Outnumbered

I had a new experience yesterday. As the school's out I took Mia up to the local playing fields for a run around. She had a lovely time chasing the ball, eating the cut grass etc.

On our way back I spotted a woman at one of the houses next to the field with four sheepdogs. I thought she was going into her house but as I got closer it looked like she was getting ready for a run. There's only one gap in the fence so I tried to get off the field before the dogs spotted each other, but didn't quite make it.

I put Mia on the lead and got right against the fence, hoping the four dogs would sprint past and not spot us but of course they did and all came running over, full of beans as you'd expect at the beginning of a run.

Mia tried to run away (she has zero dog aggression) but was on the lead, then she had a small tussle with one before coming back to me and sitting between my legs. Their owner obviously hadn't spotted us previously but immediately called them away, apologised, checked Mia was ok and carried on with the dogs in tow.

So no harm done but what's the general feeling on how to react if your dog is outnumbered like that? She was scared at first but calmed down surprisingly quickly, so I suspect I did the right thing but are you better off letting go of the lead so she can run away / protect herself if necessary, or are you better off just getting away asap?

I think in that situation & every situation in fact I tend to keep calm & carry on as normal because the minute you give off a unsure/nervous vibe your dog will pick that up off you. Always keep you & your dog calm submissive & the dog/s approaching you should not feel threatened. Well thats my approach anyway

I agree with Thomo, Moo is off lead so if dogs approach tbh she kinda ignores them unless they initiate play

Don't really get that issue here but I guess it would be dependant on the other dogs body language.

funny im the same as the others about given off positive vibes when other dogs around and memphis on lead.
but also had a run in with a pack (three)sheep dog when memphis was a pup (so were they)and they ganged up on him in puppy classes so now even to this day he a bit on edge around them.
sheep dogs have a snappy trait to them due to how they herd sheep so rough play looks like attacking when its not so not as much chance of injuring other dog but still can afect the way your dog reacts around them in future

Thomos 2 wrote:I think in that situation & every situation in fact I tend to keep calm & carry on as normal because the minute you give off a unsure/nervous vibe your dog will pick that up off you. Always keep you & your dog calm submissive & the dog/s approaching you should not feel threatened. Well thats my approach anyway

I think you have it spot on here, if you remain calm your dog will too. They certainly do pick up on it if you are nervous and this will be transfered down the lead.

The link below may help with spotting a dogs body language:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

Keep calm, and under no circumstances let your dog go. I have to play the stereotype here but if you let your lead go and your dog defends itself, IT will be the one blamed no matter who says that it was 3 against 1. Your dog would do a lot more damage and be a lot harder to get back under control than a collie, so at least if you have your dog on a lead you can say you were in control. If a real bad fight broke out, the best thing to do is take your jumper off and try to get it around your dog to protect it from any more bites until the other owners get there.

This happens to Saf quite regularly lol. There's packs of big dogs round my way.

What I do when I spot them, is wave to the owner so they know I'm there and usually they will leash up any boisterous dogs they have.

If not I don't avoid them, I just walk closer to the owner, just incase. Avoiding is futile, they have four legs.

I usually don't feel anxious in these situations so I just let the dogs greet Saffy. But I have to say she's very dog confident and will just take it in her stride. As do I lol.

And don't forget you can reprimand other people's dogs! If they are getting in my dogs face then I have no problem what so ever with telling them off myself if the owners useless.

The worst culprits for this round here are boxers, lab puppies and jrt's.

Remain calm and claim your space aound you and your dog. Dont pull your dog up on the lead as this will heighten any anxiety he might have. If the body language of the approaching dogs does not indicate otherwise, simply being calm and letting the dogs all greet each other does the trick.