walking my dog

sophie1234

yesterday i was walking my dog in one of the few places left that i dont have to put him on the lead 99% of people walk there dogs off the lead here and its a great little social place! my dogs very good and stays beside me most of the time but goes over to say a quick hello to other dogs(witch i allow) and then i call him back and he is happy to come back!

yesterday he went over to say hello to another dog and the lady picked up her dog into her hands and then her husband started screaming at me telling me to put my dog on a f**king lead and why was i being stupid!
now my dog had done noting just wanted to say hello when i called he came right back to me!
there dog was about 2/3 years old and obvously didnt have social skills but knowing that alot of people walk there dogs off the lead here i dont think it was the right place to bring there dog!
i said noting just walked on with my dog no point in arguing with them ! but its people like them behind the few places left to walk a dog off a lead! one lady who also tried to step in (her dog was off the lead to) was giving the same treatment and wasnt allowed get a word in!!

im just so annoyed because i really like being able to bring my dog there without a lead!!! :mad:

(sorry if this doesnt make sense needed to rant somewhere!!)

andreac

Sorry but i have to disagree with you a bit. Not every dog appreciates an off lead dog coming up to it and they might not be very friendly so its not fair on other dogs to allow your dog to go up to it so you need to be very careful as it could get your dog in trouble some day.

Im all for letting dogs off lead but you need to respect other people and their dogs too.
How were they to know your dog was only coming to say hello? Im always very wary of dogs coming up to my dog, esp if hes on a lead as not all dogs, even friendly ones like loose dogs coming into their space so just be careful.

DBCyc

Check out the thread in the pre-moderated forum.

Some people have a major problem with dogs off-lead, even if they are under control.

Don't pay any attention to her, and don't let it put you off walking your dog there. You did nothing wrong as your dog came straight back to you.

If she walks her dog there with a lot of other dogs off-lead, she should be prepared for dogs to approach her. If her dog is a bit nervous with other dogs, she could just explain that to you without biting your head off. Sometimes you can tell by an owners body language if they are not sure about your dog approaching, just call your dog back then. No harm done

sophie1234

DBCyc wrote: »

Check out the thread in the pre-moderated forum.

Some people have a major problem with dogs off-lead, even if they are under control.

Don't pay any attention to her, and don't let it put you off walking your dog there. You did nothing wrong as your dog came straight back to you.

If she walks her dog there with a lot of other dogs off-lead, she should be prepared for dogs to approach her. If her dog is a bit nervous with other dogs, she could just explain that to you without biting your head off. Sometimes you can tell by an owners body language if they are not sure about your dog approaching, just call your dog back then. No harm done

yes my dog came straght back it just annoyed me the way the husband shouted at me! if you go some were the dogs can walk off the lead then i suppose she sould be prepared some dogs wouldnt be aS good as mine to come straght back and some people wouldnt of been as friendly as to just ignore them and walk on! i would understand 100% if dogs wernt allowed be off the lead here but this is one of the few places that ALLOWS dogs off the lead so i reckon that couple should be prepared! i was at the end of the walk but i wonder if she approched any one else along the way!!

morganafay

I have no problem with dogs being off lead if they're well behaved/trained like yours. But I wouldn't let my dogs go up to say hello to any dog, in case the other dog attacked yours. Sometimes they can appear friendly at first but then attack yours.

I know that's annoying, because you want your dog to socialise with other dogs. But if someone is walking their dog on a lead, and it's dog-aggressive and atacks your dog, it would be your fault, but they would get blamed. Because aggressive dogs need to be walked too, but just kept away from other dogs on walks.

andreac

DBCyc wrote: »

Check out the thread in the pre-moderated forum.



If she walks her dog there with a lot of other dogs off-lead, she should be prepared for dogs to approach her. If her dog is a bit nervous with other dogs, she could just explain that to you without biting your head off. Sometimes you can tell by an owners body language if they are not sure about your dog approaching, just call your dog back then. No harm done

Yes i agree theres no need to be so aggressive with people, it can be done ina polite friendly way.
Ive often had dogs come up to mine and i just say can you keep your dog back or call your dog away. My dog is an entire male so i need to be very careful with other males and esp entire males so i would just always say be careful to people with off lead dogs.
My fella is friendly and does love to say hi to other dogs but he can be funny if a dog just runs up to him and is in his face esp when hes on the lead.

DBCyc

sophie1234 wrote: »

yes my dog came straght back it just annoyed me the way the husband shouted at me! if you go some were the dogs can walk off the lead then i suppose she sould be prepared some dogs wouldnt be aS good as mine to come straght back and some people wouldnt of been as friendly as to just ignore them and walk on! i would understand 100% if dogs wernt allowed be off the lead here but this is one of the few places that ALLOWS dogs off the lead so i reckon that couple should be prepared! i was at the end of the walk but i wonder if she approched any one else along the way!!

Some people would have a genuine reason for not liking another dog approaching them. Its probably better to just call your dog along with you most of the time rather than let it approach dogs unless you are confident that the other dog or owner is okay with other dogs approaching.

Don't let it bother you, these things happen. No harm was done really.

sophie1234

DBCyc wrote: »

Some people would have a genuine reason for not liking another dog approaching them. Its probably better to just call your dog along with you most of the time rather than let it approach dogs unless you are confident that the other dog or owner is okay with other dogs approaching.

Don't let it bother you, these things happen. No harm was done really.

yes i no i was just annoyed about the way the man treated me! was the main reason! and i no my little guys just curiuos and is a very socal guy! haha thanks guys!

ISDW

:DThe way they reacted, picking their dog up, shows me that they don't have a clue about dogs. Thats the worst thing you can do, so the poor dog has probably never had a chance to socialise with other dogs. You've got to feel sorry for their dog.

Try not to let them get to you, easier said than done I know, even when you know the other people are out of line, it still gets to you. Unfortunately you get stupid people everywhere, dog ownership doesn't instil wisdom or niceness onto people automatically (although I think it should;))

K_user

Best to chalk it up to a bad experience and move on.

Some people are wary of other peoples dogs, some just don't like dogs but tolerate their own, some are just a**holes who like picking fights in public

You are fine as long as you weren't doing anything wrong and its common for people to let their dogs off the lead in that area.

You are there for your dog and the walk, forget about the crazies!

sophie1234

ISDW wrote: »

:DThe way they reacted, picking their dog up, shows me that they don't have a clue about dogs. Thats the worst thing you can do, so the poor dog has probably never had a chance to socialise with other dogs. You've got to feel sorry for their dog.

Try not to let them get to you, easier said than done I know, even when you know the other people are out of line, it still gets to you. Unfortunately you get stupid people everywhere, dog ownership doesn't instil wisdom or niceness onto people automatically (although I think it should;))

i had that same thought the dog will never learn to be socal if its just being picked up at the sight of another dog!! and the dog itself didnt look scared of my dog look more upset that she was picked up!! and my dog wasnt much bigger then her both minuture breads hers was just a little smaller!!

but i suppose noting i can do but girn and bare it!! :-):D:p

squa79

I had the very simliar experience yesterday walking my dog, in the park that we go to nearly everyone walks there dogs off lead, but I have adopted a rule that if there is people coming towards we with there dogs on lean I'll stick my little fella on his, just incase!
Yesterday I walked around a bend in the park and some women came around walking there dogs off lead, one of the women went running and picked up her dog screaming at me to get my dirty mongrel on a lead.. Noice eh.. (I have a JRT X .. a heinz 57...everyone see's a different type of breed in him..)
I was in total shock that some one could be so rude.. my dog was only going up to say hello to hers..

Then not five minutes later and young girl was walking her dog and again i put mine on the lead they both went to say hello and the girl started screaming and picked her dog up and went running..

It just shocks me some peoples behaviour..

sophie1234

squa79 wrote: »

I had the very simliar experience yesterday walking my dog, in the park that we go to nearly everyone walks there dogs off lead, but I have adopted a rule that if there is people coming towards we with there dogs on lean I'll stick my little fella on his, just incase!
Yesterday I walked around a bend in the park and some women came around walking there dogs off lead, one of the women went running and picked up her dog screaming at me to get my dirty mongrel on a lead.. Noice eh.. (I have a JRT X .. a heinz 57...everyone see's a different type of breed in him..)
I was in total shock that some one could be so rude.. my dog was only going up to say hello to hers..

Then not five minutes later and young girl was walking her dog and again i put mine on the lead they both went to say hello and the girl started screaming and picked her dog up and went running..

It just shocks me some peoples behaviour..

wow how rude people like this really annoy me!! i cant beleave they said/did this such a rude thing to say/do!!

variety

I'll add my story - but a nice one this time.

I posted before re my dog's attitude to other dogs changing since daycare (ie she used to stay by my side and now she wants to meet all the other dogs she sees - fine, except her recall isn't great. She's on the lead now until the re-training works - hopefully in the next few weeks I can have her back off the lead).

But the first time I realised my dog's new attitude to other dogs, I spotted another dog off lead walking towards us whose owner saw us and clipped hers on the lead. So I started to clip mine on, too, when she decided to ignore commands and run over to the other dog (mine's a large medium, this was a little white poofy thing) tail wagging and bowing a lot on the way over.

I said sorry - trying to retain etc.. and the other woman just laughed and said something like "training's never-ending". So nice to meet a friendly dog walker (I agree - they are rarer now than they used to be).

average_runner

To be honest no dog should be off the lead. Now i am guilty of having my own dog off the lead and even though he is well behaved and friendly when other dogs come i put it back on the lead.

Reason been you can never be a 100% sure what your dog will do.

andreac

average_runner wrote: »

To be honest no dog should be off the lead. Now i am guilty of having my own dog off the lead and even though he is well behaved and friendly when other dogs come i put it back on the lead.
QUOTE]

Why not? Seriously, theres a whole other thread about this so not going to get into a debate over it, but that comment is silly as dogs should be allowed to be off lead and there are no laws to say they must be on lead (Apart from R'Bs.

sophie1234

average_runner wrote: »

To be honest no dog should be off the lead. Now i am guilty of having my own dog off the lead and even though he is well behaved and friendly when other dogs come i put it back on the lead.

Reason been you can never be a 100% sure what your dog will do.

i dont 100% agree if your dog is well trained at recall and you some that says dogs allowed off lead why have them on a lead!

i would personally hate to walked around all lead everytime i got to go out!!

i agree if the place does not allow dogs off the lead then yes i respect this and keep my dog on the lead.

but somewhere i can take my dog off he is well behaved and comes back when called! then i take him off!!!!!!!! he likes to get a proper run around!!
if someone is walking there dog where they no dogs are allowed off the lead then surley they should expect one or two dogs coming over to say hello!!!!

i like pie

i always walk my dog on a lead as he likes to run off, he's not aggressive but he just gets too excited. i've never had a problem with people leaving their dogs off the lead until i had the experience of being attacked by a "friendly puppy". my dad who was with me had to hit the dog with a stick as it had knocked me to the ground and had then decided to attack my much smaller dog who couldn't handle the german shepard. the owner of the dog proceeded to shout at my father, he had no sympathy for me even (i was only 12 at the time) though he had seen the whole event happen!! now, whenever i see a dog off lead i always feel anxious. you never know what a dog is capable of and i don't see the need for a dog to be off a lead anyway!

lrushe

This is why I don't allow my dogs to approach people or dogs I don't know, not the fear of unfriendly dogs but more unfriendly humans, it's just not worth the hassle. My dogs are relaxed around other dogs because I am, I do feel sorry for dogs who are wrapped up in cotton wool, it must be a very 'on edge', suffocating existence.

morganafay

I wish I could let my dogs off lead . . . they're good at recall at home, but if there were other dogs around they'd be too excited, they're too friendly and love to run up to other dogs, and they don't seem to be able to read aggressive body language! And one of them is really deaf, so it wouldn't be safe . . .

lrushe

andreac wrote: »

My fella is friendly and does love to say hi to other dogs but he can be funny if a dog just runs up to him and is in his face esp when hes on the lead.

I wouldn't say there was anything wrong with your guys behaviour at all in fact it is perfect dog etiquette to reprimand a 'rude' dog who ignores the 'rules' for meeting a strange dog and just runs straight up and is in the dogs face. Most well socialised dogs would indeed see this as bad manners and feel the need to chastise another dog for it.
This is why I hate to see a dog babied and kept away from other dogs as they never learn these valuable lessons about correct dog behaviour and end up getting into trouble because of it.

andreac

lrushe wrote: »

I wouldn't say there was anything wrong with your guys behaviour at all in fact it is perfect dog etiquette to reprimand a 'rude' dog who ignores the 'rules' for meeting a strange dog and just runs straight up and is in the dogs face. Most well socialised dogs would indeed see this as bad manners and feel the need to chastise another dog for it.
This is why I hate to see a dog babied and kept away from other dogs as they never learn these valuable lessons about correct dog behaviour and end up getting into trouble because of it.

I know, im very lucky that my fella is not aggressive as ive had several dogs come up to him and annoy him. Only the other day i was out walking and i was in my estate and a dog came running out of a house to attack him full on and lucky he didnt react too much apart from a few growls, the dog backed off when he realised it was 50kg rottweiler he was going for. I just told the owner you need to be very careful as it could have been a whole lot worse...

lrushe

andreac wrote: »

I know, im very lucky that my fella is not aggressive as ive had several dogs come up to him and annoy him. Only the other day i was out walking and i was in my estate and a dog came running out of a house to attack him full on and lucky he didnt react too much apart from a few growls, the dog backed off when he realised it was 50kg rottweiler he was going for. I just told the owner you need to be very careful as it could have been a whole lot worse...

Have a similar dog in my estate, a little Pom who barks blue murder when I pass with my dogs. I am hoping to put Brook up for her CGC and one of the requirements is to walk by another dog on a loose lead without reacting, so I'm using the Pom to desensitise Brook to passing a 'worse case senerio' type of dog, if she can pass her without reacting ( not easy for a 13 month old) she can pass any dog!!!!

kylith

Please ask the owners permission before you allow your dog to approch theirs! One of mine isn't dog friendly, but I find myself being given out to for warning off other dogs when they're barrelling towards us (Usual quote "He won't hurt them!" Maybe he won't, but mine'll try to rip his face off).

If a dog is on-lead please assume that it's for a reason and ask before approaching.

kylith

lrushe wrote: »

Have a similar dog in my estate, a little Pom who barks blue murder when I pass with my dogs. I am hoping to put Brook up for her CGC and one of the requirements is to walk by another dog on a loose lead without reacting, so I'm using the Pom to desensitise Brook to passing a 'worse case senerio' type of dog, if she can pass her without reacting ( not easy for a 13 month old) she can pass any dog!!!!

I hope you've asked the owner about doing that. I'd be very angry if I found someone was purposefully and repeatedly winding my dog up.

lrushe

kylith wrote: »

I hope you've asked the owner about doing that. I'd be very angry if I found someone was purposefully and repeatedly winding my dog up.

You misunderstand, I'm not passing it on purpose, it just happens to be free running in my estate and I have to pass it to get to the field where I exercise my dogs, if I could avoid it I would but as I can't I may as well use it as a training oppurtunity.

Mr. Manager

Up until yesterday I would have agreed with keeping the dog off the lead. I have a 3 year old Newfie and a 4 1/2 month old Border Collie X.

I was walking the dogs yesterday and on the wind down, just approaching my complex, I let the 2 of them off the lead to play on the green just before going home. The Newfie noticed a dog across the way, in his driveway, barking. Before I even had a chance to call her back she was gone like a light.

The dog turned to go back into it's house as my dog approached. Then, snapped at my dog for presumably, invading it's space.

My dog went absolutely berserk and starting attacking this poor dog. going right for the neck and getting a good hold. I had to physically choke her so she would have to release for air as she would not let go either way.

Now I know people will respond and say it is my fault for not training her properly but I can assure you that is the first and only time I have seen her like that. When I call her every other time she runs straight back to my side.

As a result, I will not be letting my dog off the lead when anywhere near another dog. A week ago I would have been all up for letting dogs off the lead (within a reasonable area) but not anymore. It's hard to judge a dogs character. Especially hard to judge someone else' dogs character. Having said all that, the lady who owned the dog was extremely (putting it mildly) understanding. As I got my dog back on the lead she even said I had a lovely dog and wanted to pet her.

kylith

lrushe wrote: »

You misunderstand, I'm not passing it on purpose, it just happens to be free running in my estate and I have to pass it to get to the field where I exercise my dogs, if I could avoid it I would but as I can't I may as well use it as a training oppurtunity.

Thanks for clarifying. From your original post I thought that the Pom was confined either to a house or garden.

Jinxi

As I was reading this thread and the pre=mod thread on the similar topic, I was assured that the dogs I need to be wary of are the ones on leash!
I feel so sorry for you Cereal as you must be gutted. I would be so upset if my dogs character flipped like that. It would make me question everything. But as someone who lets her dog off leash when not around children/joggers (she is excellent at "leaving it" if she goes to approch anyone), I cannot live my life thinking that the next dog is going to attack me or my dog. That's a life risk I take every time I lelave the house.

On the other side, I walk in a park that is half and half(leashed vs off leash). Most owners are trusting their dogs to behave correctly, and 90% of them do. I don't mind if a dog corrects my dog if she is being dog rude, and I don't apologise if she does the same to some other dog who is being rude. Mostly my problems have been with "little dog picker-uppers" and non-dog owners.

lrushe

kylith wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying. From your original post I thought that the Pom was confined either to a house or garden.

I must admit reading it back it did appear that way, sometimes what you mean in your head doesn't always translate into writing as was meant

jamesd

I dont think any dog should be walked in public off a lead for its and for other dogs saftey, i've a 50kg american akita and all he wants to do is lick people and play with other dogs but we keep him on a lead as i know that most another dog owners would not like a 50kg puppy running at them.
I've met people our walking with small terriers that have attacked our akita
as they were off the lead and the owner was not able to control them and told us that they normally dont attack and normally listen to them.

Bullseye1

Not another walk him or not walk him on lead. :rolleyes:

pobble

iv only read the initial comment here but im sorry to disagree with you.

My dog loves being off the lead but i dont let her. You will know as an owner that your dog reacts differently to every dog it meets the same way humans react differently to different people. its not fair on people who dont want dogs running up to say hello to them or the dog they are trying to walk. Im sure your dog is very well behaved but some dogs are not and the general public arent to know which is which. Personally i hate when dogs i dont know come up and start at my dog when im trying to walk her.

I would have to say that as a responsible pet owner you would be better off using an extendable lead if you really want to let the dog have a bit of free running about. that way you, the dog, and anyone you may meet are happy.