Bloody dogs offlead!!!

lostinrates

Person_one wrote: »

There is, its a calm and friendly dog off the lead. If you work on training to the point where yours has a solid enough recall and is sensible off lead then you can let him play.

I appreciate this is harder with a Malamute than with some other breeds, but its not necessarily impossible.

Its hard to get to that point if you have a dog already full of energy and wanting to let off steam and enthusiasm.

More often than not, I walk my dogs on our own land now. Its a huge shame, they lived daily play with other dogs, and we've not had one incident on a walk of a problem with another dog, caused by a dog ...mine or anyone else's. we have met some dog aggressive dogs on leads who my dogs have steered clear of.

Lieja

I'm really working hard on the training thing - honest! He just has that selective hearing thing down to a tee and seems to totally understand that the worst thing that will possibly happen if he ignores me is a telling off, and the best is lots of great fun with another dog/swim in the river/game of chase the flock of birds. He does get lots and lots of off lead time though, and he runs and runs like a mad thing so he gets a lot of exercise, I'd just like to let him play with other dogs too.

And of course I understand that it's not always my dog that people are worried about - I used to have an aggressive dog that I wouldn't have let near anybody or anything, and I absolutely hated it when off lead dogs ran up to her!! That's why I won't let my boy do that now.

He's only one at the moment, and I've been putting off having him 'done' until he'd stopped growing so as soon as that's over with, I'm going to start taking him to dog groups so he can socialise a bit more and have some fun. My OH wants to 'drive' him so we're going to look into that too.

So for the moment it's all about the training! The one thing that seems to work at the minute is that he seems very worried about being left alone, so if I want him to come back to me in a hurry I'll shout 'this way!' and turn around, and providing he hasn't spotted the oncoming dog he'll follow me. I wouldn't have even considered the breed if I lived in a town where I didn't have access to so much open space - he would be completely bonkers!

Tygermoth

I have a pug puppy who has brilliant recall. But always they choose not to recall on the one blinking time you need them to.

We are in the local park which has the lead free dog park attached (We had just left there when the Pup saw the lady as i was putting his lead on, i will admit I was unhurried as hes always been as good a gold)

Lady is on the path adjacent to the dog park, was flapping her hands (I think she was arguing with someone on hands free mobile) puppy thinks shes playing dashes off to her and bounces doing a play bow in front of her.

She screamed so loud and kicked him i thought he must of bitten her. Not that hes ever bitten anyone! but she had yelled so loud it was the only thing i could think of. People from all over the park started running thinking something bad was happening, dog owners from the dog park dashed out to gawp.

I ran over confused and she was shouting at me and screaming like a banshee flapping her arms and kicking...... that she dont like small dogs. Puppy is cowering half in a bush as the woman is still aiming kicks at him.

Then I did something i am not proud of, as my dog was not under my control and the whole thing was totally my fault..... but as my poor pup was very obviously petrified and visibly injured I literally yelled at the lady.

She was shouting she didnt like small dogs and i was shouting i didnt like her much and my dislike was just as valid as hers.... I picked up puppy who had a small tear where she had caught his lip on his teeth when kicking him.

The moral of the story, Pup is good. He does agility, hes on the intermediate obedience KC class. has attended puppy playgroups and does community dog walks and Pup play groups. I would bet money on his recall. good hard cash every day of the week.

I have tried my very best to make sure hes a good citizen to other dogs, owners and members of the general public but sometimes mistakes happen.

In this case one bruised sore mouth, one terribly guilty conscience and one lady who dislike of small dogs is that much worse.

Lady in the park, I apologise unreservedly.

seven-day-weekend

Person_one wrote: »

I'm afraid you sound like a dog hater, you're not exactly getting into a constructive dialogue with us here!

Where has anybody said you have to put up with being slobbered over/chased etc?

Because some dog-owners ARE like that and because they don't mind their dog sniffing their genitals they assume that other people (complete strangers) won't mind it either.

It's the owners that need to learn manners as you yourself have said repeatedly.

And so what if the person is a dog-hater, it is not a crime.

seven-day-weekend

When we do our dog-sitting, we exercise the dogs as the owner requests. Many of them have their own land on which to exercise so of course that is by far the easiest thing. There are also some within easy reach of parks. I personally tend not to let the dogs off lead until I am confident they will return when called.

There is one pair of dogs I look after, one, the lurcher, is well behaved and walks to heel and enjoys playing with other dogs. The other one is a beautiful boy, a pointer/sighthound cross, very elegant, but because of his genes he can't help but chase little furry things so I keep him on an extending lead and 'reel him in' if I spot potential trouble. His owners do let him off but I don't want him getting into trouble on my watch!

23rdspiral

I've read this thread with interest.

I have a rescued collie, we've had her for a year and a half. At first she was very scared and timid, and as we've owned her she's become confident in herself but is still afraid of some other dogs. So I guess I've seen this from both sides.

When we first had her we kept her on a long fixed line (a horse teather). This meant she had 40ft (in a circle) to run in, but we could wind her in if needed - but we Never did this without recalling her first. That way she learnt lead walking, heal and recall (she wasn't lead trained when we got her at age 10!!), but also learnt she had responsibility.
( I must say I don't 'get' owners who use those retractable leads without a command. The dog is never sure whether it can run or is supposed to be walking to heal... So many times they are yanked back, from even just sniffing, no wonder so many near me end up very frustrated which can lead to aggressive.)

Person_one wrote: »

There is a sort of 'unwritten rule' that its ok to let off lead dogs approach each other and say hello, but that if a dog is on lead then to give it its space. I sometimes think this needs to be a written rule as not enough people seem to know it these days!

I'd love it if the Dogs Trust or the RSPCA or somebody produced a little leaflet with basic dog etiquette in it that could be handed over with all new puppies and rescue dogs.

A leaflet came with our dog fro the rescue. It highlighted the 'international' lead/tied cloth colour coding. Red = keep your distance. yellow = please be cautious, friendly is ok, exuberant isn't (eg, dog or owner recovering from a operation!). green = let's play!

A few in the local dog walking group referred to this. The local pet food shop sells leads and lead flags.

All good.... Untill I kept crossing the road to give a wide birth to an little toy dog and it's owner, the owner eventually asked why. I explained it was due to the red bow onthe lead (and explained as above)... Turns out its just what the dog groomer does... So there's a lot less "keep your distance" dogs round here than I previously thought! :rotfl:

Moral of the story = you just can't win!

adouglasmhor

minimad1970 wrote: »

Lieja, Don't always assume it's about your dog. If you were walking towards me I'd have my dog on his lead and be giving you a wide berth as he suffers with fear aggression. I do try to say to other dog walkers it's not their dog it's mine.

One of mine always overreacts by barking at other dogs, and his happy bark is not much off his frightened bark. I have one of the yellow collars for him but the scheme is not well known yet.

http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk/

minimad1970

adouglasmhor wrote: »

One of mine always overreacts by barking at other dogs, and his happy bark is not much off his frightened bark. I have one of the yellow collars for him but the scheme is not well known yet.

http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk/

I've looked into Yellowdog products and mentioned them on another thread, but as you say they're not that well known. Also it won't make any difference to the irresponsible dog owners who're unable to call their dogs away

Lequirk_2

Person_one wrote: »

Ah come on, an off lead dog that you admit to not having much control over, and a female in season to top it off! If you admit to not cleaning up after her when she poos you'll have the hat-trick!

What a nonsensical comment. Read my first comment and tell me exactly how you reach such diabolical diatribal conclusions. On second thoughts, don't bother, because Ooh, what is that. Oh yes. an ignore button. Goodbye.

adouglasmhor

minimad1970 wrote: »

I've looked into Yellowdog products and mentioned them on another thread, but as you say they're not that well known. Also it won't make any difference to the irresponsible dog owners who're unable to call their dogs away

It'll become better known over time hopefully.