fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2999 ]

[ SECRET POST #2999 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2999 ⌋

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I'm a cat person (I'm actually the anon who has a terrible fear of dogs off-leash), but my neighborhood is populated by dogs. Lately I've been biking around the neighborhood for exercise, and I'm tired of getting barked at by dogs -- some in a lazy way, some in a pretty damn scary, snarly way. I was thinking about starting to carry treats with me (my friend suggested pieces of mild beef jerky since I can't know if any of the dogs have allergies to the stuff in regular dog treats), but now I'm wondering...

If I toss a treat to a dog that's barking and growling at me, am I just encouraging it to bark more every time it sees me? The dogs that yap while wagging their tales I'm pretty sure will stop barking after a few treats, but a couple of the really mean ones seem super determined to kill me. Seriously there was this one I think might have been racist, the way it was hurling itself against the gate to try and get me.

Also, I know not to be silly enough to get within biting distance, but how do I give out the treat so the dog knows it's from me? Because tossing it over the fence seems rude and might not get the message across. My friend who told me to use beef jerky said to cut it into playing-card-sized pieces, so do I hold one end and carefully push it through the slats and chinks in the gates? Or is that too dangerous?

Any other tips and tricks for making friends with dogs would be deeply appreciated!

I'm not a dog person, but from my experience with other animals, this doesn't sound like a good idea at all. You don't feed other people's pets. That's just not done. And it is potentially dangerous for them - there are more possible issues than just allergies.

Now, I'd understand you if you were cycling in an area where dogs roam free (which I'm unfortunate enough to have been doing for many years). But if they're all behind fences? Just get used to the barking.

Don't feed other peoples' pets without their permission, full stop.

This.

Yep. This applies to cats, dogs, birds, turtles, fish. Just don't do it.

Before you try to deal with the dogs you actually should be talking to your neighbors first.

Especially if there are any dogs where their behavior would be a cause for concern.

I'm no dog expert, but I would say that giving treats would be a bad idea as treats are often used as a reward. By giving the dogs treats would seem to me that you were encouraging a behaviour, in this case barking and growling.

There's not much you can do since you're not seeing the dogs regularly. The best way to get dogs to stop barking at people is to have everyone they meet ignore them until they calm down and can greet them properly. I've worked with several dog trainers who made that work well. But if the owners aren't doing their part to keep them from barking at everyone then that's that. The best thing you can do is ignore them. Most kinds of attention act as positive reinforcement for dogs.

Yeah, if you carry "distraction" treats with you, then you are educating the dogs to come to you. Actually, no scratch that. If dogs come up barking and snarly, and you toss them treats, then they are training you to feed them. Neither case is training them to not be barky and snarly.

For the really scary ones, depending on your jurisdiction, you could try calling animal control or the cops. In a lot of places, just because a dog is on private property does mean it is supposed to behave like that and they can give its owner a citation or even remove the animal for retraining. Otherwise, just learn to ignore them, or speak softly to them. Remember, dogs use barking for a lot of different things, so some of them are just wanting to say hello and even the scary ones might just be saying you are scaring them. Acknowledge those dogs with soft, but upbeat tones of voice, and it'll help.

Maybe get one of those "how to talk to dogs" books. Think what a human out cycling looks like to a dog, it is a really fast and big (most dogs don't mentally process length or width in the same way they process height) predator that makes a weird noise.

Yes to the last paragraph.

My dog reacts to school backpacks with wheels like they are some sort of weird noise-making animal. Same with strollers.

Never feed someone else's dog without permission. You have no idea what that dog's diet is or what kind of health issues they have, and feeding them something they're not used to can make them vomit and/or have diarrhea. My own dog has wonky kidneys, and giving her too much protein is very, very bad.

Honestly, you just need to get used to the barking. It's what they do.

Yeah, I'm kind of doubting that the dog was a racist. Some people just raise their dogs to be very aggressive

Dude, it was a joke.

Was it in Rhode island? I hear there is at least one real bad racist dog there.

My friend's cat is racist. No lie. She mostly runs away from people or disdains them, but there were two times she freaked out and hissed and tried to scratch someone: one delivery guy, and one repairman. My friends have all kinds of people over, including other delivery guys and repairmen, and the only time she did it was those guys, and the only thing they had in common is that they were Asian (and the only Asian strangers they've ever had over).

...I mean I realize it's probably something else, like how they smelled or something, but it's fun to rib my buddy about his racist cat ;p

Re: Dog People of F!S

(Anonymous) - 2015-03-21 22:06 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Dog People of F!S

(Anonymous) - 2015-03-21 22:27 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Dog People of F!S

herpymcderp - 2015-03-21 22:56 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Dog People of F!S

(Anonymous) - 2015-03-22 00:22 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Dog People of F!S

(Anonymous) - 2015-03-22 01:14 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Dog People of F!S

caerbannog - 2015-03-22 00:34 (UTC) - Expand

I'm going to echo what everyone else has said - you really shouldn't be feeding other people's pets, and it's unlikely to fix the problem. It might even make things worse, if the owner catches you at it.

Would it be possible to plan a biking route that avoids the scariest dogs' houses? Would it be safe for you to listen to music, so the noise is covered up? I think those would be more effective solutions than trying to change the behaviour of a bunch of strange dogs.

They're probably just barking at you because you're passing by. You're there! They bark! And you go away! It's so exciting! Feeding them would not help.

If the dogs are coming right up to you, talk to the owners. They need to stop that. If the dogs are staying in their yards, try to ignore them.

Re: Dog People of F!S

flipthefrog.livejournal.com - 2015-03-21 21:51 (UTC) - Expand

Don't feed other peoples' pets.

Dog behaviour is really not hard to read. Learning to recognize behavioural cues will make you a lot more confident about which animals to avoid.

If you have a stiff tail (often pointed upward), ears pointed straight forward and up like they're perked, and the dog is barking in a low, loud, steady cadence those are signals of aggression. Those are dogs you want to give a wide berth to because they're basically saying "stay out of my yard or I'll fight you".

If you have ears flat back to the head, a tail that is held low or between the legs, baring teeth and a higher pitched and more frantic bark that dog is a scared dog. You don't have to be worried about this one running out to bite you, but the message is still to stay away.

If the dog's ears are held at a medium relaxed position with the tail at a medium level (and possibly wagging) and the barking sounds rapid or especially high-pitched with yips thrown in, that's just a curious/excited dog responding to a newcomer to its environment.

The good news is in almost all of these cases the barking will stop after the dogs see you ride by a few times and realize you're not trying to enter the yard. Some especially territorial animals might continue to make your presence known to the neighbourhood, but just continuing your routine should make most of the barking stop eventually.

I especially suggest looking up tail and ear charts for dog emotions. Even a cursory look on google images should turn up a few good resources.

Besides what everyone else already said, there is another unsavory consequence of feeding them:

They get used to the idea that things strangers give them are safe and okay to eat.

If some heartless jerk later tries to poison them...

My dog barks at anyone who comes by on the sidewalk below our yard. She'll even run down to the sidewalk sometimes (if i didn't have her leash on, which i almost never so). Here's the thing. She doesn't attack, she's just saying 'my house, my house, my house!'

If the person utterly ignores her, she stops and comes away. Basically, staring at a dog = aggression to a dog, so if you're cycling by, and the dog is barking, simply ignore it. Only if it runs up to you/after you (and there's no fence between you) should you talk to the owner and say 'hey, could you not let your dog run after me'.

Otherwise - normal dog stuff, just zoom on by.

Echoing not feeding other people's pets. Especially with beef jerky, as it often is seasoned with onion, which is very harmful to dogs. And every dog will respond differently to being fed a treat, but it's rarely going to get quiet. If you want to make friends/acquaintances with a dog, talk to the owner. The owner being there will make the dog more calm and receptive, and the owner will know how his dog responds. That presupposes a good owner, but most are.

If there are nicer, but still loud, dogs, and the owner is alright with it, petting is far better at getting an animal to like you. Get down on your knees (so you don't look so big), let it sniff you, and let the dog take the lead in contact.

Dogs bark for several reasons. Sometimes it means "get the hell off my lawn", but it's normally just saying "Hey! There's someone there! I see you!", so most dogs won't actually be threatened/threatening unless you provoke it. Bad owners, of course, make the dog easy to provoke.

If a dog is growling at you, walk calmly but quickly away. Don't run. Don't change your pace unless you were going really slow. You don't want to raise it's chasing instincts, but you also want to show it that you're leaving it's territory.

I'm going to second an anon's advice and tell you to read up on dog body language so you can better recognize which dogs feel threatened, which one's just look alert, etc. It'll give you some surety and you can make better decisions in how to respond.

Sorry to say this, but your fear may be setting them off.

Try to stay calm and get help to overcome that fear, because as long as you're nervous around dogs they'll keep reacting to that and bark to you.

Also, do not feed them. Never.

Don't feed them. And I think you may be letting your fear of dogs cloud your judgment.

Really don't feed other dogs. Dangerous for both sides and would likely reinforce the barking.

Instead, maybe stand outside with the bike and let the dog calm down THEN leave - hopefully dog will realise that being quiet gets you to "go away" and not that barking does.

It won't work for all dogs, we've got some shocking dogs around here.

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