Sorry, I'm continually posting questions, but I'm always really interested in your opinions and finding out what you do in certain situations! . When walking Cosmo, we walk him to the park/woods very close to our house. There are a few big areas of field that we let him run about off lead on. If we see a dog on the lead coming towards us, we tend to call Cosmo back and put him back on the lead too. If they're happily bombing about, we tend to leave Cosmo off too. Sometimes he likes to run about with them and have a sniff and jump about, other times he hangs back and just watches. Guess I'm just wondering if everyone else does the same? Suppose it also depends how solid your recall is so you could him 'get out of bother' quick if need be :-\
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... I find this a bit tricky too - Charlie does leg it over to other dogs given half a chance. I try to get Charlie to sit, right away. If other dog on lead, I either put Charlie on a lead or ask the owner if they mind Charlie being off lead. If other dog off lead and other owner lets their dog approach, I tell Charlie "go play". One problem is that once I ask Charlie to sit, other dog owners often call their dog back and I end up explain we are happy to play, just Charlie has to wait rather than rush over. I used to ask whether we could say hello, but stopped doing this as no-one else does, and more often than not people just looked bemused at the question. That's all in theory, anyway, I still find myself apologising at least once a week for my muddy bouncy puppy jumping up on someone!
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... hmmm. I am ashamed to admit I used to be a bit slack about letting my two run up to dogs for my first year of dog ownership. Now as the owner of a slightly Ninny dog, who can get a bit freaked out at having dogs rush at her, and knowing that 2 dogs in particular rushing at another dog can be intimidating for that dog if its a bit unconfident, I understand that this is not a good idea and have stopped this completely. If a dog is on lead, I call my two back to me and they walk to heel off lead in Brodick's case and in Cuillin's case on lead as she feels safer on lead around dogs she doesn't know. Even if the owners say that their dogs are friendly, when we are in our local big city park I've recently decided not to let them play with dogs I don't know, even if the owners say that their dogs are friendly. Too many dodgy incidents recently. If the other dog is offlead and i dont know it, I do the same, call my two back. If it is one of their good pals then they get told they can Go Play once they have dutifully come back. I can get on my soap box about this actually, as the other day we were out and two dog walkers with ten dogs between them, all off lead, let them all charge up to my two as a mass pack of ten. Cuillin got really jippy, and I politely called over to them and asked if they could call the dogs back. They looked over, and completely ignored me! I then explained that I was trying to help Cuillin get over some dog fears, and this wasn't really helping her, they looked over again and just wandered off leaving the dogs. So, ever conscious that I need to stay completely chilled for Cuillin in these situations and not raise my voice or anything, I just glared at the three leading dogs (who were just being friendly bless them!) and told them in a deathly quiet, ominous voice, Will (meaningful pause) You (meaningful pause) B*gger (meaningful pause) Off, which they did! I think its best to be careful about our pups approaching strange dogs, and its polite as well not to let em....easier said than done I know though with excited pups!
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... I completely agree - while it's great and really important for puppies ( and older dogs) to play with others, they really need to be restrained first until the owners have clarified that playtime is welcome and that all the dogs are friendly! Recall can be tricky out of a mad game, so wait until your pup is close by and looking at you, then call him once firmly and then make a HUGE fuss of him when he comes to you! Think about using a whistle instead of your voice, as the sound is clear and always means the same thing, and has no tone inflection (I.e. he can't hear annoyance or desperation, as he might do from your voice). And don't forget to have treats with you!
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... With barley, most of the time he is on a lead or long line, so he gets realed in as he can be funny with some dogs, and some dogs that run up to him will spook him and chooses to fight most of the time but has been know to take flight. Some dogs we meet are out of control and the owners need a good talking too, which can be quite hard when you are trying to restarin barley from attacking there dog, even though they can here him growling and barking, they just carry on and ignore there dog which is extremely stupid of them. If he is offlead i will try to get him back, but most of the time unsucsessful, so i will follow him to the other dog then when he is busy sniffing the other dog i will tell him he is a good boy and it is a nice dog, or if i think he might be funny with the dog i will gently grab his collar, so not to startle him.
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... Which dog is growling and barking, is it Barley or the other dogs? It might be that the owners are just trying to ignore the situation so as not to make your job harder than it already is. If Barley is trying to attack their dog , as you describe it, maybe by carrying on walking they hope their dog will follow, and out of danger? The total recall programme is definitely something worth considering if he doesn't come back when called, as you know it can get him into dangerous situations if not.
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... [quote author=tartanmouse link=topic=2613.msg26556#msg26556 date=1379588422] Which dog is growling and barking, is it Barley or the other dogs? It might be that the owners are just trying to ignore the situation so as not to make your job harder than it already is. If Barley is trying to attack their dog , as you describe it, maybe by carrying on walking they hope their dog will follow, and out of danger? The total recall programme is definitely something worth considering if he doesn't come back when called, as you know it can get him into dangerous situations if not. [/quote] It is usually the barley growling but it has been know to be the other way round. We have got the total recall book, and we are working through it with puzzle, will do so aswell with barley but only once puzzle has got through the book, so we can work on one dog at a time.
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... If Obi is off-lead but an approaching dog is on lead I always put Obi on lead and we walk past without doggie interaction (unless we already know the person/dog). If the other dog is off lead and looks relaxed then Obi stays off lead too. If I see other people walking without a dog then I put Obi on lead too so he doesn't run up and say hi (after he once barrelled up to someone, jumped on them with great enthusiasm and knocked their coffee out of their hand :-[ ).
Re: Etiquette whilst on a walk..... I do the same Rachael....but time is a factor with me if it's the community park .5.30 am he is pretty much off lead as its quiet ,6 pm he is definately ON as the park is chockers
