What a lovely sunny warm day it was today. Off Harley and I went to have a lovely walk without waterproofs for a change. Went to our local walk (forty acres), it was really busy with dogs, kids and their owners. Harley and I decided to go into the wooded area as it appeared to be quieter. As we were walking there a small terrier ran up to say hi........Harley was doing off lead heel so I released her to say hi. After a quick hi Harley looked at me and we went to carry on walking....the terrier had other ideas and got in Harleys face barking and barking, Harley went to go around it when the terrier really had a go!! Harley had a short shrift go back then walked towards me when the terrier had another go....Harley had obviously had enough and had a go back. The owners were about 50 yards away, made no attempt to recall their dog or come to get it!! I managed to grab Harley and separate them. The terrier then ran to its owners who said 'not again' put their dog on lead, shouted that my dog is aggressive and walked off with the dog on its lead!!! Another regular walker ran over to see if Harley was ok and to say she witnessed all of it. I was really annoyed that the terriers owners didn't do anything. Luckily the regular walkers dogs came and played with Harley and we ended up walking with them for over an hour - Harley loves the lady's 7 month old Italian Spinone Is this what it's going to be like as the weather gets nicer - people who only walk their dogs in nice weather who have no control over their dogs ;(
Oh dear, there are some strange dog owners about! A few weeks ago I had a similar experience. I was walking Wispa on her lead in a local wildlife park (with a sign on the gate saying all dogs must be kept on their leads). We were just about to leave the park when a woman with a small dog and small child appeared. The dog rushed over towards us, so Wispa barked and bounced a bit, but the dog kept coming. Then I noticed that not only was it off its lead but it didn't have a collar on either! I asked the woman to put her dog on its lead, but she immediately said that my dog was out of control (on her lead and at no point touching her dog?!) and there had been nobody about when she'd come into the park!
Sounds a pretty awful experience for both you and Harley. Unfortunately it seems far too common that we meet poorly trained dogs and useless owners who always blame the other dog never their little darling! Good to hear that Harley had a fun walk though with a Spinone, just live them but you don't see them very often.
I love little dogs and want one of my own - but these stupid owners are often those with little dogs. They don't realise that size makes no difference whatever with dogs.
Unfortunately there does seem to be quite a lot of out of control little dogs. If big dogs were allowed to behave like some little dogs there'd be trouble. We meet a lot more people and dogs walking in nice weather than when we walk in horizontal rain so what happens to these dogs then I wonder. Glad Harley got to have some fun with friends.
Small dogs are the bane of Charlie's life. He looks absolutely miserable when they come up to him, and he tries to leave, nervously, in case they snap at his heels. I have a little bit of sympathy for the small dog though. I do wonder if it's all a bit of a preemptive strike because they get a little bit (inadvertently) pushed around.
Aren't dogs odd? My Charlie has far more time for small dogs, allowing them to do just about anything they want to him including biting his tail and clamping onto his leg x
Harley goes on most of her dog walker walks with smaller dogs and is completely fine with them. The spinones owner also has a pug and again no problems between her and Harley! My daughter and I took Harley there again today. The terrier was with an older teenage girl who kept walking near us and encouraging her dog to come over to us! I asked her to call her dog away as I was doing training.........of course she ignored me so I got Harley to sit and wait until they moved on. We bumped into Gus the Spinone and his older sisters (another Spinone and a pug) with its owners. Harley had a blast again The girl with the terrier walked past when they were playing and told her dog to 'get in there'. Harley and her friends ignored the terrier so it eventually walked off..............why oh why do people try and cause problems! My daughter was very bemused by it all but did hold her tongue (for a change )
That's just too bad Ternaya , its no wonder that small terrier types get a bad name , when their owners are oblivious of their antics, or just don't care . I love Terriers , of course, but they can be a handful and often suffer from small dog syndrome , but this is no excuse for owners allowing them to behave like terrorists
