dog gets reported and it will most likely end up with a menacing/aggressive dog order, which is not only heavy in fines but not a good life for the dog once the order is in place.
All of this can be simply avoided by putting your dog on a leash even if it means, having a long leash 5 m, 10 m lead dragging around on the ground, whilst you give your dog the freedom to explore.
Simply having that measure in place allows you to manage your dog when there is an incident and you do not have reliable recall reliable or control over your dog.
Reliable recall meaning you are able to recall your dog on first or second command away from another dog/ stimulus.
Most people think they can control their dog, when the fact is they can’t.
Furthermore to this, I am probably one of the fewer people who actually can have their own dog running around off leash as my dog has very reliable recall even under stimulus.
Even still I keep my dog on a leash. The reason I do this, is to respect other people and to maintain safety for myself, for my dog and other people/ dogs around me. Even though I could simply have him off the leash with no worries for myself. I still try to do the right thing if I am in public areas.
This happened specifically at the park next to the cultural centre (Williams reserve). This is a park that people tend to take their dogs to off the leash when in fact it is an on leash park.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with people having their dogs off leash in these areas IF they have reliable recall and they are not the type of dog that likes to charge other dogs or pester people.
If you have this type of dog, you are ruining it for everybody else because at some point, the laws will become stricter and the fines will become heavier and all the dogs will lose off leash freedom.
My partner has been jumped by many dogs (both aggressive and over excited) with our 5 month old in a carrier.
Again, it is very simple to have a long leash dragging on the ground. This both gives your dog freedom to run around and sniff, and if you see another dog allows you to manage the situation easily and efficiently.
There’s no reason for panic, you can simply grab the leash and move along. This will prevent any issues of reactivity.
2. It is also illegal for anyone 16 and under to be walking their dogs without an adult present (see attached below).
This is also something that I’m seeing more and more. The onus falls on us adults to make sure that the children aren’t left with this unfair responsibility.
The young person this morning was not equipped for this kind of situation, they are not equipped to manage the stress or the conflict the dogs bring about when there is reactivity. Any one who has been in this situation will understand the level of stress and adrenaline it can create.
She was not equipped to manage the dynamic of the dogs, and certainly not equipped to manage the intensity of a large, powerful dog breed.
Something else I often hear in these situations is off leash owners deflecting the blame and seeming to think they know something about dog behaviour. Most people have dogs and most people think they have a fair understanding of their dog or other people‘s dog.
In my experience, (which is working everyday with mainly reactive/ aggressive dogs), they do not.
The onus is almost always falling with the owners who are given too much freedom and too much responsibility to these dogs that do not have the level of impulse control or obedience to not rush other dogs and people. Most of these owners also cannot handle these situations when the conflict arrises.
3. Lastly if you have tradies working at your house, please encourage them to keep their dogs on leash/tied up especially if the house is in a suburb or neighbour hood area.
This is another major issue that I see both practically when I am training client‘s dogs and also venting their complaints to me.
They are totally justified as many of them have a tradies dog, off lead wandering down the street and triggering the dogs in the area.
Whatever intention the dog had in mind whether it’s aggressive or not is irrelevant.
If you have a dog that is friendly and not aggressive but your dog is off leash and wonders over to an aggressive dog that is on lead. It will trigger that aggression and reactivity.
It is not okay to just have your dog loose and free in the back of the ute/truck loose or free at the front of a worksite where the dog can wander out of the perimeter of the property. Again use a long line if you want the dog to be able to roam.
They can also become possessive/ territorial of the property and increase the chance of conflict / attack with any dogs or people that are going past.
Again, the onus falls on us adults to have these perhaps challenging conversations and speak out to each other for the greater good not only of us but of our dogs.
Please understand that I’m saying this and sharing this message because I have the dogs best interests at heart. This comes from having worked at kill shelters, pounds and working with multiple foster and adoption agencies in the area.
It is very important that we do not take this lightly, because it is ultimately our dogs that we can be harming in the end, not just other peoples.
The Byron Council has recently submitted an article to express that if you do not have reliable recall, your dog should not be off leash AT ALL in public areas.
You can face serious fines even just for your dog rushing another dog (see reference below)
If you are caught doing this, it can also become a police matter where you will be charged.Again, these are all secondary and tertiary issues regarding the risk we run for ourselves. The ultimate risk is that we put our dogs who we all love into these dangerous, and very easily avoidable situations.
To clarify some definitions I’ve used.
Reactivity: your dog becomes reactive based on a circumstance, non-aggressive dogs can be reactive.
Aggression: your dog is seeking out some form of conflict with other dogs when on/off lead. (This can be play / fear and dominance driven)
In my experience most dogs generally display some form of aggressive behaviour because they are naturally creatures who use it when faced with conflict and to resolve issues.
A very common scenario that triggers aggression is when an off leash (friendly or not) and an on leash dog. Even if the dogs are not predisposed to aggressive behaviours. This combination will likely trigger it.
One of the main questions I get asked by many clients both with aggressive and non-aggressive dogs is “If I’m trying to do the right thing having a walk on the street with my dog that’s on the leash and we are charged by an off leash dog, what do we do?”
Unfortunately there is not a lot that can be done. Other than trying to wrangle both dogs, which is very very challenging for most people to do.
The dog generally, should not be having that freedom. This is a human issue not dog issue. Lack of boundaries and responsibility.
The only way this can be avoided is if people tie up their dogs and do a better job. Not giving their dogs off leash freedom in public areas
Barking is generally the precursor to aggression and a fight. In fact, it is an aggressive behaviour, it is just low level. Most people do not see issues with their dogs barking at other dogs or people.
Once the dogs start barking, they will most often be some form of conflict. Whether it ends in blood/ stitches or not is irrelevant. Just because it hasn’t happened in the past doesn’t mean it won’t in the future.
There is a bigger responsibility if you own a power breed dog, more than other dog owners for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
Again, power breeds can cause serious harm, not only to dogs, but people. Even if there is no history of human aggression or reactivity. Redirecting is very common in these situations.�
These insights all come from my collective experience not only my self in the field but colleagues and long time trainers in the industry specialising in these types of issues.
My accreditation is with the National Dog Training Federation of Australia. I am a fully certified dog trainer and behaviourist. Recognised Australia wide.
So please understand this is not an attack. It is a call to action, meaning that we need to hold each other to a higher standard particularly here in a small community where we all live with our dogs and want our dogs not only to be safe but for us all to feel safe when we take our dogs out.
Rather than scared and anxious. Which is what a lot of people now suffer through when taking their dogs out.
I encourage you to take action when you see this. If you can communicate and express that there is concern when you see someone with an off leash dog that should not have their dog off leash. Let them know. The more we all communicate the more It will decrease.
Most people who go through dog fights and dog attacks initially don’t think it’s gonna happen to them.
If they are not pointless or derogatory I welcome your comments. I welcome your thoughts. We are a community and all love our dogs there is no doubting that.
I hope this will be received and understood in a way that educates and promotes taking responsibility for our dogs especially if you have a power breed dog meaning, a dog that is extremely powerful and can cause serious harm in a state of arousal.
Thank you for reading.
https://www.dogsnsw.org.au/media/1534/lecture-4b2-dogs-the-law.pdf
https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Community/Pets/Dog-owner-responsibilities
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