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

skinnydipper said:
An example of this would be the Patterdale local to me, who is walked in the area behind my house (his owner brings him there daily to chase squirrels) has killed one cat out there and tore the leg off another at another location. This is not hearsay, the owner told me. His is never muzzled.
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Patterdales aren't too many generations removed from their original use...which is looking for and chasing things (sometimes underground) and fighting until one of them can't any more.
I really like them but one has to remember what dogs used to be 'for'.
 
CorvusCorax said:
Patterdales aren't too many generations removed from their original use...which is looking for and chasing things (sometimes underground) and fighting until one of them can't any more.
I really like them but one has to remember what dogs used to be 'for'.
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I just hope my little cat doesn't become one of his victims :(
 
i think if i ever had a cat i would make my garden secure so it had the run of my garden (rather like the dogs) but couldnt go into other peoples gardens or on the road, mainly for the safety of the cat but also so it didnt poo in other peoples gardens. it is horrible when you do gardening only to find a cat poo buried which i did when i had 6 months without a dog some years ago. luckily cats dont venture into my garden now...
 
A good few years ago, I opened the front door to go out, only for the local "allowed to wander unsupervised and chase things" dog to dart in past me, and straight up the stairs, where it then went for one of our cats. There was a very loud yelp, and then the dog legged it back out past me, followed by the irate cat. I'm not actually sure how far the cat chased it, but I did hear more yelping from off in the distance. Suffice to say that the dog never came near our house again.
 
Levrier said:
I beg to differ - I’ve seen plenty of greyhounds (not mine) which have been muzzled and on lead attack other animals, they have managed to inflict considerable damage if the owner/handler has not been on the ball and stepped in very quickly.
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Yes, of course. I did not say there would be no damage but it should stop teeth inflicting open wounds and I would hope the other end of the lead would be on the ball!
 
I do kind of get the theory that if you have a reactive dog then you shouldn't take it to certain places.

For instance, I take a couple of mine out with the horse. Its an enclosure that we go in sometimes that has loads of dog walkers. The track is perhaps the width of a car so dogs have to get close to each other. I wouldn't personally take a reactive dog here.

Last year we were out riding and there was a woman with her dog on a lead. We have to cross a bridge over the water. The bridge is wide enough for a horse but that's it, its narrow, you have to go single file. So we are crossing it and this woman is stood the other side with her dog, literally there was no possible way of preventing my dogs greeting her dog. She's going nutty at me saying her dog is scared. What am I supposed to do? Daft bat was stood at the entrance to a narrow bridge. I don't know if she just expected me to turn around and go back the other way!? Even if I got off the horse and somehow shimmied us all along the bridge, it would have been impossible for me to not let my dogs greet hers unless I picked them up and carried them on my back. She had the entire forest to walk her dog but chose an extremely popular dog walking location with narrow tracks making it almost impossible to avoid other dogs!!
 
Have you dog on the lead. Have it off the lead. Wear it as a fetching, albeit furry, hat. Whatever.

If you have genuine control of your dog and have taught him to the best of your ability how to behave in the world, then I could care less how you get about your business.

I'm asking for a level playing field. So if my dog is on a lead and yours isn't, either yours goes on a lead, or approaches mine after making sure it's okay.

Your dog does not have an unrestricted pass to do what the hell they like because they are 'friendly' or 'has to say hello to everyone'. Because if that's the case, I have a carte blanche to run up to you, give you a massive hug and a kiss, and then firmly clutch you genitals for an unspecified length of time appropriate to me (although no sensible offer refused ;))
 
I have to say I do not enjoy walking mine alone in big open spaces anymore. The dog is a little fluffy wuss for one and I am quite petite myself and have been knocked to the floor in the past by an over excited rotty. That doesn't mean however that I am going to deprive my dog from enjoying a bit of freedom, I just make sure that I now bring my BFG of a OH and keep him on a lead when others are around/others that he seems to be intimidated by.

Surely the only fair way for everyone to enjoy open spaces is for good recall and training to be installed and to respect that there is probably a reason a dog is on a lead and to give it and the owner space.
 
Sorry HEM I just read that as you kept your OH on a lead 😳😄

Much more generally, I think it says a lot about the modern sense of ‘entitlement’ that people seem to have that a rant suggesting people should keep their dogs away from mine when I am courteous enough to ensure mine don’t bother theirs has turned into an epic thread of this length..... ☹️
 
cbmcts said:
Depending on where you live, it's not always that easy to avoid the muppets though. If I walk in any of the local parks I'm going to meet 'those' people but I often don't have the time or in winter when I'm walking as it gets dark to drive to the big country park nor is it safe to do so when the car park is locked and I'd have to park illegally and risk getting run over on an unlit road getting to and from the park.

Also, even muzzled dogs can do a fair bit of damage to other dogs...

All I ask is that people at least try to be considerate. My dog is not there to entertain their dogs and he's been very unwell recently so really doesn't need other dogs bouncing him. When those other owners pay his nearly 5 figure vet bills and do his rehab, they can decide whether he can play or not. I do understand that we all get caught out sometimes and in that case, get your dog, don't stand half a mile away roaring that 'he's friendly or he just wants to play'. An apology would be nice but let's not ask for miracles eh?I don't walk through a pack of dogs demanding that everybody puts theirs on a lead - I will swerve a minimum of 100m away. At the same time, I have just as much right to use the public facilities as everyone else and I'm being considerate by not allowing my very large dog who isn't nervous or aggressive but does play hard, to bowl their much smaller dogs over. I also don't want to worry people when the dog that my brother refers to as a cross between a donkey and a dog goes flying over to them and leans his full weight on their legs looking for a pat - or does a perfect present with his nose stuck in their crotch (while drooling, not a good look on their trousers) if he thinks they have treats.

It's really not rocket science but it is manners to remember that in public, space is shared.
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Despite the fact that our LA has a by-law that all dogs should be on leads (NOT 'under close control') on council owned property, even in the park during school holidays, we encounter loose uncontrolled dogs. We occasionally take our Rotters out for lunch in the dog-friendly part of the Park Cafe and park the car at the opposite end of the park, so that they get a walk as well. Our dogs are dog neutral under most circumstances, used to walking on leads and used to playing with other dogs that they know very well when conditions are suitable. Why would you allow your dog to run up to 2 on-lead rottweilers? Have people no common sense, whatsoever? Our dogs would never initiate an altercation with another dog but how do the owners know that? And even a friendly Rottweiler is very heavy (both 40kg), so if one jumps on your spaniel/cockerpoo/foot, it is likely to do some damage!
 
Curiously the most courteous dog walking space I have ever been to was a popular Cornwall beach on a summer bank holiday/school holiday weekend, somewhere I would normally avoid like the plague, which just goes to show that it is entirely possible if people just pay the bare minimum of attention and manners to each other and to their dogs.
 
I live right next to a park, I reserve the right to walk in that park whether my dog is reactive or not. As it goes he can be reactive to certain types of dogs (mainly big in your face ones), so he stays on the lead in what he sees as ‘his’ park. I have lost count of how many times I’ve had to shout at someone either walking at the other end of the park, or sat on the benches paying more attention to their phones, to call their dog away as I’m trying to keep my big, strong dog at a safe distance. I’ve also had to, on several occasions, bundle him back inside the house as soon as we’ve stepped out the front door because some loopy thing has spotted us and has come charging over! Control your bloody dogs and pay attention people!

He goes off lead over the fields, mostly because I can see all the way around and there are only a small number of entrances, if he sees a dog in the distance he either ignores it or comes back to me, he has no real interest in a dog over a distance, only when they’re in his face does he have issues. He was rescued as a pup out of a bad situation, he missed out on a lot of early socialisation and so it takes him a couple of calm meetings for him to drop his defensive guard around new dogs.

My response to people shouting “don’t worry he’s friendly!” is to holler back “We’ll mines not!!” ...he might like the dog but there’s also a chance he’ll take a dislike to it but either way he deserves to be able to walk around the local area on lead.
 
It is amazing how many dog owners are unable or unwilling to realise if a dog is on a lead thn they should not allow their dog to rush or even approach the dog on a lead. It's so simple, there must be a reason why someone keeps their dog on a lead and plain good manners to keep your off the lead dog under control. My dogs never go on a lead but due to me always calling them to me if there is dog on a lead coming towards us over the years they now just automatically walk back to me when they find themselves approaching a dog on a lead. Even if they meet lose dogs they wait to have the ok before greeting. It's not difficult to teach them just being consistant works wonders.
 
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