Today on our walk we met a collie on a lead and his owner. Bonnie went up to say hello as she always does. The collie was a bit growly and snappy but Bonnie knows her stuff, she knows when to play and when to back off. As a back up I normally give her time for a quick sniff and then recall her if the other dog seems unfriendly or wary or just not in the mood to play with a pup. The collie was pulling on his lead and trying to play with Bonnie but the owner clearly had other ideas so I recalled Bonnie. Then I saw the owner smacking the dog - on the body and on the nose. It wasn't really brutal but it was still not nice to see - especially hitting the poor thing's nose :-\ I'm just curious as to what other people do when they see a dog being hit. Do you say anything? What would you say? Would you say anything if it was brutal and what would you say is the line the owner would have to cross....?
Re: seeing someone hit a dog... I say something - I usually try to calmly explain why that won't help the behaviour and is, in addition, inappropriate - I also say something about over the top verbal rebukes and intimidation. But, don't expect it to be well received. Walking where I do on a very busy Common, I see this a lot, and having weighed up the pros and very significant cons, I decided I will speak up. But the plus side of walking on a very busy Common is there are lots of people about and social pressure usually modifies behaviour, both towards the dog once you've called them out on it, and in response to me. I think you've got to be robust enough to take a torrent of abuse in return, which is quite likely, and also think about your own safety in the circumstances. Not one person has continued to hit/berate their dog once I've called them out. I suppose until they are in private, anyway.
Re: seeing someone hit a dog... I've never seen a dog being hit,thankfully.I saw a dog being terribly jerked on it's neck the other week when we were on an airport transfer bus ....my friend was sitting next to me and heard my gasp.When I told her it was because of the horrible way the dog was being pulled she answered 'Well it is pulling!' So,whilst I didn't get a chance to explain to the dog owner ,I did get a chance to explain to my friend about the kinder methods of training a dog...she is getting ready to get a rescue dog too :-\
Re: seeing someone hit a dog... A police dog handler used to live near us and I'd occasionally meet him with my old lab. The first police dog we used to meet him with was amazing. It was never on lead and as we approached he'd tell it to lie down. If it so much as moved its head a millimetre the policeman made a very quiet sound and the dogs head imediately sprang back to attention. Unfortunately when he got a new police dog I found out why. This young dog had a bit of a problem with other dogs. One day we met them, the dog lay down as we passed then next thing it shot passed me and grabbed Murphy by the scruff. The policeman bellowed and it quickly released Murphy and slunk, cowering back to him. I used to carry a stick when I walked just one dog and have it at a jaunty angle on narrow lanes so cars gave us a wider berth. The policeman asked me if he could borrow my stick !!!! I just looked at him in disbelief so he belted the dog with his hand. I've never seen a dog beaten like that before or since, thank goodness, but I'm afraid I lost some respect for policedog handlers and I'm sorry that I didn't say anything, I think I was in shock, but I'm very glad I didn't lend him my stick. It struck me at the time what would happen if one day this big powerful attacking machine decided it didn't want to go back to get a beating ?!?! I've seen at first hand what a police dog can do when given the command. One brought a car thief down in our backyard. It wouldn't be good if they decided to ignore their handler. :-\
Re: seeing someone hit a dog... Oh Jen, that's shocking , truly horrendous , poor dog I have spoken out before now, once to a lad of about 12 who didn't know I was walking behind him when he kicked his small dog whilst it was on its lead . I don't think I have ever let fly with words before like I did then , followed by a visit to his parents who did seem genuinely horrified , never ever any excuse for it
