# Probably did something that will backfire



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I finally told a neighbor I was going to spray her demon chihuahua with pepper spray under a specific condition.

A friend is giving me a used bike I can use for roadwork with Beau and I am going to get started soon as the walks are good for me but not much for him. But her little chi comes charging into the street after us every time I go by her house. I am not scared of the little rat (sorry my daughter has a chi I love), nor is Beau upset by it, but being on a bike is a little different. An honestly, it is getting bolder to where it is now inches from our feet (it comes from behind).

I had complained to the HOA as have others and our county does have a leash law. But yesterday as she was right by the road gardening and her dog came after me again (I had no Beau with me) and I was having to watch where I stepped to avoid kicking it..........I told her........very calmly and politely that I was going to start with a bike and was going to pepper spray her dog if it ran after me. 

All she did to stop her dog was an ineffective "pookie come here..." and did not even get up to retrieve the dog. Grrrrrrr. I can't believe she even said "My kids come home from school before I do and I can't control that they let him out"...Uh the joys of good parenting. All I said was "My goal is to get my walking done before work" ........

She took great offense. Probably would not have said that had she not been right there allowing this to happen without even batting an eye.


----------



## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

Well, at least you warned her. I have only taken Tess with the bike a couple times, because I worried about that same problem. It could turn bad in a heartbeat. Have fun with the bike.


----------



## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

I think you made the right call, you put your neighbor on notice. I really hate it when small dogs get a pass because if their size. If it was a bigger dog charging at people it would not be tolerated. I would maybe try lemon juice first if you have to spray the chi, in case there would be any chance of blow back on Beau, or what about an airhorn?


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I could try an airhorn. Noises don't bother Beau. Then a super soaker with vinegar water.
I really don't want her dog running into the other road (they live near the main road!) and causing a wreck.


----------



## Thewretched (Jan 1, 2014)

If it was me, (since you don't want to use my "go to" mace) I'd do what I've done with some small dogs, let it bite my normally baggy pants, then give it a swift kick, chances are it's small enough it won't even hurt for more than a day max, and it'll remember my boot in its face for longer.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

If he is always or often doing this? I would suggest a water balloon. You don't need a high degree of accuracy.


----------



## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

Chip18 said:


> If he is always or often doing this? I would suggest a water balloon. You don't need a high degree of accuracy.


I like the water balloon idea for bicycles. You could carry a few in the basket. Chances are after a couple hits the little dog won't bother you anymore. If not, I vote for the pepper spray. They make small bottles about the size of a large lipstick that fit in holders fastened to your belt for the use of joggers. You might look into that, but watch for the wind to make sure you don't get the blow back.


----------



## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Congratulations for saying that without showing emotion or getting angry. If you ever speak to the chi owner again, you could explain that you could get hurt by crashing on your bicycle if it got in your way, or the chi could get hurt or killed by car when it chases you. Its for everyone's safety that the chi is controlled.

You could also be more persistent with your HOA and see if they will step it up and fine the chi owner the next complaint they get. Money will get people to listen.


----------



## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

I dunno....it's hard to say if you make a bad call until after you try. You try to give folks the benefit of the doubt by explaining, warning or asking and they react badly, then it's a bad call. You took a chance of being fair to the lady and her dog and it didn't work out. It's been my experience, unfortunately, more often then not it doesn't work out. Usually having to correct a problem like that requires money or effort two things people often don't want to expend so they get bothered and offended. It's not the request it's just that they're lazy and inconsiderate.

I'd think up something that will give the little monster such an uncomfortable experience, without actually harming it, that it'll never mess with you again.'

As you mention, the air horn, but maybe wait til the little sucker is really close and then blast the airhorn so it's a one time and done deal.





jocoyn said:


> I could try an airhorn. Noises don't bother Beau. Then a super soaker with vinegar water.
> I really don't want her dog running into the other road (they live near the main road!) and causing a wreck.


----------



## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

Is there a reason you can't walk your bike til you're out of range and then hop on? That's what we do since there are a lot of fence-fighters in our neighborhood. Although if loose dogs were chasing us I would probably invest in pepper spray too.


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

I had a similar experience but the dog was a little bit more intense , a Jack Russell terrier that would fly off the porch with teeth showing .
When the owner would come out they would just look on as I used the bike as a shield to move away , not having my dog react to this punk.
I told her to get her dog . She called back and said pick another street to run your dog !! What ?
It happened to be on the route to my daughter's place where I would drop in after heavy road work to rest and water my dog , while I met with her for a tea break. So no that was not going to happen - not on any account.

So ---- I don't want to harm the dog --- the owner was not going to co-operate , so what I did was to use my son's water gun loaded with tincture of gentian violet and when the little white doggy came flying out it got drizzled . It was now a Jack -son Pollock dog ! 
The purple was very evident on the white . 

That dog was never on the front porch again . The property backs on to a park and when walking behind the houses in the park I could see it fence running and barking , but safe behind the fence .


----------



## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

carmspack said:


> I had a similar experience but the dog was a little bit more intense , a Jack Russell terrier that would fly off the porch with teeth showing .
> When the owner would come out they would just look on as I used the bike as a shield to move away , not having my dog react to this punk.
> I told her to get her dog . She called back and said pick another street to run your dog !! What ?
> It happened to be on the route to my daughter's place where I would drop in after heavy road work to rest and water my dog , while I met with her for a tea break. So no that was not going to happen - not on any account.
> ...


Bahahahahaha, that's ingenious! There's no denying the obvious


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

yes, thanks for that, the drizzle mark evidence on the road also showed that the dog was almost on the other side of the street , so I did not deliberately taunt the dog or go onto their property.


----------



## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

I don't see anything wrong with that. I now carry pepper spray on my keychain for off leash dogs and threatening people.


----------



## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

carmspack said:


> I had a similar experience but the dog was a little bit more intense , a Jack Russell terrier that would fly off the porch with teeth showing .
> When the owner would come out they would just look on as I used the bike as a shield to move away , not having my dog react to this punk.
> I told her to get her dog . She called back and said pick another street to run your dog !! What ?
> It happened to be on the route to my daughter's place where I would drop in after heavy road work to rest and water my dog , while I met with her for a tea break. So no that was not going to happen - not on any account.
> ...


That is brilliant... ROFL!


----------



## valb (Sep 2, 2004)

I was JUST about to start a thread! I've been dealing with small dog
aggression for a couple of YEARS now. I bought a wiffle ball bat and if
he comes at us again, he's getting it thrown at him at the very least.

Next week I'm headed over to the police department to try and find
out why they don't/won't/haven't enforced or pretty clearly worded 
city ordinance! And try to get some consistency in what responding
officers tell complainants! Thankfully, every time I called I documented
on my kitchen calendar. 

So far, Sierra and now Lillie have been very well-behaved when this
happens, but Lillie is now starting to turn her head and look sort of
anxiously in the direction this guy comes from.

I really like the gentian violet idea!


----------



## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

carmspack said:


> I had a similar experience but the dog was a little bit more intense , a Jack Russell terrier that would fly off the porch with teeth showing .
> When the owner would come out they would just look on as I used the bike as a shield to move away , not having my dog react to this punk.
> I told her to get her dog . She called back and said pick another street to run your dog !! What ?
> It happened to be on the route to my daughter's place where I would drop in after heavy road work to rest and water my dog , while I met with her for a tea break. So no that was not going to happen - not on any account.
> ...


That's a great idea! We are having an issue with a smaller white terrier of some kind, the owner has a similar attitude too. It followed me down the block and up the next, the owner never followed up after it. I ended up using some driveway gravel to throw at him. He came out after my wife a couple days ago, but one of their kids came out to retrieve it that time. Its goning to end up under someone's tires before too long.


----------



## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

I want a video of the OP riding a bike, shielding her dog and tossing water balloons with acuracy.... Sounds like a lot more coordination than I have..


----------



## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I don't understand why people with these little uncontrolled dogs think its okay that their dogs chase and attack people. Just because the dog is small doesn't mean it can't cause harm. The loose dog can cause car accidents trying to miss it in the street or cause people on bikes to fall over. I was walking Raina the other night after dark as I usually do. Raina was completely calm at my side walking down our side of the street. Out of the darkness came a medium sized black poodle, no leash, no collar, nothing and it ran all the way across the two lane road to attack me and it was going for me not my dog. Raina wasn't having any of that and I was trying to keep the two dogs apart because I know Raina could cause harm if she really wanted to. The dog bit my boot as I put my foot out to hold the dog back and Raina bit at the dog's foot but not hard enough to hurt it - I know it wasn't hurt because I watched it and it wasn't even limping. The dog ran back into the darkness of the loading dock it had come from and I walked on with Raina but still the little dog was loose and if I couldn't see it, then neither would a car coming. When I came back the dog was gone and I still don't know where it came from. Glad I was wearing my heavy leather boots. They are pretty sturdy and hard to bite through. I had stopped carrying any type of protection when I only intended to stay in my neighborhood but I should have had the pepper spray with me. Lesson learned.


----------



## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

middleofnowhere said:


> I want a video of the OP riding a bike, shielding her dog and tossing water balloons with acuracy.... Sounds like a lot more coordination than I have..


That would take coordination I agree. I know I would probably fall over but I was imagining that I'm just a klutz and most people would have better coordination. I can barely ride a bike with no distractions, definitely not with my dog.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I like the Gentian Violet in the squirt gun! Chi has a lot of white in its coat hehehe
The waterballoons and a ball driven Beau.....hmmmm that could backfire........

Honestly, all the nasty yappers have been a great dog training tool for us and he has made it to 2.5 with only one dog going off on him. [Welsh Terrier went off on him when he was about 8 months old but the owner got it off before any damage and he did not to seem to be fazed by it in the least...

That terrier is still going off on ANY dog within range but the owner has him under leash control at all times. After the incident I would not let him meet Beau again face to face though we can stand a few feet apart. 

She has trouble with the same yapper. Maybe I should just lend her my flexi lead (I do have one but use it appropriately) and ooooops let her dog take care of the problem. Nah, just kidding. I don't want the thing HURT I just don't want to get tangled up in it and put my 58 year old bones on the ground. Older=longer to heal.

It is hard to avoid. You have to go past her house to get to the cul de sac to turn. The neighborhood roads are only 1 mile in total (only 60 houses) and to get out of the neighborhood is loading us up in the truck which is NOT going to happen every morning before work. Plus, she lives on the flat road. The main road is about a 4% grade while her road is about 1%.


----------



## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

I would offer to help train her dog, and if that didn't work, I would scare the crap out of it so it left us alone. Probably not the nicest thing for the little dog, but I'm going to place the safety of me and my dog first.

David Winners


----------



## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

jocoyn said:


> I finally told a neighbor I was going to spray her demon chihuahua with pepper spray under a specific condition.
> 
> A friend is giving me a used bike I can use for roadwork with Beau and I am going to get started soon as the walks are good for me but not much for him. But her little chi comes charging into the street after us every time I go by her house. I am not scared of the little rat (sorry my daughter has a chi I love), nor is Beau upset by it, but being on a bike is a little different. An honestly, it is getting bolder to where it is now inches from our feet (it comes from behind).
> 
> ...


You could always convince the neighbor your a raving lunatic and chase the dog all the way back to it's yard with a big stick or club like I did once long ago. neighbor at the top of our street would let their lab pup out in the morning and decided to crap in our yard until I came out with a ball bat and chased him up the street. Never seen the dog again. 

I do like the air horn idea. I like it better than spray. You know you don't want to take the chance of spraying your dog by accident. Those little dogs are quick.

Growing up we had a couple little Chi's we had to ride our bike past to get to the football field and those little demons chased us every time. One of them nipped my ankle pretty good one day. The next time we went by, one or both might have met the business end of my shoe. Problem solved.


----------



## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

Maybe walk by the dog without Beau a few times and when the dog charges you spray. Just keep walking past and spraying until it ceases to charge. Be ready though, you may have to spray the owner too.

If you have any luck like mine, the HOA will come investigate you for using spray but not the dog charging you.


----------



## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Any bridges near by?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uh7gfqYUHU

Sorry couldn't help myself!


----------



## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

chip18 said:


> any bridges near by?
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uh7gfqyuhu
> 
> sorry couldn't help myself!


stop posting this video. It is inappropriate for this forum.


----------



## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

Its wrong to spray little dogs. You can just kick them, JK. Dont spray a chihuhua, a yorkie or whatever, thats abuse unless they bite you.
Id have warned in a nicer way to say the dogs gonna get run over or bit. Or just get off and walk past the house and scream at the dog, itll get the picture.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Well, I would never kick a little dog. My daughter has a chi she rescued from a bad situation but we put in about $1200 when a book fell on its skull and fractured it........they are paper thin.

I am going to stick with the water, get used to riding the bike in the neighborhood WITHOUT Beau first and then carrying the squirt gun on my walks, and my rides and see how that works. I think vinegar water. I have no intention of hurting the dog or doing something that would get it hurt. I am surpised it has not been hit by a car. My daughter won't even let hers out in their own fenced yard that time of day because of owls.

David, I am sure the neighbor would not take any "help" from me. She honestly does not care.


----------



## valb (Sep 2, 2004)

David Winners said:


> I would offer to help train her dog, and if that didn't work, I would scare the crap out of it so it left us alone. Probably not the nicest thing for the little dog, but I'm going to place the safety of me and my dog first.
> 
> David Winners


I thought of doing that, but I don't want to 'engage' with the owner 
in my case AT ALL. I think she's dangerous. She is known to police.
She actually has to drive her son about 10 miles up the freeway to
school because she's BANNED from the local high school campus.

I would never use the pepper spray because by law here, it can
only be used to protect yourself, not your dog. And this dog
charging us is only after whatever dog I'm walking, I can detect
no aggression towards ME.

I told responding police that I did indeed try to kick this dog, or
hit it with the end of the leash, but the dog is savvy and always
dances around just out of reach. Police did not seem to have a 
problem with me trying that.


----------



## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

I think a water balloon on a walk would be a better tactical option. Trying to deter a little dog would be a tough task! Think what you like but the little guys "are" fearless!
They actually don't care about you, they are looking to take on a dog several times there size!

Anything you have to aim with precision is a tough task! Think Screaming Eagles..bring the rain!


----------

