It's that time of year again....

[{97702}]

I know this sort of post crops up every year, but the clocks have changed and I am dog-walking in the dusk/nearly dark now The dark doesn't bother me, and I am inclined to think that it is no more risky walking the dogs around a fairly isolated wood in the dark than it is doing that in daylight? I don't know whether a prospective mugger/rapist/up to no good person would be intimidated by 4 greyhounds belting up to him mind you

I'm going to get some falconry bells for the dogs collars to try and reduce the problem of my black, black greyhounds vanishing into the dark, dark woods after deer, but is there anything else you do to make winter dog walking easier/better?

 

[lexiedhb]

I'd be tempted to keep em on a lead- but you know your dogs recall abilities....... light up collars etc and take a torch.

 

[satinbaze]

Lily has a flashing ball. Absolutely fab for a ball mad retriever. The dogs wear flashing collars and I wear one round my arm. We look a bit stupid on the high street but once we get to the park all is good. I do avoid the more secluded areas in the dark

 

[pippixox]

my boy wears a fluorescent jacket! it is very light like the workman ones so he doesn't seem to mind it. i have a head torch so it reflects off it and i can spot him! i tried a collar, but he is quite furry so gets covered by his hair so isn't very visible.
i always have my phone on me and hope that a mugger/ bad person... would get put off when they see my GSD (as they don't know he is actually scared of the cat and a giant softy! and recon if he saw i was in danger would actually be aggressive)

 

[samlg]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a high powered torch to help with this problem?! I have an average rechargeable one but the light doesn't shine very far or bright, don't mind buying a new one but don't want to spend a fortune. Thanks

 

[SadKen]

samlg You can get excellent LED rechargeable torches on ebay - I can't remember the name of mine now but it's a pocket sized very bright torch that lasts an hour and a half on the high setting. Fab. There's a lot to choose from, just put in 'LED rechargeable torch'.

I don't walk mine down the 'train track' at night (it's OK, it's disused and is now a cycleway!) because I once saw some ne'er do wells underneath one of the bridges drinking cider, and it put me off. I stick to the well lit streetlight cycleways unless I have my OH with me. I have two big GSDs but I won't put them at risk in case we all get attacked (I'd worry about them more than me). However, I'm just outside a large town and my village has a lot of dodgy types in it. I would merrily wander about in the woods if I lived in the country, as I doubt muggers/murderers would waste time waiting there for someone to turn up as it's likely that they wouldn't, or wouldn't be what you wanted to mug or murder.

 

[samlg]

Thanks sadken I will give that a go. I live on a farm in the middle of no where but I would still like to be able to see! I'm still ok in the mornings as I don't have to leave for work until half 7 but I cant see it staying like that for long!

 

[{97702}]

This may be famous last words but my lot always seem to be OK for recall so I'm not too concerned about them totally disappearing, they are wonderfully fixated about me & always come back however much I try & lose them I think a torch sounds a good idea though, I will have a look, thanks for the suggestions

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I've heard that statistically, the person most likely to end up in trouble when they're out walking in the dark, is actually a male teenager. One factor to that, is probably that they don't think that they're a potential victim, and thus doesn't think that they need to be careful...

Personally, I'm also thinking that if I wanted to rape someone, my first choice would not be to go out and stand in the middle of a wood, next to a tiny trail, where there must be a much slimmer chance for a potential victim to show up, than compared to e.g. a parking lot in the city.

I've both read, and seen on TV, about a study showing that how you for example walk, maybe could be linked to the likeliness of you becoming a victim. I did a search on Ask Jeeves and found this blog about it:

from this site http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/20..._study_suggests_attackers_choose_victims.html

Study Suggests Attackers Choose Victims Based on the Way They Walk
By Justin Peters

“Don’t be a victim.” That’s a phrase you’ll hear a lot if you take a crime-prevention class, or if you befriend J.J. Bittenbinder. Basically, it means that there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood that you’ll be mugged, assaulted, or otherwise attacked. Don’t wave wads of cash around like you’re in Brewster’s Millions. Don’t space out on the subway. Walk with a purpose.

That last one is particularly important, because according to a new study from the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, some criminals are very good at sensing weakness based on the way you walk. In the report titled “Psychopathy and Victim Selection: The Use of Gait as a Cue to Vulnerability,” the authors surveyed 47 inmates at a maximum-security prison in Ontario and found that social predators are very good at picking victims based on their gait—their posture and their stride.

The authors secretly filmed 12 people walking—eight women and four men, some of whom had been attacked before. Then, they showed the footage to a group of inmates, some of whom exhibited interpersonal traits commonly associated with psychopathy—manipulativeness, a lack of empathy, superficial friendliness—and asked them whether or not each person would make a good victim.

These “victim ratings” were then compared against each person’s actual history of victimization. Sure enough, the people whom the psychopaths picked as “likely victims” were usually the ones who had been victimized in the past. These people were often said to have “walked like an easy target”—slowly, asynchronously, with short strides.

The sample size here is really small, so I’d caution against giving this study’s findings too much weight. Nevertheless, it reinforces something that seems pretty intuitive. Criminals aren’t looking for a challenge. Rather, they want someone timid and inattentive. So bound down the street like you own it. Your new, aggressive gait may deter criminals. And even if this study turns out to be total BS, you’ll still get where you’re going a lot faster. Everyone’s a winner!

I've also read that overall, statistically in about 66,6 % of rape cases, the perpetrator is known by the victim. So with other words, it probably isn't the unknown strangers that we should worry ourselves the most about.

Judging by my limited experience with house burglars behaviour in Sweden, I would say that yes, dogs definitely deter criminals. I've had/have neighbours both with and without house alarm systems, that have had their houses burgled. I have 3 dogs (medium sized), and this far, no housebreaking. Again, personally I'm thinking that if I wanted to commit a crime, regardless of breed, I would not want to have one or more dogs running around my feet, maybe barking and alerting everyone...

By the way, are your Greyhouds barky? I'm wondering, because I've read that thieves actually dislike small, yappy dogs the most. I did another search on Ask Jeeves, and found this example:

from this site http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/big-dogs-other-mistakes-54581

Mistake #1: Getting a Big Dog
"Most big breeds, unless they're trained as guard dogs, aren't barkers. What you want are 'yappers,' small dogs that make a lot of noise."

Lastly, if you use a too bright flashlight or headlight, it can decrease your chances to spot a potential assailant! Because everything outside the area that your lamp lit up, will become even more pitch black, and, in principle, as long as it is quiet, you may not even notice if an elephant lurked on you in the dark...

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yeah it's pants isn't it? I do walk my dog along the shore where there are streetlights along certain stretched but I now keep him on the lead as I got tired of playing the 'find the black dog in the dark' game and he was scaring the living daylights out of people by running past them panting heavily and they couldn't figure out what or where he was
I've never been nervous of my personal safety for obvious reasons

Maglites are always a safe bet for a good torch and you can get mini ones.

I also use a head torch and a flashing tabard in the pitch black but I don't go out in the woods anymore

 

[Mince Pie]

I've started attaching a head torch to my lad as he tends to bog off fairly quickly, I just tie it to his collar and you can easily see the blue light bobbing about as he runs!

 

[milo'n'molly]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pet-Dog-C...d-Tag-Safety-Reflectable-Hi-Vis-/390545122858

I use lights similar to these ( got mine from the petrol station) fantastic for watching them bob around in the fields.
My dog is also a little too hairy for the flashing collars but this has a dangle to it and is very bright. On holiday a few years ago we were on a beach in Wales the weekend that a ship had crashed and the coast guard spotted the flashing light on my dog from 2 miles away and came racing up the beach thinking that it was something from the wreckage.

 

[{97702}]

Thanks for the info about the potential for being attacked FL, that has reassured me I will carry on doing what I am doing then - I did laugh at CC's description of Floofy frightening people, I can just imagine it It is bad enough when Amy suddenly dashes across the path ahead of me, it still makes me jump!