Things you do for your pets in public that make you look crazy

tk123

Right I'll start the ball rolling.
My dog is anxious of busses, trucks, vans - anything with a loud engine. As I plan on expanding the fur family at some stage and I don't want his scardiness rubbing off on the puppy I've been actively trying to get him more comfortable with them. We've been sitting on a bench in rush hour as loads of busses pass or walking when there's more busses passing and I've been cheering to get him excited then praising/treating if he ignores the bus and keeps looking at me or even better keeps walking. The other day we were walking along and busses came so I immediately stared "yaaay!!!!!!"...then saw all the faces starting out from the cars stopped at the lights looking at me like I was crazy and he was my service dog or something! :pac::rolleyes:

cichlid child

Things you do for your pets in public that make you look crazy

Pick up there SH*T and carry it around in a bag until I find a bin:eek:

borderlinemeath

Coco when she was a younger dog had a bit of a scatty recall. If she didn't come back after the first call, myself and my partner used to jump and dance and throw our arms around each other. She was convinced she was missing out and used to bolt straight back. She's mainly walked in fields or on the beach so we used to get some strange looks on the beach. She comes back to the whistle now so no more embarrassment!

seamus

Never mind in public.

My brother was over giving me a hand moving furniture, etc. At one point we realised we needed some tools, so down to the local hardware. When we came back I popped my head around the door of the sitting room and said to the dog, "It's only me", before following my brother into the back room.

The look on his face was priceless.

littlebug

having to clean the dogs bottom in public is never pleasant

A funnier one... shouting across an open field "Mop... put your shoes on" might have raised an eyebrow (had there been anyone around:pac:).
She knows we're going somewhere when I say that to the kids so is usually at my ankles in seconds so I thought I'd see if would work as recall in the field. No...:(

SillyMangoX

Brought Kero for a walk in the woods, we got down to the lake and she was straight in swimming around happy as larry. We call her back to go home and she decides to run riot, jumping all over the place, letting us just come within arms reach before taking off again. Then she sauntered up to a couple of teenagers, stood beside them and shook all over them before sitting down and giving them her big muddy paw. :pac:

Thank god her recall is getting better as she gets older!!

Justask

Hide behind trees and in long grass in the park and then call him

meoklmrk91

He kisses everyone, literally. They will come over to give the him rubs and little do they know he is already planning his attack. Then at the perfect moment he will jump up and get them right on the mouth with his giant, slobbery boxer tongue, better yet he will get them when their mouth is open. He has perfect aim and never misses.

It usually goes something like this: oh look at the lovely doggy, aren't you just..... Ugh(wipes mouth)

santasbird

I usually walk the beach with my dog Lucky and with my sister and her dog. My dog runs off ahead and when my sister wants her dog to chase mine, she shouts at the top of her voice "Go Get Lucky" and repeats it a few times. She's had some odd looks from people.;)

girl in the striped socks

Pick up his poo in a bag & hold onto it until we find a bin. It's amazing how people look at me doing this with disgust written all over their faces. The same people would have anger written all over their faces if I walked away & left a steaming pile on the footpath. Can't win them all I suppose

My guy also has issues with large engine vehicles or anything that makes noise & moves. I honestly wish he would act nervous around them & shy away. Instead he sumersaults, yelps like he's being murdered & generally acts the maggot.

Then there's the times I forget myself & start talking to him.

And if I happen to notice sleep in his eyes I'll wipe it away with a tissue.

Basically the dog is treated better than most children

SingItOut

If I have Moone with me while i'm work, I'm usually in a full blown conversation with her while serving customers at the till She alway's barks, howls or sneezes as a response, She is way more polite than the majority of customers that come through the door .. If my father takes Frankie for a walk and leaves her behind she'll stomp down to my room/sitting room in a huff and bark at me like its my fault!

With Frankie we always have "conversations" on the way to the shed at feeding time, He twists his head from side to side when spoken too Both of my cats are really sociable and always meow when spoken to :cool:

I do have human friends too I swear :D:D

Salt001

tk123 wrote: »

Right I'll start the ball rolling.
My dog is anxious of busses, trucks, vans - anything with a loud engine. As I plan on expanding the fur family at some stage and I don't want his scardiness rubbing off on the puppy I've been actively trying to get him more comfortable with them. We've been sitting on a bench in rush hour as loads of busses pass or walking when there's more busses passing and I've been cheering to get him excited then praising/treating if he ignores the bus and keeps looking at me or even better keeps walking. The other day we were walking along and busses came so I immediately stared "yaaay!!!!!!"...then saw all the faces starting out from the cars stopped at the lights looking at me like I was crazy and he was my service dog or something! :pac::rolleyes:

Yeah I do a version of this myself, can deffinately see the passengers eyes bugging out of their confused skulls

tk123

Another one I realized I did today - signing in the car to him! What must people think of us all lol!

Wibbs

seamus wrote: »

I popped my head around the door of the sitting room and said to the dog, "It's only me",

Meet your twin.

iguana

I feed my dogs at the end of our walk so if either one of them starts to run off when I don't want them to, my recall tactic is to remind them that I feed them so they better be good. I do this by calling out DINNNNERR! It always brings the dog up short and he comes back to me but I don't half get funny looks from the people who think my dog's name is Dinner.

Dirk Gently

one of my dogs is called snotser. recall gets me lots of disapproving looks and head shakes from middle aged women in ear shot. I talk to them all the time, I just like the curious look on their face as they try desperately to understand wtf I'm taking about. new words get a head tilt and erect ears. If I bark I get a dog hug. They have me well trained.

iguana wrote: »

I do this by calling out DINNNNERR!

I often shout "cheese" to get their attention.

pampootie

My dog acts like a loon at home- escaping through 4 layers of chicken wire, eating plugs off things, stealing washing, regular zoomies- but behaves himself in public. I'm constantly telling my friends about his latest insane escapades around the house and then if he meets them he's all gentle and doe eyed and relaxed. Of course I'm mostly glad that he's sociable with strangers but my friends are starting to think I'm nuts and making it all up!

Léan

Was sitting in the parked car with Cato today waiting for someone, we had just come back from his assessment for training classes and he had done really well .

I was patting him on the head and telling him I was proud of him for doing so well lol . I had forgotten the window was down and there was a parked car beside me with someone getting out giving me strange looks :P

rainbowtrout

My dog's first toy was a stuffed squeaky tiger. I was training him at the time he had that toy and it lasted a few months (unlike most other toys since). Anyway because he heard 'go get your tiger' so many times, all toys are now called tiger which sounds odd if i'm throwing a ball or he's dropped a toy in public.

To be fair I get more strange looks because his name is Norman. Calling 'Norman go get your tiger' gets a few strange looks in public. Calling him in public generally gets that reaction. I've had people burst there arses laughing when they hear me calling Norman, and a few times they've approached me to say they have a brother/father/uncle called Norman who always seems to behave the same way.

star-pants

'I'm going to go without you' (when Daisy lies down mid-walk) -she's like a child & comes running

I talk to them for most of the walk too, praise mostly but random phrases may be:

'Leave the cat alone'
'No that doggy's going home'
'where's the pigeon?' (makes Daisy pay attention)
'watch where you're going' (both have walked into pillars & other things)
'don't be so nosey' (when Daisy's sticking her head through gate bars)
'Wait! yes I have to clean up you know, you can't just poop & run' (Lily has a tendency to run after pooping)

and other general ramblings!

cleaning backsides, picking up poo etc., checking for random leaves / other things stuck in fur.

If we're just going out to the bin we usually say 'Just me, going out to the bin' cuz they go mad if they hear the door. Or when we come in 'it's only me!'

Within the house/garden, there's a whole host more lol!

ABajaninCork

Oh, this has given me a giggle!

I used to have full-blown conversations with my cats. I swear they understood everything I said. AND they would meow in agreement!!

Now I've got a dog. And it's the same with him. When he goes to greet other dogs, I tell him to 'say hi nicely'. Then as we walk off, I tell him to 'say bye bye to your little mate. He's going off with his Mum/Dad'. That gets a few laughs...

When my husband and I have a conversation, the dog looks from one to the other with an intelligent look on his face as though he understands and agrees with everything we say. Gives me a gee any time!!

borderlinemeath

Come to think of it I always tell the dogs that I'm going to the loo or having a shower if I leave the room, otherwise they want to come with me:D. Once they know I'm only going as far as the bathroom it's not worth the effort of getting up!!

Davyhal

My mother used to have full-blown conversations all day with one of our dogs, which we were all grand with.... Started to worry when we came in from school one day and my Mam was really excited cos she said that Sam (the dog) had said a few words back to her... We have tried convincing her that she was imagining it or that it was the TV or something, but that was the time that we realised that she couldn't be a stay at home housewife all day anymore and she had to get out for some human interaction!

Pumpkinseeds

A few years ago our cat had surgery and had to wear a plastic cone. He wasn't allowed out for a couple of weeks due to the cone and was going absolutely mental to get out. I had a brain wave to get a retractable dog leash and attach it to the base of the cone, which was attached to his collar.

It worked great and I'd take him up and down the street early in the morning and late evening (it was winter and dark) on the leash, just so he'd settle down. I got some funny looks, neighbours must've thought I was nuts. Puss was happy and it calmed him down.

Vince32

My dog wants to play with every!!! other dog she sees, and it drives me up the wall, and some of the other owners too :P

I found out by accident, that my dogs understands "wait" and when another dog is passing, and she wants to go charging up it and jump all over it, I tell her to wait! and she freezes in place, not even her tail will move until I release her with "ok" it's the funniest thing I've ever seen

mymo

Where to start, there's poop patrol (as said before same people that complain about poop on paths look at you in disgust when you pic it up:rolleyes:), wiped their bums, talking to them, going walkies with two dogs and one or two cats, trying to teach the fools to fetch(neither will fetch but will show you where you "dropped" your toy) by racing them to the ball or toy saying "fetch" "fetch it" repeatedly.
Oh and the latest....telling Oliver "don't beep" when I get out of car, his latest trick is to beep the horn repeatedly if I'm gone more than 30 seconds. (also have to take keys and lock car since he hit the central locking and locked me out:o)

Oh and when he was a puppy my daughter was in the car with him while I was in the shop, she rolled down the window and shouted "Oliver is crying, hurry up" a lady I know not very well was their and said "poor baby, how old?", I replied "4 months, he's a pain in the arse at times, can't leave him for a minute", the look I got! She thought I'd had a baby, I thought she knew I had a puppy!

suomi

I'll try not to go into too much detail, but my dog likes to eat grass and sometimes she gets a bad case of the grassy poo syndrome when she has poo and grass hanging out of her bottom and she can't get it out. I usually try to help her if things get frustrating, and since I don't carry rubber gloves with me, I try to help her out with a stick. So when people walk by, they see a constipated looking dog dragging her bum against the ground and me trying to poke her with a stick. We make a great team.

Lawrence1895

I meowing at the cats and I purr at them...and I believe, they understand me

saltyporridge

Letting my daughter christen one of our lab pups 'Honey' was a huge mistake. Her recall was terrible and shouting 'Honey come back ya' daft mutt' after her as she headed for the next county turned heads regularly!

Cú Giobach

suomi wrote: »

I'll try not to go into too much detail, but my dog likes to eat grass and sometimes she gets a bad case of the grassy poo syndrome when she has poo and grass hanging out of her bottom and she can't get it out. I usually try to help her if things get frustrating, and since I don't carry rubber gloves with me, I try to help her out with a stick. So when people walk by, they see a constipated looking dog dragging her bum against the ground and me trying to poke her with a stick. We make a great team.

LOL

I always have a roll of sandwich bags in my "doggie bag" for picking up stuff and often as a glove for things like the above.
Last time I had to help with removal it was across the road from a crowd outside a pub, after the deed was done I noticed everyone was smiling at me and as I gave a sheepish grin back one of the lads told me that as I was doing the extracting both me and my dog had the exact same look on our faces, a mixture of trepidation and mild disgust followed by relief and smiles all round.

Keeping to the scatological theme, one of the dogs was sick recently and I had to examine her poo carefully every day, sometimes I'm a bit "retchy" in the mornings and the look on a (I presume non-doggie) woman's face as I poked and spread, making a disgusting mess, all the while retching, gagging trying to breathe, spitting, eyes watering etc.... was something to behold.
Ahhh...The joys of dog owership.

Dodd

Not me but my pup a JRT.
She is in heat and when I bring her for a walk sometimes when she get to a tree she has a sniff
and then walks backward up the tree to pee on the tree rather than at the base of the tree.
She can get as high up as 4.5 to 5 inch up.:)

Kali_Kalika

A few weeks ago I was out and about running errands and had my girl Kali with me, we'd been running errands most of the day at that point and I needed to run into a shop and pick up some basics. As I drove the car into the car park I got "the look" from the back seat .... the "you are kidding, I'm not waiting AGAIN" ... so as I got out of the car living in my own little bubble, I leaned back in and said to reassure her "Ah I know sweetie, this is the last stop Mummy promises, then we'll go home and play with your toys and your brother (the cat)." - and I step away and start to close the car door .... when I notice a woman who was getting into her car a few spaces away had completely and utterly stopped and had frozen, half into her car, mouth wide open. It took a few seconds of seeing her stare before I started putting 2 + 2 together in my head ..... she thought I was talking to a child!!!! Leaving them alone in the car with a mere brush off explanation! As I stepped away from the car the long brown snout of Kali comes through the open window I'd left for her as I ran into the shop - the woman turned several shades of purple and red, quickly got into her car and left rapidly. Not sure who was more embarassed me or her!

And yet, you'd think that event would discourage me from talking to my dog like that in public .... not a chance I've since disturbed people at subway who actually questioned me leaving a child in the car ..... until the infamous brown snout works its way out the window The red faces don't really have a lot to say after that!

Lexicographer

My dog (only a pup I got when my cheating husband left) is going blind, didn't know it when I got him. He is lovely, vet said to get him used to different sounds now especially buggies and cyclists, so now when i see a buggy or cyclist I say hello bike or hello buggy, so pup (he's only six months) recognises it. Didn't realise how odd it was (cos upset about dog) till cyclist laughed out loud at me!!!!!!

callmekenneth

one time my dog (RIP) had been eating grass and we were out walking when he decided to do a poo but it had grass in it so it just sort of hung out of his bum, we were both very embarassed and neither of us enjoyed me pulling the poo out of his bum. by the grace of god i dont think anyone saw

kylith

Rani likes to continue her walk while she's having a poo so there I am, bent over, bag on hand following a squatting, waddling dog down the street.

OldNotWIse

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Pick up his poo in a bag & hold onto it until we find a bin. It's amazing how people look at me doing this with disgust written all over their faces. The same people would have anger written all over their faces if I walked away & left a steaming pile on the footpath. Can't win them all I suppose

My guy also has issues with large engine vehicles or anything that makes noise & moves. I honestly wish he would act nervous around them & shy away. Instead he sumersaults, yelps like he's being murdered & generally acts the maggot.

Then there's the times I forget myself & start talking to him.

And if I happen to notice sleep in his eyes I'll wipe it away with a tissue.

Basically the dog is treated better than most children

I identify with this, its like they are supposed to spit it out or something. It's not like they have toilets like us (though I did manage to literally toilet train a cat once) - I always had to flush though :rolleyes:

I remember one time this woman gave me daggers because my dog peed on the street while I was queueing for an ATM. Bear in mind this was camden street so it was already full of gross stinky boy pee from the night before anyway. I felt like saying, "Wait! don't panic! I'll grab the power hose, you grab the ajax!"

OldNotWIse

callmekenneth wrote: »

one time my dog (RIP) had been eating grass and we were out walking when he decided to do a poo but it had grass in it so it just sort of hung out of his bum, we were both very embarassed and neither of us enjoyed me pulling the poo out of his bum. by the grace of god i dont think anyone saw

this happened to a cat of a friend of mine who had consumed a piece of ribbon. The sh1t basically hung out of the cat while she ran around demented wondering why on earth her own sh1t was chasing her. Best laugh ever

forestfruits

My cat has started shouting at me when I get home if ive left him outside (think hes annoyed I also brought a puppy into HIS house how dare I), to which I respond stop shouting at me!! Gets me some strange looks from the neighbours:D

OldNotWIse

forestfruits wrote: »

My cat has started shouting at me when I get home if ive left him outside (think hes annoyed I also brought a puppy into HIS house how dare I), to which I respond stop shouting at me!! Gets me some strange looks from the neighbours:D

lol, I've always believed in talking to our pets like they are people. It's so funny when they understand your tone and start barking/meowing back etc I have one cat that gets so happy when I ooh and aah and coo and all those stupid sounds with her, she rolls on her back and actually chirps - its a madhouse :rolleyes:

Seb_bixby

I've always said "Not for Puppers" to Hershey if he gets his mouth around something that he shouldn't have when we were in the house when taking it off him. If I say it now he will drop what he has and get one of his toys and look at me to see if that is alright to have. (Most of the time!:rolleyes:)
I have since discovered that this also works when we are out walking and he has something that he shouldn't. Needless to say, we get some funny looks and people laugh at it!:D Esp, if he's sniffing at pooh that someone hasn't picked up.
That and "Out of there, that's someones garden" and "Don't even think about it." Best is when you say it to him and he kinda sighs before continuing on his way. :D Too funny.

Goat the dote

Don't bring my dog in the car anymore cos she's carsick. One time I held her head out the window so she could not get sick in the car.

Buying her fish and a battered sausage at the beach

tk123

I ran around like a maniac earlier and looked like a tool lol!! Somebody was with us and the other dogs in the gang with their little puppy - so puppy (lab x westie), a fat lab, red setter and my GR.. The pup ran off after somebody else and the guy ran off after him - placing his BATCH LOAF on a park bench for safe keeping.. Bailey was over having a mooch and did this head snap bisto kid sniff in the air thing, ran over and grabbed the loaf, it split as he was running away so a trail of bread was all over the place and the big dogs diving on it!! :rolleyes::pac:

Graces7

Our dogs are almost never in public .... So they did me proud one time two rentals ago when they were in the garden and the Gardai arrived at the gate on some matter...I had been whistle training them and still had the whistle round my neck, so blew it and called them

They behaved impeccably and the Gardai were openly deeply impressed. Nice one, girls! Now if you would just repeat that . collie when we are walking in the field and a car passes... Nah!

They seemed to know it mattered

Senna

My female schnauzer isn't anywhere near as energetic as my male schnauzer, so when they are on long walks (hour or so), my wife will pick her up when she get tired and carry her for a minute or two.
I always think people must think she's mad, take one dog for a "walk" and the other for a "carry".

Vivara

I'd say half of these posts are related to picking up your dog's crap while you're walking them.

Do you realise it's possible to train your dog not to go for a crap on a walk? And it's actually really easy to do.

I walk my dog twice a day and not once does she crap on the footpath. And no, she's not constipated and she does go when I leave her out in my yard.

I understand if all of you live in apartments and you don't have a back garden or some sort of a yard, but I'd say a fair percentage of you do.

V.

anniehoo

OldNotWIse wrote: »

this happened to a cat of a friend of mine who had consumed a piece of ribbon. The sh1t basically hung out of the cat while she ran around demented wondering why on earth her own sh1t was chasing her. Best laugh ever

Oh my god i LOL'd at this so much :D

eire-kp

Accidently gave some German tourists who were out hiking a very comprehensive lesson in some choice Irish swear words!
My sheep dog decided to put 30 heavily pregnant ewes the wrong way around a field..they really didnt need the exercise!..cue much shouting from me and every thing worked out fine.

Turn around to go back with the dog to where the quad bike was parked..Spot them then standing there with there mouths open:pac:
Just muttered hello and drove off:o

Were the best friends really..nothing like man and dog working as a team except when one forgets who is the leader of the pack!!

Graces7

eire-kp wrote: »

Accidently gave some German tourists who were out hiking a very comprehensive lesson in some choice Irish swear words!
My sheep dog decided to put 30 heavily pregnant ewes the wrong way around a field..they really didnt need the exercise!..cue much shouting from me and every thing worked out fine.

Turn around to go back with the dog to where the quad bike was parked..Spot them then standing there with there mouths open:pac:
Just muttered hello and drove off:o

Were the best friends really..nothing like man and dog working as a team except when one forgets who is the leader of the pack!!

That will end up on a travel blog!

Makes me glad we are where no one is anywhere near to hear me yell I WILL KILL YOU! at wee dog. SHE knows I don't mean it but that she has gone too far....

seamus

callmekenneth wrote: »

one time my dog (RIP) had been eating grass and we were out walking when he decided to do a poo but it had grass in it so it just sort of hung out of his bum, we were both very embarassed and neither of us enjoyed me pulling the poo out of his bum. by the grace of god i dont think anyone saw

Oh god.

My wife has lovely long red hair, but it does tend to leave long red hair everywhere. You so sometimes find a little ball of hair in clothes when you take them out of the wash. Darcey one time must have eaten one of these and we spent about two weeks having to extract 18 inch hairs gently from her bum every time she poo'd.

She also managed to do the same with a tissue. Yes an entire tissue, which I had the pleasure of extracting one evening while worrying if I was actually pulling out my dog's lower intestine (that's what it looked like).

Bloody Staffies. When we first got her, she wouldn't eat. Now she won't stop

madrabui

Having a game of hide'n'seek/chase with my dog around my parked car. I didn't realise that our neighbour was p1ssing himself laughing.

TG1

I recently bought a new leather collar, lead and harness for Bob. He's a real quick learner and has picked up on the fact that "come here and let me strip you off" means come over, put his paws up on me and wait till everything is taken off before running off again.

I walk him by a salt water estury and sometimes let him in for a paddle, so was there this morning, called him over, gave him that command, then realised there were two little old ladies sitting on fold up chairs, looking at me with horrified expressions on their faces!