A plea and reminder to parents of dogs

ali-t

shegirl wrote: »

So to the earlier poster who claims that I'll change my mind about off lead dogs when my pup reaches adulthood and has always had a life of being on lead,there's further proof that I won't...he's well socialised and has already come across dogs off lead,including ones approaching him.If it doesn't scare him now I can't see it suddenly changing one day can you?!?!?

The earlier poster was me and I still stand by it. I have known very few aggressive pups but the change happens as the dog reaches adolescence or full maturity.

For one of my dogs the change happened at 2 years old as she hit maturity and her tolerence to other dogs diminished greatly. for my other dog it was when he hit puberty at around 9 months - far too much testosterone and hormones led to a nightmare of a dog. He is now 2 and much better as the hormones have settled a great deal.

I find your attitude very niaive and you have not considered the impact of adolescence. In the same way as perfectly behaved children can turn into Kevin the teenager, the same happens with dogs.

The other post you made about people taking responsibility for their dogs is fine but it tends to be the untrained bouncy dogs that tend to get hurt as their owners have no control of them and allow them to approach nervous, aggressive and anxious dogs which is when fights happen.

On a personal level I am happy when other dog owners stay away from me and my dogs get to play with each other and with dogs that I want them to play with.

Gingham_Ribbon

ali-t wrote: »

The earlier poster was me and I still stand by it. I have known very few aggressive pups but the change happens as the dog reaches adolescence or full maturity.

For one of my dogs the change happened at 2 years old as she hit maturity and her tolerence to other dogs diminished greatly. for my other dog it was when he hit puberty at around 9 months - far too much testosterone and hormones led to a nightmare of a dog. He is now 2 and much better as the hormones have settled a great deal.

I find your attitude very niaive and you have not considered the impact of adolescence. In the same way as perfectly behaved children can turn into Kevin the teenager, the same happens with dogs.

The other post you made about people taking responsibility for their dogs is fine but it tends to be the untrained bouncy dogs that tend to get hurt as their owners have no control of them and allow them to approach nervous, aggressive and anxious dogs which is when fights happen.

On a personal level I am happy when other dog owners stay away from me and my dogs get to play with each other and with dogs that I want them to play with.

When you had a 'nightmare of a dog', did you muzzle him in public?

How does one 'keep away from' someone who is walking past us in the street or on a woodland path and we have to pass by closely?

EmptyPockets

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

When you had a 'nightmare of a dog', did you muzzle him in public?

How does one 'keep away from' someone who is walking past us in the street or on a woodland path and we have to pass by closely?

Jesus, what are you, the Muzzle Police???

You are relentlessly going on and on about blooming muzzles! It isn't always practical for a muzzle to be worn, there are many many reasons why an owner will choose not to muzzle their dog - it comes down to personal judgement on the owner's part. It is up to them whether they muzzle the dog or not, and if they don't, then as long as they have full control of the dog, anyone who might "have to pass by closely" should heed the warnings given by the owner and give it some space. And, an owner of a dog which would usually be muzzled, is hardly likely to take them anywhere or put them in any situation where they would have to come into such close contact with anyone.

It's not rocket science.

Gingham_Ribbon

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Jesus, what are you, the Muzzle Police???

You are relentlessly going on and on about blooming muzzles! It isn't always practical for a muzzle to be worn, there are many many reasons why an owner will choose not to muzzle their dog - it comes down to personal judgement on the owner's part. It is up to them whether they muzzle the dog or not, and if they don't, then as long as they have full control of the dog, anyone who might "have to pass by closely" should heed the warnings given by the owner and give it some space.

It's not rocket science.

:eek: I see.

I had no idea that people with dangerous dogs actually thought they were doing the right thing when they were out in public with them. I honestly thought that they knew they were putting others at risk and just didn't care. You seem to think that you're not putting anyone at risk.

I really had no idea. Thank you for the insight. :eek:

To those of you who made the difficult decision to have a dangerous dog put to sleep, and to those who muzzle their dangerous animals, thank you.

I'm out now. I don't want the 'muzzle police' to get in the way of a good rant about people daring to allow their non-aggressive dogs off lead!

EmptyPockets

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

You seem to think that you're not putting anyone at risk.

...to those who muzzle their dangerous animals, thank you.

I'm not putting anyone at risk, I do muzzle my dog wherever I feel it is necessary

shegirl

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Jesus, what are you, the Muzzle Police???

You are relentlessly going on and on about blooming muzzles! It isn't always practical for a muzzle to be worn, there are many many reasons why an owner will choose not to muzzle their dog - it comes down to personal judgement on the owner's part. It is up to them whether they muzzle the dog or not, and if they don't, then as long as they have full control of the dog, anyone who might "have to pass by closely" should heed the warnings given by the owner and give it some space. And, an owner of a dog which would usually be muzzled, is hardly likely to take them anywhere or put them in any situation where they would have to come into such close contact with anyone.

It's not rocket science.

So these people who may have to pass by closely should do as the owner wishes to prevent harm to themselves and the owner does what??? How about they take their dogs out of the way rather than expecting everyone else to move or do things differently

ash28

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

When you had a 'nightmare of a dog', did you muzzle him in public?

How does one 'keep away from' someone who is walking past us in the street or on a woodland path and we have to pass by closely?

You shouldn't have to - I have a dog and if I am approaching children on a footpath I either walk on the road or make her sit by my side until they have passed us. If she is off leash and I hear children I put on the lead - and if on a woodland path I move off the path, make her sit and wait until everyone has gone by. We have woodland in the park where we walk the dog - it is her favourite place.

I had a daughter badly frightened as child by a labrador jumping at her and knocking her to the ground - the dog was off leash on a public footpath - her fear lasted for years.

Our grandson who lives with us was terrified of dogs after being bitten (more than once) as toddler by my daughter's friend's chihuahua - it lasted until his childminder got a puppy and it took a couple of months for him to be comfortable around the puppy.

I also had a MIL who would almost pass out in fright if a dog went near her.

So I'm very concious that not everyone likes or is comfortable around dogs and I would absolutely hate to be responsible for her frightening someone and there is no area in our park that is purely for dogs. It's all shared space except for fenced off playground for children.

shegirl

ash28 wrote: »

You shouldn't have to - I have a dog and if I am approaching children on a footpath I either walk on the road or make her sit by my side until they have passed us. If she is off leash and I hear children I put on the lead - and if on a woodland path I move off the path, make her sit and wait until everyone has gone by. We have woodland in the park where we walk the dog - it is her favourite place.

I had a daughter badly frightened as child by a labrador jumping at her and knocking her to the ground - the dog was off leash on a public footpath - her fear lasted for years.

Our grandson who lives with us was terrified of dogs after being bitten (more than once) as toddler by my daughter's friend's chihuahua - it lasted until his childminder got a puppy and it took a couple of months for him to be comfortable around the puppy.

I also had a MIL who would almost pass out in fright if a dog went near her.

So I'm very concious that not everyone likes or is comfortable around dogs and I would absolutely hate to be responsible for her frightening someone and there is no area in our park that is purely for dogs. It's all shared space except for fenced off playground for children.

Good for you Have to say there is nothing I hate more when out and about than a dog owner who has it in his head that his dog is more important than everyone else and expects everyone to move out of the way for the !!!!!!! dog!!! Lost count of the number of times I've had to go and stand on the mud next to a path because the dog owner won't move out of the way!!!

Soubrette

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

I'm out now. I don't want the 'muzzle police' to get in the way of a good rant about people daring to allow their non-aggressive dogs off lead!

It's not about non aggressive dogs being allowed off lead - it's about poorly trained dogs being off lead*.

My dog dislikes other dogs (they scare the carp out of him but if they persist he will growl and will nip), I don't want him to be scared of other dogs, I want him to see that they're alright really.

A friendly dog approaching and being called back is no problem, an excitable friendly dog approaching and ignoring his owner is a problem.

He does wear a muzzle as an ex-racing greyhound but every time some friendly dog bounds up and ignores my dog's 'leave me alone' signs then we are set back a little bit in my efforts to show him that other dogs are not something to be afraid of.

Let alone the friendly dog who bounds up to people who are afraid of dogs or to people like me who walk to work in their work clothes, I love dogs but I don't want to come into work with paw prints on my blouse (coming home I don't care )

If a person can't call their dog back straight away then they are being antisocial with their dog and they need to take precautions such as only letting them off with known dogs or when there are no strangers about.

ETA* I count my own dog as poorly trained because he has poor recall, if he were off lead he would expect to sniff a dog and it to take no notice of him, if it didn't he would growl and almost certainly would not come back when I called. I'm working on this but as he is poorly trained he is walked on a lead in most circumstances, as all poorly trained dogs should be.

EmptyPockets

shegirl wrote: »

So these people who may have to pass by closely should do as the owner wishes to prevent harm to themselves and the owner does what??? How about they take their dogs out of the way rather than expecting everyone else to move or do things differently

This conversation is getting very silly now. You are clearly not LISTENING to what is being said. Words are being twisted and it's turning into nothing more than a slanging match where the parties involved are completely closed off to the other sides argument.

Regarding your above comments:

THE OWNER keeps their dog under control on the lead! THE OWNER tries to maintain a distance between their dog and the other dog or children. THE OWNER does the sensible thing in warning anybody who may do so, to not reach out and pet the dog or let their own dog come over. THE OWNER has as much right to be in that place as the rest of the people there!

And as for "expecting everyone else to... do things differently" - all the owner of a dog with problems is expecting is a little common sense, some general decency, and a little respect for their own and their dog's personal space.

FAR too much to hope for in today's world, of course!