German Shepherd Dog Walker Sunday 7:30am

Two joggers out this morning (I was one) passed a young (high school?) girl walking a German Shepherd along Claiborne Parkway near Vestals Gap, and the dog bit my friend on the leg! Just nipped her as we passed. Of course my friend said "hey, your dog just bit me!" but the girl and her dog kept going. If that's your dog, you should consider a muzzle. The bite didn't break skin, but that behavior is cause for concern when you're walking your dog on public paths. Might be a worse bite next time.

 

I have a large German Shepherd and live in that general area. When I'm out on the path, I always try to make extra room for joggers coming toward me. Some dogs may feel threatened with a stranger running toward. Your friend might want to give large dogs a little extra space just to be on the safe side - I wouldn't worry too much about the toy poodles. I'm sure the dog in question could do more than a nip if necessary, so consider the nip as a close proximity warning from an animal protecting their master.

 

How pompous. I'd consider it a lawsuit against an owner not properly restraining thier animal.

 

Joggers need to be aware - dogs do feel threatened when they see people RUNNING toward them and their masters!!!!! And especially german shepards are very protective. I'm a dog owner and when I see joggers running towards us - I stop and keep my dog right at my side - tight. However, joggers need to be alert to this as well. Also - joggers need to make an audible sound when they are coming from behind, I've been caught off guard several times when joggers just come up from behind and startle me and my dog. Please be considerate to other people.

 

Tyger and Glock - It sounds like you're saying the burden is on the jogger to be aware that dogs on the path may bite them. I see your point that we should take extra care around dogs. Legally though, I think the burden is on the dog owner to make sure their dog doesn't bite someone. If your dog is a guard-type one that feels threatened by people who are using the public paths...is a muzzle not a reasonable solution?

 

I agree brim, some joggers are very pompous.

Too bad the dog would not be allowed to testify in court - A simple case of self defense.

Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County- Chapter 612:
No animal which, at the time of the acts complained of, was responding to pain or injury, or was protecting itself, its kennel, its offspring, or its owner or owner's property, shall be found to be a dangerous dog or a vicious dog.

 

This all sounds so familiar...

I posted a message last year about 3 cats that attacked my wife and dog as they walked along a trail. I was able to track down the owner with little effort and we came to resolution.

However, Loudoun takes this sort of thing very seriously. An animal control officer was called (by the county) to the cat owner's house and the animals were ordered to be quarantined for 10 days.

Also, my sister's German Shepherd escaped from her yard near Leesburg this year and scared one of the neighbors--not bit, just scared--and the sheriff's department issued my sister a warning: one more report and the dog would be confiscated. She gave the dog to a good home rather than deal with the law again.

My recommendation: find out where the dog lives and speak with the owner. My guess is that if you approach them in a non-confrontational manner, they will actually appreciate knowing their dog has a problem (or that the teenager can't be trusted to walk the dog).

Robzilla
"Whoa no. There goes Tokyo."

 

What I'm saying is that BOTH joggers and dog owners need to be aware. I have a very docile mixed breed dog, however, she gets upset seeing people running at her. My dog is not a guard type dog, nor is she a big dog.....MOST dogs feel threatened by people RUNNING toward them - not just using the path. I'm speaking to joggers, not people walking on the path. That's no problem, it's the joggers. As a side note - I see people with LARGE dogs and oh my - they're on retractable leashes - I'm just waiting for them to snap - their owners have no control on these dogs at all and they should be banned.

 

According to animal control, any dog in this county that bites someone, will be put to sleep. If you can't contain your dog, you need to walk him late at night when nobody is around, so the dog isn't a threat to joggers. People who can't control thier dogs SHOULDN'T HAVE DOGS!! I have a large dog and am in complete control of him at all times. When I spot someone else on the path, I go out of my way to move away, and hold the dog until the person passes. Not everyone likes dogs, and I respect that.

 

Some of the comments like "People who can't control their dogs SHOULDN'T HAVE DOGS!!" show a bit of ignorance in my opinion. Yes, people that have aggressive dogs should take great care when walking them as others approach (kids, walkers, joggers, etc.), but only walk them late at night? Come on.

Many dogs may never seem aggressive until threatened like when someone runs towards them or coming up from behind. Especially if you get a dog that is older than a young puppy you may not know the complete history of that dog, especially if they are rescued from an abusive situation. We have four dogs, all of whom are rescues. One of them is 50 lbs and a very, very sweet dog, but was given up by his owner because of one instance of lunging at a boy that was taunting him. Luckily we knew this and are able to use caution when trying to introduce him to others and keep him out of situations where he might have something like that happen again. However, if we did not know this he would seem like the most harmless dog in the world and we might know he was aggressive in certain situations until it is too late.

You also have to realize that many people you see with dogs may be new dog owners and you don't just learn how to care for and train one overnight. It takes time, patience and experience to be able to train and properly control dogs, especially the larger ones. Some basic caution by both the joggers/walkers passing and approaching dogs and the dog walkers can go a long way to making sure incidents like this do not happen.

 

My comment was NOT IGNORANT, it was based on actually experiencing an attack from a dog (completely unprovoked) in this neighborhood, by someone who could not handle their dog.

 

One thing to think about, its a dog, an animal. You can't rationalize with it, you can't explain the situation to it, you can get an explanation from it. You say it was unprovoked, from your side, maybe the dog felt threatend for some strange reason. Its a dog, sometimes you never know why they do things. Maybe the attack was the first time for the dog, you never know ( maybe you found out.). All I can say is, I had a very big dog, he was big but very very docile. He got ill, started to act a little out of character, and I had to be more careful. It was actually his out of character behavior that alerted me to him being ill. You are right, people need to be able to control their dogs, but don't forget, it is an animal, and may sometimes repsond differently than it ever has before.

 

Remember - this wasn't a vicious attack - the jogger was nipped at, no broken skin. I tend to think the dog walker didn't realize what happened, however, the jogger who got nipped should have gone up to her to talk to her instead of yelling. What about people with aggressive dogs who lung at other dogs. My husband and I were out walking our dog when this woman came walking out of the tunnel underneath Claiborne and these two dogs were way ahead of her(yes - they had retractable leashes) and lunged at our dog (double teamed him actually) and then knocked my poor husband over and down a ravine. This woman never said a word, apology or anything. She acted like it was our fault for being on the path. Fortunately, my husband and dog were ok, but nonetheless, she definitely didn't have control over her TWO dogs.

 

The bottom line is, I believe, anyone with a pet has to be in control of that pet at all times when in a public setting. Yes, joggers maybe should be careful as they approach an animal, but the onus is on the owner. I have been lunged at by large dogs while walking (not jogging)and even giving a wide berth. Some owners are more competent than others at keeping their pet in line. But I would say, owners beware. Keep your pets under control. The law in this county is pretty specific and straightforward.

 

I appauld you. I wish all dog owners were this considerate.

 

My friend did not yell in an angry way, just called to her in a surprised voice. It happened so fast. What had us really astonished, was that the girl didn't respond in any way - no sorry, no are you ok, no nothin. And we were definitely not acting hostile or pompous at all. We were really just shocked. This girl either wasn't paying attention enough to notice her dog just bit someone, or was to embarassed/uncaring to show a little concern.

We didn't feel safe going up to talk to her. Considering her dog just bit, and since she was walking away we'd have had to run up to her from behind, we'd most likely just be giving the dog another chance to bite. So I didn't think we had any recourse other than to post here and hopefully alert the owners to what happened. And I guess inform joggers to be very careful around there.

 

If someone can't operate a retractable leash how in the world can they control a dog? It's up to the dog walker, not the jogger, to be alert to what's going on around them. If you don't know your dog, you should always be cautious of a situation that might surprise or threaten your dog. People are a little higher up on the food chain than a canine is....use a little common sense.

 

At least this dog was on a leash. I notice on many occassion when the dog owner lets his / her dog run around the bike path without a leash. When I slow down to ask the dog owner to keep the dog near, they reply " he/she is friendly. He/ She would hurt a fly " ( but they might bite you !! ) Common area is for everyone to use in a community setting ... dog owner / joggers / bikers with everyone being courteous to each other.

 

Oh, I see what you did...you took what I said and turned it around to make it look like something else! Boy, you sure got me!

Ass.

 

FWIW ... County law says that a dog must be under control of its master AT ALL TIMES.

It doesn't say that he dog can run loose with the master 10 feet behind. I'm sorry, take the dog to a field somewhere without people jogging, walking, biking.

It means ON A LEASH ... !! As has been mentioned elsewhere, retractable leashes are not considered as being under control, as you must be able to pull a dog back quickly. I see alot of these retractible leashes allowing a dog to be 8 to 12 feet infront of the owner.

There is no way you can pull on a retractable leash in time to get your dog under control at that length of lead. Any dog trainer will tell you an 6 to 8 foot SOLID leash is ideal, anything longer is asking for trouble.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999