A minor rant amongst friends.

fatmammycat

Most of you know I have a GSD, a large intact male, now 17 months.
Since I've had this dog I have socialised and trained and socialised and trained and now, at almost a year and a half, he is close to bomb proof with people (he's a real people dog) and equally importantly- with other dogs.
At 6:30 every morning I take my dog to a large stretch of not quite parkland for a 90 minute+ walk; here I meet pretty much the same people every day, we make polite small talk and I usually work my own dog on various things (left to rights, recall, sit/stays/fetch, drop and so on).
I'm lucky with my dog, in that when he is working he's very single-minded and not overly iinterested- these days- in what other dog are doing. We meet and greet loads of dogs- by the way I should point out my dog is off lead for most of this- and his reaction is always the same- if I can put it in human words it would be "good day to you fellow/lady, nice smelling butt you have. Love to stay longer and chat, but my human is about to do something and I don't want to miss it, see you tomorrow perhaps."
Recently a man has been walking the route with his small mixed-breed dog. This is a nice little dog, clearly quite smart, but for whatever reason he charges big dogs in a very aggressive manner. Not just my dog, but every other dog bigger than a collie.
Yesterday this little dog ran an entire field to get to my dog, and when mine didn't really show any great interest, the little dog turned all his attention to me, following me off the field and into the woods, resulting in me having to turn back and wait for the owner to turn up, as he did, pink faced and annoyed.
As this was not the first time, yesterday I said- mildly- 'You know, you're lucky my dog is pretty easy going. You should probably work on your dog's recall...or keep him on a lead.'
I was by no means rude, or even hostile. My dog was in sit stay during this conversation, and frankly just waiting so we could get a move on again.

This man did not get it. He didn't get mad per se, but he was SO dismissive, calling his own dog a 'dolt' and saying 'it would serve him right if he got a bite.'
Except it wouldn't serve him right, and if a GSD or another big dog bit him, he'd be dead or badly injured.
I know I've given out about small dogs before here ( and to top it all off I got clobbered by a staffy a few weeks ago, t'was like getting hit with a bowling ball of mucle and slobber: delightful creature, but no owner in sight again, a whole useless field away) but I'm actually beginning to wonder, is it just because the dogs are small that folk don't train them? OR is it because they're not physically capable of doing real damage that people seem to let them do as they wish?

I'm not being smart or anti-small dog, but hardly a week goes by when we're not approached by a small dog acting badly, and the owners are so blase about it. If my dog acted like that I'd be in serious trouble and people would be ticked off and rightly so.
Anyway, this is very long and rant over, I think I just needed to vent slightly. I will make sure my own animal is well behaved and doesn't think it's okay to bite small cheeky dogs, but I just wondered what other large dog or RB owners thought?

Quality

You do realise your GSD should not by law be allowed to roam off lead?

Doesn't matter how well trained he is.

It's illegal.

endacl

Quality wrote: »

You do realise your GSD should not by law be allowed to roam off lead?

Doesn't matter how well trained he is.

It's illegal.

I didn't read 'roam' anywhere in the OP. Sounds like an exceptionally well-controlled animal.

borderlinemeath

Quality wrote: »

You do realise your GSD should not by law be allowed to roam off lead?

Doesn't matter how well trained he is.

It's illegal.

No dog is allowed 'roam'.
And nowhere in the OPs post has the dog 'roamed'.
I assume you're referring to restricted breed legislation so if you're going to get picky about restricted breeds at least get your post right.

Hooked

Quality wrote: »

You do realise your GSD should not by law be allowed to roam off lead?

Doesn't matter how well trained he is.

It's illegal.

I'm going to row in with... The RB list is utter nonsense. And if the majority of people took the time to exercise and train their dogs as the OP does, there'd be no need for one. Owners need vetting - not dogs.

Now that that's off my chest. Other owners are like parents. You'll meet the loveliest, well mannered kids and you'll meet hyper brats that don't pay any heed to mammy or daddy. It's all in the 'training'. Some doggy parents are like you and me OP, and others simply couldn't give a flying fcuk. Irresponsible, ignorant and never going to change. And the dog pays the price.

I could've written your post, or a variant of it. A husky owner, not nearly as obedient as yours - A people person, and great with most dogs.

Many months ago I replied to a thread... In which I admitted to ALWAYS walking my dog with a stick in tow. As soon as I see an unruly dog off lead (please note I've NO issue with an off lead dog - provided its under an owners control), the stick is swiftly dropped from under my arm and the unruly dog is immediately held or placed on lead.

Things are never going to change in regards to your gripe above OP. Owners that can't be arsed, never will be. They'll probably also continue to not pick up their little madams toilet trophies and this will always upset people like you and me - because we know what a bit of training and consideration of others would yield...

No RB list... No beach bye lays with respect to dogs... No ghastly poop fine signs dotted around lovely parks and countryside.

Mark Tapley

endacl wrote: »

I didn't read 'roam' anywhere in the OP. Sounds like an exceptionally well-controlled animal.

I agree with this . Sounds like the Op has a well behaved and well trained dog.

I have quite a big dog myself and a few times smaller dogs have tried to nip her . I hate to see it as she is never aggressive . I have to ward them off while she tries to hide behind me. Maybe there is a small dog syndrome. Not saying all small dogs are like this, its just the nippy nasty ones stand out. Of course if they were trained it wouldn't be a problem .Its becoming a cliché but a dogs behaviour seems more dependant on its owner than its breed.

Rozelia21

I love all dogs but I am getting increasingly frustrated with small dogs being allowed wander wherever they please and nobody takes any notice! A small dog ran across the road in front of a van to charge at me and my large dog last week. How can people think this is alright? And it does seem to be a small breed thing because this house also has a couple of large greyhounds/lurchers that are kept behind a fence but the little terrier type can go wherever it likes running in front of traffic and harassing other dogs.

Also your dog sounds very well trained and shouldn't be punished by some stupid biased law. No dog should be kept on a lead at all times as long as it is trained and well behaved.

tk123

Did you not know it's 'cute' when small dogs misbehave? looking forward to the screams of onlookers next week when the puppy is allowed out - me and my two 'big dogs' lol

Bullseye1

Quality wrote: »

You do realise your GSD should not by law be allowed to roam off lead?

Doesn't matter how well trained he is.

It's illegal.

Wow. OPs dog well behaved and trained, happens to be RB. Second dog not RB and off lead, no call back, likely to get itself into trouble because of negligent owner and this is posted? No wonder we have the laws we have in this country when attitudes like this exist.

aonb

just to get back to the original post, OP, I totally agree with you. Two of my dogs are small dogs. I would consider myself to be a very responsible owner. I have trained and trained my dogs from day 1. They are both JRTs and complete and utter gurriers when out and about if off leash. I live in a very rural area luckily, so have pretty much stopped walking in parks/places where there are many dogs/walkers.

But I also think that owners in general - and I dont mean to over generalize here - are hopelessly irresponsible. And another generalization is that if you say one word to these people when out walking (if theres doggie hassle/aggro) they will go into attack-mode (worse than their un-restrained dogs!!)

Quality

Well it's the law.

If you want to be a law breaker or condone law breaking that's your choice.

Quality

The poor little dog in the story above was probably shocked into seeing a restricted dog breed. Unleashed and presumably unmuzzled in a public place.

Not surprised it chased you off.

You're lucky it wasn't the Garda chasing you with a hefty fine!

borderlinemeath

Quality wrote: »

The poor little dog in the story above was probably shocked into seeing a restricted dog breed. Unleashed and presumably unmuzzled in a public place.

Not surprised it chased you off.

You're lucky it wasn't the Garda chasing you with a hefty fine!

You forgot your :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:.

You can't be serious about the poor little dog being shocked to see a restricted breed? A dog sees a dog, it doesn't see laws or restricted breeds.

Honestly, I think you're just stirring it.

muddypaws

Quality wrote: »

The poor little dog in the story above was probably shocked into seeing a restricted dog breed. Unleashed and presumably unmuzzled in a public place.

Not surprised it chased you off.

You're lucky it wasn't the Garda chasing you with a hefty fine!

Perhaps you'd care to point out where the OP said it was a public place? You have presumed that the large area that they go with their dog is a public place, but perhaps it isn't. You know what they say about when people assume things

Quality

Hello op, can you please clarify if it is a public place?

tk123

aonb wrote: »

jAnd another generalization is that if you say one word to these people when out walking (if theres doggie hassle/aggro) they will go into attack-mode (worse than their un-restrained dogs!!)

Well I don't care who thinks I'm a madwoman (or more of one lol!) but I've every intention of telling people with out of control dogs to GTFO away from my pup! My big guy is 4 and was snapped at by a little sh1t of a dog at 3 months old - 4 years on and he'll stand his ground with the same dog 99% of the time but it took me years of work to build his confidence back up. I've blacklist of local dogs in my head that I won't be allowing near her both big and small because they've no doggy manners and how they play is imo unacceptable.

anniehoo

Quality, please curb the antagonistic tone you are using before you respond in this thread again. You are single handedly responsible for derailing this thread with your unnecessary inflammatory attitude right now.

Do not reply to this post.Thank you.

Dodd

I love it when people troll here.:)

anniehoo

Dodd wrote: »

I love it when people troll here.:)

We're ALL aware not to rise to the bait, so if anyone has any issues with a poster please use the report function.

Quality

Tk123 what breed of dog do you have?

angelfire9

The op made me laugh
I was dog walking/ house sitting for a mate yesterday
Two dogs one german Shepard x one JRT x
And the JRT was the one snapping at everything and I mean everything :rolleyes:
Small dog complex

Ooh and before I'm asked both on leads and BOTH muzzled not my dogs I'm not taking chances (as approved by owners in advance) :pac:

The Sweeper

fatmammycat wrote: »

I'm actually beginning to wonder, is it just because the dogs are small that folk don't train them? OR is it because they're not physically capable of doing real damage that people seem to let them do as they wish?

I think in your case, the fella calling his dog a dolt is probably mortified that he has no control over him. Years ago an off-lead labrador rushed through my yard when I lived rural and its owner drove up and got out of the car - my friend had the dog by the scruff and it was absolutely cracking the shits to get away from her. The owner helplessly shows me this cow knuckle bone he has in his hand and says 'What sort of dog won't want something like this?'

He genuinely had no idea how to motivate or recall his dog. Sounds like your small dog owner is the same way.

Having a smaller dog that's badly behaved is annoying, ridiculous, poor show and so on - but it's just not as bad as a bigger dog. It's not as intimidating, or at as great a risk of doing harm through relatively innocuous interaction as a larger dog (see: jumping up on you. Jack russell: annoying. 30kg+ dog: likely to knock you on your arse.) It's also not quite so 'in your face', so while the owner of a large dog will hit 8 months of age and go 'oh dear, I really can't control this, best get some training in' even if they hadn't a clue from the outset, the small dog owner may carry on regardless until they end up the owner of a tiny terror.

I recently minded a friend's six month old JRT cross (second gen JRT/border collie cross) and it's going to be a tiny terror. She's doing good work with him - sit, drop, stay, all nailed - but he's full of beans, heading into his adolescence and to me she needs to have an iron hand right about now. By that I mean NO out of line behaviour goes ignored. I'll give you an example - this pup is a jumper. He's like he's on a bleedin trampoline most of the time. Because his owners are tall and he's so little, he greets them up on his back legs, jumping, and also stands leaning his front paws against a thigh while they absent mindedly scritch him behind the ears.

He got to this house for the weekend and the husband and I corrected him on autopilot all weekend every time he danced about like a porkchop, and by Monday afternoon there was a lot less jumping than he started with. Still though he'll go home and, because it doesn't bother them, they won't correct it. (It bothers us - we HATE jumpers.)

So yeah, the upshot is that I think it's a combination of not knowing how to train, and then not being sufficiently bothered by the behaviour because it's a small dog.

Quality

angelfire9 wrote: »

The op made me laugh
I was dog walking/ house sitting for a mate yesterday
Two dogs one german Shepard x one JRT x
And the JRT was the one snapping at everything and I mean everything :rolleyes:
Small dog complex

Ooh and before I'm asked both on leads and BOTH muzzled not my dogs I'm not taking chances (as approved by owners in advance) :pac:

Ha ha nice to see some responsibility!

It's the Yorkshire terriers that I find have the nasty streak in them. Little snappers.

JRT will always have a bark at my girl (LAB) when out walking. She has no interest in them. Prefers to sniff arses of larger dogs

fatmammycat

Quality wrote: »

The poor little dog in the story above was probably shocked into seeing a restricted dog breed. Unleashed and presumably unmuzzled in a public place.

Not surprised it chased you off.

You're lucky it wasn't the Garda chasing you with a hefty fine!

I am going to respond to this as it seems you have not correctly read my post: where I walk my dog is not public property, but owned by a private club. I have a great realtionship with the DW of my area as he knows me to be a highly responsible owner and I doubt the Garda would think differently.
The dog I spoke of attacks large dogs, both RB and non RB dogs, once they are large. My own dog, who happens to be RB, is both unmuzzled and off leash when these attacks -though I do not call them thus- occur.
This dog does not 'chase off' my dog or any other, but rather charges across long distance, barks madly, attempts to be aggressive, then follows me until his owner comes over to collect. The reason I brought up the entire post it that I find many off-lead small dogs go hell for leather at large dogs, and I suppose I was curious if other owners of RB or large dogs felt much the same.

angelfire9

Quality wrote: »

Ha ha nice to see some responsibility!

It's the Yorkshire terriers that I find have the nasty streak in them. Little snappers.

JRT will always have a bark at my girl (LAB) when out walking. She has no interest in them. Prefers to sniff arses of larger dogs

Not responsibility paranoia

tk123

Quality wrote: »

Tk123 what breed of dog do you have?

Are you asking out of interest or to push your anti-RB agenda?

Quality

fatmammycat wrote: »

I am going to respond to this as it seems you have not correctly read my post: where I walk my dog is not public property, but owned by a private club. I have a great realtionship with the DW of my area as he knows me to be a highly responsible owner and I doubt the Garda would think differently.
The dog I spoke of attacks large dogs, both RB and non RB dogs, once they are large. My own dog, who happens to be RB, is both unmuzzled and off leash when these attacks -though I do not call them thus- occur.
This dog does not 'chase off' my dog or any other, but rather charges across long distance, barks madly, attempts to be aggressive, then follows me until his owner comes over to collect. The reason I brought up the entire post it that I find many off-lead small dogs go hell for leather at large dogs, and I suppose I was curious if other owners of RB or large dogs felt much the same.

Well why don't you ask the owners of the private club to kick out this guy and his stampeding dog ?

fatmammycat

Quality wrote: »

Well why don't you ask the owners of the private club to kick out this guy and his stampeding dog ?

As opposed to talking to him personally? Again, I think you are missing the point for some reason. I'm not overly worried about his dog- or my own dog as he is maturing to a pretty stable dog, my question was about small dogs and why is seems to be a-ok for them to do whatever they wish without sanction? I mean I would completely understand if a person was upset if my GSD was acting badly, why not smaller dogs?

fatmammycat

tk123 wrote: »

Well I don't care who thinks I'm a madwoman (or more of one lol!) but I've every intention of telling people with out of control dogs to GTFO away from my pup! My big guy is 4 and was snapped at by a little sh1t of a dog at 3 months old - 4 years on and he'll stand his ground with the same dog 99% of the time but it took me years of work to build his confidence back up. I've blacklist of local dogs in my head that I won't be allowing near her both big and small because they've no doggy manners and how they play is imo unacceptable.

It is awful: my guy was attacked on leash at around 9/10 months by a maltease cross and it took ages to retrain him to view small white dogs as nothing to worry about ( and many trips around a particular park where small dogs are prevelant).

inocybe

I've been charged by a snarling terrier whose owner looked over his wall, saw my large dog, and said 'let him teach him a lesson'. My dog on lead with his tail tucked way down between his legs >:(

It has taken weeks of work to be able to walk past that house again.

fatmammycat

inocybe wrote: »

I've been charged by a snarling terrier whose owner looked over his wall, saw my large dog, and said 'let him teach him a lesson'. My dog on lead with his tail tucked way down between his legs >:(

It has taken weeks of work to be able to walk past that house again.

This is exactly what I mean, teach him a lesson. I mean what on earth lesson would be taught here? It a really weird attitude. Also being charged, by any dog, big or small, is an unpleasant experience.

moy83

What breed is a GSD ? German sheppard ???

Hooked

moy83 wrote: »

What breed is a GSD ? German sheppard ???

It is indeed. Or as we used to say back in the 80's.... Nice Alsatian kiiiiiddd!

gimmick

I hate JRTs. Every time we come across one when out walking they are always creating. Last week, we put our cocker back on his lead when we saw a JRT approaching with his owner as we pretty much knew if we didn't, there would be a fight.

It seems we put our fella at a disadvantage as the JRT ran at ours and latched on. We always carry a bottle of water so sprayed that and he let go, but the owners response - "he's only a pup". So is our fella, yet he has never ever even bourn his teeth at another dog unless provoked.

Surely it cannot just be the owners and these dogs are just aggressive little shíts who should be muzzled and kept on a lead?

/rant.

FTR, I have similar issues with Bichon Frises. Very narky dogs as well.

fatmammycat

Funny Gimmick, JRTS and Westies are the two breeds I watch out for when running. They are quite nippy dogs it seems. 'Only a pup' by the way is no excuse at all.

Plopli

Lot's of valid points here ...

But here is my take on it.

• Lot's of dog owners do not do their homework before getting a dog.
  Everyone should know that training a JRT will probably be longer and need more work than training a GSD.
  GSD are bred to be trained. JRT probably not so much ...
  Same, if you get a scent hunting dog like a Basset. Good luck with the recall when he picks up a scent ...
• Lot's of persons get a dog for the companionship(nothing wrong with that) without realizing that a dog need more than that.
  And this probably happen more with small dogs.
  When they realize that a dog needs leadership and mental stimulation and more than what they expected, small dogs owner probably give up more easily as they see less danger than if they were large dogs.
• Smaller dogs are usually seen as less of a threat so these behavior are less readily corrected and as we all know, dogs are really quick at picking up what you are ready to accept or not (be it good or bad).
• Lots of person getting a dog have no clue at all on how to train them and they are not willing to spend the time doing it anyway.
  This is also probably more prevalent with small dogs owners as they think they cannot do much damages anyway.

And it always boils down to one think: the owner ...

If there need to be something done, there should not be a lobby for putting dogs on a restricted breed list but a lobby on having a dog ownership permit ...

Gumbi

Very similar situation to I have, OP (including GSD :P). Don't want to be anti small dog, but I do get annoyed when people cross the road once they see me coming, and/or pick up their dog as I pass. Less of an issue, but some owners' dogs go ballistic and it's overlooked as they're "only small things, sher they do no harm".

My girl is a small shepherd too! Only about 25KG. As quiet as a mouse. Extremely polite.

kylith

OP, on behalf of responsible owners of small snappy dogs; sorry. That guy was an idiot.

My problem tends to be big, friendly, off lead dogs. There's nothing worse than telling an owner to call their dog back and for them to go 'Oh, he only wants to play', and then look shocked as the dog bounces too close to mine and they turn into furies. 'Your dog might be friendly,' I say, 'but that doesn't mean they all are'.

fatmammycat

kylith wrote: »

OP, on behalf of responsible owners of small snappy dogs; sorry. That guy was an idiot.

My problem tends to be big, friendly, off lead dogs. There's nothing worse than telling an owner to call their dog back and for them to go 'Oh, he only wants to play', and then look shocked as the dog bounces too close to mine and they turn into furies. 'Your dog might be friendly,' I say, 'but that doesn't mean they all are'.

Oh I'd agree with this too Kylith, I think recall is THE most important thing you can teach a dog, so it's frustrating that so many owners don't realise it.

kylith

fatmammycat wrote: »

Oh I'd agree with this too Kylith, I think recall is THE most important thing you can teach a dog, so it's frustrating that so many owners don't realise it.

Absolutely. I can't trust mine off lead so I don't let them off lead. If I do let them off I recall them and put them back on lead as soon as another dog is as much as a speck on the horizon. This way everyone can enjoy their walk.

tk123

kylith wrote: »

here's nothing worse than telling an owner to call their dog back

Oh I'd prefer if people asked me to call my guy back (not that he runs over to other dogs but say if he's ahead/to the side of me minding his own business in a usually WIDE radius they find unacceptable etc) instead of the theatrics some of them put on - lifting the dog, screaming, praising the dog for barking and snapping at my dog etc.
I had a (dogless) person who was afriad of dogs waving at my dog to go away as we crossed a field and he was nowhere near her as he was making a beeline for the water - now she thought she was shooing him from afar but he thought she was welcoming him with open arms - and she litterally was lol! :P I find having him recall to the whistle always makes a good impression/shows that I've actually trained him and people will relax a little.

Bannasidhe

kylith wrote: »

OP, on behalf of responsible owners of small snappy dogs; sorry. That guy was an idiot.

My problem tends to be big, friendly, off lead dogs. There's nothing worse than telling an owner to call their dog back and for them to go 'Oh, he only wants to play', and then look shocked as the dog bounces too close to mine and they turn into furies. 'Your dog might be friendly,' I say, 'but that doesn't mean they all are'.

Seconded. I have 3 JRTs - 2 are rescue dogs so I didn't have them as pups and due to past abuse they need a lot of patient, consistent, work- but I never leave the house without a bag of small treats and spend walk time teaching them to sit on command, recall, follow hand signals etc.

Part of this training is having them off leash on the training grounds of a local soccer club (private property). If the do as told, they get a treat - failure results in the offender being immediately put on leash.

I cannot count the number of time large dogs have come bounding over, with no owner in sight, and harassed the living daylights out of my 3 - they have all ended up with seriously bruised ribs due to being run over by some 25Kg uncontrolled dog. 25 kg vs 5 kg never ends well. Even if, as I have been told many times ' sure he's only playing'.
Only last month I had to cut their walk very short as an unleashed and unaccompanied Bernese Mountain dog continually attempted to mount one of mine - she was on leash. It followed us all the way home - trying it on the whole way. It was only due to her training she didn't lose the plot and try and savage him. Now this JRT was horribly abused, abandoned to starve and we think had been in a puppy farm. When we adopted her it was touch and go if she would live. Yet, she did not turn on her would be rapist - she kept moving away (hard when on a leash) and followed my commands.

Two days ago we encountered a large bulldog who dragged a man and woman - both of whom were hanging off the leash trying to hold him back - the length of a soccer pitch to get at my three - who really only wanted to play ball with each other.

I do get your point OP - but I don't think it has anything to do with the size or the dog and a lot more to do with the owners.

Pumpkinseeds

I see a lady near me walking her german shepherd every morning and evening. Her dog is always on a leash as it's a built up area and it appears very well trained as it walks along not straining on the leash and is very calm etc. I've lost track of the number of times that jack russell type dogs that are allowed to roam have tried to attack her dog and I have seen her have to take her dog home minutes after taking her out because these dogs are running at and barking at her dog in a very aggressive manner.

Anyone spouting nonsense about little dogs being intimidated by restricted breeds is talking absolute rot. From what I've seen in my area a lot of owners of Jack Russell type dogs are some of the most irresponsible owners I've encountered. Not all obviously, but many of the owners seem to think it's ok to let jr's roam. Apologies to jr owners but I can't stand the breed.

Gumbi

There are 3 separate houses in my estate where, as I walk by, the dogs inside go ballistic. 2 of the dogs are demented collies that I've never seen outside the gates. Sad really. Another house is just 2 small dogs that are extremely yappy. I think it's just a tendency to overlook this kind of behaviour on the owner's part simply because it doesn't look even half as scary as a big dog doing the same kind of thing. Again, absolutely have nothing vs small dogs, moreso their owners

kylith

Gumbi wrote: »

There are 3 separate houses in my estate where, as I walk by, the dogs inside go ballistic. 2 of the dogs are demented collies that I've never seen outside the gates. Sad really. Another house is just 2 small dogs that are extremely yappy. I think it's just a tendency to overlook this kind of behaviour on the owner's part simply because it doesn't look even half as scary as a big dog doing the same kind of thing. Again, absolutely have nothing vs small dogs, moreso their owners

We've said it before; the kind of behaviour people laugh off in little dogs would get a large dog put down quick as a wink. They don't see it as serious because they don't think they can do any harm. A friend of mine who works in a vets says she dreads seeing Shi tzus come in because they're amongst the worst for biting, but the owners don't take it seriously.

mosi

I have both an RB and two small dogs, and I have noticed quite a difference in a lot of owners attitudes since getting the big boy (either that or our new walking route has politer dog owners!).
I have had so many problems with people allowing their dogs run up to my lead reactive terrier. Two Jack Russells went for him once, which marked the beginning of his leash reactivity. I have had a number of incidents where people see him flipping out while on his lead, and still let their dogs run up to him. Such owners have even laughed in these situations. There definitely seems to be a lot of people who think that small dogs are funny when they show undesirable behaviour. It's absolutely maddening, as every uncontrolled encounter is a step back on the progess we've been making.
As for the big boy, we now use a walking route where I have full visibility of anyone approaching in the distance. He has some off lead time and has very good recall, and I put him back on as soon as I see someone up ahead as the track is a bit narrow for him to pass them at a comfortable distance. I have noticed that just about everyone puts their dog on the lead when they see mine. As I said, I don't know if they are just more clued in on this route, or if his appearance makes them play on the safe side. He actually prefers small dogs to bigger ones, despite him being bigger than most dogs that we meet.

tk123

Bannasidhe wrote: »

25 kg vs 5 kg never ends well. Even if, as I have been told many times ' sure he's only playing'.

I disagree with this part - a well socialised dog will tailor how their play to suit their playmate. My dog is 33kgs and plays with our 12 week old/7kg puppy and one of his best friends is a JRT - he knows they're smaller and is much gentler with them than he'd be with a bigger dog.

Gumbi

kylith wrote: »

We've said it before; the kind of behaviour people laugh off in little dogs would get a large dog put down quick as a wink. They don't see it as serious because they don't think they can do any harm. A friend of mine who works in a vets says she dreads seeing Shi tzus come in because they're amongst the worst for biting, but the owners don't take it seriously.

And worse again, it can be blamed on my dog! "You're dog is scaring my dog". Ha. Very funny.

Bannasidhe

tk123 wrote: »

I disagree with this part - a well socialised dog will tailor how their play to suit their playmate. My dog is 33kgs and plays with our 12 week old/7kg puppy and one of his best friends is a JRT - he knows they're smaller and is much gentler with them than he'd be with a bigger dog.

I believe I was clear when I was referring to large dogs running around with no sign of an owner never mind a leash.

2 years ago we had to hospitalise my now deceased but then 15 year old JRT when her ribs were fractured by a GSD 'who was only playing' - playing in this instance was charging at her ribs head first to bowl her over. In her day she would have avoided him with ease but aged 15, blind and arthritic she didn't stand a chance.

I was not talking about 'well-socialised' dogs - I was talking about large dogs allowed to roam free also being an issue -giving the other side of the coin and telling it from the perspective of the JRT and their owners.

BalbrigganGirl

Totally agree with the above post - my JRT is the gentlest girl ever - has never grumbled in her life.
She is 14 - partially blind and fairly deaf but a lively girl still.
I am SO sick of large dogs running up to us whislt the owners shout " it's ok he/she is friendly "
My dog is on the leash for a reason - my other JRT is a super little rocket who really does love other dogs and thinks everyone wants to play with her which isn't the case - again - looking at it from the other side of the coin I would rather a Bishon ran at me and mine than a 25K restricted breed with whether you agree with it or not should not be off the leash by law.
Seems to be ok to small dog and particularly JRT bash but from experience should I offer an opinion on my bad experiences over the years with GSD's and Rotties and Boxers - I am sure I would be the worlds most ignorant person ever !

ShaShaBear

My own fella, a collie cross, has become the most leash-reactive dog I've ever come across thanks to off-lead dogs with no training (and admittedly, I've only ever had a confrontation with one who was larger than a spaniel, so the onus is on small dogs here). He used to be so friendly with other dogs, and now he turns into a snarling, snapping, screaming menace with hackles to there and back again when we walk past another dog. I've tried desensitising him at a behaviourist's request. It was working really well, he'd just stop and look on rigidly when another dog passed. And then I walked him through a popular park in Dundalk, and he got mauled by two stocky terriers. Left him with a badly cut ear, a weeping eye and a bad limp. My poor baby was absolutely terrified, wet and soiled himself three times at home that night every time he heard a dog bark. The owner was present, with no leads in her hands, and she made no effort to intervene until one of the terriers got a nasty kick in the face (which I know was dangerous, but I didn't have time to think). She ran at me with a stick and told me to "back the cluck away from my baby!".

Thanks to that complete backtrack in progress, I have to turn and walk in the opposite direction if I even see someone coming with a dog smaller than Shadow. It has even lead to me having to go back into my house until they are out of sight.