Bastard Evil Dog Things!

digitalscream

kin said:

 Are there any good reasons for not having mandatory muzzles on any dog outside of its home? 

Can a muzzle be dangerous to the dog wearing it? 

The license thing is not policeable.  

Muzzles can be dangerous to some dog breeds (particularly brachycephalic ones, where the bone structure necessitates a much more restrictive muzzle), and a lot of muzzles prevent the dog from panting - which is the only way they can cool down on hot days, so in that way...yes, they can be harmful.

There are ways that the licence thing can be done, it's just expensive. I'd personally support it if there was a way to do it that didn't result in tens of thousands of dogs being dumped and subsequently euthanised.

Personally, I'd just prefer a blanket law that says, "All dogs must be on leads in public". That's a massive part of the problem solved right there.

Snags

Yeah, muzzled aren't as simple as you might think. The dog has to be trained to wear one, which can be a long process and not always successful.

As @digitalscream says,  just keep them on a lead. It's already illegal to have a dog off lead on the public highway. No reason not to extend and enforce it. People think fido is being oppressed if he can't bollock anywhere he wants, but there are loads of ways for a dog to have a fun walk on lead, or with a long line etc . They don't need to be off lead.

WiresDreamDisasters

robgilmo said:

digitalscream said:

robgilmo said:

digitalscream said:

tony99 said:

yeah, call the police with 2 staffies hanging off your ankles

the way to deal with them is to snap their legs mate, either the two front legs away from their chest, or two hind legs away from the groin, then, only then, when you're safe, you can phone the police

(some people say you should stick a finger up the dog's hoop but that's not my bag at all)

That's a pretty disgusting attitude. That is not the best way to deal with them.

Actually spreading their front legs is the quickest and safest way to put an aggressive dog down if its attacking you. Putting your finger in their bum Im not so sure about.

That's not what was said, though, is it? "snap their legs mate"

And, by the way, that's not the best way, because it puts both your hands and your face in range of the dog's teeth. Honestly, it's a pretty daft (and cruel) way to defend yourself.

The best way is actually to allow the dog to bite something on you that's not actually you - a jacket, shirt, whatever - to distract them. Even better if you can cover their head with it. If you get bitten, don't pull away (difficult) but use your other hand and grab their back legs and lift them off the ground, which has the effect of completely immobilising the dog and keeping the pointy end away from you. From there, you can just wheelbarrow them around until help arrives.

Other than that, keeping them at a distance is the most sensible option. You have legs, which are longer than the useful range of dogs' teeth. The whole point is to keep as much of yourself away from the dangerous end of the dog.

And, of course, there are exceptions - all of this is out of the window if there are two dogs, and if you've got a Great Dane after you (highly unlikely, they can't be arsed with anything)...pretty much anything on the dog is longer than anything you've got, so I don't know...climb a tree?

EDIT: None of this is criticism of the OP, by the way - as far as I can tell, he did everything right in terms of keeping the dogs at a distance and preventing anything worse form happening. Without wishing to diminish what was obviously a scary experience...scratches and wet patches sort of indicate that the dogs weren't trying to cause damage, so it was either a fear thing or they've had absolutely terrible training and have no concept of boundaries, socialisation or bite inhibition.

Each to their own, Id rather just snap its chest open than allow it to bite me.

LastMantra

I always take a wide berth when walking past a dog, even if it's on a lead. Sometimes people say "it's OK he/she's harmless". I'm not scared, just don't want a dirty smelly animal touching me. I don't normally say that right enough. 
Pisses me off when people let their dog jump up on you.

I don't really agree with keeping pets anyway, but that's a different matter. 

robgilmo

WiresDreamDisasters said:

robgilmo said:

digitalscream said:

robgilmo said:

digitalscream said:

tony99 said:

yeah, call the police with 2 staffies hanging off your ankles

the way to deal with them is to snap their legs mate, either the two front legs away from their chest, or two hind legs away from the groin, then, only then, when you're safe, you can phone the police

(some people say you should stick a finger up the dog's hoop but that's not my bag at all)

That's a pretty disgusting attitude. That is not the best way to deal with them.

Actually spreading their front legs is the quickest and safest way to put an aggressive dog down if its attacking you. Putting your finger in their bum Im not so sure about.

That's not what was said, though, is it? "snap their legs mate"

And, by the way, that's not the best way, because it puts both your hands and your face in range of the dog's teeth. Honestly, it's a pretty daft (and cruel) way to defend yourself.

The best way is actually to allow the dog to bite something on you that's not actually you - a jacket, shirt, whatever - to distract them. Even better if you can cover their head with it. If you get bitten, don't pull away (difficult) but use your other hand and grab their back legs and lift them off the ground, which has the effect of completely immobilising the dog and keeping the pointy end away from you. From there, you can just wheelbarrow them around until help arrives.

Other than that, keeping them at a distance is the most sensible option. You have legs, which are longer than the useful range of dogs' teeth. The whole point is to keep as much of yourself away from the dangerous end of the dog.

And, of course, there are exceptions - all of this is out of the window if there are two dogs, and if you've got a Great Dane after you (highly unlikely, they can't be arsed with anything)...pretty much anything on the dog is longer than anything you've got, so I don't know...climb a tree?

EDIT: None of this is criticism of the OP, by the way - as far as I can tell, he did everything right in terms of keeping the dogs at a distance and preventing anything worse form happening. Without wishing to diminish what was obviously a scary experience...scratches and wet patches sort of indicate that the dogs weren't trying to cause damage, so it was either a fear thing or they've had absolutely terrible training and have no concept of boundaries, socialisation or bite inhibition.

Each to their own, Id rather just snap its chest open than allow it to bite me.

So is allowing your dog to attack innocent people, or, should we all just give rover cuddles as he rips our faces off?

digitalscream

robgilmo said:

So is allowing your dog to attack innocent people, or, should we all just give rover cuddles as he rips our faces off?

No, but there's a huge fucking gap between "sensible actions taken to avoid attacks" and "just snap its chest open" (which, by the way, would put you at far more risk of injury than any of the alternatives).

LastMantra said:

I don't really agree with keeping pets anyway, but that's a different matter. 

Domesticated animals can't survive without humans. Unless you're advocating a mass cull of all of them, then it's considerably more nuanced than that.

tony99

digitalscream said:

robgilmo said:

So is allowing your dog to attack innocent people, or, should we all just give rover cuddles as he rips our faces off?

No, but there's a huge fucking gap between "sensible actions taken to avoid attacks" and "just snap its chest open" (which, by the way, would put you at far more risk of injury than any of the alternatives).

LastMantra said:

I don't really agree with keeping pets anyway, but that's a different matter. 

Domesticated animals can't survive without humans. Unless you're advocating a mass cull of all of them, then it's considerably more nuanced than that.

the finger up the egg-chute is a definite no no though isn't it?

just for clarity

digitalscream

tony99 said:

digitalscream said:

robgilmo said:

So is allowing your dog to attack innocent people, or, should we all just give rover cuddles as he rips our faces off?

No, but there's a huge fucking gap between "sensible actions taken to avoid attacks" and "just snap its chest open" (which, by the way, would put you at far more risk of injury than any of the alternatives).

LastMantra said:

I don't really agree with keeping pets anyway, but that's a different matter. 

Domesticated animals can't survive without humans. Unless you're advocating a mass cull of all of them, then it's considerably more nuanced than that.

the finger up the egg-chute is a definite no no though isn't it?

just for clarity

Jury's out. Not seen any evidence either way

With that said, you'd be taking pot luck as to whether that dog had been in the vets having its temperature checked on a regular basis. If that was the case...far from being a surprise enough to distract it, it'd probably just think, "Yeah, another Tuesday" and carry on.

LastMantra

digitalscream said:

LastMantra said:

I don't really agree with keeping pets anyway, but that's a different matter. 

Domesticated animals can't survive without humans. Unless you're advocating a mass cull of all of them, then it's considerably more nuanced than that.

I'm not saying we should kill all pets! Just not bread them in the first place. 

tony99

LastMantra said:

I'm not saying we should kill all pets! Just not bread them in the first place. 

we should neither bread them nor batter them

DB1

When they give comfort to so many people and make folks happy? I don't know why you would be against that. 

LastMantra

  

Headphones

DB1 said:

When they give comfort to so many people and make folks happy? I don't know why you would be against that. 

Quite with you.

Cats, rabits, budgies.

Bastard evil dog things?

DB1

Well, I absolutely love dogs, so I'm not going to be in your corner on that one. I totally agree with the idea that they should be on leads to protect people, and them.  They're dogs - we should respect that, and keep them, and people safe. 

I can't stand the 'oh, he only wants to play' type of owners. 

Bridgehouse

 I have three dogs.

Outside of the house and garden, they are never off the lead. 

That’s for their safety and for anyone they may come into contact with. None of them has ever shown any sign of aggression... but that’s not the point. They are my dogs so I manage the risk. 

I’m actually averse to people asking to pet them. I take each case on it’s merits. Often I say no. 

Funkfingers

Decades ago, as a student, I would cycle from out of town digs in the hills to college in the morning and back again in the late afternoon. My route took me around a bend that formed the perimeter of a farmer’s field, in which there was usually an unattended sheepdog. 

My younger self could descend hills pretty quickly. Most mornings, the sheepdog would keep pace with me, either in the field, along the earth bank field boundary or in the road. 

The uphill return journey was a slow drag, on the small chain ring, around the same field. The sheepdog showed no interest whatsoever.

I deduced that it was either high speed or the sound of my spokes that drove the dog mental.

DB1

I've done plenty of cycling in rural France up until last year (I miss it) and the one thing that I could guarantee was that I'd be chased - usually within the confines of their gardens - by most of the chiens in France.

In fact, you could track my progress from village to village by the sound of barking, the mad buggers. Once, because I was knackered, I took the opportunity to get off my bike and have a chat (not a French cat, btw) with a couple of the hounds. They both muttered something to each other and wandered off in a 'ah, leave him, he's not worth it' kind of way.

I think they just reacted to the noise of the wheels, and the fact that something new to chase was invading their territory, the daft gets. 

Funkfingers

DB1 said:

… in rural France … I took the opportunity to get off my bike and have a chat

That’s the thing that never appears in television coverage of Le Tour.

DB1

Funkfingers said:

DB1 said:

… in rural France … I took the opportunity to get off my bike and have a chat

That’s the thing that never appears in television coverage of Le Tour.

Especially with a rider in Lycra looking suspiciously like a burst mattress 

Dominic

I used to get chased by a Goat every day on my bike when I was a kid..........it petrified me 
  One day ,after giving myself a pep talk for 2 weeks beforehand ,I summoned the courage to get off the bike and have it out with the Goat .....bastard thing outsmarted me and butted me really hard ,didn't really hurt but it knocked me flying .
I was about 12 years old .
My sister had a problem with the same goat a few years later..........she had a convertible BMW ,the Goat jumped onto the roof and it's hooves went straight through ,dangling in the car with a legless goat on the roof all the way to the garage about 5 miles away.
 I can't really remember why she went to the garage but somehow they got the Goat out.