It has been a wonderful day, but not such a great end... This is in 2 parts really and concerns Casper. Monday night took both dogs out at dusk. Took them to a small conservation area, a nice but small dog walking common, which is usually quite quiet as off the beaten track down a quiet country lane. I usually reverse close to the gate, so it is only about 20 foot or so on lead before they can have a romp. This time I made a mistake...checked the entrance..fine no dogs...then I opened the boot from inside..don't ask me why..I guess I wasn't thinking. This led to both dogs bombing out of the car... I spot three dulux type dogs,perfectly groomed, close to the gate, with 2 walkers (husband and wife..) and (oh no...) on the lead. I know these dogs and generally avoid, as they are mostly on the lead. So, Benson not a problem. Casper stands 8 to 10 feet away and is barking. Not growling..or snarling but the usual excited barking, only I know he is being defensive. Anyway, the woman started shouting and lashing out with her fist and legs...which I don't think helped, but Casper was too far away for her to do any damage. I quickly put Casper on his lead, and apologised profusely explaining he was only a bit fearful, a rescue, and is just barking. She continued to rant, and scream at me. I ignore her and stay calm. So I just left. Felt shaken and really tearful. Well tonight.... the same dogs. This time they are behind me and I have time to put both dogs on the lead and keep away.(about 30 metres away and keep on lead. Casper stops barking but is not very happy. They walk on, and another off lead dog enters from the other side, bounds over to the Dulux dogs,which bark..but no harm done. The couple walk towards me, with their young whippet cross and note that my dogs are on the lead. So naturally ask why, so I explain he just keeps barking at those (Dulux) dogs. Well we end up walking together towards the middle of the field, I let Benson off and he plays with their dog, no problem , then I let Casper off...and oh heck...he runs all the way back towards the Dulux dogs, really odd...and starts barking again! I call him..doesn't come back so trudge over, which takes maybe half a minute. Casper is again about 10 foot away and barking. The woman looks absolutely furious..I quickly clip Casper on lead and try to walk off. The man walks towards me. He tries to talk to me about Casper..but I am no mood to talk to him..so say..."I don't want to talk to you, my dog is only barking. I apologised on Monday, and I not gong to do it again" He then said "Well you need understand one of my dogs has a bad back" At this point the woman is shouting at me..saying she is going to report my dog as aggressive...So I flip at this point and suggest they walk their dogs somewhere else then... The other couple see all this..and walk over...they see I am clearly upset. They are shocked, and say that there is no way Casper was aggressive..and are happy to be witnesses. At this point I just want to go home, but they won't hear of it and spend the next 30 mins playing with Casper and Benson. Benson actually retrieves tennis balls with incredible speed for them, and impressed them both by squishing 2 balls in his mouth at one point. Casper was great with their dog, a whippet cross who was bouncing all over him, and he didn't mind one bit. I just feel frustrated and sad...I am doing everything I possibly can with Casper...with have more training organised for him. I apologised on Monday despite their rudeness, but tonight I did get mad at them.. I know this is a rant, but why can't some people be more tolerant? I have had dogs barking at Benson...Casper...the owners apologise usually shouting at their dogs, I would never take offence..especially if I knew it was rescue dog...I stay calm and move quickly on. Finally, sorry just realise what an enormously long post I have written... :'(
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Hang in there Kate, these things will always happen. Don't worry about Casper, he is not aggressive, anyone can tell that.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Some people don't understand dogs! Try not to get upset but I guess I would feel like you did. The couple with the Whippet cross sound very pleasant people and were a great support to you, and Caspar had a positive experience with their dog. I expect the woman overreacted because she was worried about her dog's back, however, there is no excuse for being rude; Caspar was 10ft away and she could have remained calm and just called to you "my dog has a bad back', you would have called Caspar and all the aggro could have been avoided. It wasn't your fault, we could all have done the same thing by letting our dogs out when we though the coast was clear
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Oh Kate I know exactly how you feel - you feel you have made progress and then you have a couple f days which make you feel like you have gotten no where. It sounds like the Dulux dog owners (old English sheepdogs) aren't very tolerant of other dogs. As Casper didn't actually do anything to them, only stood and barked at a distance I don't understand their problem, especially if it didn't affect the sheepdogs. Fair enough if it made them kick off, but doesn't sound like it did. The whippet owners sounded lovely and it's good that they were there to back you up and you didn't have to deal with that situation on your own. Perhaps Casper was barking at the sheepdogs because he hadn't seen dogs that looked like that before? I know Penny is exceptionally wary if we see a breed of dog she hasn't encountered before, especially if they are big and fluffy! For example long haired German shepherd, Newfoundlands.... I hate to thing what she's be like if she came up against one dulux dog, let alone two! I know it's hard to stay positive but just think of all the good work you have done so far, chalk this up to experience and carry on. At the end of the day not all dogs are going to like all dogs, and what I've seen of Casper he is a lovely boy and you have done well with him. Keep your chin up and be proud of what you've achieved.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Sorry to hear this. Some people are such numpties! Casper is no where near aggressive! Hes just playful and i totally agree that people need to be more understanding, especially as all Casper was doing was barking! Some people are just so highly strung! Just ignore them. As lauren says youve done so well with him you should be proud!
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. I shudder to think how the Dulux owner would have reacted to Pongo! Your boys are paragons of virtue compared to him. Don't let them get to you, Kate. Do you really value their opinion? Of course not, they are numpties. So let it go, let it go, let it go. Tummy rubs to both your boys. Rosie
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. I agree - some people should be more tolerant. They have dogs themselves - they really should be more understanding Goodness - all he did was bark! ((hugs)) Put it behind you and move on. My Gypsy put her paws on a bloke today, of course she shouldn't do it, she was being over friendly - he said 'bloody thing' and shoved her hard in the chest. Foul man! He shouldn't be let out off lead!! I didn't bother to apologise or even look at him. Normally I apologise profusely but how could he call such a lovely girl a 'bloody thing'!!??
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. And their dogs have always been perfect? Never jumped up at a stranger? Never barked at another dog? Always had perfect recall? Of course not! I think you should put it behind you and move on.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. What an awful situation. I would be shaken up too. Casper was just barking. He's definitely not aggressive, just barking at dogs that looked odd to him. But it's understandable that a barking Labrador can frighten people, and make them fear for their dogs too (maybe their dog had a serious back injury). The woman reacted badly, escalating the situation, but maybe they've had bad experiences in the past where dogs have actually attacked....who knows. It does sound like the man was trying to be reasonable. I guess in both situations it was Casper that went over to them, while their dogs were controlled on lead. If my dog has approached another and done the barking I find that the best response is a profuse apology and quick exit, on lead.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. It's difficult. When I was walking Charlie on lead before and after his op, it would have been disastrous for him to be pounced on by another dog, and even if the other dog had no intention of doing any such thing, a loose off lead dog coming up to us made the risks that Charlie would jump around and hurt himself much higher, and me very nervous. So maybe they were worried for their dog and this made them appear intolerant...although no excuse for rudeness, of course. Still, everyone has different ideas about things - I got told off today because I asked Charlie to walk at heel as we crossed an lead dog on the lane, and put my hand on his collar to make sure he wouldn't dive. The woman actually told me she felt sorry for Charlie not being allowed to say hello. :
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. I totally take responsibility, I think their hostility towards me, and Casper was a shock. I have met these dogs before, and am always very careful. Casper did over react, I don't know why. I had never considered the fact that they may look odd to him. so a good point Lauren. Long coats, perfectly groomed, maybe unusual therefore scary to Casper? His behaviour of running back to them was totally unexpected, and I certainly wasn't prepared for that. I really need to understand why. I did explain on Monday that he was just nervous,and was very apologetic. It is worth noting that the Dulux dogs weren't acting stressed in any way..apart from barking. I think the abuse I got made me less engaging when the husband wanted to talk...I guess with me being polite and civil goes a long way. I am also deeply sensitive where Casper is concerned. We are organising some sessions for Casper at Widgets farm,(where we do the adolescent training with Benson. I had a chat with the trainer at training this morning, regarding the first incident Casper on Monday, and am catching up with her later this week. Interestingly at the training today we had a good discussion around dogs and their greeting...the trainer actually completed her thesis on this subject In the meantime we are avoiding that walking area, and will look at more joint walks with OH. If something is going on with him we need to get to the bottom of it pronto...
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. You seem to have a great trainer, and a smashing resource in Widgets farm. .
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9548.msg137635#msg137635 date=1421528300] You seem to have a great trainer, and a smashing resource in Widgets farm. . [/quote] She is brilliant, even when I was a numpty today I wasn't made to feel stupid. Interestingly we had lots of different breeds of stuffed dogs, namely because all dogs are different... I think the Dulux dogs, may have been bearded collies.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Sorry you've had such a rubbish end to the day I know you are getting extra training with Casper and I hope it helps. Harley loved playing with them both today - she has been awake for a total of 2 hours since we came back from yours : If you want to come over at all with both boys to forty acres in the next few weeks let me know
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Sorry to hear you've had such a bad experience, particularly as you've managed to avoid the dogs (and their owners) before. It sounds as if the whippet owners were really supportive, though. Perhaps it would be useful to walk again with them sometime, as Caspar didn't find that threatening.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. It's definitely a shock when other people react so violently. If they'd stayed calm, it would have turned out differently. It is hard to stay calm ourselves when someone is yelling abuse at you..! Many years ago I had a similar experience. I naively left my dog tied up outside a shop (wouldn't do it now!!) and a small boy approached him (while his mother was in the same shop as me) and my dog barked at the boy. The mother screamed the place down and I was terribly shocked, speechless and also humiliated. That's the short story! Anyway, it was awful. I sought the women out later and apologised and she apologised for yelling and her boy patted my dog. So it was ok in the end but it did suck quite a lot. Needless to say that's the last time I left my dog alone in public - learned my lesson. These things do shake you up but at the end of the day it was only barking (dogs and humans!). You still have two lovely dogs. Being able to talk about any training aspects with your trainer will be very helpful, I'm sure.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Sorry you had such an upsetting walk! Try not to stress about it too much. You are doing a marvellous job with Casper and are working with him to minimize such episodes. And at the end of the day, it was only barking. Not the end of the world.
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Ah Kath,things like that give you a right good shake up....it's all the worse because we know how responsible and careful you are with your 2 ....so it's not fair for you to be spoken to like that x I'm glad there were some nice people around to be kind when you felt shakey....I wonder how the collie owner feels now?i shouted at a girl in the park with a spaniel once when I was walking with Dexter and his tail was in a splint ....it happened over 2 consecutive days...the first day I was forgiving.she wasn't to know and we had a conversation about it ...the second day the same happened and I did get upset....I was cross but I was teary as well because I wasn't really sleeping while we were getting him healed and thenspaniel should have been on a lead.she couldn't get hold of her dog and he was making Dex jump all over the place....but when I got home I felt dreadful and ashamed of myself for how I'd dealt with it.it was a good while before we bumped onto each other again and we were both apologizing as we were approaching each other,she for upsetting me and me for not handling it well....we are now really good friends ;D and walk all the time together I'm not suggesting this will ever happen in this case but I hope the owner has a conscience about how she s treated you Kath ,good grief,the general dog walking public I meet have little / no control over their dogs around other dogs off lead....how does she cope on walks?she must have dogs barreling over all the time? Hope your training is going well,the place you have found sounds great and you have a nice walk with your 2 today Xxx
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Sorry Kath I have just seen your post. Not a nice experience at all and I hope you are OK now. Just thinking about Casper's reaction to the OES's, it could be the long coat which covers the eyes. When Hattie has a full coat some dogs react to her this way and when we used to go to obedience class the trainers GR used to spend ages barking, snarling at her when we arrived, he thought it was because her coat was over her eyes so maybe it's threatening not to see another dogs eyes :-\ You could consider one of those bright collars and leads that says "RESCUE DOG" which might help other dog owners not to react so negatively and be supportive instead. Glad you met supportive walkers which helped you and Casper. xxxx
Re: Really Upsetting Walk.. Hope you are feeling better about it now. I can understand them being worried about their dog, but why did they not explain this the first time in a calm, adult way and then nobody needed to be upset. Silly, selfish people
