Too Dangerous to walk

My brother just came back from walking the dogs and yet again they had a near miss with a pit bull and a uneducated and nasty dog owner.
As the pit bull (puppy) lunged at my two the owner ripped it up by its choke chain onto its two back legs and nearly onto its back by the force. The dog yelped so the owner tried to drag it onto the ground into some sort of drop and went to punch it in the head until my brother shouted don't do that at which the owner shouted my dog will rip yours to shreds
Not sure if that was meant as a threat or so called explanation for his behaviour ? either way not happy.

Around my area there are several different owners with many different breeds of dog such as akitas, dobermans, german shepards and many other breeds of scary dog and the owner and the dogs are very unsocialised and really aggressive, sometimes even off lead.
We have come too close to being attacked on several occasions now and attacked twice, it scares me to death that one day one or both of my babies are going to be seriously hurt or worse from just a bit of exercise.

my mum or bro go armed with a jiffy lemon (juice) and a mobile but are unable to walk the dogs together due to our shifts. We have at times resorted to driving to other places to walk the dogs but don't always have the time especially in summer with the mosquitos (we have to avoid walking at certain times) and even then you don't know the other dogs around the area.
I can no longer walk the dogs as I have a panic attack just about all the way round and the Digby suffers with his muscles if we just play ball in the garden and its not very stimulating ???
My bro said he is nearly getting as fearful as me and is not all that comfortable walking them anymore I know he wont give up but I am a super hypocrite and feel bad expecting him to continue.

I am sorry I am just angry, sad, frustrated and the rest and needed to vent. Don't know what is best safety vs enjoyment/health benefits of exercise ?

This is a fairly common problem in some parts of Ireland too. I have two cavs and an 8 month old american akita and I make sure to keep them (the akita especially) on a lead at all times! I have no time for owners who let unsociable dogs run free and then beat them and swing out of them. I'm a firm believer that the owner is responsible for the dogs behaviour, as I said my akita is a big teddy bear but if someone attacked me or my girlfriend or broke into our house, he would mangle them as this is what you expect from his breed! This is why you need to take extra precautions with them. Do these "dangerous dogs" need to wear a muzzle when out in public by law? In dublin (not sure about other counties?) the only time they are allowed off the lead and without a muzzle is in your back garden. In an ideal world this would be the case but it's not. Responsible owners with good, well mannered dogs are the only ones that follow these laws whereas the skangers dont care and let their vicious dogs do as they please. I'm afraid I dont think you really have many options in your case. i know it's not ideal but you probably are going to have to walk the cavs elsewhere, away from all the un-sociable dogs. For their safety and your peace of mind it'd be healthier to walk them somewhere else. Sorry I couldnt be of any more help.

How scary for your brother and the dogs.

And that poor pitbull--I've met some lovely and charming pitbulls--it really is all in the breeding and socialization. Doesn't sound like that poor puppy has much of a chance.

Agree with what Adam is saying. I live in a smallish town in Ireland not a city and all the scum bags that go around with their pit bull's and staffies is terrible. None of them muzzled or on the proper length leads. This really makes me mad as even though they are breaking the law nothing is been done. A mate of mine had a visit from the dog warden awhile ago she got reported because of a cat hating neighbour he has birds, anyway she also has 2 lovely well behaved mixed breeds dogs who at the time were in her garden but they didnt have their collar and tags on as one of her dogs has a habit of chewing the collar of the other lad, she explained this to the warden showed him the collars and tags, they cant get out her garden its well secured, but he said the collar and tag have to be on 24/7. Guess what she got fined for both dogs.
Is it fair that there is one law for some and another for others. Dont get me wrong im not giving out about any of these breeds of dogs in the right hamds they are terrific dogs, its the scum bags that own them. Is the law afraid of people like these.
Sorry just these people really make my blood boil as it all comes down to these poor dogs.

That is incredibly dreadful, scary, and downright sad.

Is it legal to carry pepper spray where you live? You might try that to protect your precious pup.

How awful! Last week when I was walking the dogs in the park I met a young couple with two dogs (much bigger than ours) who they said were staffi-rotweiler crosses. Then they said that they were only 18 weeks old, but they were off the lead all the time. At first they approached our dogs carefully but it soon turned into a much more boisterous game so that Hermie almost climbed up to my arms and I had trouble holding Maija on her lead with these two chasing her round and round. The owners were sitting on a park bench and laughing! Luckily an elderly couple turned up and the lady picked Maija up, only then did the owners call the dogs back half heartedly, but the dogs didn't go, they still circled us for a long time. Hermie was so shaken I had to carry her a long way, and Maija almost ran all the way home. Oh dear, such nice people we have here.

I am so sorry to hear that you feel so scared that you can't leave your house without a panic attack! This is not how dog ownership should be

Here in the UK we too have our share of scary big dogs and scary owners too, in the house right next door to my daughters's school they have a massive Akita, he is downright nasty, last summer one of the other Mum's had the most gorgeous Chocolate Lab Called Charlie (& the chocolate factory), one day she was coming down to school with him and the Akita had been left out in the back garden, somehow he managed to get through the gate and attacked Charlie who was so soft he couldn't harm a fly! I and another Mum managed to get the Akita off poor Charlie and back in the run, the other mum knew the owners and rang them straight away, poor Charlie despite being so young, had a massive heart attack and passed over. My friend was totally distraught, she has vowed never to have another dog now but "borrows" some of mine from time to time, ironically as Charlie died from shock rather than from injuries from the actual attack the Akita was spared! :swear: My friend has also moved her children to another school as she finds it so disturbing going to the school now!!

Bad owners make bad dogs, I have met many a staffie,rottie and dobie who were so soft it's untrue, sometimes people buy these "tough" breed dogs to help make them look "tough", such a shame and such a waste!!

Thanks for the comments so far.
I just wanted to make it clear I never meant my comments to sledge any given dog breed, if it sounded like that I'm sorry. Hope it doesn't ?
I love all dogs and believe it is always the owner that either makes or breaks the dog. Even if a dog is through genetics etc aggressive it is still the owner that chooses to either raise/walk responsible or not. I realise this.
The dogs I listed are the stereotypical scary dogs and unfortunately the ones we have had incidents with to date, that is not to say I feel every dog of this breed is nasty but do s**t myself if I see one coming our way and I'm with the dogs.

Adam - I"m not sure about the dangerous dogs law here, I know they are supposed to wear a special collar to alert others but not sure about anything else ?

A large part of the problem here is this issue is not taken seriously, the local shire who employs our rangers really does not monitor these sort of things, or do patrols or anything they do not have the time or resources. The only way I could make a complaint is to have the person and the dogs street address and I am not about to follow an aggressive dog and their owner home if you know what I mean. I would probably need proof also which is hard, and I would be fearful of retribution to make a complaint more for my dogs than me but still.

I think we are just extremely unlucky.

It really is such a shame that you have to suffer because some people are just irresponsible! Unfortunatly I don't think things will ever change , there will always be someone who mistreats their dog and doesnt take the necessary precauions. Sorry if you thought I presumed that you were giving out about certain breeds, that wasnt the case at all...I was just saying that I have an akita and he's lovely and friends of mine have a german shepard who wouldnt harm a fly, I was just highlighting the fact that it's the owners, not the dogs that are too blame. I also dont blame you not wanting to follow some scumbag home to get his address for fear of retribution...in most cases they'll get off free anyway and just torment you. It's awful that its after getting so bad that you have to walk elsewhere but on the plus side think of the peace of mind you'll have! Plus you can be really bold and let the dogs off the lead for a run around if theres no one around. I know I do in a forest near my house because theres never anyone in it so i dont have to worry about Loki scaring the living daylights out of someone!

That's such a sad situation you're in, luvzcavs. I guess I take it for granted that I'm always able to walk Sasha.... there's only one (very large!) dog who's sometimes off-leash and wanders off his property, but if we keep walking straight ahead he leaves us alone.

In fact, I lament the fact that there aren't more neighborhood dogs to walk with/socialize with. I love to walk with Sasha every day. Most of my neighbors have "indoor dogs" and just let them out in their own yards. I do have one neighbor we walk with; they have an adorable Havanese. He's Sasha's best friend.

My advice to you would be to find a nicer place to walk your dogs, even if you have to drive there. That's pretty inconvenient, but it seems like you don't have many other options. You're likely not going to change the situation you're in, in my opinion.

That is rediculous and no wonder you are angry, especially when there is so much neglect and cruelty going on which appears to go largely ignored. I don't quite get what the idea of having a collar and tag on in the garden is about, or have I misinterpreted what you said? The man with the birds sounds as though he needs to get out more!