Irresponsible Owners

My poor little choc lab has just been attacked. Im feeling really bad, fell like ive let him down. We where walking past a neighbours house, who has 2 GSD, just chatting away and one of dogs breaks through the fencing and goes straight for Stirling. Stirling is on a lead, i couldnt let go, as we where on a lane, so didnt want the dog chasing him into traffic. So poor stirling was running around me / being flung around me while the GSD is biting him. Im kicking at the dog, manage to kick if off at one point, but it comes back and goes for him again. He was screaming, never heard him cry like that. The woman tries to catch her dog but couldnt so im still kicking him, at his body, his head, anything to get him off. She eventually jumps on him and gets him off. I shouldnt have stopped to talk to her. Ive seen these dogs bark and fence run for years, but never imagined theyd run through a fence.
Ive felt all over and cant find any blood, but im still going to get him to the vets for a check up
Make sure that you send the vet bill to the owner of the GSD.

I hope that Stirling is OK but do report the attack to the dog warden and the police, stress that you were frightened for your own safety.
 
Our vets were lovely . They gave us a cancelled appointment at 7pm . Looked him all over and no serious injuries. They expect bruising and a bit of light tissue damage. So have prescribed some anti inflammatories .
He’s asleep by my feet and a little quiet
I was worried about his neck as he was flung around on the lead. But from what the vets could feel all was ok .
They gave him lots of treats , and there was a gorgeous labradoodle in the waiting area which he made friends with . So it’s not frightened him off other dogs .
I’m not sure if I can take this any further as the neighbour does have mental health issues. I genuinely don’t know what to do .
The most important thing is that Stirling is ok
 
Our vets were lovely . They gave us a cancelled appointment at 7pm . Looked him all over and no serious injuries. They expect bruising and a bit of light tissue damage. So have prescribed some anti inflammatories .
He’s asleep by my feet and a little quiet
I was worried about his neck as he was flung around on the lead. But from what the vets could feel all was ok .
They gave him lots of treats , and there was a gorgeous labradoodle in the waiting area which he made friends with . So it’s not frightened him off other dogs .
I’m not sure if I can take this any further as the neighbour does have mental health issues. I genuinely don’t know what to do .
The most important thing is that Stirling is ok
Do MH issues preclude them from ensuring their dogs are not dangerous?

So glad that there doesn't appear to be any significant injury to Stirling. Poor lad 🥹
 
Do MH issues preclude them from ensuring their dogs are not dangerous?

So glad that there doesn't appear to be any significant injury to Stirling. Poor lad 🥹
You are 100% right . It really doesn’t . It could also have been a whole lot worse.
My poor Stirling is the kindest sweetest goofball you could wish to meet and doesn’t deserve any of this .
 
You are 100% right . It really doesn’t . It could also have been a whole lot worse.
My poor Stirling is the kindest sweetest goofball you could wish to meet and doesn’t deserve any of this .
I do understand your dilemma. Being removed from the situation makes it so easy to say what someone should do. At this point the most important thing is your boy. But for a full grown lab to have been thrown around by a GS.......
 
So glad to hear that Stirling’s ok.

Your main aim to make sure that it never happens again.

My worry would be that your neighbour does nothing to prevent a recurrence unless firmly prompted. If you’ve heard nothing from her as yet, I’d be in touch updating her re Sterling’s condition and stating that she must secure her property ASAP to prevent her dogs from escaping again. Is the fencing normally well maintained?

A neighbour to neighbour contact in the first instance will hopefully be enough.
 
I was the irresponsible owner last week . There’s a field near use that has cows on for maybe a few months of the year until the grass is eaten down and then is empty the rest of the time and is used by a lot of local dog walkers when empty of cows. The cows have been in it for a few months and not much grass cover left and from what I could see the poos near the style didn’t look fresh and after a brief sweep of the field I couldn’t see cows. Let Hooligan spaniel off his lead and he started having a wonderful time. Then as we walked along the field edge I suddenly spotted them all in a dip 🙈 Got the monster back on his lead sharpish and made for the exit with no incidents/ without the cows noticing our presence.

I don’t think he’d have been inclined to go near them atm as he had an incident when onlead with my mum a few weeks ago in a different field where they got surrounded by very curious young beef cattle of assorted ages and breeds.

Still very slack of me!
 
@Asha I hope Stirling is feeling better this morning.

thank you pinkfluffy. He seems his normal self, hes been snuffling around the stables looking for left over stud balancer. He doesnt look stiff/sore, but im sure the rheumocam is helping there.

His neck must be sore though, as i used a slip lead and he was hurtling around me on that. Its never been tight before, but it must have been very tight last night.
so it will be off lead walks for a few days.
What leads do other use ?
 
So glad to hear that Stirling’s ok.

Your main aim to make sure that it never happens again.

My worry would be that your neighbour does nothing to prevent a recurrence unless firmly prompted. If you’ve heard nothing from her as yet, I’d be in touch updating her re Sterling’s condition and stating that she must secure her property ASAP to prevent her dogs from escaping again. Is the fencing normally well maintained?

A neighbour to neighbour contact in the first instance will hopefully be enough.

She actually has 2 lines of fencing in that area, but last night the dog was between the 2 fences. Before he barged through the last fence i heard her say dont push your way through the hedge, which he didnt , he turned and pushed his way through the wooden fencing.

If i dont hear from her by close of play i will look out for her. Problem is the dogs are usually running around the garden, and you cant get to her doorbell/front door without going in with them. I called my neighbour this morning who has the tiniest jack russell just to make her aware. Tinks wouldnt stand a chance against him.
 
Met a Keeshond yesterday, I was ecstatic! It’s a rescue, the owner’s only had him for 6 weeks and he’s massively overweight. Bloke says he has very little information on how the dog was kept prior to him getting him. I had cuddles 😍 and a chat, thing was like a bear, absolutely gorgeous markings. Slightly jealous of him rescuing the dog, hopefully he’ll be trimmed down soon. He was extremely friendly. 😍
 
PS my dog wasn't wildly attacking cute puppies, I was training heelwork on leash under distraction and there was suddenly a Labrador puppy underneath her and I was able to hold her in the collar before snappy snappy commenced.

Puppy would not have been exposed to a negative experience (potentially worse with a less capable handler 😬) if people simply abided by the rules.
 
Just come back from 2 nights camping with a wrecked dog. All dogs to be on leads was ignored by most and my poor 11 yo 9kg terrier has been bowled over by labs and a georgeous but boisterous 6 month old lurcher. The labs liked to wrestle with him, despite my best efforts, and the lurcher liked to jump on him when he was sleeping. We came home Sunday afternoon and this morning he managed to get up my stairs unaided. But he was having a great time apparently. Grrrrr.
 
Oh gawd, it was me today! Took the boys to the field up the road and Mitch would not recall from a dog. I took Goose over to grab him and apologise to the owner, who was laughing. Got Mitch back on the lead and attempted to walk them away. The owner was telling me that she thinks the dog (really pretty sable GSD) is coming into heat. No sh!t! Both dogs were desperate to smell her. I asked the owner to walk away so I could get my two away. She was trying to have a conversation but the timing was bad! 🤦🏼‍♀️
 
Thankfully no reporting of irresponsible dog owners today after a very pleasant 5 mile walk with the JRT in the very popular local Forestry England owned Delamere Forest. We did pick the quieter routes.

This is a new sign since we were there last, with very sensible advice on it, especially the Be in Control bit.

“Keep all dogs in sight and close-by; use a lead if they don’t always return when called.

Prevent dogs from going up to other people and animals uninvited.”


If only…

IMG_6787.jpeg
 
Met a very charming old English Sheep Dog on the beach today, young (2years old) and full on energy. Bouncing up to every dog in It's path. It got a very firm 'no' from me the first time around and an even firmer one the second time around. Daisy's only small.

It was a really lovely dog, but just rude. Owner happily lets it get on with it. We had a chat, stood around and the dog sat nicely. But as I pointed out, it's going to bounce up to the wrong dog and the (right) owner one day......
 
I tried to be a responsible owner last night by putting my dog in a down to allow a chap to pass on a very narrow footpath. Dog swung her arse out 90 degrees and plonked herself across the middle of the path. Called her up, tried again, swung out and plonked. Called to heel, tried again, swung out the other way and plonked.

Chap thankfully saw the funny side, thanked me for trying and gamely stepped over the recumbent GSD blocking his path. 🫣
 
Oh, and the other day saw an XL (very rare around here), when I was walking around the castle grounds. All perfect. It was muzzled, well leashed with a double lead etc. and walking very nicely. No drama. Another lady let's her Retriever run up to it and couldn't understand the owners anger.
That's just not fair is it. No doubt if the XL had even slightly reacted the woman would have been screaming "dangerous dog". This is why I am always ultra cautious with my GSD, I know from past experience if a GSD is harassed by another dog and shows the mildest response it is always the GSD in the wrong.
 
That's just not fair is it. No doubt if the XL had even slightly reacted the woman would have been screaming "dangerous dog". This is why I am always ultra cautious with my GSD, I know from past experience if a GSD is harassed by another dog and shows the mildest response it is always the GSD in the wrong.
Exactly. These people had done everything right, yet were totally disrespected by the other owner
And, yes, god forbid the XL should have had a grumble.

I'd clocked it (obviously), put Daisy on the lead and stepped off the path to give them space. So easy to do 😒
 
Thankfully no reporting of irresponsible dog owners today after a very pleasant 5 mile walk with the JRT in the very popular local Forestry England owned Delamere Forest. We did pick the quieter routes.

This is a new sign since we were there last, with very sensible advice on it, especially the Be in Control bit.

“Keep all dogs in sight and close-by; use a lead if they don’t always return when called.

Prevent dogs from going up to other people and animals uninvited.”


If only…


Great to see them mentioning that your dog should be in sight and not off running about the woods chasing the local wildlife and disturbing ground nesting birds - pet hate of mine and seems to be so common with "pet" gundogs and lurchers!
 
An eventful walk today that I need to share because it was so ridiculous, you couldn't make it up. A puppy with zero recall and even less sense of self preservation repeatedly yeeted itself at large dog. She then tracked and flushed, in the middle of an arable field miles from the nearest house or farm, of all creatures, a sodding peacock. It also had no sense of self preservation. Halfway through the next field we got pursued by a flock of hungry sheep and had to hotfoot it to the gate. Short reprieve in a field full of beautiful poppies where I took a nice picture that in no way reflects the stress of the preceeding 60 minutes. One last surprise on the way home with another dog yeeting itself at us, this time out of a front garden.

I have come home and shut the curtains and I'm not going out again. 🫠
 
We took 4 Labs to the beach yesterday. They had a great time, although Daycare Dog isn't a fan of getting wet above her ankles.

However despite an almost deserted beach and our dogs being under close control while playing with balls, we still had 2 incidents of numpty owners allowing their dogs to approach ours.

The young Border Collie followed its own ball, thrown by owner into the middle of ours who were all sitting down and snapped at our brown one, fortunately none of ours took up the challenge, although brown one pulled her lead out of my hand. But she was more interested in the ball than anything else.
Owner kept saying "It doesn't matter", tbh, we ignored her.

Then a dish mop dog approached with absolutely no intervention by its owner. My sister gowled "No!" at it and it decided upon discretion.

Why are people so unconcerned about their own dog's safety?
 
Why are people so unconcerned about their own dog's safety?
I really have no idea!!!

I have been away camping. On one site I couldn't find a water tap so asked a couple who were sitting outside their van. My dog was standing by my side on a short lead a good distance from their Akita that was asleep. They were very pleasant and chatty but immediately warned me not to let my dog go near theirs. Errr, I can't imagine who would think it a good idea to let their dog disturb a sleeping Akita.

Unless it was the people who I met whilst sitting outside a harbourside bar the next day who were determined to introduce their 2 JRs to mine. My saying it wasn't a good idea was ignored, but quickly put to the test when in an effort to wrench mine away from their advancing dogs, I slipped off my seat and ungracefully landed on the floor, which caused a huge amount of concern from all bystanders who had clearly never come off a horse, as I must at least have broken a hip. I was proved right apparently, as a bit of growling went on when I was retrieving myself from the floor. Hfffff, just why do people think dogs have to say hello??
 
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