SWHouston :) No you would be better able to fend for your dogs and yourself than me or a lot of other posters. Just one example is what happened to my sister last year. She was walking her Chihuahua when a Rottie type dog scaled a fence and came after them. She picked her dog up and screamed at the dog, NO, BAD DOG ! SIT, SIT! About that time the dog jumped on her and knocked her down flat on her back. Her elbows hit the sidewalk and she let go of her dog. Vibes (her dog) ran under a parked car, the big dog could barely get under the car and had to lay down to crawl under the car. The owner of the Rottie type dog called the dog to no avail, she ran to her dog and finally grabbed it's back legs and tried to drag it out from under the car. My sister was horrified she did not know if Vibes was alive or dead. The woman's boyfriend came out and finally got the dog out from under the car and laid on top of him. The boyfriend and woman finally got the dog back inside their fence, then their house. (My sister is my size about 5' 3" and 125 pounds.) Still shaky with fear and the hard fall, she got up and called Vibes. Vibes was terrified but, came running to her. My sister limped home,carrying Vibes, crying and dripping blood. No neither of them were bitten by the dog. But my sister was bruised, and had some very deep scratches on her thigh and a badly scraped elbow. The next day my Brother-Inlaw went down and had a talk with the people, the dog rushed to the door all 100 pounds + jumping, tail wagging and happy as could be. The lady said "Sorry he scared your wife. He likes people, he just hates other dogs, cats and animals." Like that was acceptable ! I'll end the story here because I can't write what my Brother in-law said anyway !

My husband uses a walking stick after his strokes,he bought a cattle cane that he cut down to a comfortable height for him-these come in 6' lengths. I was thinking of something that the guys use when I watch the sheep dog trials.What are they called? Shepherds Hooks? Would something like that work for you?
Also, what do your mail carriers use for protection from dogs,could you get the same thing?

I like the umbrella idea too,after all- look how many dogs fail the umbrella test on "Animal Cops" when they're being temperment tested:p

Well, this will not help much in a park but it did help in my neighborhood. We had a rash of people in the development that were "walking" their dogs off lead. I taped signs with the city law headed, in red - ***YOU MUST HAVE YOUR DOG ON A LEASH OR IT WILL COST YOU MONEY*** to all the blocks of mail boxes. Then I started keeping a digital camera by the front door and taking it out with me every time. If I caught them I made sure they saw me take their pic and if possible I went up to them and quoted the law, emphasis on IT WILL COST YOU MONEY. With a side order of, if your dog bites, it could cost you YOUR HOUSE. Kids, I told them I needed to talk to their parent and then gave my little talk. Not perfect but it did help.

I also taught my dogs "DOOR" and that means to go there, no questions, NOW. OK, my big dogs. Teaching Angel things is, sigh, a whole other ballgame. But I am trying.

For abled bodied people, the pet carrier on a stroller is the answer, I feel. I am wondering how I could fit a pet carrier to my scooter. It certainly is the safest. I went out today with a heavy duty umbrella. I didn't have to use it, but I still did not enjoy the walk. MOST people do not walk their dogs on the leash and big dogs are really attracted to Yorkies - prey instinct. It means I am on constant lookout for dogs and cannot relax for a second. Owners saw my umbrella and that I was intending to use it on their dogs if the need arose and they called their dogs before they got too close. One man said 'why don't you let your dog run free' in a very critical way. I said 'because it is irresponsible' He asks 'WHY?!' I told him that you have not got complete control of your dog, if it is not on the lead. He replies 'Well, how on earth is your dog going to get any real exercise'. I said, 'You can run, jog or cycle next to your dog and I can go at a good enough speed.on my scooter to keep my dog fit. In any case', I said, ' there are signs put up here, telling you to keep your dogs on a leash.' He just shugged and walked off with his dogs running free ahead of him. Other owners, seeing my umbrella at the ready, said in a loud voice to their dogs variations of 'Keep away, they are not friendly.' Made me feel like an ogre. Honestly, why can't people understand my predicament? I have a small vulnerable dog and I am disabled on a scooter. It is difficult for me to protect her in my situation. They seem to feel it is fine for their dogs to come bounding over making straight for little Tootsy and look irritated if I shout at the dog, show signs that I intend to protect her or look frightened. It is very scary for me. These big breeds are frightening running at you when you are at a lower level to the ground, compared to being upright. It is hard finding a time over weekends when people are less likely to walk their dogs. I thought I had chosen a good time today, but there were still lots of dogs out. I was so relieved to get home. I hated the whole experience, which should be an enjoyable one for me and Toots, but, due to other peoples' sefishness and thoughtlessness, it is unpleasant.
Sorry I don't mean to be so grumpy - just a bad day out today.

Teresa,

YOU !, petite ! Just from reading your Posts, I thought you were about 7' tall, 200 lbs, and had Flaming Red Hair and Eyes ! :D :D :D

But, on a more serious note...

This Thread is rather disturbing to me. I've never been/had an attack perpetrated against me or my Dogs, by a Dog of any size. I'm not petite, and actually rather gruff. Maybe thats to my advantage. What's really bothering is, that given how much I love them, I would put myself in harms way before them, in an instant, and therein lies the problem.

So far in the annals of History, there has been no Species which can deal with the wrath of the Human Intellect. The thought of having to harm any animal, in my/our defense, is very distasteful to me.

It stops being distasteful and starts being necessity when your 3 lb. baby is in the jaws of another animal!

Wow. The umbrella is amazing. Check out the video. I think I might start out with a walking stick though.

ABSOLUTELY!!!

Recently someone had their little Yorkie torn apart in a park nearby by a big dog - I would like to know how you would react if that was your precious dog? Still distateful to lash out at the dog attacking? We ALL love animals and nobody wants to hurt another animal intentionally but, just as you would defend a child from a dog, you would defend you small Yorkie, that you love dearly, from being ripped apart.

I don't know what's going on here !
I just got an EMail notification of Teresa's #46 Post again.
Has anyone else had these repeats of previous posts sent to them ?

yes! I've been getting them for loads of threads that have been dormant for months! but i received no notifications for a fair while before this started a few days ago...

Me too!! :) Sally + Harry x

I have also been getting them like crazy lately....but I also didn't receive notifications for a while on them. It's like all of a sudden they are all coming through at once...talk about overload, LOL!

In addition to this problem (now that I've started complaining) I'm also getting double EMails on the subscription topics I'm posting to, like it list the title twice...

YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

It sends the above notification and others twice as well.
Should Admin be told of this ?