First walk post op out with the dogs. (Had a knee op on Monday..) so going stir crazy as you can imagine,so thought we would try a gentle stroll along the nearby local common. Well started off OK, using hubby's arm for support, felt fine. Dogs were just mooching by our side. Get to a smallish pond the dogs love, they start splashing, and say hello to a couple of dogs. Benson says hello to a setter in the pond, at this point my heart sank, this was one of three setters, the owner always walks off, she did this first when he was only 16 weeks old. Literally just walked off with my excitable puppy in tow. So this time I notice she is playing/stroking him, then she walks off. At this point we weren't too worried, wasn't in any condition to run after her anyhow,so we decide to walk around. It is not open here, and she was in a sort of junction of pathways in a small wooded area. Walked around, calling and whistling, couldn't see her, her dogs or Benson. I was getting really worried at this point, he has never run off before, and not come back, admittedly we are in quite heavy undergrowth and now it is getting dark. Met a few familiar dog owners and everyone joins in on the hunt for Benson. Eventually we find him, after about 30 mins he had headed off back towards the car, I have never felt so relieved! I am so angry and upset at that woman though, really angry! Why does she always walk off? What is wrong with people? I would never ever do that, Benson wasn't bothering her, she only had to stop and say I think your dog is following me..the thing is I think she encourages him, he is not one for following people. He runs up to say hello then comes back. I am still shaking and feel physically sick at the thought that we may have lost him. My plea to anyone..is it doesn't hurt to wait awhile if a dog is following you, just so you can see the owner, and the dog can them also. That's it...rant over..
Re: Horrible Walk.. Thank goodness he was sensible enough to head to a place where he'd find you. Good boy, Benson. Some people are just nuts - there used to be a man that I would see on the beach, with a spaniel, that would encourage Charlie up, and give him a treat just as I blew my recall whistle then try to keep him by feeding him more treats! It was last summer, and Charlie was still learning. I asked him politely not to do it a couple of times, then the third time in rather stronger terms!
Re: Horrible Walk.. You go ahead and rant Not good Kate :'( I'm glad Benson went back to the car though I can't believe that women is so stupid and irresponsible some people really don't gave a brain or just don't care!! Big hugs {{hug}}
Re: Horrible Walk.. So glad you found him, 30 minutes can feel like a lifetime. I can't believe how some people behave around dogs, at least he's home, safe and well.
Re: Horrible Walk.. Thank goodness this ended well, but I agree , people can be so damned stupid , so sorry x
Re: Horrible Walk.. Thank you! I think it was partly our fault, I was a bit distracted, and honestly thought he would come back, I think he probably got confused. He obviously decided to follow our tracks back. We had about 4 other dog walkers out looking and calling, one even going back to his car to get a torch. There are some lovely people out there. It's just that I would never, ever walk off. especially in a area where it is easy to get sidetracked by the pathways. She accused me once of feeding her dogs, 2 of them ran over to me as I was C&T a retrieve by Benson. I was a bit surprised at the time, not being in the habit of feeding other peoples dogs (unless it is pupcakes of course! ;D ;D) but just put it down to her being eccentric. : I have calmed down now, mostly I was just horribly, horribly worried!
Re: Horrible Walk.. What a horrible experience, not know where your dog is. I've never met anyone who doesn't wait to make sure a following dog returns to its owner, before continuing walking. To do otherwise is just thoughtless. I guess now you know to put Benson on lead when this lady appears...
Re: Horrible Walk.. What an unnecessary fright ...it must have felt like a lifetime before you found him.....a guy on a bike did the same to my parents with their setter,another dog walker realised and called and got Derry and rang my Dads mobile ....
Re: Horrible Walk.. Any chance there's anything more sinister going on and she was trying to lure him away? Our pups are valuable creatures... I hope not and she was just being an idiot. how horrible for you! So glad you were reunited. Clever pup!
Re: Horrible Walk.. I had this problem once, before murohy was castrated he took a liking to a girly spaniel who was about 200m away. Murphy legged it off to see her and was deaf to my recall, the dogs owner could see murphy waking along with his dog, and could probably see me shouting and walking quickly towards him, but the bloke just kept walking! I ended up having to run to catch up and when i arrived I put murphy on the lead and the bloke just looked at me. I was so annoyed!! It is just good etiquette to return a dog to its owner or at lesst dont take it further away. People are such idiots sometimes!
Re: Horrible Walk.. What a horrible experience Over the last 6 months of having a pup, I have been amazed at the number of idiot dog owners that I have come across.
Re: Horrible Walk.. [quote author=Fwhitt246 link=topic=8667.msg122554#msg122554 date=1415524979] It is just good etiquette to return a dog to its owner or at lesst dont take it further away. People are such idiots sometimes! [/quote] I'd say this is right - although there are exceptions and the "receiving" owner does deserve thanks for compensating for a lack of recall (understandable with puppies in training, of course). The exception, I think, is dogs on leads or dogs that might be aggressive, or your dog is trying to avoid. It's pretty much unacceptable for a dog to follow a dog on lead. When Charlie was recovering from his op, this drove me mad. And I didn't stop walking. It was better for my dog to keep walking, while I discouraged the other dog, than jump around on his lead with an off lead dog. Owners did get annoyed with me - particularly the ones who didn't do anything until I started walking... And I now have a deliberate strategy of walking away from a dog that Charlie finds threatening even though the dog often follows us. I'm just not going to stand there and sort out whether that dog is going back to its owner or not.
Re: Horrible Walk.. What was so frustrating is that it is not the first time this woman has done this. Her 3 dogs were all off lead, and a quick glance in our direction would have made it obvious that we were walking slowly and I was limping. She just took off without a backward glance, and when her dogs had started playing with Benson in the water. (Benson loves this pond and runs off ahead to play there..)...a difficult recall situation all round. Anyhow, I have put this down to experience and will watch out, as soon as I see her will pop both dogs on leads until she goes.
Re: Horrible Walk.. It must have been very frightening - 30 minutes is a long time. Glad it ended well.
Re: Horrible Walk.. Terrifying - no wonder you were fuming! I had this happen with my lovely Boogie (who I name myself after on here) He was completely lost on Cannock Chase. After two hours of searching we tearfully headed back to the car, as it was going dark. Guess where Boogie was? Yep - sitting by the car!
Re: Horrible Walk.. Took the boys out this afternoon, just in a quiet but open field, and just worked recall, Benson recall has just gone to bits! I am frustrated by his almost casual recall today, Casper, well ironically his recall was amazing! Blew the whistle and he came back like a bat out of hell, so much so I was a little worried he wasn't going to put on the brakes in time and bowl me over! : ;D On the plus side, Benson is really enjoying retrieving. We took a tennis ball and fur dummy out to work in between recalls. Benson managed a couple of good blinds with good delivery to hand ( after streaking off to play with another lab that turned up...) Long line out again methinks, plus liver cake tomorrow!
Re: Horrible Walk.. Isn't Benson about "at that age"? The age of objection, I read in an article recently. No doubt the retrieving will help if he's getting properly hooked. What a result with Casper! That's brill. Well done you.
Re: Horrible Walk.. [quote author=JulieT link=topic=8667.msg122676#msg122676 date=1415560627] Isn't Benson about "at that age"? The age of objection, I read in an article recently. No doubt the retrieving will help if he's getting properly hooked. What a result with Casper! That's brill. Well done you. [/quote] Oh yes! The age of being objectionable....well I can hardly blame him. A lot has happened in the last month or so, notwithstanding Casper. Benson has changed, his physique and even how he thinks/behaves has changed. He has grown from a puppy into a young adult, and I am sure feels like quite an independent chap right now. I just need to adapt his training right now to add a bit more variety and challenge. Keep him stimulated, and me more interesting I think will help
Re: Horrible Walk.. [quote author=Beanwood link=topic=8667.msg122688#msg122688 date=1415563476] He has grown from a puppy into a young adult, and I am sure feels like quite an independent chap right now. [/quote] Yup, that'll do it, alright.
