5 Non-Violent Tricks to Deal with Stray Dogs

Stray dogs are so prevalent throughout the world that sooner or later, you’ll come face to face with a stray or two. 99% of the time strays will avoid confrontation with humans, but from time to time a dog might act confrontational, which can lead to a harrowing experience if you’re not familiar with dog behavior.

This happened to me a few times, especially in Thailand where most people are kind to strays and urban dog packs can thrive. These encounters led me to research this article. Foremost in my mind was finding a way to avoid confrontation without harming the dogs. Many people who offered advice suggested I run at them screaming or use mace. I may not be a fan of the dogs who bark at me, but I see no reason to harm an animal, especially when I’m the foreign intruder on their home turf.

Here are the results of my research, which I’ve applied successfully a few times.

1. Stay calm and walk away. Don’t run.

This is the simplest, most important thing to remember. If a stray dog is barking at you from a distance, it’s most likely warning you to stay off its territory. It will stand at the edge of its territory and bark to warn you against entering it. As long as you remain calm and walk away from the dog, you should have no problem.

Cesar of The Dog Whisperer explains it better than I can.

(Caveat: I know that Cesar Millan’s approach to dogs is highly problematic, but the video offers sensible advice on reading stray dog behavior.)

Whatever you do, do not run away; dogs are likely to instinctively give chase, and there’s no way you’ll outrun them on a short sprint. This is the reason you see dogs chasing cars and motorbikes, not to mention, much to my annoyance, runners. Dogs who run you down are likely to bite your legs to make you stop.

For my fellow runners out there, be wary of dogs chasing you while you run. Dogs who are unused to runners might think you’re fleeing and might instinctively run you down. The only trick I’ve found is to stop and walk, then start running again when you’re further away. Sucks for your pace, but it beats a bite in the calf.

2. Avoid confrontation with packs.

While you can always bluster your way through an encounter with a lone dog, dog packs are bad news. The dogs’ confidence is multiplied when they have their buddies around, and they know real well how to coordinate to take a threat down. What’s worse, dog packs don’t always signal their aggressive intent by barking; I’ve seen dogs in pack quietly flank a perceived threat without a sound.

If a dog pack is just lying about sleeping or acting friendly, you’re most likely OK. But trust your instincts on this; if a pack feels threatening even if no one is barking, don’t chance it. Walk away and find another way around even if it’s a long one.

An interesting note on dog behavior is that a dog who wags its tail is not necessarily friendly. Dogs wag their tail when they’re excited, and a dog who’s about to bite you will definitely feel excitement at the upcoming confrontation. As a matter of fact, many barking dogs wag their tails even though it’s clear they’re not being friendly.

3. Send calming signals.

This was the biggest “gotcha” for me as I learned about dog behavior. There are simple ways you can signal to a dog that you have peaceful intent. By performing these, you’re telling the dog that you mean it no harm, and you’ll avoid triggering its aggression. Remember that the majority of lone dogs are afraid of humans. By telling them in their own language that you’re not here to attack them, they’re likely to back down.

Some useful calming signals I often use:

  • Yawning;
  • Licking your lips;
  • Avoiding eye contact;
  • Standing sideways to the dog;
  • Letting them approach and sniff you (but don’t raise your hand; they might be surprised and bite).
Likewise, avoid acting dominant with dogs. This goes against the suggestion of many people, but just like with humans, if you escalate aggression, there’s always a risk that the other will follow suit. Remember, the goal here is to get away unscathed, not prove you’re more dominant than some stray.

Some aggressive behaviors to avoid:

  • Staring them down;
  • Yelling;
  • Flailing your arms;
  • Walking or running towards them.

Here’s a great video on the topic of calming signals:

4. Ask locals for help.

Locals are a great help when dealing with stray dogs. As a matter of fact, you’re unlikely to have any real trouble as long as locals are nearby. The dogs will know them, and the people will know how to deal with the local strays. I’ve had a few hairy encounters with dogs in Thai temples (where whole packs thrive on the monks’ generosity), and monks saved my hide a few times. If no locals are around and you don’t know what to do to avoid injury, just yell for help.

5. Feign picking up rocks.

Having cautioned you against aggressive behavior, let me now recommend something which the dogs will assuredly perceive as an aggression. Use this as a last resort if the above fails. Crouch and feign picking up a small rock. For some reason, this is a gesture that dogs all around the world have learned to recognize as a source of impending pain, which unfortunately says a lot about the abuse they often receive.

I’ve never had to use this one since I’ve learned about calming signals. But before I knew how to defuse a situation, I had to resort to this trick a few times, and it worked every time. It did make the dogs more aggressive, but they kept a respectful distance.

What to do if you get attacked?

If a dog attack looks unavoidable, use an object–a backpack, a stick, even your shirt wrapped around your forearm if time allows–to fend off an attack. Don’t try to hit the dog as it is likely to dodge and move within range. If attacked, use your forearm to shield your head and face at all costs. To escape the area, walk backwards from the attacking dog, looking at the dog indirectly.

After the encounter, get to a hospital as quickly as you can. If your rabies shots are not up to date, you’ll need to get a shot because many stray dogs carry rabies, which can be deadly. You’ll also need those bites treated against infection.

Mind you, if you do the above, a direct, physical confrontation is unlikely. It sure never happened to me, but truth be told, there have been times I have been worried it might.

Have you had encounters with stray dogs? Do you have advice on how to deal with strays? Please leave a comment below!

(Featured image source)

About Daniel Roy

Daniel is a writer, backpack foodie, slow traveler, and endurance runner. He is the author of the upcoming book, "The Way of Slow Travel: A Hands-On Guide to the Best Travel of Your Life."

126 comments

  1. Will definitely share this with my husband dogs are his biggest enemies walking around the way we do you run into a lot of them 🙂

  2. I have never been afraid of dogs, and in fact love them, and all animals. I travel frequently and have spent a lot of time in Santa Marta, Colombia. I had spent months there the year before and loved the strays and even named the ones near our apartment. Last year I returned and had an incident. Near a secluded beach I was walking back to the car with a friend when a pack of 4 dogs who had been there before and were seemingly docile, awoke and became aggressive. My friend made it out ahead of me but for some reason the pack got territorial and started to become aggressive. I stayed calm and did all of the right things but they were agitated. Barking and lunging, I ended up getting bitten on my left leg multiple times by 2 of the 4. The bites were bad but not terrible. I started yelling for help to a couple of guys down the road. They shouted and the dogs stopped. They helped me scrub the bite wounds with a bar of soap and a bucket of water, which helps stop infection spread. Went to the hospital and got rabies vaccine and antibiotic. Opted out of stitches and went with butterfly sutures. I’ve heard this help from trapping infection if the wound isn’t gaping.

    I’m not nervous so much of dogs here in the States, but when traveling I’m cautious with strays, especially in packs.
    My learning lesson was, stay calm, don’t threaten, and even if you get bitten, you can get treatment and end up with a few scars. If possible, scrub with soap and water ASAP and head to the clinic or hospital. Trust locals to help. Lastly, the whole thing lasted maybe 45 seconds but I’ve been trying to get past it for over a year. Don’t hate dogs, just realize their behaviors and be cautious when traveling. But for no reason let them stop you from your adventures!

    • Wow, that must have been a scary experience indeed. Thanks for sharing your story and advice.

      • Yes, here in Isan rural community my Thai family won’t even let me walk to the temple alone, afraid I may be attacked by territorial dogs or people on YABA. I feel as if I am in prison while visiting, as I try to cooperate with my friends…

    • I have the identical story. Literally identical. I’m trying really hard not to chicken out of travelling this year but the thought of the dogs is giving me real anxiety we will see.

      • How can I prevent dogs from entering my village? This question is might unstated I guess. But can u guys give me some tips ? Because every midnight one or 2 cats will be their victims . I saw the scene today .. A group of stray dogs plus puppies was biting the one cat On every angle of the cat and it happened to my cat before. Which was a trauma for me. So anyone might giving me a suggestion? . Really need help

    • ha ha… Pls come once India n travel Indian streets in night time n I guess u ll change this comment here…

      • Aditya Singh Tomar

        Hey mate I am from India and I used to pet and feed a stray dog on regular basis and he was very nice , often followed me from my car to to my doorstep and on my morning walks . One night I went to feed him his ( favourite ) chicken but instead it showed no interest in it and gradually moved towards me ., I remained calm and strived to pet him ( without fear as I knew and trusted him for years ) as I slowly retreated back ., But it grabbed my thighs and as I tried to unlock it’s jaws it got hold of my forearm and was shaking its head vehemently and was determined to not let go but I managed to get a stone somehow and hit him with it ., He ran but decided to come back but I threw the stone at him and with a mixture of a howl and bark , he finally went off.

  3. This is a really interesting entry. I’m not really scared of dogs, but when there is a risk of rabies it’s quite wise to be!

    • Indeed. I think “wary” is the right word… I like to give strays the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes they’ll just go off and it’s good to know there are ways of defusing the situation!

  4. Emilie Castellano

    Thanks for this article. I am living in Thailand and in the last 3 weeks have been chased by barking dogs 3 times. I was never scared of dogs before the first incident but now I am terrified! I do my best to keep calm and have so far avoided being bitten, although one almost got me. I will try to use the calming signals next time and see if it makes a difference!

    • Hi Emilie! Good luck… I know the feeling. I was never scared of dogs, but a few close encounters with strays in Thailand is what prompted me to write this article. I definitely saw an improvement since I learned the tricks I shared here… I sincerely hope it works for you!

  5. i have also q problem with a stray dog.i can’t avoid it and go back because the next road has a pack of ten dogs so i prefer the lone dog.I’ve though to give it some hum or treats.would it work so i can gain his trust?

    • I haven’t tried that myself, but when I was researching this article, a lot of people recommended I try treats. Pretty sure it would work! Might be hard to stop the dog from following you, but that’s better than the dog being aggressive!

    • Give some biscuits to eat… He will become friendly n would wait for you to pass by… Everyday you need to give but if you feel like buy a pack of vicious keep in your bag n can give 2 each day you pass by. Actually to defend themselves they bark n chase as there are ppl they get sadistic pleasure in irritating them unnecessarily

  6. I am living in a small village in the north-east, and there are many stray dogs. Was walking through the village the other day when a pack of 8 dogs sprang up from the roadside behind me and started to charge at me barking. I stopped immediately and turned around, and facing sideways looked at the leader straight in the eye. The dog immediately stopped in its tracks and stopped barking, and all the other dogs stopped behind their leader and stopped barking too. I looked at them for about 5 seconds, then calmly turned around and carried on walking. They wandered off in the other direction. Just whatever you do… DON’T RUN!!

    • Wow, you reacted very calmly, lucky you… I’m told looking at dogs (especially the alpha) straight in the eye is a challenge, but at the same time, strays are generally pretty scared of humans, so it’s a good thing this one backed down… Glad to hear it!

  7. When I was hiking alone in the forest, on a mountain, I stopped to admire a landscape and when I wanted to walk on, a pack of 6 to 10 dogs blocked my way. They kept silent and looked at me. Staying as calm as possible I slowly walked back avoiding eye-contact. However they then started to bark and come towards me, walking then running. I thought if I let them come to me they’ll attack me and kill me or leave me unable to go away. So I panicked and ran. Obviously they ran after me. I was running downhill a pretty steep slope, with trees, roots and rocks on the ground, I slipped and fell many times, I’m lucky that didn’t get badly injured by that ! Then I turned right into a steeeper area with more trees and low branches and after that I could hear their barking far on my left, so they had stopped following me, probably because of the difficult terrain and because I no longer threatened their territory. The sound of their barking in the distance helped me avoid them on my way back.

    -Since packs are more likely to attack and more harmful than a single dog, and since they followed me, I guess running was a better option than letting them come close (though climbing on a tree woud have been an even better option, if possible). What do you think ?
    – Everybody says you just can’t run away from a running dog. Is it possible that the slope and low branches dissuaded them to follow me ? Or did they just decide I no longer threatened their territory ?

    • Hi! Yikes, I’m glad to hear you escaped fairly unharmed! That sounds like a terrifying ordeal.

      I’m really not sure what was your best course of action in this case. The fact that they were looking at your calmly THEN rushed you makes it sound like they really meant you harm. Dogs in packs are the scary ones, like I said… They’re hard to predict because they might feel emboldened to take you on because the numbers are on their side.

      I’m not an expert, but my guess is that you ran out of their territory. Running away triggers their chase instinct so they can chase you out of their territory for a while, but you probably made it far enough that they decided to turn back.

      Thanks for sharing this story!

    • I read this article and comments with interest as I have recently had a death scare encounter with a pack of 3 stray dogs.

      It was after a heavy rain and i decided to walk my 3 dogs (golden retriever, cocker spaniel and a chihuahua) along our neighbourhood park connector. It is usually swamped with runners, walkers, cyclists and visitors in groups. However, probably due to the wet weather, I was alone on the path with my 3 dogs.

      Suddenly from far, emerge a pack of 3 strays. I have seen them before when i do my running and usually they are ok with humans and when the place is crowded. But that day was just me and my 3 dogs.

      They started staring us down and barking at us, then they started barking and running towards us. My first instinct is to turn around and run with my dogs. I was so afraid that they will attack us.

      While running, the though that ran through my mind was that if they were to catch up with us and attack us, I will let go of my dogs leashes and let them fend for themselves. My rationale is that if I hold on to their leashes they will definitely be at a disadvantage, and there will be a higher chance that they get bitten/taken down by the strays.

      After running for about 100 meter, I saw a cyclist approaching and immediately yelled for HELP and he came to me, I shouted and pointed at the approaching strays. He cycled a few meters towards the strays and they stopped running and stood still.

      Till today, I wonder if it is because I have left their territory or is the cyclist that has stopped them, or BOTH. However, I know I will never bring my dogs to that area anymore. I still run there alone though.

      • It might be a good idea to contact your city and inform them of the situation. Perhaps they can have animal control come in and deal with the situation.

  8. thanks for this useful information brother
    God bless u and all your family amin

  9. i tried what you’ve told us here and i go fishing in a spot nobody can enter because of wild dogs because yr help..lately i tried to feed them..from my food and they eat but they never come close or consider me friend i guess..but they bark like duty when they see me..then i keep walking with inclination like moving half circle to reach my target but it works..from days i heard some fishermen talking about poisoning those family of wild dogs..and we argued about it long time..finally i had to say..if any of this dogs hurt.. i,ll take it personal and revenge from them . because they r innocent creatures living in peace..we go to them not them come to us..so we have to respect them and follow them rules of surviving
    i guess civilization toke us long way away from our nature.

    • Interesting! I’m really glad you could deal with them peacefully!

      I’ve always thought just like you… Yes, dogs can be an inconvenience, but we’re often the ones who bother their environment, not the other way around! So why would I act in a violent way with them? I’d rather learn to deal with them peacefully…

      Dogs are territorial by nature, so they probably bark for that reason. But if they don’t cause trouble, it sounds like they’re tolerating your presence and will definitely adjust!

      Cheers!

  10. I shifted to India last month. I need to return home from office late at night. The dogs in the lane never barked at me. But tonight, all of them started barking vehemently. I held on to my nerves and slowly walked past them. They followed me upto some distance..barking at their might. Am confused. They see me every night returning home. But what happenef to them tonight? Is it a good idea to whistle lovingly at some stray dogs which are mad at me?

    Regards.

    • Hmm, that must have been stressful! Who knows what got them riled up… Maybe they had already encountered another dog that made them feel territorial. I don’t know if whistling in itself is a good idea, but being calm and non threatening in general is great, and it’s probably what kept the situation here under control!

      Thanks for sharing!

    • You just said something that was SPOTTT ON! in my mind. i have this problem too. The same pack that acts friendly or okay with me in the morning….absolutely does a uturn at night!!! The whole pack terrorizes me if i walk the lane to my building.! I was so shocked it felt lik a friend had betrayed me. It hurt actually. From then on i realised their friendly gestures are only because we humans are together in the morning. But once its late night and we are alone…i just dont know wat hppns to them. It took all my strength to stop hating them and actually showing how violent ”we’ or i can be too.

      If territory is smthng tht mny here argue…well then we are here too. its our territory too. theres nothing lik this was their territory since the origin of times ok. in fact they shud thnk their stars tht the real predators are not there in their so called ‘their territory’ . i wanna see how they can hold on to any territory in tht case. Im sorry but it was such a terrifying xperience and for 8- 10 times. eventuallt i did solve it but i kept reminding myself of the dirty humans tht terrified me in my life. In both cases…unfortunately i dont hv the power to kill or atleast damage their bodies. Just biting my lips n reminding myself tht ..that is not the way. Just relax .

      But its hard n its harder to forget. Both the dog gang and the bstrdly humans iv encountered in my life. but thn that comparison helps me undrstand tht dogs are not to be hated cmpletely just lik hmans should not be too. You kno y it hurts…cos i lovvv adore n respect dogs. I stillfeel amazed at how a being can be this loving. It angers me whn ppl do unspeakabke thngs to dogs. and yet iv had my share of extreme anger with sm dogs too. Justttt lik i canttt frget sm humans n wat they did too. That strangely relaxes me too!! The thought tht ther are terribl beings lik tht among dogs and humans too. Sigh.

  11. “… be weary of dogs chasing you…”

    Don’t be weary of dogs, but please do be WARY.

    Wary war·y adjective. Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems.

    Weary wear·y adjective Feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep. “he gave a long, weary sigh” synonyms: tired, worn out, exhausted, fatigued, sapped, burnt-out, dog-tired, spent, drained, prostrate, enervated

  12. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this educational article and all the comments. Thanks for writing this!

  13. My younger bro got an accident yesterday. So i was searching for such articles. Thx Daniel Roy for sharing this article.
    What steps u must adopt when u r on motor bike to get rid of barking n chasing stray dogs behind u?
    Waiting for ans…..

    • Gosh! I hope your brother is OK! Is he alright?

      I don’t know for sure what you can do in this case… Being on a motorbike, I think the best option is to get away from the dogs as quickly as possible… They usually try to chase you out of their territory, so when they reach the edge of their territory they should give up the chase…

    • On a motor bike, just out run them. They don’t have a chance of keeping up. I even out run dogs on a bicycle. Once again they don’t have much of a chance of keeping up unless the dog is a great dane.

  14. Hey today early in the morning i was going through a street and a small dog was following me for a while. At a road turn, at once two big dogs attacked the small dog. It seemed to me that they were going to kill that dog. I didnt want that to be happened, so i shouted at them, they got away at first. And little dog got the chance to hide under a car and was crying badly. After some seconds. When i was walking from there, what i saw was, both of the dogs were coming behind me.. It looked like they would attack me….but thank god i had a bag with me at that time. I use that to frighten them, then they moved away. I held my ground during the incident. But their chasing was horrible, all the signs of aggressiveness was there. Ear up tail up one of them was showing teeth. I hope the small dog got away.

    • Ugh, sounds like a terrible experience. Dogs in numbers are the most dangerous by far, but it sounds like they mostly wanted you out of their territory since you messed with their “victim”… Very brave of you. Glad you got out OK, and I hope the little dog did too!

  15. I was attacked by a dog in Istanbul yesterday, this dog was on a chain however in an alley. I didn’t even see it until I noticed some locals looking down the alley very concerned. I thought maybe I should leave as it wasn’t the safest looking place(I like too see both side’s of a city)as I turned to walk away the dog attacked. It didn’t even bark,just attacked! I had to fight it off me and ended up with a very badly wounded calf. The only hospitals that have the rabies vaccine are government and frankly that was more concerning than my badly torn calf. Blood on the floor and used syringes lying on benches, I had the first shot and now have to return to that dreaded place four more times over the course of a month. I have always wanted to visit Istanbul and now all I can do is worry about the outcome of this event. I have been traveling for six months and this has really thrown me, I like to think of myself as pretty aware of what is going on around me, but I definitely need to use more caution as to where I explore I guess. I hope my leg heals without complications and I can continue with my journey. My advice, never get too comfortable in your travel a lesson I have learnt the hard way.

    • Gah, that’s awful! And in such a lovely city as Istanbul, too… I just don’t see how you could have avoided this one. In my experience, dogs on leashes are the worst because they have the confidence of a human backing them up… Stray dogs when alone would not just attack like this.

      I hope you find it in you to enjoy Istanbul anyway… What a crappy thing to happen! 🙁

  16. I walk a lot, usually through newer routes each day, more like exploring the world around me but coming from a third world country you happen to be more scared of the stray dog, they are just everywhere. I for myself am not afraid of them, but i must admit it gets pretty scary when you run into one of them in a pretty bad mood or worse still a pack of unruly ones. I have been bitten twice in the legs, been chased a number of times and once when i was walking in the dread of the night(big mistake) i happened to come upon a pack of dogs a little far away, who at once started barking at me. I tried to avoid the situation, remained calm, walked backwards slowly but it didnt help. They gave chase and i almost panicked, i picked up some rocks nearby and started throwing them in their direction (not hitting anyone) when that too failed to stop them, i started hitting metal poles and boards nearby. This created loud enough noise to keep them away. It was thr most scary event of my life (other than being attacked by monkeys once

    • I’m with you… Stray dogs is one of the most stressful aspects of travel for me in certain places like Southeast Asia. I wrote this post after a pack of strays in Thailand gave me a huge scare… I’m a runner, and strays think about chasing me all the time because their instincts is to give chase. Bleh.

      No stray cat has ever given me trouble… Just sayin’. 🙂

  17. so yeah each day i get out of school and walk home but a few days ago a dog showed up and has started to follow me and he even followed me to where i live… i ignore it and walk away but he doesnt doesnt stop following me… i only manage to get away when he sees other dogs. what can i do!?!

    • Is it friendly? Sounds like he sees you as a good pack leader. 🙂 Happened to me in rural India… I’m afraid I don’t know what to do in these circumstances. I’m guessing that if you ignore it and don’t feed it, it will eventually get bored of following you… It’s what happened to me.

      • sorry for not replying well the dog still follows me even tho its not always just when it rains or he sees strangers close to me ^w^ he has actually turned in my best buddy even tho i think it has an owner since sometimes i see it with other people thanks for this thread it really helps

  18. I could use some advice, i recently relocated to turkey with my black labrador, where strays are aplenty. And having become accustomed to daily unfettered walks in australia i thought nothing of it, when i went to take a stroll. I was walking with my dog today about 50m from my home, and noticed a single stray in the distance, and thought little of it, seeing as it was probably 4-500m in the distance. But before i knew it, it began barking, and 4 others dogs joined in – turned out to be a pack, and they were running with raised tails and ears towards me. Suffice it to say i almost pissed meself. Normally i wouldnt be concerned, and just stay calm, but with my dog with me (who is incredibly docile), i basically panicked and ran for my home. By the time i got to my door they were within 25m and i was luckily to get behind the gate. Strays in a pack are bad on their own, but having my dog along side me only made me even more alarmed, as he is home bred and likely to take the brunt of an attack. What can one do in this situation?

    • Hi, i live in Istanbul (expat) with my family and my male yellow lab. We live in area full of stray dogs. Actually the whole city is full of stray dogs. I also love hiking with my dog so the packs became a real concern for me. I tried to live in peace with them until one day my dog was attacked on the seaside by one of them and a pack came after us in a park. From that day i decided that i won’t avoid green areas but to fight them back. I walk with pepper spray and i think i will also have one of those ultrasonic dog repellents. In a park near my home i managed to free a large area with a long stick and throwing big rocks. Once in day i went chasing them until they finally stop come to that area. Now if i see one entering our territory i immediately kick him out with my stick and my dorg will bark to him.

  19. Hi Aidan,

    I’m not a dog expert, but yeah, having a home-trained dog face a pack of strays sounds incredibly bad. I had a docile stray follow me for a while while I lived in India, and the dogs would get really aggressive with her as a result.

    You should probably talk to other expats and dog owners in your area. Perhaps there are places that are much safer for dog walking… But if your area has a lot of strays, it sounds like trouble indeed.

    Best of luck… Wish I could do more!

  20. Hi! I live in Pakistan. I go for routine jogging in a park in the morning. This has happened to me on my way back once that a stray dog ( although he looks like as if he is a pet because of his muscular build ) was following me… I didn’t realize this thing when suddenly he came on my right side and started to smell my hand.. I god afraid as I thought it was going to bite me.. but i stayed calm and continued walking because there were some other people walking too in that street… but that dog with his another friend ( who looked just like a weak stray ) continued following me till I reached my home. All the way he was trying to run besides me.. Today again this thing happened when I was going to the park. The same dog saw me and started to follow me again. I don’t know why does it only follow me?? When I got near the park there were people walking and jogging.. so at that time he left me and I returned home fearful of him following me back… He walks infront of me sometimes.. then sneaks into surroundings and comes back to me… Its irritating for me as these dogs are very unsafe and unhealthy and if they bite me… I’ll surely end up pretty bad… But thanks for your help.. Ill try to do follow these steps next time…

    • Hi Annas!

      I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. I’ve had a stray follow me for a while when I went on my runs, and I don’t think they’d try and bite you if they’re not aggressive from the start. They probably see you as a potential alpha dog, and when they realize you’re not getting them any food they’ll just move on. 🙂

      The only risk I’d see is if you run into other strays who become aggressive towards the dogs that follow you. But otherwise I’d just ignore them.

    • You should adopt them.

  21. sorry mykeyboard is not working properly.. :/

  22. Greetings Daniel. I’m from Malaysia. This morning after I parked my car at a parking lot, suddenly there were 2 stray dogs run towards me with some distance and barked at me with no reason. May I know what cause them to bark at me? I did nothing. What i did when they were barking? Of course scare them away with nothing on my hand cause I am heading to work. I won’t run cause I know they will chase me. Lastly they ran away. Appreciate your answer. Thank you very much.

    • Hi Eugene,

      Not 100% sure what riled them up, but most likely they saw you as a threat to their territory. That’s usually the reason why dogs bark like this… They’re trying to get you to move out of their territory. It’s odd that they’d have a parking lot for a territory considering the number of people they probably encounter, though!

      I don’t think it’s something you did, really… Glad to hear you could chase them off!

  23. Hello, Daniel and Eugene! I’m from Malaysia as well :). Had quite an experience this morning. There is a pack of about 10 stray dogs normally wandering around where I work. They chose to stroll around right in the stairway to my work today.

    At first, I tried not to pay to much heed and calmly walk pass them, right in arm’s range. As soon as my back was turned against one of them, immediately the one closest to me started barking aggressively and it’s nose tapped my leg, maybe almost opening it’s jaws for a bite. Luckily I turned instantly in a stance, and that one backed off a few steps, however 2-3 others started barking while the rest of the pack turned their head and eyes towards me. Fortunately, I was already near my office steps so I backed away slowly and close the small steel door until they wandered off.

    I’m glad I was unscathed but I am reminded it isn’t wise take their “territory” easily.

    • Yikes… I’m glad nothing bad happened! Packs of stray dogs really scare me, because in groups they have enough confidence to take on a human. I’m really glad to hear you got the upper hand this time!

      • I really hope I won’t have to meet them directly resting around the same stairway again but I guess it isn’t entirely possible given the everyday work place routine.
        Every morning, when I reach the locals and their shops hadn’t really open n the place is quite quiet. Not really any places nearby which sell food opens around that hour either so giving them “treats” is kind of unlikely either.
        Any advise?

        • Hi Daniel thanks for the reply. Really appreciate your answer. Hi Nigel, may I know where is the place that you were being surrounded by these stray dogs? Have to avoid in case I drop by or pass by. Glad you are okay.

        • Try to give them calming signals like I outlined in my blog post… If you demonstrate you’re not a threat to them and don’t want to fight, they’ll get used to you and stop giving you grief.

  24. IMHO stray dogs are not an issue as they generally fear humans. A stick and picking rocks would generally make them run. A pack would generally behave more confident but in my experience they are acting. They wait you to make a move which will show them that you’re weaker and scared (of course you are, just don’t tell them) such as running away.
    The biggest issue while hiking mountains are shepperd dog who feel confident of their owner’s backup. I strongly suggest to use a dog repellent which creates a very disturbing sound and make them run away (unless the dog is deaf). In case of attack, you can use pepper spray. As this is a violent thing to do, you should use pepper spray as a last chance.

    • Yeah, I think the scariest dogs are those who know they have a human to back them up. That’s good advice for hiking… Thank you.

      • I was attacked and I am now considering my options next time I visit India. I have seen in Delhi there is a defence shop and have tazers. I’ve considered this as in the wind the pepper spray may go in your own face. I’d only use it in an emergency. Seems harsh but don’t feel comfortable being their victim again.

  25. Hi Daniel

    Many thanks for the extending thai visa info, much appreciated. And ive just read dealing with stray dogs,wish I have read last week, very scary incident with a pack of dogs next to the temple, I did everything you said not to do, luckily two local chaps helped me out, I will remember your advice thanks.

    • Glad you found my posts useful! And I know what you mean… An encounter with an aggressive pack of dogs on temple grounds is what led me to research and write this article.

  26. Hi Daniel, your advice seems pretty sound though I only had the chance to try the first three tonight, which I did on instinct. This little argentinian town I’ passing thru is full of dogs. Every other house has a dog that’s roaming in the yard. Most have fences, some do not. There are also strays. Funny thing about the dogs that clearly are at their owner’s house is that the dogs on yards without a fence are usually pretty calm, but the ones behind fences go crazy at every passerby – and this is a town of maybe 40,000 people. So the soundtrack is just constant barking. Anyhow, as I was returning from a little walk, a mid-sized dog came up to me from an abandoned house and started getting nosy. It wasn’t really aggressive, but was sniffing around and even got on its hind legs to lean on me, again i didn’t feel threatened but slightly uncomfortable, as it wasn’t exactly a lap dog and the street wasn’t well lit, and there was no one else around. I did normal dog things, talked to it a bit and maybe scratched it a little and it went on its way. Ten seconds later another dog runs at me full speed, barking and showing teeth, and the previous dog is with him, now almost as aggressive as the newcomer. They come pretty close but I just talk to them in a calmish manner and walk on, turning on my heels constantly since they are on opposite sides of me. This goes on for 15 seconds, then they drop off. They were rather long seconds too. As i walk to my hostel i duly curse the wretched race of dogs forever, fully knowing it’s the humans’ fault, as always. Anyhow, this was my experience. I’m not sure why the worldwide number of aggressive stray dogs is still so huge, it’s not like it’s impossible to get rid of then. Cheers

    • Yikes, I’m glad to hear nothing bad happened. Yeah, I dunno what it is with strays, man… It’s definitely possible to control the population, but I guess some places don’t really care.

      I so completely agree with your description of how dogs with a fence just go crazy. I noticed this too, once I had experience with strays: owned dogs who are safely behind a barrier just go nuts, but remove that barrier and they’re suddenly quiet as a mouse. I’m on to them… It’s just a show. 😀

    • I agree. Why isn’t it dealt with. There are no strays in UK
      When I got attacked and bitten in India the doctor said to me that dogs run his country. He can’t take his family out to dinner at night when he finishes work late as well there are too many packs of dogs. He said his government can’t tell him where and when to go out. He was quite mad at tourist do gooders adopting dogs temporarily too. I’m arming myself against them next time I visit. I don’t want to be a victim again. I’m a vegan dog living adult and have not deserved this fear I now have.

  27. I interact and care for a pack of five stray dogs in Goa and have been quite successful in socialising them to some degree. My problem stems from a couple of owned house dogs who see me as part of the pack, this has led to them attacking me when they see me without the pack . None of the things I normally do seem to work with this pair, if I continue to walk away without eye contact they run up close to snap at my legs and if I do the stone pick up move they move apart to create two separate targets. So far I have managed to avoid getting bitten by them, but it is worrying that these are domestic animals displaying such aggressive intent.

  28. Alisha Elliott

    I was walking to pick up my daughter from school and passed by a house with a dog laying in the front yard. It didn’t look to be restrained in any way so I averted my eyes and pretended I didn’t see it and continued to walk slowly past. I remained calm, but the dog got up and ran at me anyway. It then bit one of my left calf. I screamed in pain but I didn’t stop or pay the dog any attention, I just kept calmly ignoring it. It then bit my right calf twice. once again I screamed in pain, but kept pretending like I didn’t see the dog. I kept walking and it followed me barking viciously for about fifteen seconds before losing interest in me. I found the owners afterwards and asked them to take proper restraining measures. Apparently, the dog has had many past incidents. I was really scared, but ignoring the dog was the only thing my instincts could come up with. I don’t know if that was the best idea, but it was extremely aggressive and very powerful, and I’m not a dominant or violent person, so assertively telling the dog to go home wouldn’t have worked for me and I’m sure it would’ve attacked harder if I feigned picking up a rock. I don’t think his attack could have been avoided. Any advice at all?

    • That’s awful! I hope the bites weren’t too profound. Are you OK?

      Owned dogs like this are bad news. Stray dogs, even those in packs, are generally afraid of humans, but when a dog is backed by a human who doesn’t care, they can be real dangerous, as in this case. You should report that dog owner so he does something about his dog… Imagine if it had been a child…

      As for advice for the future, I really don’t know if you could have done much better. Obviously the first thing is to move out of his territory as fast as you can (such as crossing the street.) I really don’t think confronting it would have worked, since this was a dog who had no problem biting a calm, passive person.

      If you have to pass this house often, perhaps you should get a can of mace. I bet that dog would calm down after it got maced in the face…

  29. So one of your pieces of advice on avoiding confrontation is to avoid confrontation? Great advice.Feign picking up a rock? Ridiculous. I have 2 pit bulls at home so I’m familiar with aggressive dog behavior? Ive also had an aggressive stray dog pack encounter in Chiang Mai, Thailand, late at night and all alone. Normally the strays arent aggressive and therefor acting non dominate and nice works on non aggressive dogs. But once they start acting aggressive as a pack none of your advice is to solid. Only thing that stopped them was a loud agressive clap and yes showing my dominance. Its not about pride. Nothing else was working. Kinda why I looked online for other methods but these are not great.

  30. Hi Daniel!

    So i live in indonesia and i have 1 female pug in my house. And i just noticed for almost a month there is 1 stray dog (male) that is always comes to my house just to sniff and (maybe) play w/ my pug. I have no problem w/ that but the problem is he always barks at me and my family and everytime we move he makes that scary face and i dont feel safe now everytime i walk my pug outside. What can i do to make him go away? I am so uncomfortable:(

  31. a week ago ,some stray dogs came to my street and they don’t want to go away .
    yesterday i was walking home alone in late time beside a parking car and there is a stray dog under it but i didn’t notice it ,suddenly this dog came out and bite my leg without warning or doing any sound and the other dogs starting to bark, i take off my bag and he thought that i will hit him so he let my leg and i went quickly to the hospital .
    can you tell me please what can i do in this situation and what to do the next time i walk on this street ?

  32. whenever i am out for a jog early morning with my brother , some lone dogs start following me or walk with me if i stop they too stop with me and they are not aggressive at all its 3-4 times but my brother is not even sniffed at and he never experienced it when he is out alone i am quite scared about it.They dont follow many people but only me and always look at my face.I try to ignore them but he followed i changed the track but he followed me still.

  33. Hmm! If they’re just following you without showing any sign of aggression, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’ve had this happen to me too before, with a lone dog… She just followed me around throughout my runs. One thing you SHOULD be aware of, though, is that other stray dogs might be aggressive towards those “friendly” strays depending on where you go. They shouldn’t go after you, but be aware of this possibility.

    Sorry there isn’t more I can say to help… I’m sure if you ignore them they’ll leave you alone in time.

  34. Can u help how do I get stray dogs of my lawn and away from my puppy their always trying to attack him he a has to stay inside a lot because of this and how do I get them to stop chasing down my little pup and I cannot call the pound because they run away when they come

  35. Hi i live in India… there are around 15 dogs just in front of my house… although i have shifted now to a society there is a female-dog who had chased me around 7 times although every time i out-ran her (i don’t know how)
    Once i was jogging in the park she was sitting there with her puppies a bit far from me so instead of turning left and facing her i chose to jog ahead and make it to the other side suddenly i heard someone shout ” Hey! Watch Out!” i looked behind and the dog was chasing me i dont know why i automatically ran at the top of my speed. and till now she growls at me but as she is old she doesnt chase me… Help Me PLS

    • Hi Randeep,

      As I explain in this article, dogs bark and chase because they want to chase you from their territory. If they see you running, they assume you’re running from them and they’ll give chase. It’s a natural instinct.

      When jogging, there isn’t much else you can do besides stopping running, then calmly walk away until you’re out of their territory. Dogs have an instinct to give chase if you’re fleeing, and they might decide to bite your legs as a result.

  36. make muncipal complaint against these dogs, wait for a month, hopefully it was a one of situation and dog/s wont attack if u running walking dancing…..whatever that u were doing and at whatever time. however if the local authority have’nt done anything and the dog is a nuisance inform-dog shelter and rescue homes, and yet if the problem percists, which is probably now 2 months…..make a police complaint, if yet the issue persists, kill the fucking dog>

  37. Fascinating
    I had a problem with pack of dogs when I walked alone in the evenings , during my stay in chaing _Mai (doi suteb) Thailand . I solved this problem by renting a motorbike.

  38. Thank you for such an informative article. I’m a confident traveller but was bitten by a dog in a temple I stayed at in Thailand. The dog didn’t bark whatever, just bit my leg once and walked away as I was leaving the temple.

    Now I have lost any trust I used to have with Street dogs and feel that they can sense my fear which makes the situation worse. I’ll try to use these techniques cited in future. Do you think this can hide my fear from them?

    • Yeah, I know how you feel. I initially researched and wrote this post following a close call with dogs on Thai temple grounds. There’s not much you can do besides trying to stay calm… As your experience illustrates, dogs that mean to attack aren’t always the one who bark the loudest, so it might help to remember that a dog that’s ACTING aggressively isn’t necessarily going to attack, especially if you do everything right.

      To give you an example, I used to be a bit scared of dogs barking at me from balconies or behind closed gates, but now I understand that they’re doing it because they KNOW they can’t get to me, so it’s all for show. Of course a dog barking up close to you in a park is something different, but when you see the barking as an attempt to scare you away or intimidate you, it might help you to not react too emotionally to it.

      Anyway, best of luck!!

  39. Hi, I read your article and I’m gonna try these.
    I have got a very peculiar situation. I live in India in a very green colony. We have trees and gardens all around and only 14 homes. Recently in November, in backyard of a vacant house (which is just adjacent to ours) a bitch gave birth to a litter of 5 pups. Only 4 of her pups survived winter. She used to bark at us all the time, even when we were behind the fences our boundaries. Initially I thought that bitches are like that. Lately, she’s got a guard “dog friend” of hers who keeps and eye on pups and keeps barking at random strangers and people who are passing by. I know its really unique and most bitches don’t let Male dogs get near pups, but not this one. Its like they are a defensive/aggressive couple taking care of kids. This male dog is way too aggressive. Now they’ve found a way to jump over fences and making mess of our garden, backyard and pretty much every place. I can easily tolerate their kennels in our garden, but they keep barking at me very aggressively and wont let me enter my own garden. I can even imagine walking on our road at night time. Initially, I tried feeding them but they don’t eat any food I offer, instead they leave or they simply growl. At first I thought it’ll go away once puppies grow up. But as puppies are growing up, they’ve learnt to bark too. Their confidence is increasing day by day. Its like at first they were 2 barkers + 4 cute puppies, but now its a pack of 6. The dog catchers here wont even castrate them, let alone re locating them. The only way know is to either befriend them, or poison them (which they might not eat). How to deal with this problem ?

  40. Hi, today I had an encounter with a stay dog and would like some advice on how to prevent this from happening next time. While I was walking down the street today I saw a dog tugging on a womans scarf and once she got it free the dog continued to tug on any bit of clothing it could find, after which they stared to push it away, fearing that they’ll hurt the dog I called it towards me, it wagged it’s tail and let me pet it for a second before it started to bite at my clothing as well, every time I said a firm “NO” and pushed it away it would continue, after the third push it started to bite at my hands and fingers too, and wouldn’t stop, I tried everything but it wouldn’t let go, it would just grab my hand again and wold hold it in it’s mouth, in the end I couldn’t control the situation anymore and stomped my feet to shoo the dog away, which seemed to snap it out of it. But I would like to know what else I could’ve done since the dog wouldn’t stop.

  41. JAGJIT SINGH AHUJA

    Stray dogs get multiplied . Our aim should be to control their population . Blue Cross helps in this respect .

  42. Even the U.S. isn’t safe. I was bitten by a small dog that rushed off it’s property onto the sidewalk and bit me while I was walking. Thankfully it had it’s rabies shot. I called Animal Control and they had the person quarantine the dog and keep it restrained. Too many bad owners think that small dogs don’t have to be trained, and don’t think that leash laws apply to them. I will now have to carry my cell phone when I go walking. In the U.S., it’s the owners that cause the problems, not the dogs.

    • Yeah… I agree. Stray dogs are one thing… They operate under pack mentality and they’re more predictable if you understand their behavior. But owned dogs with bad owners can really mean trouble… I’m sorry to hear what happened!

  43. There is a 7 – 8 dogs on road every night. So i always have to cross them to get my house. Its a nightmare for 3 years but now its not a problem as i kill two of them same day. Both try to bite me and i simpaly kick them both in head. Luckyly others just run away! Owner blame me for killng them but he shouldn’t pet that much dogs if he can’t keep them inside his house. I feels bad for dead dogs but i am 5″ guy and all dogs are rottweilers, And there are over my head after standup.

  44. Hi, Mr. Roy. In where I currently live, which is Turkey, there are two stray dogs just in front of my apartment who sometimes block my passage. One is obviously a Pitbull/Straffordshire&Labrador Mix, a young female, and other one, an old male which has wolfhound blood but I’m not sure about his ancestry beyond that. Locals provide them food, water etc., and they are sometimes lying there, sometimes absent, in somewhere else. The old male became aggressive towards me in two seperate occasions, both involved the time they were being fed so I suspect food aggression. But they just growl at passerbys in random times and sometimes challenge them with barking and lunging but it never escalated into bite, but that’s a possible outcome since they’re really self confident. What would you suggest me to do? Should I visit the nearest pet shops and buy some treats?

  45. I have always been terrified of dogs and my two young kids are, too. My husband has instructed us NOT to run when a dog approaches. But, my daughters simply freak out!!! This morning on the walk to school, two dogs crossed the street and began to follow us. I kept on walking calmly and told my girls to calm down and continue walking. My kids were in front of me, the youngest in a stroller, crying. They followed us for a while and then disappeared. On the walk home, the dogs were in my neighbors front yard, but I’m sure they are not his dogs. They watched us as we went to our house. I was terrified the entire time. I have heard animals can sense fear, but I still try to act as though I’m calm. Myproblem is that my kids don’t understand to do that themselves. After the dogs left, I reassured my girls that we weren’t in danger as nobody got bit and they eventually lost interest and went elsewhere. (Since I wasn’t looking behind me, I don’t know at what point they stopped following us or where they went).

  46. I live in Thailand and you’re right about the prevalence of aggressive soi dogs. There’s one move I’ve come to rely on when a single, or even group of soi dogs threatens my puppy. I turn to face them, look them in turn in the eye, and point at them. I’ve managed to bluff down groups of three.

    Now, however, I’m seeking pepper spray.

  47. Today it just happened to me. I was going back home and couple of dogs were sitting near a speedbreaker.
    As i was coming closer to the speedbreaker one of them came near to me and he was a inch away as i turned back he started barking and the other one also stood up and started to bark. I started to run and they both started to chase me. I dont know how im safe. I felt his nose on my leg. If i stayed there he would’ve bite me.

  48. Greetings from Iraq. My job requires me sometimes to go to work on foot long efore sunrise.Somewhere near the ruin and rubble of an abandoned structure,stray dogs gather there. One stray dog ran for more than a mile to attack me. He was barking all the time and I never believed he had targeted me for over a mile off his lair. He came within a yard or less near me. I was ready pick a stone or a rock to defend myself. He immediately went back the way he came.
    I had had earlier contacts but ne er as perilous as that one. I kept calm and prayed to HIM that HE would look after me. Prayer is good,too. Thanks a million times for your advice. I forwarded it to my daughters. I want them to use your excellent piece of advice. God bless you.Amen.

  49. Hi Daniel, this is a really interesting (& long) thread. I am currently travelling in Cambodia & have traveled extensively without too much dog trouble, but every time I visit Cambodia I have a canine issue.

    A couple of days ago while wandering back to a village in Northern Cambodia a large dog ran out & challenged me barking aggressively. I continued walking slowly past it keeping it in the corner of my eye. The dogs here are usually quite placid, but occasionally & quite randomly not. I guess I had entered it’s territory & it didn’t recognise me. Also the fact I was wearing sunglasses (Cambodians don’t wear sunglasses often) I think potentially made it aggressive.

    Anyway- there was no where to run, no stones to throw & no locals to yell out for help. As luck would happen, just as he moved in close to take a chunk out of my calf a motodop driver arrived. I quickly jumped on the back of his motorbike & we were chased down the road by the snarling mutt. Yep, I tipped the driver handsomely 🙂

  50. Hi Guys and Girls, found this thread so interesting. We are staying in Ella in Sri Lanka and there are loads of strays. They seem to walk around the streets happily and peacefully with humans in the day time. However, tonight we decided to walk back to our hotel, which is a 15 minute walk up a quiet dark secluded hill, which is absolutely fine in the day (in hindsight, we should have got a tuk tuk), Anyways as we started to walk, a stray dog approached us and walked very close to our legs almost touching. I didn’t want the dog anywhere near us because I know they’re dirty and diseased. I told my husband we must keep calm and walk slowly and not show the dog we are scared. The dog continued to walk by our side and slightly Infront of us, almost guiding our way. We approached numerous other dogs appeared out of the paths, doorways to shops, everywhere. Some howled and some ran Infront of us barking at our stray dog. We became very scared as the other dogs became agressive around us. Our stray dog almost maintain an air of confidence and didn’t react to the other dogs. At one point he stopped and we thought we had lost him. We started to walk very fast as we were a few minutes away from our hotel as we could hear lots of dogs barking in the distance and it was very dark. Thinking we had got away we ran towards our hotel steps, and then we heard the dogs footsteps behind us. We ran up two flights of stairs our room and the dog was behind us. Hearts pounding, we tried to open the bedroom door and quickly slammed it shut. The door then lay down outside our room for a few hours. We feel this dog was protecting us from walking back to our hotel alone at night. It was very strange, scary but quite comforting. I have just looked outside our window and the dog isn’t there.

    • Hi! Yeah, I had an experience similar to yours in India… I don’t know why exactly, but sometimes strays without a pack will start following humans around. I had one do exactly the same thing, down to sleeping in front of my door. There’s not much to do about it except ignore them until they go away, but if you feed them there’s a chance they’ll really stick around.

      As for the other dogs’ aggressiveness, I’m afraid your canine companion was the cause, not the deterrent! They were being aggressive because of the dog following you. The other dogs would have attacked that stray if you weren’t around, so it stuck close for its own protection!

      Hope that makes more sense of the situation!

  51. Growing up in India, I was attacked by a stray dog near my house when I was about 5 years old. I was just going to my neighbour’s place and the dog came out of nowhere and tried to bite me.

    A passing stranger hit the dog with a stone and saved me.

    Next attack was when I was about 8 years old and learning to ride a bicycle. A dog attacked me in a narrow alley. This time also a stranger helped me by coming between me and the dog and asking me to pedal my bicycle fast for my life’s sake.

    After these two traumatic incidents as a kid, I avoid contact with dogs and prefer to keep my distance even from pet dogs.

    I still get attacked by street dogs almost every month in India for no apparent reason even though I am in my late 30s.

    In my experience, in a dog pack, there are always some dogs that enjoy chasing or attacking people in order to prove their superiority.

    It is just that dog lovers want us to believe that all dogs are goody-goody and it is somehow our fault that we end up getting bitten or attacked which is not true.

  52. hi i live in India near my house at night there was a pack of stray dogs well when i came out of my house they were hiding suddenly all of them started to chase me i got confused to react and they were getting closer to me so i had no other choice but run ,because the dogs were very close to me.

    even though i am scared of stray dogs i am a dog lover

  53. Hello similar incident happened with me in India @ 12 o clock while I was returning from my office 1 dog and out of 3 first barked at me then I shouted on him and then 2 out of them started barking and chasing at me and I got so scared that I turned towards them and run towards them to chase them out and did so successfully. I luckily chased out all of them but now number will increase in Dec month as in our street there are 2 bitches really a tough situation ahead and a regular problem… Thinking of keeping a stick and pepper spray as their nose are very sensitive…;)

  54. I have no complaints about pet dogs. As I don’t have one.but I have worst problems with stray ones. I think they have 2 versions. Good & Bad. According to me good dogs are peaceful & don’t make any nasty racket..they only bark due to reasons like anxiety/depression. But the bad ones are really harmful, & they are very cruel by nature. I have even the belief that sometimes they make a racket about me, regarding my private thoughts by barking unnecessarily. Really_ I just can’t get the worst feeling out of my mind. I don’t even know if it’s really true or not.if anyone has a knowledge about this that whether stray dogs can make rackets by barking about people’s private emotions plz let me know…thanks_Sam29

  55. I don’t really know about the first four, but I always use trick no.5 and it never fails. Just a few minutes ago (and this is how I came here from google search), I mew with a dog in a dark street. The funny thing is that at that exact moment and a few seconds before, I was thinking “what if I meet a dog right now?” 😛
    So it caught me by surprise and for a moment I hesitated and thought I would just keep calm and walk forward. But then I noticed he was watching and was probably going to attack so I decided to “attack” first. I pretended to grab a rock and shouted a little bit to scare him out. He got scared and backed up which allowed me to walk away slowly. I had a round walk and then 4-5 minutes later I had him again right in front of my in another road nearby.
    How did the second confrontation end you will say?
    Of course I won again.
    2:0 😛

  56. There is a dog in our street with many others. He bite people/children from the back without barking on them. He bite even in day light and early morning.
    Can you please suggest me how to deal with it?
    Since we are living in a village people do not aware enough, so they wants to shoot it.
    But I do not think this is the correct way of dealing to any animal.

    Please reply as soon as possible.

    Thanks

  57. Hi my major problem is a stray dog who attacks my dog & he growls on me outside my house he growls on me & my dog continuously, how can I stop him

  58. Was on my way home from the store on foot. While walking down a residential street with two story apartment complexes on both sides, two black boxer dogs approached me from the other side of the street. I let them approach me and sniff me which they did. I got the impression that they had hostile intentions and immediately got into a defensive pose with a roll of burlap I was carrying. I held the burlap roll in front of the dog to my left for a few seconds and then shifted to the dog to my right. Both dogs backed off and then walked away. I then resumed my walk home. I’ll be contacting the city and possibly the county animal control concerning these two dogs. Clearly someone in one of these apartments is being irresponsible with their dogs.

  59. I went to an unknown place exploring the sea shores of Mumbai when suddenly a group of dogs started barking and ran towards me. In response to that I showed my ✋ both palm and tried to calm them by shshshsh-ing at them.. but didn’t work.. at the end I had to walk backwards and walk out of that street.. what else I should have done to control those dogs? Does throwing stones or thick stick or throwing a few biscuits towards them work?

  60. I’m going into attack mode when a dog approaches me with barking…. guess what I win EVERY time.
    a single dog who tries to dominate me……he is DONE

  61. Hy my name is ritika and i am from delhi, India, stray dogs amd feeding stray dogs is very common here but also the abuse to them, i have a stray dog whose name is trigger i feed him everyday he is 2 years old, he was abandoned and lost as a little puppy without his mother so i adopted h as a stray he got into accidents twice but is good now, from past 6-8 months he is really hyperactive and doesn’t let anyone pass in front of my home not on the road too barks and growls on everyone who comes near is territory i.e., my home, neighbours are worried about their children etc. And terrorise me to send him away, he doesn’t have rabies, I don’t know what to do please help.

  62. Ahhh such great advice! On a recent trip to South America, we encountered so many stray dogs. They are treated well there but they are still potentially dangerous. We learned this when they viciously attacked a smaller dog in front of us and it was a terrifying experience: http://freshcoffeestains.com/travel-horror-stories/ Anyway, I really appreciate the tips. Hope you don’t mind but I included the link to your blog in my own about travel horror stories. Thanks!

  63. Has anyone tried a tazer. I would like to protect myself. I am a passive vegan but not a victim. Have been attacked and bitten by a pack once but don’t wish to be a victim again.

  64. We just reached Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India tonight by train from Ajmer, pulling into the train station around 1:30 a.m. We started walking from the station into town, got a lift with a random man who dropped us not far from the fort in some quiet backstreets where we could look for a hotel. We wandered the streets for about 30 minutes, encountered plenty of cows and the odd innocuous lone stray dog that would let out a few barks. Then we proceeded up this one street and suddenly encountered a couple of barking dogs that came quite close warning us to back off. The situation escalated quickly and suddenly other dogs joined in and we were facing a large pack of dogs all barking at us furiously and getting too close for comfort. We started slowly backing off while trying to avoid too much eye contact with the dogs. Then suddenly a local came out of the hotel next to us and the dogs all scattered and he led us to the next hotel up the street. The dogs kept barking but kept their distance as we walked behind him last. Coming out of that next hotel we were then on our own again but this time the dogs didn’t fully square off with us and just barked at our heels a bit as we left their territory. I sure would love to know the best way to deal with these situations and neutralize these aggressive dog packs at night.

    • I’ve experienced something similar in Thailand… Honestly, you did the best you could in the circumstances. The dogs are trying to scare you out of their territory, so the best thing to do is to stay calm, avoid eye contact, and move away from their territory. There’s no guarantee they wouldn’t attack… Strays in packs are the most dangerous, definitely.

      The person who pulled you in to the hotel did a good deed… It’s likely you would have been fine if you had walked away slowly and stayed calm, but that was still a better outcome.

      Hope you enjoy India despite an incident like this!

  65. I was recently attacked by a dog in my vicinity. According to this encounter and my previous encounters with dogs if you feel that something touched your leg or hand just shake it with a jerk as it would save you from severe injury as they generally attack from backside without any sound.The most common and primitive method is to throw water at stray dogs as they generally dislike it and would run away. In case you are having a lighter simply light a paper or straw and wave at them as mostly every mammal is scared of fire. Even if a stick is available sway it at them they would run away. If you dosen’t find anything just extend your arms and try to look bigger and run at them.This will frighten them and make them run away. If you are under great threat then under self defence just stuff their mouth with a stick or just tie it with a cloth or tape as their mouth is their most dangerous and lethal part.Their most vulnerable part is their tail if that comes in hand just don’t leave it as they cannot turn and bite you.In this case leap over their body and stretch out their legs in opposite directions just not to break them but to that level that they calm down.Mordern methods include using ultrasonic devices and bird cannons that may scare them. Now the special part as I am on my bicycle most dogs are scared away even a pack of 8-10 dogs was scared by me as I kept turning my bicycle’s handle towards them and making a claw with your hand and showing them would even scare them off.By the way I am not responsible for any of these methods you try but they might help in case of danger.First refer to the guidelines or rules set up by your government and PETA or you might end up in a mess.

  66. Dogs in packs are most dangerous. I have seen that if you take them casually and peacefully, you can walk along safely along with the pack, they will accompany you, with out harming and see you off till the end of their territory, only to be picked up the next pack :). I have experienced this.

  67. I live in a place when street dogs are very common and I see at least 4-5 everyday. I believe that if you are just someone passing by, you should just ignore their barking but if you encounter those dogs on daily basis, on walks for example, approach them with biscuits instead of sticks, they will never bite you. We must also remember that stray dogs are such that they remember everything. If a white car hits them once, they’ll go after white cars every time. So it’s no one’s fault here.

  68. I take a new home in new place.
    Starting one and two months no dogs attack on me but from one week two dogs bark on me and chase me until I cross the road and go from there. But this problem started from a night when I coming from market with my bicycle then these two dogs started chasing me and started barking on me but this problem also started in day time. I have no idea what can I do I afraid from dogs too much. I think in some days I am going to beat those dogs

  69. I just moved to Egypt from America a few months ago. There is an over abundance of stray dogs and cats here. It’s been an adjustment getting used to it, that’s for sure. My Egyptian sister-in-law is terrified of all the dogs. I am hoping that this article will help her out.

  70. Thanks for thia article.
    There is a small pack of dogs in my area, of 3-4 dogs, and i have a young puppy who loves watching the outside (leashed and secured ofc.) And when one of them comea around they are very aggressive and one of them almost attacked my puppy once, and they come around multiple times, leading me into doing the last resort trick after the calming signals didn’t show effect at all.
    Everytime they end up running, and i noticed they stopped coming every single day to my street.

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