Couple of things that seemed to really irritate to me today so needed a bit if a rant I'm afraid... And to see if it's just me being irrational... 1. When I'm walking Penny down the road on her lead I tend to keep her on a short lead and on the other side of me when passing other dogs, most of the time she's ok but sometimes she'll see one she kicks off at and obviously if you're on the same pavement it can be a bit of an issue. Using my body as a barrier seems to minimise reactive encounters. The majority of dogs around my area that we see walking in the street are staffie types or other bull breed types. I worry that these people think I'm keeping Penny away because of their dog, when it's not the case at all. I love staffies and bull breeds. It's not that I'm worried about what their dog will do to me or my dog (as I know some people do worry) it's the fact that I'm trying to minimise negative encounters for my dog - especially after she got attacked my those two staffie types the other week. I don't feel that I should have to explain myself to these people that I spend two seconds occasionally walking past... But if I were them I know what I would be thinking. 2. The big park we walk in on an evening is divided in half by a path - one side is tennis courts, a child's play park, basketball court and paths, and the other half is grass. The grass half is maybe five football pitches long and three wide, but there are only three pitches painted at any time. Tonight I entered at the top end, we always do a circuit of the field and then follow the paths round the rest of the park before leaving. So there's us at the very too and then a man with a small black patterdale type in the middle of the field - about 3-4 football pitches away. So I let Penny off and set off to do our walk around the edge of the field. This patterdale spots us and comes rushing over, stopping about 20 feet away to stare at Penny. Luckily at this point Pen is having a poo so I can grab her and put her lead on, anticipating that this dog is going to cause an issue because it's small and has run at full tilt towards her - something she finds very threatening. After eyeballing Penny for a few seconds it then runs towards us again, stopping short when Penny has a bark and a lunge. Obviously she's on lead so I try to just walk away but it follows us. By this time the owner has finally turned up and is finally calling the dog to come away. Off they go over to the other side of the field at a safe enough distance that I feel it's safe to let Penny off again. She never bothers with dogs from a distance and I can recall her instantly if I feel she's too far away for my liking. We've walked no more than 10 feet and I hear a tinkling of collar tags as this patterdale comes running over yet again. I call Penny and put her lead back on and we go through the bark, lunge, walk away, dog follows us until owner eventually turns up and calls it away. This time they head out of the park so I can carry on my walk in relative peace. The thing that annoyed me about this is that I felt like I was going to have to walk Penny around that field on her lead until they left because I felt I couldn't trust his dog not to bother us. I know we all have off moments but if your dog is the type to see a dog THREE football pitches away and leg it off to say hello then you need to do some more training on your recall. I don't feel like I should have to put up with being bothered by your dog when I am walking far enough away for our dogs to have no reason to interact. Am I being unreasonable with that? Is it just because it's annoyed me and I'm a bit blinded to the situation? Like I said I totally understand that our recall fails from time to time but that is a pretty long distance to allow your dog to race off. Anything could have happened to that dog by the time the owner caught up to it - if we had been standing nearer the entrance it could have run out onto the road, if I had been a bit slower getting Penny's lead on they could have had a bit of a confrontation.... I dunno.... I am allowed to be annoyed about the situation??
Re: It's not you, it's me....ok no, sometimes it is you No, definitely not. Ridiculous how some people think it's ok to have their dogs charge around completely out of control...
Re: It's not you, it's me....ok no, sometimes it is you Unfortunately we can't legislate against silly and/or inconsiderate people. And it is annoying when they spoil our plans, but we just have to grit our teeth and make the best of the situation. On the first point, I wouldn't worry about what other people might be thinking. You can't change that and you have no need to explain your actions to.strangers. Just be confident in your decisions and in what you know is right for you and your dog. A good rant is always a good way get rid of life's frustrations
Re: It's not you, it's me....ok no, sometimes it is you [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7035.msg96027#msg96027 date=1405886677] The thing that annoyed me about this is that I felt like I was going to have to walk Penny around that field on her lead until they left because I felt I couldn't trust his dog not to bother us. I know we all have off moments but if your dog is the type to see a dog THREE football pitches away and leg it off to say hello then you need to do some more training on your recall. I don't feel like I should have to put up with being bothered by your dog when I am walking far enough away for our dogs to have no reason to interact. I dunno.... I am allowed to be annoyed about the situation?? [/quote] Yes, perfectly understandable to be annoyed. I think though, that the world we live in is absolutely full of people who don't try to stop their dogs running up to other dogs. To the extent that this is normal and acceptable behaviour to a great many people - it's the norm. I think it's more unusual to find people who don't let their dogs do it. I'm never going to live in a world where off lead dogs don't run up to Charlie, so if I don't want this to be problem, the only solution is to be able to control my dog regardless of what other off lead dogs do. This isn't easy, and I'm miles off achieving it, but it has to be my ambition, so I concentrate on what is within my control (or should be anyway) - my own dog.
Re: It's not you, it's me....ok no, sometimes it is you That's the reason why now I have to keep sharp look out for people when we're walking. When she could hear meg would come back as soon as I called her so never had a problem but now I have to get her on lead straight away even if she hasn't spotted them if we see anybody. People on their own or people with dogs. But she's a good girl, all I have to do now is touch her and she sits and looks at me.
