As you are enjoying your walk with your lovely dog and out of nowhere, a large aggressive dog suddenly appears right in front of your dog and attacks him.
You are still in a shock as the attack happens in just a few seconds and you just don’t know how to react. Apparently shouting “Stop it!” doesn’t help to stop the attack!
Learning how to react to this situation is critical to ensure the safety of both your dog and yourself.
How Should You React To Defuse The Situation?
When your dog is being attacked by another dog, it’s important that you remain calm and don’t panic. Never make any direct eye contact with the dog. Pick up and hold your dog in your arm and use repellent spray on the attacking dog. If you have an umbrella, use it to create a barrier to protect your dog.
Keep Calm And Don’t Panic
I know it’s going to be difficult to control your fear and anxiety as your heart rate is going to shoot up and you would be acting aggressive in an attempt to protect your dog.
BUT heard me out…YOU have to keep CALM and take control of the situation.
The goal is to try to deescalate the tense up situation.
You would want to compose yourself and project your calmness to the offensive dog. Any form of anxiety and fear from you is going to make the dog even more aggressive and make the attack even more brutal.
Act dominant and hover over that attacking dog and use your FIRM LOUD voice and tell him to “GET BACK!”
Never Look Directly At The Attacking Dog
Any direct eye contact with the attacking dog is a NO- NO. The offensive dog will view it as a form of challenge to him and will make him even more aggressive and offensive.
So avoid making any eye contact with him by standing slightly sideways while keeping the dog in your peripheral vision.
Pick Up Your Dog And Hold Him In Your Arm
Your dog is likely to feel very nervous and fearful when he sees an aggressive dog charging toward him.
What you can do is to pick him up (of course, this is on assumption that your dog is not of big size) and hold him in your arms.
Your calm energy is going to keep your dog calm down and helps to prevent the offensive dog from getting hold of him.
BUT do beware that the attacking dog might jump on you and start attacking you instead.
So make use of your leg to try kicking off the offensive dog as your hand is preoccupied with your lovely dog.
Of course, to be on the safe side, do this kicking only if you are wearing jeans or long pants that cover your leg. You certainly do not want the dog to leave his bite on your flesh and that is why I’m always in long pants or jeans while out with my dog.
Keep A Bottle Of Dog Repellent Spray With You
This can be a life saving for your dog in case he is being attacked by a dog of much bigger size. Use the spray on the offensive dog to make him go away.
The downside of using the spray is that if it’s a windy day, the spray might just backfire so keep this in mind.
You can opt for either citronella or pepper spray which are easily available in the market.
Some dog owners prefer the use of bear spray as it can shoot quite far away (about 30 feet) and they can start the spraying at the charging dog way before the dog gets the chance to come near them.
Bring Along A Extra Slip Leash With You
This extra slip leash will come handy when your dog is being attacked by another dog. You can make use of this extra slip leash and put it on the offensive dog and attempt to pull him away from your dog.
Use Treat To Distract The Offensive Dog
This “trick” will NOT work if the attacking dog already has his mouth on your dog as his full focus is now on his prey and nothing (even treats) would make him give up his prey.
So use this only when the offensive dog is approaching your dog and has not struck his attack.
Make use of the treats that you have in your dog pouch and throw them at the dog and over his head.
Hopefully, the smell of the treats will distract him and get him to focus on the treat rather than your dog and that will buy you some time to get your dog away from his sight.
Use of Air Horn
You will first have to ensure that your dog is comfortable with the sounds from the air horn and it is not causing him any nervous or anxiety.
Do some training with your dog to let him get used to the sounds from the air horn.
The loud sounds from the horn works really well in startling dogs as they are usually nervous of sounds. That is why whenever there are thunderstorms or fireworks, you would see your dog shivering in fear and getting nervous.
This will likely make the attacking dog back off for a moment while you swiftly get your dog to move away or to have his owner reach out to him to pull him back.
Use WHAT You Have – Umbrella
I believe most dog owners will bring along an umbrella with them during a walk as the weather is often unpredictable. So this “weapon” will be readily available for use at any time.
You can use the umbrella as a beating stick or to open up the umbrella to create a barrier to protect your dog from the offensive dog.
Get Hold The Offensive Dog’s Hind Legs
You can try to drag off the attacking dog by grabbing his hind legs and lifting him off the ground. Swing him low and hard in an attempt to throw him as far away as possible from your dog.
This might cause some injury to the attacking dog but in this situation, your dog’s safety comes first and you have no choice.
Try Immobilizing The Attacking Dog
You see, dogs can bark and bite, but they cannot wrestle. So you could make use of your weight to press the dog to the ground with your knee or elbow while buying time for the dog owners to come.
Of course, for ladies, this approach might not be feasible.
Get Help From Passersby
Shout for help if you are in the neighborhood to get as many people to come over to assist you to reduce any injury that could potentially happen to you and your dog.
Bring Your Dog To See A Veterinarian
Bring your dog to a veterinarian for a complete assessment to see if there are any wounds or bleeding that need to be administered immediately.
This is extremely important as some wounds might not be visible under your naked eyes and any delay in the treatment could potentially endanger your beloved dog.
Medical Compensation
In the unfortunate case that your dog needs medical attention and you would need to seek medical compensation, it’s important that you get the offensive dog owner contact information for the follow up medical claim.