How to avoid conflicts while out with your dog
Jamie Flanders CDBC
It is difficult to go out with your dog without encountering other people or animals. Sometimes those encounters are benign and sometimes the encounters are terrible. Many of my clients report their dogs being approached by other dogs and sometimes even being attacked while out walking. It can happen in a neighborhood, a park, or a hiking trail. I’ve even had some close calls myself. Fortunately, I have largely been able to avoid conflicts when I take my dog, Toshi, out for some fun away from home. Here are my suggestions for how to increase your chances of enjoying more conflict free walks.
The first thing you need to consider is location, location, location! True, conflicts can happen anywhere. However, you are going to have a better shot at a peaceful, enjoyable outing with your dog if you stick to large open areas. Avoid places like neighborhoods which can have blind spots, narrow spaces, dogs barking behind fences, unsupervised dogs behind an “invisible fence”, and cats jumping out of bushes (yes, that happened to me).
You need to be able to see who and what is coming, WAY before you run into them!
If you don’t have a lot of options and have to walk around your neighborhood or other less-open areas, environmental awareness is critical! Keep your eyes open; be watching for people and dogs. The sooner you spot them the more time you have to decide how you’re going to deal with them. Keep your cellphone in your pocket and let your dog sniff! Each time your dog stops to sniff is a good opportunity for you to take a 360 degree look around!
Mind your business, and help the other dogs in the environment mind their business too. As enjoyable as it is to watch dogs play together, there is absolutely no reason that your dog should meet any dog if it wasn’t pre-arranged. You have no idea what a strange dog is like. You don’t know if it is friendly, fearful, sick, or has a history of fighting and biting other dogs. When you see another dog being walked, stop and determine what direction they are going and change your course to avoid them. Aim for as much distance as you can get between you. Keep in mind that some dogs are wearing shock collars, prong collars, or choke chains and nothing depresses me more than being the trigger that caused another dog to get zapped or yanked because they became interested in us.
Be willing to go somewhere else if the spot you have chosen has off-leash dogs in it, even just one. It never goes well for a leashed dog to be rushed by an off-leash dog. Always assume the other handler has zero control over their off-leash dog.
I love hiking with my dog, but it is an environment that has a lot of risk involved: narrow spaces, blind corners, and off-leash dogs that you know nothing about. If you plan to go hiking, look for less popular trails, at less popular times, in less popular weather, and if you see that there are a lot of people parked at the trailhead, go somewhere else.
There are a few things that you can teach your dog that are helpful for avoiding conflicts. When I see that there is a dog in the environment, especially if they are interested in Toshi, I cue Toshi to lay down. This has been successful in making Toshi less interesting to the other dog because of his lack of movement and lower stature. Usually, the other dog will lose interest and walk away without conflict. It’s also helpful to teach your dog to change directions with you quickly if someone and their dog surprise you.
Even with the most diligent environmental awareness, things can sneak up on you! Do you remember the close calls I mentioned earlier? Someone lost control of their dog that they allowed to be off leash. Toshi narrowly avoided being the target of an attack because we practiced minding our own business and moved as far away as we could when I spotted them. The out-of-control off leash dog instead targeted another dog who was being walked on leash toward the off leash dog and unfortunately the leashed dog was attacked. I feel very bad for everyone involved in any dog attack.
Another close call for us came when my view was blocked and I didn’t see two off-leash labs coming our way. The two labs were a little too aroused for my liking and because they were more interested in Toshi and not listening, the owners were punishing them. Because they were aroused and also being punished, the situation could have gone very wrong for Toshi. I chose to drop my leash and keep moving away, just as you should on an off-leash hike. I chose this approach because Toshi has superb dog skills, can be called off of other dogs, and he’s really good about not letting me get too far away from him.
Dealing with your leashed dog being confronted by off-leash dogs can be really difficult. If you don’t have a good recall (come when called) and your dog doesn’t have amazing dog skills (yet), verbally encourage your dog to move on. Do not yell or sound angry or panicked. Do whatever you can to have a calm, reassuring voice. Most importantly, do what you can to keep the leash loose and allow your dog to navigate the encounter the best they can without you adding verbal tension and leash tension to an already tense situation.
Keep moving and don’t stop to watch, or chat, or argue with the other humans. Additionally, it will be helpful to learn canine body language. Although this is not a guarantee of the interaction you will have, you may be able to get a feel for the temperament of the other dogs in your environment. I will often move far away and watch two people walk their dogs toward each other (please don’t do that!) so that I can get a feel for how those dogs react to other dogs. If they pass by peacefully I feel a lot better. If they bark, lunge, or get overly excited, I make sure to stay far away from them.
By using these techniques, I have been able to avoid conflicts while out and about with my dog. It has been a really long time since we’ve even had a close call, and I attribute that to my environmental awareness skills getting better and better. If you use these techniques, you too should be able to avoid conflicts and have more enjoyable outdoor experiences with your dog.