Not sure what to do about walking Duchess
 

Sorry for the long post. I live in a small town but I live in the center of town. The house I live on is a corner lot and there is foot traffic as well as vehicle traffic during the day. Not a lot but there is some.

I have been taking Duchess for walks for 4 years with only one incident where a larger dog broke lose from their owner and came after Duchess. Fortunately I was able to scoop her up and she was okay.

Duchess and I knows where every dog in the neighborhood lives but recently we have been seeing more dogs in the neighborhood and I no longer feel comfortable walking Duchess. One neighbor told me a dog got lost and bit a young lady.

However, Duchess is extremely energetic and if she doesn't walk, she becomes depressed and just lays around not to mention she will start whining for me to take her out. It's not fair to her to keep her in the house when she loves being outside. I don't have a fenced in yard and the dog park is 21 miles away so that wouldn't be practical to take her every day. I was thinking maybe a removable fence but than I would have to stay with her outside because there is foot traffic but most people typically leave dogs alone but you never know. People love stealing yorkies.

I don't know what to do. I only have one area I feel comfortable walking her now and even that is at a park that is about 10 miles round trip from my house. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can make sure Duchess gets her outdoor exercise? I'm thinking fencing I can put up and remove myself off the patio door. That way I can let her out several times a day and still keep my eye on her.

Is taking wasp spray an option? I hate that other people ruin things like that. I wish everyone followed the leash laws. In my neighborhood almost everyone has electric fences and I don't trust them when walking my dogs but luckily we have a fenced in area and there are 4 so they keep each other running around a lot.

I never heard of wasp spray, I will have to look that up. I recently switched to a hands free leash. I wish people who had large dogs would start using them. They can't break free with a hands free leash because it's a waistband that goes around your waist and the leash is attached by a d-ring. If the pull the leash out of your hand, the leash is tether to the waistband and they can't get away.
You might get dragged, but at least the dog won't be able to attack other people or dogs.

If you have a treadmill you can put her on that and she can walk. Just make sure to stay with her while she is on it. We have always walked our Yorkies on a treadmill as I have severe asthma and can’t go walking very often. Our Yorkies love the treadmill.

You better be very careful with wind direction when using wasp spray, it sprays up to 25 feet away from you. You may end up with back spraying yourself and Duchess.

Also in some states, counties, towns, it is illegal to use as a means of protection.
I carry wasp spray, in my county it's illegal, I don't care, my dogs safety comes first.

However, I have been using wasp spray for years for what it was meant to be used for. I am very alert to wind direction because of my years of experience in using it for wasp nests.
I have had to use it once in warding off a Belgian Shepard.
Several YT members suggest using a big black umbrella that automatically opens with a push of a button, if a dog is approaching holding umbrella in front of you and your pup, quickly open the umbrella, this big black swooshing noise thing stops dogs dead in their tracks and off they go.
It's really a shame we have to walk our dogs with safety measures because some ppl do not take proper safety measures when walking theirs, or fenced in dogs that can easily get out of a yard.

My mom always used to have it with her on walks. I see a lot of people walking with sticks. Its a shame it has to be that way but people just don't care.

We live in the city without a yard, with high foot traffic around our home and lots of animals. And stray cats are even more of a concern than dogs here.. we've been attacked by a cat again a few months ago(( So I also started using a hands free leash, it gives me two hands to scoop Mike up in case I need to.

Maybe you can look into something like Coyote Vest (dog vest with spikes), to make Duchess safer on the walks? We dont have those where we live, but I've seen lots of good feedback on it.

Ugh, I hate that other people ruin for the good dog owners.

Could you get a few ex-pens and put them together to make a bigger fenced in area as needed and then it could be removed?

https://www.amazon.com/Playpen-Outdo...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

This is why I don't want to use a spray. I have no control over wind direction and Duchess and i both can get blow back.

That's what I was thinking, get some expens and put her in the yard but I would have to remain outside with her. I live in a small town on a corner lot that has some foot traffic. Anyone could just walk by and scoop her up.

Having a stick would confuse me because my first instinct is to pick her up and keep my back to the attacking dog. If I tried to use a stick, I probably would just dropped it trying to pick her up.

:thumbup: exactly

:thumbup: wise choice

Most of the people I have seen with a stick either don’t have a dog or have a large dog.

I have used an automatic umbrella they are easy to carry and you can pop it open and use it to shield your dog until you can pick them up . It is also a deterrent for other dogs as it stuns them without hurting them.

That is what I did the one time a dog did go after Duchess. I picked up Duchess up and kept turning my back to the dog. It was hard because the dog was constanly trying to run in front of me to get to Duchess and I would lose sight of where they were but the dog couldn't get to Duchess. The dog's owner had a limp and took awhile to get up to where we were. I was spinning in circles for at least 20 seconds trying to keep the dog in back of me. Not sure how much longer I could of kept that up.

So I saw this at Lowe’s https://www.lowes.com/pd/YARDLINK-Ya...E&gclsrc=aw.ds I know she might could slip through this one but it looks like there might be other styles

That happened to me years back when I had 3 girls and was camping. This huge dog, like a Great Dane mix came charging up the road, I had enough time to grab up all 3 and these were not tiny girls lol. I didn't know if the dog was friendly, I did as you, kept turning and turning my back, screaming, someone get this dog.

Other campers came to get that dog away before the dogs owner who was in no rush to retrieve his dog. It was a horrifying experience. So I know how you felt with your tiny one. First reaction is to grab up your pup.

These days ppl are very careless with their dogs. They will say ohhhh he's friendly, my reply is, well mine is not. What should be a nice relaxing, enjoyable walk, these days it's a stressful walk with dogs always breaking loose.

I hope I can suggest this if it works for you. How about using a dog stroller for Duchess? We found using a stroller is very good protection and also we put a baseball bat stick in it just in case. You can start off by getting her use to it by putting her in the stroller until you reach a destination like the park if that's where you normally go and let her walk around for her exercise or where you feel comfortable, let her out. At the same time if you see any larger dogs or strange dogs in the distance or approaching you, put her back into the stroller and walk away quickly. Our Bella gestures to us by sitting down next to the stroller or stops walking when she wants to get back inside the stroller. Also it's good exercise for us to walk further when she can't and she loves the breeze blowing into her face and looking out just like a car ride, lol. Hope this helps!

An airhorn would stop a charging dog? That seems like the most safest option to actually get a charging dog to stop long enough for me to get away.

hmmmm........that may work but only after she gets tired. Duchess is super hyper active and loves walking (really running) and smelling everything. But as she gets older, she is slowing down. A stroller could definitely be a good option.

Duchess doesn't like other dogs and would cause even the most friendliest of dogs to turn mean. She turns vicious. She does not like large dogs at all. I think there size intimidates her as she is not used to being around large dogs. That's why I wish more people with larger dogs would use hands free leashes instead. With a hands free leash, no matter how large the dog is, they can't get away from their owner. The owner might get dragged but they won't be able to break free. In my neighborhood, I've only see one owner who was using a hands free leash for their big dog. One woman has a gsd and a husky and I wish she would use a hands free leash. I keep hoping if she sees me with my hands free leash she would get a clue and think it's a great idea for her two dogs.

Cody being a rescue was not socialized as a puppy by prev. owner. When I adopted him our first walk a woman walking a Basset hound was walking towards us, I called out asking was her dog friendly she said yes, so I approached, Cody's tail was wagging but he had this stance that didn't look friendly to me, all I can see is the back of him, I hear a low growl, I ask the lady was that from my dog, she nodded yes, so I crossed the street. There were 2 more incidents where Cody showed signs that made me uncomfortable. So I took to obedience school, we worked with one dog only, I took two sessions, 6 visits per session. What Cody learned out of 12 visits was to now lunge at all dogs.

This is very dangerous for the safety of his life. It doesn't matter if one dog is friendly, when a friendly dog is being challenged by another dog it will take the challenge and Cody with not come out the winner. This is very upsetting for me because, I raised 5 yorkies from wee lil babies, they were well socialized with all types of animals. Now I have a fighter that I fear for his safety. We take our walks around my community, if no dogs are being walked, its a good walk, if a walked dog is spotted I stop, put him in a sit command then turn around walk in the opposite direction, then turn back, sometimes we get no further then 15 feet from my house, but I will not give up on training him.

Duchess was rehomed. I got her when she was 2.5 years old and I have no idea of her life before I got her. I don't think she was socialized. She loves humans though but she doesn't really like other dogs at all. I think she came from a very chaotic home.