A dog and owner you have never met before approach...

[KurtNYC]

what is the most reliable indicator that a dog will misbehave?

1) Owner is using a retractable leash or extra long leash
2) Owner has given dog a name like "Demon", "Hannibal," "Cujo" or similar
3) Owner has a cell phone pinned to their shoulder (with their head) and is yakking away and not paying much attention
4) other

Just curious about others' experiences. I walk 2 dogs in the city 4 times a day.

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. All are good.

For 4 I will say dog is leading owner and in an excited state. Owner is pulling ineffectively at leash or just allowing self to be pulled along.

[siligut]

2. The look on the dog's face

People can have an aggressive dog and they will just treat it like a spoiled child. They don't see other people or their pets as real or as important. Seriously, it is alarming how people can be so clueless. Look at the dog's face, that will tell you what to expect.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

3. If THIS is the owner.

Trust me on this one.

[pacalo]

6. I'm intrigued by the item you included in your post. Going to google it now.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

9. Here's a long thread on it.

This woman is a menace. Her dogs have bitten numerous people.

http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=16015&viewmode=flat

[pacalo]

10. Thank you for that. I couldn't find an article that included information

on the attack itself. I understand the dogs caused a grandmother to fall while holding her baby granddaughter in a park & the dog owners violated the muzzle law, but the circumstances tying those two facts together weren't addressed in the article. The grandmother had a skinned knee & the baby had a long scratch (?) across her cheek to her forehead. Just awful.

Thanks -- I'll check out the link.

Edited to add: I checked out your link & it was a totally different dog attack that I had read about. I had read about two South African Boerboels which I found using the info in your picture.

[Major Nikon]

4. #1

A dog kept on a short leash and walked regularly is much less likely to misbehave. Long and retractable leashes defeat much of the purpose of walking your dog in the first place. With my dogs, I barely have to hold on to the leash and they will stay right on my leg. Some people train their dogs to the extent that they don't need to use a leash at all and the dog will never leave their side.

[pacalo]

5. All of the above.

Dogs' behavior relies a lot on the owners' treatment of them, as well as the owners' sense of responsibility, common sense, & judgment.

[cliffordu]

7. Fucking miniature poodles. Ugly, horrid beasts on or off the leash.

I have ridden my bicycle across the country, down the west coast. All over Oregon and Washington.

The only time I've been bit was by a fucking miniature poodle ON THE BIKE PATH IN PORT TOWNSEND WASHINGTON....

Less than a mile from my home.

Chased by packs of dogs in southern Texas and Looosianaa and 'Bama.......

[TheCruces]

16. Where I live, the two most common stray dog breeds I encounter are Chihuahuas and Pit Bulls

I have never had an issue with stray pit bulls. I have had loose chihuahuas go after me numerous times.

[cliffordu]

20. Psychos one and all.

Glad they don't have guns...

[TheCruces]

24. LOL

[nadine_mn]

8. All of the above!

I have 2 large dogs - a black lab Chesapeake Bay retriever mix and a german shepherd - weighing at over 80lbs each. Both are rescues and the German shepherd has been poorly socialized (he went from his original home, to a rescue home, to my mom's home - she couldn't care for him - and then us, so he was 3 when we got him and had some bad habits).

Our shepherd is a wonderful dog. He is just too damn excitable when he sees other dogs - he has not learned how to approach other dogs in a calm manner, he is just full on energy which does not go over well.

Walking our dogs has been a lesson in responsible ownership. We used to have 4 dogs, walking all 4 at once, believe it or not, was easier than walking these 2 alone. The older 2 (also large - a collie mix and a black lab mix, also rescues) were much better socialized since we had them since they were puppies and radiated calm energy to the younger 2. Sadly the older 2 have since passed away and now the Chesapeake Bay (no spring chicken herself, now she is 11) feeds off the energy of the German Shepherd.

The leashes are shortened (I have them wrapped around my hands tightly) so they are walking close to my side, the shepherd wears a muzzle - which is intimidating to some, but is a responsible choice for me, he mouths when he greets - yes I know a dominance issue that we work on, and I feel more confident walking him knowing that he can't mouth another dog. To anyone who thinks mouthing is the same as biting - its not. German shepherds have a stronger bite force than pit bulls, if he bit a dog it would be ugly. He just mouths and slobbers all over them. This is not ok behaviour to new dogs who may not want a german shepherd to drool all over them.

They have my full 100% attention when we walk - I am correcting them, talking to them, training them, interacting with them our whole walk. I know that I have potential weapons on the end of my leash (that sounds so awful but its true) and I am also responisble for their safety which means protecting them from other dogs that lunge or run at them, looking out for glass on the walkways (grrr), making sure they don't eat nasty stuff they see, and making sure they come home safely.

Our walks are about a 1/2 hour, and we are all exhausted afterwards physically and mentally. I cannot imagine yapping on the phone - first, my hands are full, secondly my attention is on my dogs - anyone else can wait 30 minutes until I get home.

[HopeHoops]

11. If the dog pisses on the owner's leg and the owner doesn't notice, that's not good.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. If the *dog* is on a cell phone you've got big trouble.

[LNM]

13. Number 4. Unleashed dogs and clueless owners.

I walk daily on trails in a park and I always run into unleashed dogs. Twice they've charged me. I'm afraid of dogs and when I've screamed at the owners to leash them they look at me like I'm at fault. Assholes.

[Broderick]

14. When it bares it teeth and growls at me

[TheCruces]

15. Honestly, I think a retractable leash is automatically a sign the dog is owned by a idiot douchebag

And probably poorly trained.

[stevenleser]

18. Depends on where you live and how the dog lives.

In NYC, a retractable leash works well when you get into one of the parks in the early morning or late at night. It lets the dog roam around while keeping some level of control. There arent a lot of folks to bother at those times. Dogs are inside all the time and getting them to have some level of freedom and ability to run around is important.

The dog runs make this better when parks have them, but sometimes you cant get to one.

[TheCruces]

22. One of my major issues with retractable leashes is safety

Any decently sized dog can bust one. I get letting a dog run around, but honestly a long training lead is much safer.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Idiot douchebag checking in.

I like them because they let Jessie wander a little bit, when the coast is clear, and then bring her back in when there is a real or perceived threat. She is such an awesome dog that I wouldn't have to use a leash, but there's a law against that here.

[TheCruces]

23. Well, you know how to bring her back in

Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to grasp that concept.

When I was in an apt complex, I'd let Charlie off-leash because it was safe and she responded well. She's absolutely embarassingly over-protective aggressive on city walks, so she's on a regular leash. In the desert, she goes loose. The funny thing is, she's only "mean" when I'm around...and on walks. If you walked in my house, she'd love you forever...if you said hi to me on the street, she'd act like an asshole.

[elleng]

17. None of the above.

[MrCoffee]

21. It's a dog. All the indication you need.

[surrealAmerican]

25. None of those are good indicators (ignoring option 4, of course), but ...

... what they do indicate (in the case of options 1 and 3), is that if the dog is inclined to misbehave, the owner will not be doing much about it.

I walk two dogs in the city two or three times a day. I know dogs who will misbehave even though their owners are very responsible, and some that are good natured enough that, even if their owners weren't there, they wouldn't misbehave.

I can usually tell by my own dogs' reactions, if not by the body language of the other dog.

[rug]

26. The owner's wearing a flag pin.