Out-of-control dogs: it’s best to act before the worst happens

We’ve all been there. We’re walking our well-behaved dogs when an uncontrolled lump of a canine charges at us, displaying body language indicative of wanting to blast us off the planet. Every district has one, usually accompanied by a useless handler intoning that it “only wants to play”, or revelling in the macho prospect of having a dog that makes other dog walkers fear injury.

Sometimes the dog has previous and has actually caused harm in the recent past, or has something of a reputation in the local area. It isn’t difficult for a human to be injured by being knocked into or over by a dog, and a good-tempered, well-trained dog can undergo trauma and become fearful or combative after being subjected to such an attack.

You don’t have to be a dog walker, either. I used to ride an ex-racehorse by permit in some woods and was once charged at by a banned breed of dog that wanted to take him on. Horses can be lethally quick to defend themselves, but the rider has to be able to sit on the result. Again, traumatising a previously dog-proof horse can have lingering repercussions. Most dog walkers are aware of this, behave responsibly and cause no trouble, but we all know with animals that it only takes one unhappy experience to colour their attitude forever.

What the law says about a dog dangerously out of control

Despite the law – and the long fingers of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (DDA), which covers dogs “dangerously out of control” in any place, public or private – there is often little recourse for the law-abiding citizen and well-behaved dog in the initial stages of any dispute. If the offending dog can be identified and located – and most of us are concentrating too hard on damage limitation to take names and addresses even if the owner of the offending dog is willing to part with such information – the dog warden may visit or send a letter.

But most people don’t like to make a fuss. A particular dog may be well known in a district, but not a lot seems to happen before someone, or their dog, gets injured. Being concerned that you might be injured appears to carry little weight.

Also, in close-knit communities, people can be reluctant to shop their neighbours, because we all have to live with each other, and damage is usually the result of incompetence or lack of awareness rather than malice. People can be genuinely of the opinion that their uncontrolled mutt “just wants to play” when it charges up to other dogs that have been minding their own business. Sustained attack can have a damaging effect on the temperament and social attitudes of nice-tempered, well-controlled dogs, which may feel they have to defend either themselves or their handlers when they meet dogs of this ilk.

Under the DDA, an offence is committed if a dog injures someone, or behaves in a way that makes someone fear injury, and a court could also decide a dog is dangerously out of control if it attacks someone’s animal.

The Dogs Act 1871 allows a complaint to a magistrates’ court by any individual or authority that a dog is “dangerous and not kept under proper control”. Breaking up a dog fight takes skill as well as nerve; a lot of information we come across on how to do this is dangerously inaccurate. Aside from physical injury – and we have to be careful not to get our delicate and vulnerable hands involved – the psychological impact of witnessing such an event can be profound.

Reading the body language of an approaching dog

Observing the body language of approaching dogs is very wise when we meet them out on walks. And essential to our own skill set is being able to recall our own dogs and take them out of fighting distance when observing an approaching mutt with a chip on its shoulder. It’s sad that we have to do this, but we can’t rely on other people to understand quickfire body-language signals that some dogs emit when approaching others. It’s about so much more than snarling mouths and raised hackles. Some dogs are so combative that they wag their tails when contemplating attacking another.

Jackie Drakeford is a working dog instructor and behaviourist with a special interest in lurchers and terriers.