I was walking my mum's dogs last week with my mum and my son. She had father and son Jack Russells. Jack - father and Russ - son, very original I know lol! Jack can be quite nervous sometimes and not for any particular reason but Russ is very confident and keen to explore but both are always on lead because they bolt ALOT. As we walked along the canal we came across a few dogs and as the path was narrow and knowing how Jack can be I let my mum know "dog just up here" all was fine and well until we came to the bridge when a man and a woman sat while their dogs ran about. One I couldn't quite identify the breed of (small rough coat) sniffed Russ who was with me and Russ totally ignored him. Loads of praise for Russ. Then when it spotted Jack before Jack spotted him his tail went still ears back and his pace slowed. To me that is a dog ready for trouble. So my mum calmly stepped past with Jack on the other side talking to him to reassure him. The dog followed us until he spotted a ball and off he went. Both me and my mum agreed that the dog should have been called by his owner. The walk after that was lovely but we got to a point where legs were tired, dog's were thirsty and my son was a bit fed up! We turned back and headed home. On our way we came across the dogs and owners from the bridge, but this time they were walking. The dog made a beeline for Jack and barking from both followed. Not a word from the owned till my mum shouted "can you get your bloody dog please?" At which point he got quite verbally aggressive to me and my mum "people like you who don't let your dog socialise" and few other choice words I don't think would be allowed on here! To which I asked him "do you shake the hand of every person you walk past? No. Why should dogs be the same? Especially when these are on lead and yours are not?" I have no issue with dogs being off lead, I regularly walk my own dog off lead but at the same time I try and assess the dogs, people and other environmental factors and put her on her lead if I think it is needed. He had made no effort to call his dog back and it infuriates me that rather than get his dog and be on his way he blamed US! How would you respond in that situation? I haven't my marbles thinking we should be able to walk without confrontation?
Some off the lead dogs can be a real problem. No, I'll put it another way. Some off the lead humans can be a real problem, if they don't exercise control over their dogs. Molly can walk calmly past some dogs, but not others. It isn't aggression, she just wants to be beszzie mates with them. I firmly believe that if you have the privilege of owning a dog it is your responsibility to ensure that it does not impact negatively on people, dog, or other creatures.
Ah, sorry you have this experience - it can get to you a bit, it does me. I think that a lot of people can't recall their dog away from another dog yet because in the UK we have such a strong expectation that our dogs can be off lead no matter what, they adopt an attitude that it's normal to allow a dog to run up to any other dog and blame the receiving dog for being unsocialised. All I do is ask the owner to call their dog, sometime they do, mostly they can't. If they can't, I'll try to deter the dog myself. If it's friendly, I'll just start working with Charlie to remove Charlie's attention away from it. If it's aggressive or Charlie is not happy, I'll do the same but try to keep myself between the dog and Charlie. And if I'm really worried, or when Charlie was injured, I'll put the dog on lead (if I can) and walk it back to its owner. If the owner is close and at least trying to catch their dog I'll sometimes drop a pile of treats and walk on so the dog stays with the treats. That only works if the owner is trying to catch the dog though, otherwise once it has finished the treats it will run after me for more! I've had some real shockers of people - the worst was a dog walker who let her pack of 6 dogs surround Charlie while he was on lead, they were growling and pushing him (he was on-lead because he was still recovering from surgery). I asked the dog walker to do something and she told me my dog wasn't socialised properly. I'm afraid at that I blew my top, which did my dog no good because it removed my attention away from helping him exit the situation and I resolved never to do it again.
That is a horrible situation to be in. You were in the right, and then blamed for being a responsible dog owner! Happens too often, I am afraid. I have been known to shout 'MY DOG HAS TERRIBLE ITCHING AND I'M AFRAID SHE MAY HAVE FLEAS' - that one worked a treat!!!
Some owners really do need training in manners. Unfortunately, although the dog may have been very vocal and a nuisance, it's the owner at fault for allowing and not doing anything to stop their dog. I'm quite lucky here in France as the convention is you recall your dog and pop them on lead while approaching and passing others. In my experience it's generally the Brits on holiday who don't.
Maybe your Mother shouldn't have said "bloody", that can be like red rag to a bull. The fleas is a brilliant idea but saying your dog has Mange will work even faster!
I have had times when Lola has barged into other dogs wanting to play and she has been told off by the other dog, my first instinct is to apologise and take her away. Too many people don't take responsibility and it drives me nuts! I thought us brits were supposed to be over polite, but apparently not! I once apologised to a manakin in m&s :-D I have a feeling he wouldn't have blown his top if my 6ft fiancée was there!
LovelyLittleLola what an awful experience for you. I've also suffered from the same experience a few times. I'm lucky I have an awful lot of places to walk my girl all within a 10-15 minute drive from my house, what I have done is avoid the locations where there are more rude people than normal. Maybe it's not the right thing to do it just means we miss all the crazies who think the idea of being a good owner is to let their dog out of the car on the car park and run round for 30 minutes while they stand and chat. I've always had the philosophy if you are approaching a dog on lead then you put yours on lead too. After all they are on a lead for a reason. As you say we don't all shake hands with everyone we meet so why should our dogs always want to play. And as for dog walkers I have yet to have a positive experience when I have come across them, best not get started on that
Harley is off lead a lot, but as soon as I spot a dog on lead I recall her and get her to stay with me or pop her lead on. I do get some on lead dogs then lunge or pounce on Harley and the owners laugh........this frustrates me. I do get some owners who thank me and comment that they wish others would do the same. Even if Harley us off lead, I don't allow her to run up to other off lead dogs until I have checked with the owner - I tell her to wait, then release her to say hi or recall her. Unfortunately some people aren't considerate!
