Not too long ago, I saw a post on Lifehacker about how to get a dog to stop chasing you. Frankly, I was mortified at reading it and I hoped that nobody had actually put that advice to practice because it was seriously terrible advice.


I have no intention to call anyone out or anything; indeed, there’d hardly be any point given that the article in question was posted in 2011, but I feel it is necessary to address the poor advice given in this article.

First, I’d like to qualify that I am no expert. I’m still studying to become a dog behaviorist and have little experience working with aggressive dogs. What I do have is many friends who I hang out with regularly who are all qualified dog behaviorists and I would entrust my own safety and wellbeing to their advice any time.


So what’s the problem with the other article?

Really it comes down to the interaction with the dog.

However, over at Adventure Journal, Brendan Leonard explains that if you know you’re not getting away, the best way to get a dog to back down is to first stop running, and then, if the dog is still aggressive, flip out on it and bark it down.﻿


Forgetting the fact that by stopping running, you’re presenting an easy target for the dog without knowing what it will do when it catches up to you. Don’t assume the dog will stop running just because you do.

By responding this way to the threat of the aggressive dog, you’re aggressively challenging an already aggressive animal who is a lot stronger than you are, can take a lot more pain than you can, and has much bigger teeth than you do. You don’t put an end to aggression by adding more aggression.

What the dog hasn’t seen, he says, is a human take the crazy up a notch and give the dog a good, incredibly loud shout


The dog doesn’t care about crazy; it doesn’t know what crazy is, in fact. Chances are all you’re doing, from the dog’s perspective, is presenting some sort of threat given the instability of your behavior.

This is a very risky mind game to play with an unknown opponent. The idea is probably to scare the dog off, right? Most dogs that exhibit aggression often do it as a misdirection of some other stimulus. You’ve seen excited dogs snapping or barking at each other, right? That’s exactly what I’m talking about.


So in this case, if you go full crazy on this dog and the dog is actually displaying aggression misdirected out of fear, you could actually precipitate an attack.

So what do you do then?

Here’s what actually qualified behaviorists recommend you do when you’re confronted by an apparently aggressive dog:

Never run away. Stop, stand still and remain calm. Do not shout or scream.

If you run away, you become prey. The dog will chase you and I promise, it can run a lot faster than you - unless you’re Usain Bolt.

If you run away, you become prey. The dog will chase you and I promise, it can run a lot faster than you - unless you’re Usain Bolt. Walk away slowly and never turn your back on the dog.

Open distance on the dog by backing off slowly - I personally prefer to stand side-face to the dog which is to say that the dog is to my left or my right. Standing facing the dog directly could be confrontational whereas standing with your back to the dog makes you vulnerable

Open distance on the dog by backing off slowly - I personally prefer to stand side-face to the dog which is to say that the dog is to my left or my right. Standing facing the dog directly could be confrontational whereas standing with your back to the dog makes you vulnerable Don’t stare at the dog - look off to the side and glimpse at the dog briefly if you need to look.

This goes to how you stand as well. Eye contact can be regarded as aggression.

This goes to how you stand as well. Eye contact can be regarded as aggression. Withdraw slightly in stages without turning away.

Give the dog space. Depending on the nature of the aggression, simply moving out of the dog’s perceived territory could neutralize the situation.

Give the dog space. Depending on the nature of the aggression, simply moving out of the dog’s perceived territory could neutralize the situation. Retreat slowly into a car or building if possible.

Once you have complete separation between you and the dog, such as a car, you’re safe. You can now call someone qualified to remove the dog or drive off, etc.



Once you have complete separation between you and the dog, such as a car, you’re safe. You can now call someone qualified to remove the dog or drive off, etc. If you can find something to put between you and the dog easily, grab and hold it down low. Don’t brandish it, just use it to hold between you and the dog in case the dog lunges at you.

You’re creating a barrier between you and the dog so that the dog will bite something - if it attacks - that isn’t you.


Speaking from experience, I would absolutely recommend this approach rather than the approach recommended by the other article - unless you want to get bit.

These tips were provided by friends of mine over at Balancing Behavior. Another site you can have a look at for more information on how to best avoid injury with confronted by aggressive dogs is Doggone Safe, recommended to me by another dog behaviorist.