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How do you stop dogs from running into you?


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Hi everyone,

We seem to have this potential problem whenever we are in the yard with Boyden and Fynne running around. They just charge at a tremendous speed and don't seem to care about running into us. Back in February, Fynne run into my wife and broke her ankle, causing so much pain and suffering for her. Does your dog run into you or is it only us? I know Fynne is a bit dumb sometimes, but Boydon tends to do it too.

So I wonder if you have any ideas about preventing this or protecting ourselves.

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Honestly, I simply jump out of the way :rolleyes: . What amazes me is how they're perfectly capable of avoiding collisions with HARD obstacles! Bumping into us just doesn't hurt enough apparently. So, if you stood close to a tree, or with your back against the wall...maybe you'd be protected? Just a theory of course.

 

I hope you're all okay, both the two-legs and the four-legs!

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Fergie used to run - or walk - smack into mailbox posts. We worked really hard on two commands: Come Around and Mailbox. Now, she can be going full tilt and will switch direction is we yell Mailbox!

 

Guess you'd have to see it coming, though.

 

I'm surprised that michelle's obvious pain didn't teach them, though. Maybe yo could set up the situation and purposely fall over and cry and whimper. These dogs sure seem to want to avoid that.

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I don't know where I picked up the idea but I've always felt that dogs CAN avoid you if they want to (ie, if you enforce your space). They certainly are able to avoid each other - or the higher ranking dogs, anyway. The occaisional accident does happend but I've noticed dogs are very much in control no matter how high-spirited the play gets.

 

I'm very glad now I set this up early on since I'm very unsteady on my feet now. Even Zhi - my 8 pound Crested - can knock me off balance when she does a swimmer's turn off the back of my knees (a charming habit I've never been able to break her of, lol).

 

As to what to do about it - I just say, HEY, enough to break the play and then that's it. After a couple times they usually give you the respect they give other dogs.

 

Other things to watcch that are equivalent to dogs but may not seem relevant to us - pushing ahead on stairs, through doors, and sliding between you and an object so that you have to move to let them move in. I don't let the dogs do any of this - I'm a big gal and it would be tragic for them and me if I fell on them! :rolleyes:

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We have a plastic 4-section gate that is made to be used as a child gate in the house. It stands about 3 feet high and each section is 3 feet long. This could be set up in the yard in a square with the human standing inside. It is light-weight and portable and would be easy to move around. I am thinking that this type of gate might solve your problem.

 

My BC-X weighs 68 pounds and he can run 30 mph. If he ran into a person while moving fast that could be a very serious collision. I stay clear of him and don't stand in the middle of the area where he is running.

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The occaisional accident does happend but I've noticed dogs are very much in control no matter how high-spirited the play gets.
I had to laugh at this! Poor Jack has the constant scrapes and scabs to prove this is not true in *his* case. He's constantly side-swiping the fence when he's running too fast and doesn't "corner" too well. Big galoot! :rolleyes:
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My paint horse used to run full-tilt at me in the field. I broke him of it by twirling a lead rope in a circle around me, so that if he got within three feet or so he ran the risk of being smacked by the orbiting rope. He chose never to try it.

 

I wonder if twirling a dog lead might mark out the boundaries of your personal space and discourage canine intrusion?

 

Y'all aren't the only ones, btw - Violet's "other mother" had her leg fractured by her ACD's running into her while playing tag.

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Thanks for everyone.

I might try the rope idea. We also thought that we could carry a pole and use as as somekind of a protective post.

The worse thing is when they are running during the night and you cann't see them. Especially when coming from behind (back of the knee bump!)

These two love running and racing and its a great joy to see them happy.

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I, too, have had a fractured leg, from Border Collies racing each other. Double spiral fracture with dislocation. Doctors said they usually see that type of fracture in football players, not middle age women : ) A friend had one dog that died after a collision with a playmate. Torn aorta. And I've heard of at least 2 with fractured shoulders from hitting trees while looking at a playmate instead of where they were headed at 100 mph. My dogs are now corrected whenever they attempt to start race, both for my safety and theirs. sd

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Celt concentrates so much on his stock or the ball or his play companions that he often runs into things like trees, the sailboat, occasional people. He's doing it less and less but we often joke about the dog that runs into trees but it isn't funny because, as pointed out, the dog or people can be seriously injured or worse.

 

If he's heading on a collision course while his attention is elsewhere, I try to give a "heads up" with a shout of "hey" or "watch it". My dogs do a lot of racing and I try to make sure it's on familiar ground, I don't move unexpectedly, and there's plenty of room.

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Dislocated right knee, here. It wasn't a border colllie, though, it was a blankety blank 15 month old brittany spaniel, liver and white and FULL of the devil.

 

At a dog training session, a youngish teacher had us let all the dogs loose after class for a few minutes. The dogs were playing a sort of canine version of crack the whip, the brittany was in the lead, and I saw him look over his shoulder to check his followers when he was about 15 ft from me. Of course, he had to run into my knee just about dead center from the outside, leading to an audible clicking noise and me falling down to roll around and writhe in pain.

 

I'm very, very careful when any dogs are running near my, with both my eyes and my ears.

 

Sammi has put a paw in my eye and scratched my cornea, also painful, but quick to heal.

 

Ruth n the BC3

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Originally posted by Lunar:

Zeeke constantly crashes into me (the wall, Zoe, whatever) when he's racing around the house - it's not a large house. I really wish I could break him of that, because it REALLY hurts, he's a big dog.

Zeeke's a GSD, right? Mine used to do the same -definitely a full-body-contact sort of dog. :rolleyes: Does it work to bump him with your knee - a fairly jolting sort of bump, as the GSD's I've known are not plagued by over-sensitivity :D - and maybe yell "Hey!" in an outraged tone when he makes contact with you?

 

Or would that provoke an aggressive response from Zeeke?

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Originally posted by painted_ponies:

quote:
Originally posted by Lunar:

Zeeke constantly crashes into me (the wall, Zoe, whatever) when he's racing around the house - it's not a large house. I really wish I could break him of that, because it REALLY hurts, he's a big dog.

Zeeke's a GSD, right? Mine used to do the same -definitely a full-body-contact sort of dog. :rolleyes: Does it work to bump him with your knee - a fairly jolting sort of bump, as the GSD's I've known are not plagued by over-sensitivity :D - and maybe yell "Hey!" in an outraged tone when he makes contact with you?

 

Or would that provoke an aggressive response from Zeeke?

Yep, he's a GSD, and YEP he's a full-body-contact kind of dog. I don't really play with him (tug or wrestle, doG no, because he jumps INTO me if he gets excited). If I yell "HEY!" he just kind of gives me a look like, "What's your deal?" and more or less ignores me. No aggression - just a "You're in my way." or "LET'S PLAY *SMASH*"
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