{"id":3631,"date":"2016-06-09T13:15:13","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T20:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/petcarefacts.com\/?p=3631"},"modified":"2016-06-09T13:15:40","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T20:15:40","slug":"how-to-stop-a-loose-dog-from-approaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/tips-and-how-tos\/how-to-stop-a-loose-dog-from-approaching","title":{"rendered":"How to Stop A Loose Dog From Approaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of our blogs typically encourages people about how to connect with and care for canines. But what about those times, when all you want to do is avoid<\/em> a dog? If you are walking or hiking and suddenly see a stray pup, it can be intimidating at first. Especially if the hound looks mangy, aggressive, or is particularly large in stature.\u00a0 The same feelings of tension occur when we walk in a neighborhood where pet owners let their pups roam free. Below are some useful tips about how to discourage a loose or stray dog from approaching you.<\/p>\n

Keeping The Stray Away<\/h2>\n

1. Avoid the chances of meeting a stray.<\/strong>\u00a0 Sound obvious? It may be, but many of us often go about our daily walk along the same trails without giving too much thought to where they might lead us. You might enjoy going to the beach, but if you see pet owners disregarding the \u201cdogs must be on leashes\u201d sign, then there is probably a better place for you to enjoy the sun and surf.
\nWhile walking, be mindful not to plan your route around <\/em>dumpsters, or piles of trash where stray dogs could be foraging. If you know one of your neighbors routinely lets their Pit Bull sit or play in their front yard, you could consider approaching them about it, or simply avoid that part of the block altogether.<\/p>\n

2. Stay alert and aware. <\/strong>Walking your dog, or going out for a casual stroll is relaxing enough that many of us just \u201czone out\u201d or get lost in our own thoughts.\u00a0 But with cars, loud noises, small animals running around, and the potential to meet other pups along the way, as pet owners we really do need to stay alert. Seeing a dog on the loose while it is still a few blocks away, might give you time to back track and choose another direction before the pup gets close enough to either be a deterrent or a threat.\u00a0 (If your dog is on a mission and is having a rough time leaving the path, keep a few treats in your pocket to help encourage him to follow you the new way, should you need to avoid a certain street ahead.)<\/p>\n

3. Keep calm and use the \u201cbody block.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 Though the world is not likely to put that <\/em>little catch phrase on a coffee mug, the body block is one of the best ways to keep a loose dog away.
\nWhen the other pup wanders into sight, speak softly and soothingly to your own pup as you gauge the situation.\u00a0 Have your dog sit, and then position yourself to stand between him and the oncoming dog. Command the other dog to \u201csit\u201d or to \u201cgo home\u201d\u00a0 loudly and authoritatively, to let him know who is the boss in this situation.\u00a0 If neither of these things deter the pop from approaching, take a handful of treats from your pocket and throw them behind the dog, so that when he turns to eat them, you will have a chance to get away.<\/p>\n

Remember that acting stressed out, tightening the leash, or tensing up will only alert your dog that something is wrong, and will give him the sense that he needs to defend you. This could cause him to bark tauntingly, which might incite the other dog to action as well. Always bring some doggy treats with you for when you need to reward your dog or distract another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of our blogs typically encourages people about how to connect with and care for canines. But what about those times, when all you want to do is avoid a dog? If you are walking or hiking and suddenly see a stray pup, it can be intimidating at first. Especially if the hound looks mangy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-how-tos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bigstock-Stray-dog-is-barking-on-a-wint-109184093.jpg?fit=4384%2C2914&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5xKys-Wz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}