Dog Attack!

Nope I haven't been attack by a dog yet but I had a close shave not too long ago. I was lucky compared to this lady and this lady but I am sure they will admit they are lucky too if they compare themselves to this gentleman.

Anyway, while it is generally pretty safe to run in Singapore, and there are not that many dogs or even other animals like monkey attack, still I was curious enough to find out how to defend myself in case it happened. So I turned to Mr Dog Whisperer himself, Cesar Milan and this is what he advises: 

" I get very calm. Believe it or not, what will be instrumental in blocking the animal from attacking you is for you to be calm and unafraid. ........Once I have asserted myself, I claim my own space. Often, I use a walking stick, an umbrella, or anything I happen to be carrying and place it out in front of me, so I make myself appear bigger and feel more in command of my space. What I am saying with my body language is, I don’t want the dog’s space; I don’t want that tree over there, I just want this space that I am standing in. n Again, I am maintaining a very calm and assertive state. That energy creates a barrier that automatically demands his respect. I’m letting him know that I’m not afraid of him."

Huh? That sounds very cheem. And me think 99.999% of runners here don't carry any stick, umbrella  except maybe a water bottle when they run  so the advice might present some difficulty to carry out.

But I have this theory. Animal only attack when other animals including human intrude into its territory or threaten its young. So the right thing to do is to avoid going near to them. but if there is no choice, do not run away from them. I learnt this from my previous encounter. When I saw the 3 dogs, I stopped running and just walked across. They stood there and barked but made no other move. But when I thought I had passed them sufficiently and resumed running, they chased after me. To the dogs, it could be a game or it could be big fish eat small fish and if I run, means I scare of them so they attacked. I don't know but reading other advices from other websites, the consensus is don't run, don't do anything that will cause the dog to interpret as hostile. Wait until the dog lose interest and walk slowly away.

Will it work? Try it out the next time and let me know!