Dog walking commentators

[P3LH]

Does anyone else encounter them not as a rarity but as a daily occurrence?

After years of ‘that one can’t be a lassie collie. He’s grey, not brown like your other one. He’s not as fluffy. He’s bigger. He’s got a longer nose. Nope can’t be a lassie collie’ and biting my lip I now daily get ‘nope, that one can’t be a corgi. Corgi’s are brown and white. Must be a cross.’

In the same vein, after years of ‘not rounding up any sheep’ ‘looking for Timmy down the well’ etc we now have (Of those accepting she is a corgi’!) ‘buck palace/Windsor is that way’ or ‘does her maj know you’ve borrowed that one?’

I don’t know if I’m becoming even more miserable, as I hit my grumpy old man phase about five years ago in my mid twenties and am fully accepting of this—but it can’t just be me who wants to just enjoy a walk with the dogs and, barring a casual good morning or acknowledgement of someone, wouldn’t mind just being left alone...

Please tell me it’s also not just me who gets the ‘nope, that’s not one of them’ comments?! I have given up trying to explain. I often refer to the little Sherman tank as a miniature German shepherd (one woman asked if they sold them on pets for homes?!) and the blue boy as ‘some sort of dr Seuss creature’ which again, often has its irony lost.

My not rough collie and my not corgi. I have left my other rough collie out as he is ‘brown’ therefore a ‘proper lassie dog’

 

[Bradsmum]

And very lovely they are, though I think 'brown' collie should have been included poor lad. When I was growing up there seemed to be a lot of rough collies around but I can't actually remember the last time I saw one - guess the lassie films had a lot to answer for.

 

[P3LH]

And very lovely they are, though I think 'brown' collie should have been included poor lad. When I was growing up there seemed to be a lot of rough collies around but I can't actually remember the last time I saw one - guess the lassie films had a lot to answer for.

Taken a couple of months ago, at the start of lock down. He’s gone even greyer since. It’s strange how it’s just happened very quickly over the last 12 months but then again, he’s ten this November so it’s to be expected.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We have had more than one person ask if the Lab pups (1 x black, 1 x yellow) are the Rottweiler's offspring and do occasionally hear a 'jocular' 'Who's taking who for a walk?' which I find particularly annoying as the dogs are under control, walking to heel. People just are annoying and for some reason, some of them aren't satisfied with 'Good morning' as a conversational gambit. Fools, the lot of them!

 

[Mynstrel]

We don't get that one but when people see us out with our 2 bc's, bc with a bit of kelpie (she's a blue merle, don't even go there) and working cocker pup we are getting a tad sick of "ooo, you've got your hands full there" - usually by somebody with some flavour of oodle sounding like it's being murdered on the end of the lead while our 4 stand and look bemused at it. Ok so the youngest collie is a rescue work in progress but the most he ever does us wiggle and squeak or hide, he's far from a maniac.

 

[Bradsmum]

Thanks LH, another gorgeous face.

 

[BBP]

I think you are being grumpy. I get it, I hate a blue Merle border collie that gets comments everywhere, and I’m a pretty antisocial person. But they are just people trying to interact with other people, or just taking an interest in the dogs they see, even if they are a bit ignorant. They don’t know that they are the fifth people to say that to you today, they are just trying to be sociable. I just smile, answer the question for the fifth time today and carry on my way.

 

[MurphysMinder]

You want to try walking a black and tan GSD and a black and tan Lancashire heeler together ! No they are not mother and puppy !

 

[Cloball]

Maybe people are feeling starved of social interaction these days. Personally I think some people have been tricked by social media into thinking that the world wants and needs to hear their opinion every moment of the day.
I will admit I do like to make polite conversation if someone let's their dog jump all over me AND I did stop to ask what the Bassett hound X Springer was because it looked super funky. GUILTY as charged ?

 

[CorvusCorax]

I've had people argue me blind that both of mine are crossbreeds.
Including mixture of collies, Belgians, huskies and even a pit bull (well, he does have a massive head ?)
ARE YOU SURE??

 

[FinnishLapphund]

During the majority of my 30 years as a dog owner, I've had 3 dogs. Sometimes I don't hear it for very long periods of time, other times I've heard more than once a week: "Isn't it difficult to have that many"/"Doesn't it take a lot of time with so many"/or something along those lines.

I vaguely recall when I started to get those comments around 25 years ago, the first years I think my answer often was "But it is only 3, there's not much difference between having 2 or 3". Eventually it changed, usually to different variations of "Spend some extra time on training them separately at the start, after that, if you take one or more out for a walk usually doesn't make much difference timewise."

There was a driver some years ago, who stopped his car next to me to say "I've seen you many times, and wanted to ask How can you walk so many that easily? My neighbour has only one dog, and they can't make that one walk nicely."
My answer was a lame "I trained them ... ... and, uhm, continued until they walked as I wanted."

Fortunately for me, ever since I started walking around with 3 Finnish Lapphunds, the number one comment I hear is simply "Oh, how cute!" And that doesn't require much response other than a smile, or a Thank you.

 

[Mynstrel]

My reply is usually that I'd rather have 4 dogs than 4 kids

 

[Starzaan]

If I have to hear one more person say ‘gosh you could put a saddle on that’ ‘how much do they eat a week?!’ or ‘do they come in that colour?!’ I will SCREAM.

 

[Unicorn]

Because she's relatively dinky, with a bit of a shepherdy face, we get a lot of 'is she young?' type questions. When she's being an utter villain I have been known to just agree!

 

[{97702}]

Oh god I get totally fed up of the same comments a million times a week.... and I always get told I’m miserable and people are only being friendly ? Well please can they be friendly to someone else lol?

- Yes, they are all mine.

- No, they don’t need a lot of exercise.

- No, I don’t have my hands full, that’s why they all walk perfectly on the lead and see I have all four/five leads in my left hand?

- Yes they are ex-racers (that’s the question I really don’t mind to be honest!) and yes they make wonderful pets ???

- And more recently, yes I’m sorry about the terrier he is more trouble than all the others put together ?

 

[ihatework]

You want to try walking a black and tan GSD and a black and tan Lancashire heeler together ! No they are not mother and puppy !

Or a Manchester a Terrier, awwww what a lovely Doberman puppy

 

[blackcob]

"Where's your sled?"

...at home, in the shed. ?

 

[FinnBobs]

Yes I get all the typical Lassie comments.

"They can't be Lassie dogs because they are the wrong colour" about my merle and tri

"They're definitely Shelties!" some people are totally adamant that they are Shelties even though they, and our dog in particular, are far bigger.

"Oh haven't you got your hands full there"

Amongst others...

 

[fankino04]

Same as black cob always asked where the sled is, if it's snowing told they must love it, not really, noodle is a rubbish snow dog she always gets snow balled up I'm her feet ?. Always told "they must be a handful", nope they are easy as pie, and lots of comments about how much exercise they must need.

 

[MrsMozartleto]

I've had "What are they?" with a resultant confused look when I said "Dogs...".

And another one or two who've said "Ooh, I don't like Rottweilers" and within five minutes they're stroking the two big fearsome dogs.

 

[paisley]

"Ooh, what a skinny dog". Well, as a sighthound, he isnt going to be the wheezy tub of lard you've got there thats clearly struggled with 20 mins exercise
And bizarrely "How old is he?" is guaranteed. I get children to ask him, cause he can bark his age. Funny when he was 2, time consuming now he's 10 ?

 

[CMcC]

I seem to get men driving up to me and stopping and commenting on my dogs (unless this is some code and I am too stupid to realise).

With the lurchers they usually just wind down the window and say, “Bedlington Whippet” or “Saluki Greyhound” and drive off. They are always 100% right.

When I had Kerry Blue Terriers I would be stopped by Irish men or men of Irish descent who would say “You don’t see many of those these days and then tell me about their Uncle Paddy who had Kerries and how they nearly killed the postman/dog next door etc.

 

[Cloball]

I can understand the 'what is it?' comments when I walk my mum's westie as he often resembles a sheep.
He's also twice as tall as a proper westie and his ears flop over.

Exhibit A

 

[deb_l222]

I get a huge amount of "you've got your hands full there lass". It's always lass, I live in Barnsley

Yesterday (for the 1st time in ages) I had "are they all yours?". To which I replied, yes unfortunately, would you like the black and white one

The thing is, I haven't really got my hands full at all. Willow is a pillock but the other two pootle along at a totally pedestrian pace that would make a snail blush.

I don't mind the comments really. In this day and age of people crossing the road because they're scared of catching germs, it's nice that people are still chatty and friendly.

 

[AmyMay]

I always get the ‘you’ve got your hands full’ comment too ?

And, ‘is your dog a poodle?’ ?

 

[{97702}]

"Ooh, what a skinny dog". Well, as a sighthound, he isnt going to be the wheezy tub of lard you've got there thats clearly struggled with 20 mins exercise
And bizarrely "How old is he?" is guaranteed. I get children to ask him, cause he can bark his age. Funny when he was 2, time consuming now he's 10 ?

It’s funny I used to get that with the whippets too - oh and “don’t you feed them then” ha ha ha - but I don’t get it with the greyhounds! Maybe because they are bigger and more muscly/built like a brick outhouse ?

 

[paisley]

I think my favourite was during a walk up Thorpe Cloud (sheep, fairly steep), so whippet was on a lead in a harness.
"Is he a search and rescue dog?"
"Not unless there's a sofa in distress up this hill"

 

[{97702}]

I think my favourite was during a walk up Thorpe Cloud (sheep, fairly steep), so whippet was on a lead in a harness.
"Is he a search and rescue dog?"
"Not unless there's a sofa in distress up this hill"

?????

Absolutely brilliant ???

 

[paisley]

It’s funny I used to get that with the whippets too - oh and “don’t you feed them then” ha ha ha - but I don’t get it with the greyhounds! Maybe because they are bigger and more muscly/built like a brick outhouse ?

Very naughtily I used to tell particularly gobby children "Oh he only gets fed one medium sized child once a week on *whatever day it was that day*

 

[Lots of Gift Bags]

Cor you're a bunch of misery guts ???
We get repeated comments and questions too but I love talking about my dogs so don't mind at all. If I'm in a hurry or feeling antisocial I just don't engage with people, maybe I put on a good resting bitch face ?