Irresponsible Owners

[cauda equina]

Also this, unless it's a private road
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is a criminal offence for a dog to be on a 'designated road' without being held on a lead

 

[Errin Paddywack]

We have a new neighbour. There are 3 dogs and no gate to the property. My son and daughter are walking Stirling for me at the minute. Both have them have had several encounters now. The dogs are allowed to run off the drive and onto the road , they surround Stirling and poor little fella is very scared . They’ve also bumped into them further up the road with the owner who refuses to put them on leads saying they are friendly . My daughter was very concerned as one of them was growling.
I’m tempted to go and knock on the door and ask them to be more considerate, any thoughts ??

Report to dog warden, pretty sure they are breaking the law by being loose on the road.

 

[AmyMay]

Yep. I’d be right round there. There’s no need to be rude but explain your dog and your daughter are frightened of them. People are just amazing!

Do you have Dog Wardens?

 

[Asha]

Do you have Dog Wardens?

Report to dog warden, pretty sure they are breaking the law by being loose on the road.

That’s a good call I’ve just looked it up and we do , so will give them a call on Monday thank you

 

[Tiddlypom]

That’s a good call I’ve just looked it up and we do , so will give them a call on Monday thank you

I wish you the best of luck with this, but it is the same dog warden as for Cheshire West who wouldn't act when the wife of the huntsman to our local pack was repeatedly allowing her dogs to escape and run free along the A49/A556 near to the hunt kennels .

It is worth a call, though. Ramp up the fact that the dogs are behaving in an intimidating and aggressive way and that you are fearful for your safety.

Idiot owners.

 

[Clodagh]

I was just coming back from a walk and met this huge brindle dog blocking the byway. Head and tail and hackles up. Rigid. I’m not expert enough to tell if that means it’s going to attack or not. I walked up to it, mine behind me, and kept saying ‘no’ and ‘go home’. Loudly! Hoping someone might hear. Thankfully the neighbour was in their yard and came and caught it, apparently it’s harmless. It was twice as big as Scout. Oh my heart!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I was just coming back from a walk and met this huge brindle dog blocking the byway. Head and tail and hackles up. Rigid. I’m not expert enough to tell if that means it’s going to attack or not. I walked up to it, mine behind me, and kept saying ‘no’ and ‘go home’. Loudly! Hoping someone might hear. Thankfully the neighbour was in their yard and came and caught it, apparently it’s harmless. It was twice as big as Scout. Oh my heart!

I’d frankly wet myself, plus Mitch is very intimidated by larger dogs and Bear doesn’t take kindly to others being threatening and I absolutely don’t want him entangled in a punch up, plus he’s getting on.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Speaking to a friend who’s a shepherd yesterday. A dog was being walked by their sheep. Shepherd advised owner that dog was put on lead. Owner declined ‘I want dog to have a good run’. Dog ran at sheep, who scattered, then ran back to look at owner. Shepherd again suggested dog was put on lead. Owner again declined. Shepherd started videoing. Dog really went to town, then pulled one down. Got up, went again, pulled another down (very quick succession, sheep were tired by then).
Shepherd shot dog. Lucky or unlucky, depending on your POV, he’d been dispatching an injured deer so had his gun with him. Owner got very distressed. Shepherd went and loaded the dog on his bike, dropped it off at the owners car and came back to deal with his sheep. Police quite happy that it was correctly dealt with.
Such a stupid waste.

I can’t understand how the owner could stand there and say that to a shepherd who’s given fair warning to him/her. Not that I would have mine loose with livestock, but if you’ve been told, why on earth wouldn’t you do something to keep your dog safe? Some people are just thick.

 

[skinnydipper]

I was just coming back from a walk and met this huge brindle dog blocking the byway. Head and tail and hackles up. Rigid. I’m not expert enough to tell if that means it’s going to attack or not. I walked up to it, mine behind me, and kept saying ‘no’ and ‘go home’. Loudly! Hoping someone might hear. Thankfully the neighbour was in their yard and came and caught it, apparently it’s harmless. It was twice as big as Scout. Oh my heart!

I'd go by your gut instinct, Clodagh. It doesn't sound as if the dog was radiating bonhomie.

Some owners are clueless about their own dog's behaviour. Yesterday I read a post on Facebook where a woman with a husky was complaining that two dogs (one was a cane corso and the other looked like a bull breed of some sort) had started a fight with her dog and she had been bitten. Then a video of the incident was posted. It was clearly the husky who was at fault, bullying and provocative, up in the face of the other dogs who were trying to diffuse the situation by looking away, moving away but the husky persisted and got put in it's place. It wasn't one of the other dogs who bit the husky's owner it was her own dog in redirected aggression, yet there she was on Facebook blaming someone else's dogs.

 

[Clodagh]

I'd go by your gut instinct, Clodagh. It doesn't sound as if the dog was radiating bonhomie.

Some owners are clueless about their own dog's behaviour. Yesterday I read a post on Facebook where a woman with a husky was complaining that two dogs (one was a cane corso and the other looked like a bull breed of some sort) had started a fight with her dog and she had been bitten. Then a video of the incident was posted. It was clearly the husky who was at fault, bullying and provocative, up in the face of the other dogs who were trying to diffuse the situation by looking away, moving away but the husky persisted and got put in it's place. It wasn't one of the other dogs who bit the husky's owner it was her own dog in redirected aggression, yet there she was on Facebook blaming someone else's dogs.

Some people are beyond help.
I think though that tail up is better than tail down? And head ditto? I couldn’t do much else except approach it though, I couldn’t turn and walk away as I wouldn’t have been able to get mine to go in front soon enough to have me as their barrier.

 

[skinnydipper]

Some people are beyond help.
I think though that tail up is better than tail down? And head ditto? I couldn’t do much else except approach it though, I couldn’t turn and walk away as I wouldn’t have been able to get mine to go in front soon enough to have me as their barrier.

If its ears are up and forward and tail is up and legs are stiff and leaning forward then that's a bit of an aggressive stance.

Though dogs can be alert and interested with tail up and head up and not be aggressive.

I wouldn't have been happy about the hackles being up along with head and tail.

 

[Clodagh]

If its ears are up and forward and tail is up and legs are stiff and leaning forward then that's a bit of an aggressive stance.

Though dogs can be alert and interested with tail up and head up and not be aggressive.

I wouldn't have been happy about the hackles being up along with head and tail.

Always best to err on the side of caution! Thank you though.

 

[splashgirl45]

There was another clip on Facebook, women with 3 little dogs off lead, chap with a GSD on lead, little dogs hassling the GSD and women told him he shouldn’t be there if he has to keep his dog on a lead as everyone has their dogs off lead , GSD was brilliant and didn’t go for the little dogs but I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did … some people with little dogs seem oblivious to the fact that they may be bitten and it would be the owners fault. I have 2 little dogs and don’t let them run up to other dogs unless I know them as I don’t want my little ones hurt

 

[TheresaW]

My husky (who is petite) has been had a go at more than once by smaller dogs.

 

[Kunoichi73]

My mum told us the story about a GSD they had when she was a child. They used to take it for a walk in the local park and there was one little yappy dog that constantly bothered it. Her dog tolerated this for a while. However, one day got so fed up with the little one that when it came over and started bothering her, she stuck her nose under it's stomach and flipped it into the air and away. The little yappy thing ran away whining, but never bothered my mum's dog again!

 

[Smitty]

I had an interesting walk today on a path not far from home. A family with 3 kids and a french bulldog were walking towards me with the FB on a lead. Mine was loose so I called him over and he stood with me with his back to them whilst I waited for them to pass on this pathway which is the width of a road. The FB was doing its nut, snarling and lunging at us, with the woman trying to drag it away. It's alright, he only wants to play she said!! I said "Really?" which probably sounded very sarcastic and they walked on. She must have dwelt on this or been very embarrassed by her horrible dog and when they were still in shouting distance she bellowed 'It would serve you right if I let my effing dog go and it attacked your effing dog'. Nice.

A bit further on where the path narrows and there are houses with their gardens backing onto the river bank, I saw a man walking towards me with what looked like a dalmation x bully or mastiff? He had hold of its collar and it was dragging him. No lead in sight. I put mine on a lead and as it approached dragging the man who was struggling to hold it, I made the decision to put my little dog over a five bar gate into one of the gardens where they have 3 small dogs who are usually shut in. It is a very high gate and with his lead attached to his harness I was able to lower him down. I did consider following him but had run out of time. The bloke with the dog looked quite relieved, as was I when they were at a safer distance and well past us, and I hoisted my dog back up over the gate.

Then a bit further on I called the police but as that's not dog related won't bore you with the details

I am never doing that route on a sunny weekend afternoon again!!

 

[skinnydipper]

Then a bit further on I called the police but as that's not dog related won't bore you with the details

Well you can't just drop that in there without further explanation. We (I) need to know more

 

[Smitty]

Nosey

Yesterday when I was walking home along the main road on the pavement which is shared with a cycle path, two lads shot past me at speed on a mini motorcycle. No plates and no helmets. They veered off the cycle path and went on a road down to the river and I think up into some woods.

Today I saw one on the mini motorcycle and the other one on a small quad WITH A TODDLER PERCHED ON THE SEAT IN FRONT OF HIM. They shot along the road to the river and then continued along the very narrow footpath very fast. It curves round so if someone was walking in the opposite direction they would probably have collided.

I was hugely concerned about the tiny child who I reckon would have been around 2. At least today they all had cycle helmets on . They veered off the path and down a steep bank to turn back towards the town along by the river. I thought the child might go over the handlebars.

I did deliberate but decided to call 101. The police were keen that I call 999 if I see them again ...

 

[skinnydipper]

I did deliberate but decided to call 101. The police were keen that I call 999 if I see them again ...

Good for you for calling the Police. There was a 4 year old child killed last year when he was pillion on an off road bike which collided with a lamppost.

 

[Caol Ila]

Ugh. We were crossing Mugdock Park on the upper moorland trail when we heard screaming coming from the trail below us that goes next to the loch. We also heard a lot of barking and presumed it was a dog-related incident. Our route went nowhere near it, and we decided to stay on course to the carpark, since taking our horse into the middle of a dog fight or something would be monumentally stupid.

A bit later, after I'd put Hermosa out into her field, I saw one of the yard teens at her stable with her parents, looking very, very upset. The screaming had been her. Sound carries far, and she'd been about a mile away. She'd been out on her own with her steady, sensible cob when they got attacked by three English bull terriers. She said the horse had been rearing and kicking at them and thinks he made contact. A random walker stayed with them and got pictures of the owners gathering their dogs and getting the hell out of dodge. It was a family -- a mum and dad and a kid. W*nkers. They told the teen and the witness that they would not give details because they're concerned about their privacy. Then scarpered. Teen's parents raced into park to help teen and horse get home.

I had a good look over the horse. He had blood on him, but I couldn't find any injury so I don't think it was his. I hope he did some serious damage to those dogs.

They've been in touch with the police. Their witness may have some ID on the vehicle. I hope so.

I feel bad for not going to help when we heard the screaming, though I know that's irrational because (a) I had no way of knowing it was a fellow livery and (b) bringing another horse into the situation probably would have made things worse and been very, very stupid.

Also a bit freaked out. That could have been us if we'd chosen a different route today.

Poor kid is totally traumatized.



Leash laws for everyone.

 

[Kunoichi73]

I really think that it is time for some sort of government information campaign (on tv, on bus stops, in the papers, on the internet etc) to highlight to the irresponsible idiots the law and their responsibility to other people. There also needs to be a crackdown on badly behaved dogs and more prosecutions of owners whose dogs harm other animals and people. The police need to start taking complaints and attacks seriously.

 

[Titchy Pony]

Ugh. We were crossing Mugdock Park on the upper moorland trail when we heard screaming coming from the trail below us that goes next to the loch. We also heard a lot of barking and presumed it was a dog-related incident. Our route went nowhere near it, and we decided to stay on course to the carpark, since taking our horse into the middle of a dog fight or something would be monumentally stupid.

A bit later, after I'd put Hermosa out into her field, I saw one of the yard teens at her stable with her parents, looking very, very upset. The screaming had been her. Sound carries far, and she'd been about a mile away. She'd been out on her own with her steady, sensible cob when they got attacked by three English bull terriers. She said the horse had been rearing and kicking at them and thinks he made contact. A random walker stayed with them and got pictures of the owners gathering their dogs and getting the hell out of dodge. It was a family -- a mum and dad and a kid. W*nkers. They told the teen and the witness that they would not give details because they're concerned about their privacy. Then scarpered. Teen's parents raced into park to help teen and horse get home.

I had a good look over the horse. He had blood on him, but I couldn't find any injury so I don't think it was his. I hope he did some serious damage to those dogs.

They've been in touch with the police. Their witness may have some ID on the vehicle. I hope so.

I feel bad for not going to help when we heard the screaming, though I know that's irrational because (a) I had no way of knowing it was a fellow livery and (b) bringing another horse into the situation probably would have made things worse and been very, very stupid.

Also a bit freaked out. That could have been us if we'd chosen a different route today.

Poor kid is totally traumatized.



Leash laws for everyone.

I'm so sorry for your fellow livery, I hope she feels better soon and I'm glad her cob is physically OK. Good on the random walker for helping her but what horrible owners. You don't get a right to privacy when you've caused an incident, same as you don't get a right to privacy if you cause a road accident.
I only experienced one real dog attack on my pony. Before that I always thought we would be fine, she was brought up up with an unruly, nipping, border collie (not ideal, but she's definitely not phased by dogs and will happily chase them is asked). This was on a beach where dogs are supposed to be on a lead at all times and because of the wide open space, there was no way to chase the dog, it just kept circling her which doesn't happen at home on the lanes or roads. She too kicked it, about three times before it gave up I think. She was unhurt (apologetic owner did hold pony for me to inspect her) but we were both a bit shaken and she's been more tense with dogs since, more kick happy.

 

[Caol Ila]

I really think that it is time for some sort of government information campaign (on tv, on bus stops, in the papers, on the internet etc) to highlight to the irresponsible idiots the law and their responsibility to other people. There also needs to be a crackdown on badly behaved dogs and more prosecutions of owners whose dogs harm other animals and people. The police need to start taking complaints and attacks seriously.

I agree. I think there should be a heavy-hitting informarion campaign, and the penalties for violating the Dangerous Dogs Act should be much more severe than they are.

I once saw a video of a mustang defending a foal against a mountain lion. The horse booted the lion in the head, knocking it unconscious, then pummeled the sh1t out of it with his front legs until it was beyond dead, then he pummeled it some more. I would not object if my horses treated an attacking dog this way. Hermosa, no chance, but Fin still has some wildness in him.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I agree. I think there should be a heavy-hitting informarion campaign, and the penalties for violating the Dangerous Dogs Act should be much more severe than they are.

I think a side effect of the outcry about XL Bullies attacking various people is that many of those whose dogs are not XLBs think that their dogs can be loose/bad-mannered/ annoying/even aggressive with no comeback. There should be much more public education about responsible dog ownership across the country, on as many different platforms as possible We have idiots locally walking dogs on a 40mph road without pavements or verge, with no lead, no recall and no sense, oh and no poo bags it would seem, either.

 

[stangs]

XL bullies are a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself? Well I never.

I really think that it is time for some sort of government information campaign (on tv, on bus stops, in the papers, on the internet etc) to highlight to the irresponsible idiots the law and their responsibility to other people. There also needs to be a crackdown on badly behaved dogs and more prosecutions of owners whose dogs harm other animals and people. The police need to start taking complaints and attacks seriously.

This. There’s rot throughout dog ownership now. Even in my area where there aren’t too many unsocialised dogs about, I’ve seen a major increase in people letting their dogs loose on squirrels and walking their dogs in areas where dogs aren’t allowed, walking them off lead in bird breeding areas, etc. The number of unruly dogs around horses and deer in the city exploded during the pandemic, and it seems none of those owners have bothered socialising their dogs to large animals since. It’s just a complete lack of respect / consideration.

Ideally, there’d be an information campaign with images of the damage a dog can do; an increase in penalties and prosecutions; but also, especially if more dogs started getting seized, a major revamp of the seized dog kennelling system to prevent dogs from being sentenced to poor welfare for months on end.

 

[Caol Ila]

Places like Mugdock could certainly do more. They've been on a campaign aimed at us (horse riders) to get us to clean up poo from the trails and ride 'considerately'. Are there any signs around the park stating that dogs must be on lead or under voice and sight control, otherwise you are violating the law and making the park less safe for other users? Are their f*ck.

 

[SilverLinings]

I think a side effect of the outcry about XL Bullies attacking various people is that many of those whose dogs are not XLBs think that their dogs can be loose/bad-mannered/ annoying/even aggressive with no comeback. There should be much more public education about responsible dog ownership across the country, on as many different platforms as possible We have idiots locally walking dogs on a 40mph road without pavements or verge, with no lead, no recall and no sense, oh and no poo bags it would seem, either.

It used to be that if I saw a dog off-lead on a road it had either escaped, or was with an attentive owner and walking perfectly to heel. Now way more than half the dogs I see off-lead on roads are with owners who have no control over them, and don't seem bothered that their dog darts into traffic, fights with other dogs/barks at people, pees on everything within reach and cr@ps on people's front door steps (this has happened twice that I know of to a very elderly local lady with vision impairment whose house opens directly onto the lane. Aside from being disgusting, what if she slipped and fell?). This is in rural villages where there are rarely pavements, roads are narrow but there is still a reasonable amount of traffic.

And the number of people who pick up after their dogs has definitely decreased around here (or it's the new covid dog owners), car parks near walks are particularly disgusting, even the ones at family attractions that have children running around.

I used to think that people were ignorant and needed educating on their responsibilities as dog owners (and whilst we're on the subject, plenty of other things not covered by this thread!), but I am starting to think that a large number of them may already know and just don't care. Public awareness campaigns plus stricter punishments should hit both groups though, and more dog wardens to police things like dog fouling (and have the power to act) would really have an impact.

 

[skinnydipper]

XL bullies are a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself? Well I never.

XL bullies don't need to be owned by someone irresponsible to be a problem. They are in a class of their own.

 

[Tiddlypom]

XL bullies don't need to be owned by someone irresponsible to be a problem. They are in a class of their own.

Fully agree. I saw my first XL bully a few days ago when I had to walk (thankfully on my own and without a dog) past it on a narrow and muddy riverside footpath in a honeypot destination.

Whilst it showed no signs of aggression, the sheer size of the thing , and whilst it was on a short lead it was pulling very hard and the bloke had clearly got his work cut out holding it.

I had no choice but to be much closer to it than I was comfortable with - either that or fall in the river or clamber up a steep and slippery muddy slope into the trees.

 

[skinnydipper]

Fully agree. I saw my first XL bully a few days ago when I had to walk (thankfully on my own and without a dog) past it on a narrow and muddy riverside footpath in a honeypot destination.

Whilst it showed no signs of aggression, the sheer size of the thing , and whilst it was on a short lead it was pulling very hard and the bloke had clearly got his work cut out holding it.

I had no choice but to be much closer to it than I was comfortable with - either that or fall in the river or clamber up a steep and slippery muddy slope into the trees.

I know some people would have us believe they are a family dog but you only have to look at the core breed to see that they are a large dog bred for gameness.