Neighborhood dog stressing Ronin out

[twobadfish]

There is this big black lab that is usually laying in the same spot in a yard near the trail we run at. He is there every time. He usually barks and once has started walking over towards us but today was the first time he made contact with us.

I'm cruising along on my bike and Ronin trotting along next to me. I hear the black lab barking and turn around and he's still laying in the grass. A few moments later Ronin starts pulling on his lead and I turn around and this black lab is running beside us. Ronin was freaking out and trying to face the dog and the whole time I'm thinking I'm going to have to get off my bike and fight this dog.

I kept Ronin running and the lab finally pulls back after about 7 seconds. The lab is in good shape, coat looks great, and is probably a few pounds overweight. He has a collar and from what I could tell he isn't aggressive and was just curious.

The question is how should I handle this? I can't have a 60-70lb lab chasing us every time we go on a run and if a fight breaks out, it will end very badly for the lab. Should I try to find the owner and confront them or just call animal control?

 

[DogKisses]

Knock on the door and nicely tell the owners that their dog chases you.

 

[Brattina88]

IF you can't find the owner, I'd deff call AC!

 

[Danefied]

I'll say again, I really think you need to re-consider the amount of stress you're putting this dog through. He is a rescue that you have had less than a month. He still has physical healing to do, let alone the mental aspect.

Do you have much experience with adult rescues? Do you have a mentor or trainer who does who can help you through the process? Are you aware of the "honeymoon period" that ALL rescues go through and how to handle the possible bumps at the other end of that?

Right now your focus with this dog is getting him physically healthy (at a healthy weight and I'd also get some bloodwork done if that hasn't been done already). And mentally, showing him that you will make choices for him that benefit him so he can begin building his trust in you. One bad incident during this delicate trust building stage could quite literally ruin this dog. What if he had pulled you off the bike, you crash into/onto him and on top of that he and the lab get in to a fight? That would be hard for a stable dog to recover from, let alone one who is still teetering in the uncertainty of a new home.

Just something to think about.

 

[twobadfish]

Thanks Danefied. This is my first rescue but I did read a little about the honeymoon period and even without that I had imagined that it would take some time for him to realize

1) This is his permanent home
2) He can trust me not to harm him nor abandon him
3) We WILL do fun things together
4) I love him
5) We are a team

I'd say the real Ronin got here sometime last week. And since my humping thread I've decided to stop taking him to the dog park (unless it's empty).

We had another run-in with the dog today and like you said, he almost caused a crash (however my ninja skills prevented that despite my rear wheel being locked up and Ronin pulling on the leash). We were cruising along around 15mph when the dog runs in front of my bike to get to Ronin. Other than being a little cautious Ronin didn't seem very interested in the dog. I let them meet while I stood there ready to drop the leash and accost the lab with my bike (if he displayed signs of aggression). The lab wasn't acting aggressive but he was VERY guarded.

While they were meeting I got the info from the dog tag and contacted animal control then the dog's owner. He was very apologetic and attributed his dog's roaming to his 1 of his 4 kids letting him out. I did let him know that I contact AC and he agreed that he would have done the same thing and really appreciated the call.

Hopefully this will be out last run-in.