Preventing dog bites on your run

Posted on Mar 19th 2008 11:42AM by Bev Sklar

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness

Ever been chased by a strange dog? It's terrifying. When I was five years old I was bit in the thigh by a German Shepherd while riding my purple Schwinn Pixie bicycle. I'm convinced the terror of that moment transfered into a lifelong fear and uneasiness around big dogs. Dogs like me on a bike -- as an adult I narrowly missed a bite from a lightning fast black dog nipping at my heels on a country road. I pedaled as fast as I could and outran speedy thanks to a shot of adrenalin from the biological 'fight or flight' response.

Check out RW Daily's post on dealing with aggressive dogs. The post itself is devoid of much helpful information, but readers' comments are enlightening. What amazes me are the varying and sometimes contradictory strategies runners employ to defend against a dog bite. While I don't necessarily agree with all of these tactics, here are a few comments by readers to chew on (sorry, couldn't resist):

If you're too urban to carry a revolver with blanks (who would run with a revolver?), carry an air horn to scare off Rover. My dad swears by the air horn, used to clip one to his shorts before every run.
React calmly, send silent, positive thoughts to the dog, act with a casual indifference. This strategy would not work for a Bite Veteran like me. Does mental karma honestly stop a dog bent on attacking you?
Stop running, but keep walking and don't confront the dog. The dog usually backs off.
Squirt vinegar on them -- this commenter claims it's not toxic.
Halt running and yell, "STOP" or "GO HOME" to the dog. Pick up a stick, rock or snowball and throw it in the dog's direction. You can even fake a throw.
Stop running, extend an arm out in front of you with palm facing outward and yell, "NO, SIT, STAY!" Do not look Rover directly in the eye, look 'through' the dog. Carry Halt or Halt II dog repellant spray, too.
Turn around, yell loudly at the dog and then run toward the dog to give it a swift kick. Unbelievable.
Bear Spray

What's in your Dog Bite Defense playbook? There are hundreds of dog bite prevention tips out there -- here is a set of strategies from the American Animal Hospital Association.

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Tags: aggressive dogs, AggressiveDogs, American Animal Hospital Association, AmericanAnimalHospitalAssociation, Bev Sklar, BevSklar, dog bites, DogBites, preventing dog bites, PreventingDogBites, Runner's World, Runner'sWorld, running and dogs, RunningAndDogs

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Heather 3-19-2008 @ 12:23PM

[quote]Turn around, yell loudly at the dog and then run toward the dog to give it a swift kick. Unbelievable. [/quote]

WHY is this UNBELIEVABLE? The dog has no business unleashed or running about chasing folks. I'd kick it in a heartbeat and I like animals.

Loud clapping at the dog usually works, too- especially the little yappy ones that like to nip ankles.

Donaldson 3-19-2008 @ 3:20PM

wow talk about some bad advice

S) React calmly, send silent, positive thoughts to the dog, act with a casual indifference.

A) Yhea not going to do anything.

S)Stop running, but keep walking and don't confront the dog. The dog usually backs off.

A) This is the worse. If the dog is loose they will use this to get behind you and take you down.

S)Turn around, yell loudly at the dog and then run toward the dog to give it a swift kick.

A) if you don't have mace/gun/stick This is going to be the only response that give you a way to avoid injury. The important thing is not to go into the dogs space (such as a yard) if there on the side walk etc challenge them and charge, and be ready to get bitten. The advantage is most dogs will back down. If the don't aim your fist right down there throat. You will take some damage to your wrist but it will force the dog to back up which then you can beat the hell out of it.

And I have had to do stuff like this, The thing people forget is dogs are only friendly to their pack member(s). Your not a member of their pack. If there not on there home ground then their out hunting and looking to kill. It's a lot better to challenge and kno where your going to get hurt then to have the dog take you down from behind. (Usually after it takes you down it will hed for the throat, so keeping standing is a BIG plus for the human).

And if the dog is silent and challenges you be scared. A silent dog is trained to stay silent when attacking to avoid giving away it's position.

But 98% of the time running at one and yelling will scare it, the other 2% of the time I suggest a can of mace.

Mace a runners friend

Bev Sklar 3-19-2008 @ 4:43PM

Heather,

I responded with "unbelievable" because I don't think I'd have the guts to aggressively go after the dog in a tense situation. I suspect I'd freeze with fear ... unless my kids were at risk, then I hope I'd become a vicious momma bear protecting her cubs.

Yes, I'm all for ethical treatment of animals, but anything's fair game when you're being attacked by a dog, including a swift kick, mace or a fist down its throat.

Bev

Tamara 3-19-2008 @ 4:24PM

I run with my dog, which on occasion makes the situation even worse. My dog is generally good natured but when we're being chased or barked at, she reacts in kind. I live in a super urban area with a lot of strays and even more negligent owners. It generally depends on the dog, but loud words work - you definitely have to sound like you mean it. Stopping and slowly going the other way facing the dog sometimes works.

I haven't been bitten but my dog has. It's pretty terrifying. I'm considering mace.

Bill Allen 3-19-2008 @ 8:46PM

Dogs and Aggression
Last year I used Google Alert to get some insight on dog bites and attacks. For those of you that don’t know about this service, you give Google a topic and it e-mails you news releases on that topic.
So, for the last year I have been getting on average of, lets say, four alerts a day, and at least one report every day. Now, if I disregard the reports that are non relevant (articles that happen to have the words dog and bite or dog and attack in the story) then disregard the articles that are multiples of the same stories, I am still left with a staggering amount of violent incidences between humans and K-9’s.
Reading through every word of every article is not my cup of tea. My research skills are not great. However, I have trained myself to at least skim through all the articles to find the age of the human victim and the breed of the dog involved. Many of the attack releases are horrifying. Most involve young or small children, the dogs are (usually) known to the victim and of course “Pit Bull” is the news popular breed.
I am not writing this article to bash Pit Bulls. I would never own one, because I am not a Pit Bull “type”. Nor am I a Poodle or German Shepard “type”. I think for the most part this breed is getting its reputation because of irresponsible humans that have no idea how to manage a dog that has been bred to be a killer. Do Jack Russell Terriers not bite? We breed them to kill. No one wants to take the time to read a story about a ferocious JRT. But we do pay attention to the dangerous breed attacks. As well, we have to take into consideration the severity of a Pit Bull attack.
Part of my dog related business involves dog attack training for utility companies. These are the people that go to your house to read meters or to service equipment and it’s usually in the same place where many people STORE their dogs. I have labeled these dogs “backyard lawn ornaments”. The utility workers tell me their biggest fear is going into a fenced yard and seeing a dog on the end of a chain. They also tell me that some people will actually chain the dog to the meter, or build the dog run around the services to the house. The meter still needs to be read so there is usually some type of confrontation between the worker and the dog or the worker and the dog’s owner when asked to remove the animal from the area. It is easy to see that people that keep dogs this way did not get a dog for companionship. This dog is nothing more than a tool and eventually grows to be a social misfit. If it escapes or a child wanders into the yard the outcome is usually grim.
Dogs, like humans, are social animals. They need interaction with other living beings to be mentally stable. A dog that grows up on the end of a chain will not develop the social skills needed to suppress the attack or bite reflexes when confronted by another dog or human. Understanding pack mentality is crucial to raising a dangerous breed pup.
There are many other reasons why dogs develop aggression problems. Dogs are naturally aggressive. It is a survival instinct they are born with. The aggressive pup in the litter gets the most nutrition, warmth and affection. Once humans are in charge of the nutrition, warmth, and affection, care must be taken to insure that the pup knows its place in the human pack. The pup must be raised as a dog, not a human. Humanizing a dog will cause aggressive behavior. Issues can come from something as trivial as letting your dog on the furniture. Height is status in the pack. A dominant dog will stand over the submissive dog to show dominance. So letting your dog sit or sleep with the human pack members can give the dog a sense of authority that needs to be protected by aggression.
Not controlling the entrance to the house can cause aggression issues. If your dog charges the door at the sound of a knock or a doorbell, it is a dominant response to protect the pack. A stable dog will know to alert the pack by barking once or twice and let the pack leader deal with the intruder. When you take your dog for a walk, the dog should be the last one through the door. In fact the dog should sit at an open door until it is allowed to go out. These may seem like small details to humans, but in a dogs mind Alpha Status is everything.
If your dog is showing signs of aggression look for the triggers. What causes this dog to react violently? It may be something as subtle as a food dish by a door, or just being frustrated from lack of exercise.

Bill Allen
Outwest Canine Consulting

M.E. Williams 3-26-2008 @ 3:39PM

A problem when discussing dog issues is that a lot of people aren't up on current training methods (and, as Bill says, don't understand that their dogs are social animals and should live with the family, not outside). So, whenever the topic of dogs comes up, you'll see a lot of bad advice, bad reactions, and so on.

The dog that catches up with you is not necessarily going to bite you. Consider *why* the dog is running after you: some dogs just chase things (they might, for example, have a strong herding instinct, which also explains the ankle nipping). Some want to play. They're not all "killers who will attack anything that isn't part of their pack." (Yes, I realize it's hard to tell which is which, but familiarizing yourself with basic types of dogs and their behaviors is helpful when you expect that you might encounter them on a regular basis.)

It just seems like a lot of "escape that dog!" tips - especially "rush the dog and kick it" -- could exacerbate the situation unnecessarily, if the dog is relatively harmless but a bit undisciplined, and especially if the dog is prone to nervous aggression: a playful dog who becomes frightened may be more likely to bite, depending on their psychological wiring.

I don't have problems with being attacked by dogs, though I have been chased by them. What I have done is to hold very still and speak in a calm voice without looking them in the eye or being fearful.

Admittedly, this may not work with a super-aggressive dog (which, as I said, it might be helpful to learn to recognize if you plan to run through neighborhoods and parks); it's best with a curious dog whose owner is somewhere around, when the owner is letting the dog run off-leash. But that describes most of the dogs I encounter. (People! Obey leash laws. Sheesh.)