Dog walking rant (on it’s a hot day after all)

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Obviously I got up early today to walk the dogs, and chose a relatively popular route to avoid brambles (legs are currently covered in little stingy scratches from marching around the woods in shorts!)

No problem I thought, I know I’ll probably meet people so Marty (who is usually off the lead now) can stay on the lead.

Walking down a track, see people/dogs coming the other way. It’s a wide open track with good visibility, I stand over right on the edge of the path, all dogs on very short leads, placing my body between them and the path to shield them from passers by, talking quietly to them to distract them.....

And the idiots coming towards me let their 3 totally out of control cocker poos and 2 labradoodles come right up to my dogs before vaguely attempting to call them back (dogs took no notice whatsoever)..... Ace not surprisingly wanted to eat the cocker poos.... my dogs of course remained under control but WHY are people so totally thoughtless and inconsiderate???!!!! Did they not read the signs and use their tiny little brain cells??!!

Met a lady later on with a soaniel, she saw mine were on a lead and promptly put hers on the lead too, we had a nice chat about rescue dogs as hers was a rescue too

Nearly back at the car park, met a couple with a Sheltie and a golden retriever pup which was straight in the face of my lot (on leads of course) - Marty gave a warning ‘get out of my personal space’ noise (not surprisingly) and the owners still did nothing.

I think dog ownership needs licensing never mind dogs themselves.....😡😡😡😡
 
Aw come on Lev, let dogs be dogs, mine just want to play and are friendly, you're being uptight, what's the big dea, your dogs must be super aggressive and you shouldn't have them out in public if they don't love being rushed at by rude dogs with no respect for body language**


**I have no recall and am too lazy to train loose lead walking, I'll do anything for a quiet life, I'd much rather play on my phone, drink coffee, shoot the breeze and let my dogs entertain themselves rather than actually engage them myself, I am just a spare part in their lives.

((But yeah, it'll be your fault if the offlead dog has a bad experience because of their irresponsibility....))
 
Thank you, just needed someone to agree with my rant 😉

I am really not a cocker fan at the best of times.... too busy and in your face for me personally, many apologies to everyone who has lovely well-trained and well-behaved cockers!.... so I didn’t blame Ace in the least.

I was a bit disappointed with Marty, but the pup (teenager) really hadn’t been taught any kind of manners at all poor thing ☹️
 
Despite the snark, I am absolutely fine when people are at least a bit apologetic, shit happens, most of the time there's no harm done and it's just handbags.

It's the people who let their dogs bomb over aggressively and make physical contact, do nothing, and then laugh if you say 'do you mind not letting that happen again please' or get pissy if my dog tells them to bog off.
Why do some people repeatedly allow their dogs into dangerous situations, will it be funny when they run onto a road because they are ignoring the owner?

I've got one dog who is pleasant with others, the other is very aloof and does not want to interact with others, it stresses him out and he has the right to go for a walk without being bothered in the same way as I should be able to walk down the street without random strangers getting up in my face.

Side-rant: the current obsession with allowing missmatched dogs to tear arse around together as part of 'socialisation' or 'enrichment'....yes it's lovely to watch, it's low maintenance exercise when you can't be bothered, it tires them out and they are quieter when they get home...but there's a rub off....
 
totally agree... my little terrier absolutely loves all dogs and he is off lead as much as possible but as soon as i see someone in the distance with their dog on a lead i put him on so he isnt in their face., if i ever make a mistake and he runs up to a dog on the lead i am very apologetic and get him straight away. that has only happened a couple of times when i thought the approaching dog was off lead and on getting nearer realised it was on a flexi lead and mine was already saying hello...most of the dogs where i walk are only on lead because the owners are scared to let them off, so not scared or aggressive. but it is still not acceptable to let an off lead dog bother an on lead one....
 
In all honesty the reason mine are on the lead (apart from Millie naffing off after deer of course) is because most peoples dogs feel intimidated (not surprisingly) by 4 hounds bearing down on them wanting to play chase across 3 counties! So I’m trying to be courteous to other people....
 
It must depend on locality. My daily dog walking routes are very rural and it's unusual to see any dogs on leads. Maybe its because, these dogs are walking for good distances every day with owners who have trained them well. The exceptions in the village are the lovely Staffie and the two GSDs. These well socialised dogs are walked on leads only because their owners fear someone will object or report them unfairly, and not because they can't cope with being near other dogs. The other exception is the guy who has greyhounds, which are exercised early and muzzled in public, but even he is pretty laid back and unstressy about meeting other dog walkers.
 
Levrier said:
In all honesty the reason mine are on the lead (apart from Millie naffing off after deer of course) is because most peoples dogs feel intimidated (not surprisingly) by 4 hounds bearing down on them wanting to play chase across 3 counties! So I’m trying to be courteous to other people....
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I totally agree, it's down to courtesy and manners as well, not everyone wants to see an offlead GSD charging about the place. And people have actually thanked me in the past, over the years, for recalling mine and putting them on the lead when I see people coming, because either they or someone in their party or their own dog has been scared of Allasayshuns. Give and take, eh?
 
ARG, this did my head in when Daisy was on restricted exercise, had to stay on the lead, and every freekin' eejit would let their dog bound up to her! She is not agressive but gets really worried with dogs in her space and shuts down completely if she can't run away :( I will admit a grabbed more than a few by their collar and handed them.back pissily to owners explaining that a) she was injured and b) nervous! The most annoying was a lady with a muzzled dog (off lead) that shouted out 'is your dog nervous?' yet did nothing to get the bloody thing under control when I shouted back 'yes and injured!', cue a big mastiff hurling itself a Daisy 😠
 
People just have no consideration. It must be so stressful being a dog that’s not confident with others. Imagine thinking you are going out for a nice relaxing stroll only to find yourself being threatened by many dogs. I imagine a lot of dogs feel stressed as soon as they leave the house!

My dog is always on lead because she has no recall. I always appreciate when people are considerate and then usually shout that shes fine with other dogs so that people can come and say hello or release their dog if it’s friendly. I don’t appreciate dogs bounding up and getting in her face because she doesn’t have the option to run away if she feels unsafe. My neighbours dog is rude and she thinks it’s ok to let it come and say hello because my dog will tell him when she’s had enough. I think she must feel very stressed to have to growl or snap and I don’t see the benefit in putting her in that position.
 
Levrier said:
Obviously I got up early today to walk the dogs, and chose a relatively popular route to avoid brambles (legs are currently covered in little stingy scratches from marching around the woods in shorts!)

And the idiots coming towards me let their 3 totally out of control cocker poos and 2 labradoodles come right up to my dogs before vaguely attempting to call them back (dogs took no notice whatsoever).....
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There's one owner with French Bulldog/Pug/Dunno, Fat and Wheezy Things that watches them tear up to mine roaring their heads off before giving the wafty 'Come here'.
She's currently on a filthy glare and FFS mumbling from me, but one more time and it'll be a brisk boot up the arse for either Wheezy 1 or Wheezy 2, and my current reputation with the local dogwalkers will be complete!
 
Feeling your pain OP.

Think its the heat, everyone is in silly/grumpy mode.

I put up on post on local social media earlier about the fact I'd seen a woman walking a dog at 12 noon on a boiling hot day, highlighting the sheer folly of it!

Now..... I've just had to delete the post, as everyone's venom has been directed against ME!! i.e. I should have stopped to tell the woman (I was driving), and I should have been paying attention to the road not looking at people's dogs! FFS. Its gotta be the heat.
 
Lol I’m getting all kinds of grief on a local charity rescue page for suggesting that the owner of a PUPPY (I’d guess 12 weeks old??) found wandering on a public road is irresponsible..... of course it wasn’t the owners fault, it could have been stolen and dumped, the fact the pup isn’t microchipped is also not the owners fault.... you couldn’t make it up 🙄
 
This drives me insane, especially when you get the owner chortling about little man syndrome when their little dog charges up to my 55kg dog. My dog is very dog neutral, he's very happy to ignore other dogs and moosey along sniffing actually looking for food, he's a gannet in the hedgerows but he is very handy with his front paw and has bonked a few little dogs on the head with it in the past. It's obvious that he's recently been ill as you can see the shaved areas all over his body and legs from miles off so you'd think people would be more careful? No chance! I had a twit this week who let his young GSD charge up to us which then tried to hump mine. When I told him to either call his dog or come and get it NOW, told me that his dog needed to learn manners from a bigger dog while standing there doing nothing like the half wit he is. He was most upset when I pointed out, not especially politely that teaching his dog was his job and got quite aggressive about it to the extent my dog was thinking about squaring up to him (he's very protective but will always stand down when told) I then had to deliver his dog back to him as he wouldn't lay off mine and he still didn't want to put him back on a lead. Ended up having to tell him that if his dog approached again, that I would put my foot up his arse...not the dogs fault, he was a typical OTT young dog but with no manners. Obviously, if I'd had to put my foot anywhere...I know who deserved it and it wouldn't be the dog.

As I left the park, the dog was charging around after a small dog who was with a parent and a couple of small children. They weren't happy either from what I could hear
 
Ugh don't. I had a lady with an out of control german shepherd the other week. Came bowling over to my dogs, one of mine likes her space, she would never do damage but does get visibly upset and will be snappy so I popped her on a lead and walked the other direction. This dog is determined to try and meet mine and is doing circles round us, darting in to try and greet. I keep changing direction so they don't end up face to face.

Dog paying no attention to the owner. She eventually comes over to try and catch the dog who of course is still running circles round me with me trying to keep my dog away from hers and she then has the audacity to shout at me, quite aggressively to just stand still. I LOST MY S***!
 
Our Jake, a 12 year old Labrador, is not a dog person, he ignores other dogs, if he realised he is a dog he'd be so disappointed! He's very aloof and most dogs pick up the vibe and ignore him back. Peril though seems to be a magnet to other dogs, I think it is her sunny demeanour, she looks like fun and it attracts trouble unfortunately. Luckily she's fast and has excellent recall but it would be nice if all dog owners acted as responsibly as the majority. I don't think it's difficult to read body language of someone/their dog approaching and act accordingly. 🐾
 
Cbmcts to save me being a weird stalker and scrolling back through all your posts 😊 what sort of dog do you have? I thought 37kg (and increasing) of greyhound was enough 😄

It’s such a shame others have this problem too.... as some compensation today I took mine for a shorter walk (Marty greyhound was TIRED and doesn’t DO long walks, he was most aggrieved that we did a whole 5k yesterday!) and we only saw one couple in the distance! They called their dogs back to them, I had hold of mine/called Amy lurcher over to me.... harmony 😊
 
On the other side of the coin - where I walk my dogs they are all off lead, run around happily, interacting with each other and having fun. Today, one person, walking their dog on lead, was demanding everyone else put their dogs on a lead, as their pampered pooch "couldn't cope" with all the other dogs. The owner screeched at me to "control my dogs" even though they were 100 yards away from their out of control Dalmatian, taking no notice of the growly, barking dog.

I ignored the screechy owner - fully expecting a post on here about the "selfish attitude" of other dog owners. Surely, if you know your dog isn't great in company, then you don't walk them where you know other dogs are, especially when you know they are likely to be off lead, and you can't expect everyone else to keep accomodating neurotic dogs and owners.

I will add, that my dogs are always on a lead when circumstances dictate, I.e on footpaths where we are going to meet non-dog owners, cycle paths and pavements. But open spaces - no!

Waiting for the "irresponsible dog owner" comments. Would also like to add, that one of my little dogs is not great with other dogs but she is far better with them when she is off lead. Off lead she can dictate how much interaction with other dogs she is happy with. On lead, she gets very stressed and has a total meltdown, so I do understand about dogs needing their personal space.
 
Just to add, off lead my dogs haven't had any injuries - on lead, walking past a Ridgeback this is what my little dog suffered. We were walking past the dog, little dog growled and the was the result
 

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EllenJay said:
Today, one person, walking their dog on lead, was demanding everyone else put their dogs on a lead, as their pampered pooch "couldn't cope" with all the other dogs. The owner screeched at me to "control my dogs" even though they were 100 yards away from their out of control Dalmatian, taking no notice of the growly, barking dog.
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Go on, I'll bite. :p It's some feat to screech coherently at someone over 100 yards, which makes me think that the dogs were either a bit closer than you thought or otherwise displaying some sort of intent that was worrying to the other owner and their dog.

And, not saying it was the case here, but in my experience that intent is often bowling over, getting all up in the face and murderous stiff-tailed staring-out that is somehow interpreted by the owner as 'he just wants to say hello', because these are the actions of a supposedly well socialised dog. Argh!
 
EllenJay said:
Waiting for the "irresponsible dog owner" comments. Would also like to add, that one of my little dogs is not great with other dogs but she is far better with them when she is off lead. Off lead she can dictate how much interaction with other dogs she is happy with.
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so if I am walking my dog on a lead and your little dog decides she would like interaction with my dog she can just run up to him and "interact" . Is that OK? What if I don't want my dog to interact with your little dog that is running loose? Do you simply regard me as "neurotic dogs and owners" ?
 
blackcob said:
Go on, I'll bite. :p It's some feat to screech coherently at someone over 100 yards, which makes me think that the dogs were either a bit closer than you thought or otherwise displaying some sort of intent that was worrying to the other owner and their dog.

And, not saying it was the case here, but in my experience that intent is often bowling over, getting all up in the face and murderous stiff-tailed staring-out that is somehow interpreted by the owner as 'he just wants to say hello', because these are the actions of a supposedly well socialised dog. Argh!
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Sorry I don't have a video of this. I didn't say I could hear what she was saying clearly, but I could hear the screeches, the dog barking and the body language. She had a big Dalmatian, I have two tiny dogs, standing at no bigger than 18 inches, so the chances they would "bowl over" her neurotic dog is minimal. 🤣

But, even if my dogs were showing vicious intent, why would someone who is already paranoid walk their dog where they know dogs run free?

ETA - my dogs were not even looking in her direction - they are to tiny to see over the long grass
 
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paddy555 said:
so if I am walking my dog on a lead and your little dog decides she would like interaction with my dog she can just run up to him and "interact" . Is that OK? What if I don't want my dog to interact with your little dog that is running loose? Do you simply regard me as "neurotic dogs and owners" ?
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That's not what I said. What I said was why take your nervous dog somewhere where you know the dogs run free and interact abd play. If YOUR dog can't cope with that, take them somewhere else. Why should the 95% of dogs running and having fun be dictated by someone who's dog can't cope?
If you read my post properly you will note I said that my dogs are on a lead, and under control, in places where they need to be.
 
EllenJay said:
On the other side of the coin - where I walk my dogs they are all off lead, run around happily, interacting with each other and having fun. Today, one person, walking their dog on lead, was demanding everyone else put their dogs on a lead, as their pampered pooch "couldn't cope" with all the other dogs. The owner screeched at me to "control my dogs" even though they were 100 yards away from their out of control Dalmatian, taking no notice of the growly, barking dog.

I ignored the screechy owner - fully expecting a post on here about the "selfish attitude" of other dog owners. Surely, if you know your dog isn't great in company, then you don't walk them where you know other dogs are, especially when you know they are likely to be off lead, and you can't expect everyone else to keep accomodating neurotic dogs and owners.
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I agree with you, in principle.

If I take my dog on the beach she’s there to run around, off lead and have a jolly old time. But, she’s polite, has no ‘side’ and importantly has good recall. If someone else on the beach has their dog on a lead, that’s their prerogative and I’ll keep away.

The flash point is always rude dogs and ignorant owners. We met one of these this evening (both of these).

I don’t want my little fluff ball chased or bowled over by a larger dog - greyhounds are the worst, and I do sort of get why, so I avoid them like the plague. If one does come over to us I always tell Daisy to stand, clip a lead on and walk away.

Apparently I’m a mean ‘mummy’ ‘cos they wanted to play’. No, love. My dog hunkering down with her tail between her legs is not wanting to play. And if I wanted her to be greyhound fodder, I’d take her down the f***ing track!!! Train it or pi$$ off somewhere else! 😡😡😡
 
I have a very exuberant and friendly dog who doesnt even notice if there is a dog as long as she can get to people gnerally she never wears a lead as she will stay beside me when told but she is held or put on a lead if we meet people or dogs as she runs up to the owners and 30kgs of lab landing in your arms is not on. I do understand why people dont like it I dont like it but she adores people so has to be restrained until that person is happy to have her say hello. Problem comes when we are in the garden near a public footpath she quite happily sits by my feet while I garden but I do need to be sure there are no people on the footpath. She never goes more than about 25 yards from me and will turn and follow if I turn round and ignore dogs and people and will come when told if they are not too near basically she is a good girl who very rarely gets over enthusiastic
 
amymay said:
I agree with you, in principle.

If I take my dog on the beach she’s there to run around, off lead and have a jolly old time. But, she’s polite, has no ‘side’ and importantly has good recall. If someone else on the beach has their dog on a lead, that’s their prerogative and I’ll keep away.

The flash point is always rude dogs and ignorant owners. We met one of these this evening (both of these).

I don’t want my little fluff ball chased or bowled over by a larger dog - greyhounds are the worst, and I do sort of get why, so I avoid them like the plague. If one does come over to us I always tell Daisy to stand, clip a lead on and walk away.

Apparently I’m a mean ‘mummy’ ‘cos they wanted to play’. No, love. My dog hunkering down with her tail between her legs is not wanting to play. And if I wanted her to be greyhound fodder, I’d take her down the f***ing track!!! Train it or pi$$ off somewhere else! 😡😡😡
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Totally agree. You are taking responsibility for your dog's safety, and not expecting everyone else to do so. If you see a "threatening" dog, YOU take the initiative to move them out of the way, which is what a responsible dog owner does,
 
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