Chucking it down with rain so I took Sam to the woods this afternoon where at least there is some shelter under the trees . Walking along the path, Sam was doing his impression of a big piece of velcro because I had his ball in my hand , he wont even look at people or other dogs . Coming towards us was a youngish man with a little boy of about 4 years old , the boy began to scream like he was being murdered when he saw Sam , I mean really really screaming : Sam was taking no notice whatsoever and the man shouted to me , in a not too friendly fashion " Get the dog on a lead at once " I called back, saying that my dog would not come anywhere near them , at which the man began to shout obsceneties, in front of the child , demanding that I put my dog on lead or he would call Natural England ( owner of the site ) I did keep my cool and told him to be my guest because I am a volunteer warden for them . At this, he got even more angry, Sam still compltely ignoring them, he swept the child up ( still screaming ) into his arms and told me to , well , cant write it here but the second word if Off . I dont know how I managed to walk on without a word, but I did . if his child was genuinly scared of dogs and he had asked in a polite way , I would have put Sam on lead, but he was beyond rude , thank goodness people like this are in the minority :
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Horrible man,horrible.That child is going to grow up with more to worry about than a fear of dogs...disgraceful behavior!The poor child is probably a nervous wreck if he is around adults that behave like that ,no one should be exposed to language like that ,especially not you and Sam. You behaved with dignity and aplomb Kate and Sam did really well around a lot of noise and hostility.The bloke comes out of that scenario looking a fool!x
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Oh Kate, that is horrible. Sorry. Sam is such a pet, it's not fair you got shouted at. The only thing I can imagine is that the man must have had a really bad experience at some time. But that poor child is always going to have a phobia about dogs, that's for sure. All down to his dad...
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Gosh i feel sorry for that child! And so sorry you and Sam had such a rubbish experience!!
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . well done to you both......as you no i have always had a massive fear of dogs, to the extent that i could not walk any where if i saw a dog off the lead.....if ever i saw a dog off lead coming towards me, even about 35 feet away, i would shout will you put it on the lead please i am scared, most replys was he is soft, my answer to this was so am i ....thats all changed now, my jasper running off lead,.....he is not one to go over to people, just other dogs, then i have a night mare on my hands
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . So angry for you! Honestly, outrageous. It's funny, I last had a dog so long ago, in a rural place, and I don't remember it being like this - I mean people being so weird about dogs. Being able to brush off an over enthusiastic dog was something we learned along with walking when and where I grew up - although we were much more likely to want to play with the dog. Times change, I suppose (sounding old now!). Charlie, at a very tiny 12 weeks, sniffed a boy in the park - child was about six, not a baby. I didn't know at the time that this was a terrible act of child abuse, I've learnt now. Child burst into tears, with mum sweeping him up and glaring daggers at me! Gosh, I'm so careful now.
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Kate, I feel you on this one...McQueen is on and off his leed whilst we roam parks, beach paths etc and every once so often, yes he will mosey on down to greet another dog...this happened to me a few days ago..there was a woman with a lap dog the size of McQueens, uhm coughs ...left testicle and before poor Mcqueen could come anywhere near them with his smiley little face and tag wagging ...she kicked him ! I remained quiet watching Mc drop his head and head back to me in shame till I couldn't take anymore and about turned stating "touch my dog again and it won't be the pup being dealt it will be your ass!" so yes a very sore topic for me to ..it happens often and I'm sick of it ........
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . oh my god, kicked your dog........with my fear i just froze on the spot, with my heart in my mouth until the owner called it back i have never had a dog even as a child, it is the best thing i have ever done , my grandson as a massive bond with him, would never of harmed a dog would have been to scared to move, in fear it would attack me
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . So sorry to hear of that awful experience, Kate You did well. Can't write what I think of that man. Labrina, I can't believe that women kicked McQueen. At least you gave her a bit of an ear-lashing. Dreadful experiences, both
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Well, it was either that or I ended up shoving her face into the dirt after kicking at it myself to give her a taste of her own medicine...but alas...I'm just NOT like that ...I was ropeable for a good 3 days at least however...
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . 3 days of ropeableness would be the minimum for sure. I like to think that there is a special hell reserved for these people.
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . oh dear , i would hate to think any one would kick my little fella,....if they ever did i would hope it would be when my son mark as him out , .....mark is a gentle giant at 18 12/ may be 19 stone, 6ft.....if this happened when he was out lordy lord only knows what would happen, mark is very laid back , if it came to jasper, dear me i hate to think about it ......now i am a different story if they had a dog with them i would be to scared to approach ,........its hard for a balance i only just started to mix my self with other dogs, it gets easier
Re: A rant , sorry in advance . Kicked your dog??!!??!!??!!????????? Wow....I know that there are people who are afraid of dogs, and that we, as dog owners, should always make sure that we are respectful of others' level of comfort around our pets. But these two people showed inexcusable behaviour, in my mind!
