That wasn't an attack, it was an annoyance. I understand where you're coming from; I was attacked (actually bitten) by a loose German Shepherd when I was 13. I was terrified of dogs, big and small, for years afterwards. I got over it by gradually desensitizing myself with friends' dogs I knew to be friendly. No matter what you say to the owner, you will likely have to face other untethered dogs in the future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some dog comes running at me, unleashed, and gets in my space in an aggressive manner it will get kicked (esp if I am holding a baby). Keep your dogs away from people! Why do we have to deal with them?

Is there possibly one dog owner in this city that isn't aware of the leash laws? No. So if they are already inconsiderate enough to allow their dogs to roam around, they are the ones putting everyone's safety (random people and dogs) in jeopardy. Reminding some asshat that "We have leash laws for a reason" is only going to get you attitude back from said asshat.

This post is really quite frightening.

Essentially, you are saying that you feel you have the right to abuse any animal that you feel is in your "space" simply because of the existence of leash laws. Leash laws allow law enforcement to fine animal owners. They do not give you the right to commit acts of animal cruelty. And your question as to why we have to "deal with animals" is really quite astonishing, almost sociopathic.

Wrong--reread what I said--AGGRESSIVE UNLEASHED DOGS. I live in DC, if I were some sort of sociopathic serial dogkicker then I think I'd be well-known around these parts. More than one person upthread has mentioned being bitten by someone's dog. There was even a thread about some big dog killing some smaller dog in upper NW this year and the owner of the killer dog did nothing. I'm not going to stand there and wait to get bitten if I feel threatened. The OP's case is not a case where I would kick a dog, btw. So all of you calm down.

But know that we don't all love your dogs. I am not the only person who feels like this. Remember this the next time you let your dog off the leash where you aren't supposed to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some dog comes running at me, unleashed, and gets in my space in an aggressive manner it will get kicked (esp if I am holding a baby). Keep your dogs away from people! Why do we have to deal with them?

Is there possibly one dog owner in this city that isn't aware of the leash laws? No. So if they are already inconsiderate enough to allow their dogs to roam around, they are the ones putting everyone's safety (random people and dogs) in jeopardy. Reminding some asshat that "We have leash laws for a reason" is only going to get you attitude back from said asshat.

If you kick a dog and it bites you, you deserve to be bitten. And you have no recourse to complain about the dog "running at me."

Jesus. I hate you more than I hate people who let their dogs off leash. What is you problem?

Ohh, if that dog bites me, it's ON. Hate me all you want, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. My problem is aggressive dogs and their dipshit owners who don't care about anyone else but their precious furry snowflakes. Believe me, I'd rather slap the owners. KEEP YOUR DOGS ON A LEASH AND THERE WONT BE ANY PROBLEMS. PERIOD.

Anonymous wrote:Well, you can do the nice "Oh I'm really scared of dogs can you keep them away from me" in a nice tone with as much of a smile as you can manage, or you can do a curt "Keep your dogs off me-they should be on a leases anyway." I would probably chose the latter.

I think this is a good reply. But I does not sound like the dogs attacked you, so I would not use that language.

Barking is also a way dogs solicit play. My dogs bark at people who walk by the fence until the person comes to the fence, then the wait to be petted. You have to look at the body language of the dog. Mine would be hopping and running around. A dog that first stands its ground, growls and charges is something different. All in all though, people should use leashes.

"Dog Attack" is a bit of hyperbole, don't you think? Why don't you just be a grown-up and say, "I don't like dogs. Put them on a leash, please."

Anonymous wrote:Ok - so I'm afraid of dogs...always have been, but very recently I was walking on the sidewalk, through my neighborhood carrying my newborn in an Ergo when 3 little, yappy dogs came running at me (to the sidewalk), full-speed to my ankles. They were barking so loudly and it seemed to me that they were going to take a chunk out of my leg. I froze in fear while they barked at my legs and their owner casually reprimanded them and gave me a roll of the eye, helpless shrug and said, "sorry". Once I snapped back into it, I continued walking but felt like I should have said something...but no words came to me...

There are a few dogs in my neighborhood that I know will run at full-force to the fence and then bark/attack me as I go by, oftentimes I know this and can prepare myself...but othertimes I wish I had a "go-to" comment to address this behavior if the owner is close by...anyone?

Thanks.

Sorry, I think you're just a drama queen. A fenced in dog barking at you is not an attack. That bolded statement makes me discount the rest of your story.

Some people just don't get it. Dogs should not be out of their home without a leash on. It drives me nuts when I see it here in DC - and that's often.

As for the fear of dogs - I didn't have much understanding for that before, and now I have a kid who is very frightened of dogs and I totally see the other side. Just because you trust your dog doesn't mean anybody else should.

And as for people thinking act brave around your kids and they won't have a fear of dogs - that's not true. It's normal for kids to fear dogs and plenty of them do and grow out of it. Some, like OP, don't grow out of it and that's fine too.

OP, I would also wish I'd said something. I often say what one of the PPs say - that my DD is very frightened of dogs (in your case you are very frightened of dogs) and hope that the person picks up on this. But really, I'd be wanting to say "you know dogs should always be on a leash in public, right?" I'm a bit shy that way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog off leash and out of their yard I can understand, but what do you expect people to do when dogs rush to the fence when people walk by?

The dogs have a right to be off leash in their yard. You now know which streets to avoid with your precious little snowflake. Problem solved.

Ugh, OP already clarified, no need to get nasty (I know, I know, DCUM and all that).

Ugh. OP is afraid of little yappy dogs. I mean, really? For fuck's sake.

Yappy little dogs can bite the shit out of you. I've had large and small dogs and the small dogs bit. You are fucking annoying.

If something like that happens again, or you see off-leash dogs where they shouldn't be, tell the owner directly that you'd appreciate the dogs being leashed right away because you're afraid of dogs.

It's hard to tell what happened. You're obviously very fearful of dogs and may not know dog language at all. I would never keep my dogs off-leash, small or big, so I think that owner was very rude. But I'm guessing that the dogs were just barking and checking you out. What was the "contact" with your shoe?

Leash laws don't always mean anything. I am not afraid of dogs and have a giant breed myself, but I got bit (drew blood) while jogging by a small(ish) dog who was on a leash. Oh...I probably shouldn't have said that to the OP. I do have a slight fear while jogging past dogs I don't know now!

Well, this is not advice at all, but I'm pretty sure if the owner was even slightly concerned his dogs may bite you, they wouldn't be offleash. Owner wouldn't want to risk losing dog or having it put down.

That being said, if it isn't a dog park, dogs should be on leashes, and I would have said, "if your dogs can't heel, they should be leashed."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog off leash and out of their yard I can understand, but what do you expect people to do when dogs rush to the fence when people walk by?

The dogs have a right to be off leash in their yard. You now know which streets to avoid with your precious little snowflake. Problem solved.

Ugh, OP already clarified, no need to get nasty (I know, I know, DCUM and all that).

Ugh. OP is afraid of little yappy dogs. I mean, really? For fuck's sake.

Anonymous wrote:If some dog comes running at me, unleashed, and gets in my space in an aggressive manner it will get kicked (esp if I am holding a baby). Keep your dogs away from people! Why do we have to deal with them?

Is there possibly one dog owner in this city that isn't aware of the leash laws? No. So if they are already inconsiderate enough to allow their dogs to roam around, they are the ones putting everyone's safety (random people and dogs) in jeopardy. Reminding some asshat that "We have leash laws for a reason" is only going to get you attitude back from said asshat.

This post is really quite frightening.

Essentially, you are saying that you feel you have the right to abuse any animal that you feel is in your "space" simply because of the existence of leash laws. Leash laws allow law enforcement to fine animal owners. They do not give you the right to commit acts of animal cruelty. And your question as to why we have to "deal with animals" is really quite astonishing, almost sociopathic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog off leash and out of their yard I can understand, but what do you expect people to do when dogs rush to the fence when people walk by?

The dogs have a right to be off leash in their yard. You now know which streets to avoid with your precious little snowflake. Problem solved.

Ugh, OP already clarified, no need to get nasty (I know, I know, DCUM and all that).

Anonymous wrote:Dog off leash and out of their yard I can understand, but what do you expect people to do when dogs rush to the fence when people walk by?

The dogs have a right to be off leash in their yard. You now know which streets to avoid with your precious little snowflake. Problem solved.