Pitbull mix attacks 89 year-old woman near my home

[Sonya610]

I would say if you're afraid of it, avoid it if necessary and if it's making any sort of aggressive movements or sounds/gestures (hair on the back of the neck up, teeth bared, growling, etc) then back away. Using a soothing tone of voice and saying "good dog, nice dog" might sound stupid, but it has worked for me with strange dogs in the yard before. Don't run unless you have to.

Great advice. Fact is dog's have a strong genetic ability to read human body language and voice inflections. They can read us extremely well, and they developed the "bark" to communicate with us dumb humans that couldn't read THEIR natural body language. Acting fearful or erratic or dominant can trigger dominant/aggressive/fearful dogs into getting physical, they realize things are tense and something is about to happen so they pre-empt it with their own actions or they think you are initiating aggression by staring so they take you up on the offer.

Calm, friendly backing off will keep just about any canine from attacking you. They may keep barking/threatening you but they HEAR you if you speak to them gently and if you act in a quiet/non-threatening way.

If they are targeting the dog that you have with you the exact opposite applies. Be as aggressive as possible, be scary, yell, use body language, block physically, throw chairs or dash for gates, it isn't about you so become overwhelming alpha if possible. Dog/dog aggression issues are an entirely separate matter from dog on human aggression. Completely opposite approaches apply.

As far as the "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Milan goes....he uses intimidation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This video shows the dog giving "calming signals" to him saying "I don't want conflict"....dog is glancing sideways, licking lips, etc.... Cesar keeps pushing....Cesar is IGNORING the dog's signals and pushing on....challenging the dog with direct eye contact and no space...

Notice at 1:09 he is saying "you can see the relaxation" when the dog is glancing sideways to say "I don't want conflict" and he keeps moving in and BAM!

[video=youtube;9ihXq_WwiWM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ihXq_WwiWM[/video]

 

[Reality Orlando]

Thanks all for the advice. I appreciate the vids and how to's everyone posted up. I watched them all (wow, even Caesar got bit) and got several tips!