Re: Bad dog!

Hello,

I believe if the dog is coming off their property onto public space (the
road or sidewalk or whatever), you can do whatever you need to do to protect
yourself from the dog including pepper spray or using a knife or stick or
rock or whatever.

I recommend pepper spray because I've used it in the past and it works great
and doesn't seem to cause any damage to the dog. Of course, I guess a
particular dog could be allergic to it. If you decide to use pepper spray,
make sure you check the wind so it doesn't blow back on you and so that it
does get to the dog. You can throw up a couple of leaves or some grass or
something to determine the wind direction.

As the dog comes towards you make sure it is downwind then shoot off a
couple of sprays as it gets within a few steps and that should do it. The
times I've done it all the dogs do is stop with a kind of weird look on
their face and shake their head then slowly begin to go the other way. I
would make sure the dog is off the owners property though.

Another suggestion is to take an aggressive step towards the dog and say
NO!!!! in a loud demanding voice. My experience has been that this usually
works as well. Most dogs know the meaning of NO!!! because they've heard it
from their master many times.

JMO

Doug Gilliam

"Governor Breck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I've been walking a good, strenuous 3.5 miles a day and it's been
> doing me a world of good. For example, I can now run up several
> flights of stairs at work without gettig winded. Trouble is,
> there's a dog on my route who thinks he's the alpha and I'm the
> beta. Most of the time the owner is around to call him off, but I
> did get bit once (I was wearing heavy gloves and it didn't break
> the skin) and several times, there's been nobody around. I've taken
> to hollering at the dog ("Bad dog!" and "Get away!") and I now know
> the dog's name ("Bocce"...is there any wonder why he has a chip on
> his shoulder?) so I can use that. But what are my other options?
> I've thought of pepper spray, but I've heard that if the animal is
> hurt, then I would be liable. Plus, I don't want to start a war of
> escalation that winds up with some crazy redneck poisoning my
> altogether easygoing dogs.
>
> So, what are my options? A coworker mentioned carrying dog treats,
> but wouldn't that just reinforce the animal's behavior? My Dad said
> to carry a soda can full of pennies, but somehow I don't think that
> would disuade this creature. Frankly, if I had my druthers, I'd
> pepper spray the owner but I don't think the State of Vermont would
> look too kindly on that. Does anyone else have any ideas?
> Thanks!
> --
> Governor Breck
> governor_breck at yahoo dot com