Terrified I'll get in trouble

lostinrates

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

To play devil's advocate, if your answer to

was anything other than "yes" then I think she as reasonable to say

I must admit that I wouldn't be happy about someone "trying to train" their big dog where my children were playing. If "trying to train" means "not yet trained" (which it does to my mind) then that presents a danger.
Yes, the child shouldn't have scooted at the dog. And it's certainly no excuse for the woman's attitude:

But I can understand her being wary of the "untrained big dog" around her children.

At so e point in training, they will still be in training but be in the environment they will be in. Even if you have the best facilities in the world. Regardless of the dog. This is domestic dogs, working dogs, horses, whatever.

You cannot train a dog to walk along a road with traffic and people without a road with traffic and people. You cannot train with distractions , without distractions.


A few weeks ago I took my younger dog to the train station while I waited for my husband, for the first time in a while and we practised things like sitting and heeling, and staying, not in hugely demonstrable ways. It took a long time to start work, maybe ten minutes before he'd focus, and this caused quite a bit of mirth. Which reinforced how important it was we do this not just at home, where we have plenty of room but not many people, but somewhere where the distractions are of such a different nature.

happysaz133

I think you will be fine, but I can understand your worry I have three large dogs, not so called 'dangerous' breeds, but large and excitable and I worry it may cause me bother in the future.

DDA is stupid.

Reams

Rev wrote: »

Thanks.


I don't have any friends with dogs so nobody I can try that with.


I don't have the cash right now but soon as I get a job I will be looking for someone who specialises in fear aggressive dogs and can help socialise him properly.


I don't get frustrated with him, he can't help it and is just reacting to his fear in the only way he knows he. It's not as if he can say 'I'm a bit scared, can we go home now please'. But it does make me sad that people out and about just see this typical aggressive staff and not the soppy, daft cuddle monster I get to see.

I never got frustrated with mine either, though a couple of times I cried on getting back to the house after a dog fight. I even got as far as asking the breed club to re home him, but was worried a new owner may shout at him or worse so backed out. They can't help being scared poor things. Mine was terrified of anything when I first had him, from a bag on a bush to a horse in a field. Now nothing bothers him. I feel sad at the lost three years now he's coming up to thirteen.
Good luck with him.

candjsmum

The new dog law which came into force in May, had me a bit worried as well. We have a 3 year old collie Skye, who is very friendly, but hates anyone coming into her garden unless she knows them. The problem we have is our garden is at the front of the house, and the postie etc has to come into this from the main road. We have a very high garden gate, but as soon as the latch clicks, she tears out the house, barking at whoever it is. Also with this hot weather, I want to open all my doors early in the morning.

I tried to keep her indoors until postie had been, but to be honest, it varies from day to day. Sometimes 8.30, other times 12pm. I would get so fed up second guessing when he would come that I got hubby to put another gate half way down our path, with a big plastic lidded box so he can put the post in on the other side. I am sure she would never hurt him, but I also understand it can be very worrying when a dog comes running and barking at you and I would never wnat to take that chance. :A

Rev

Reams wrote: »

I never got frustrated with mine either, though a couple of times I cried on getting back to the house after a dog fight. I even got as far as asking the breed club to re home him, but was worried a new owner may shout at him or worse so backed out. They can't help being scared poor things. Mine was terrified of anything when I first had him, from a bag on a bush to a horse in a field. Now nothing bothers him. I feel sad at the lost three years now he's coming up to thirteen.
Good luck with him.

I'm the same. I have thought about rehoming him. But given his start in life and the fact that I can't guarantee any future home I couldn't do it to him.


My mum passed away a year or so ago and he grieved along with me, much more so than my other dog. He was depressed, wouldn't play etc and lost a lot of weight. It just brought home to me how much of an impact rehoming him would have on him. And I couldn't put him through that.

His good point far far outweigh this bad points.


He is hard work but he repays the effort I put in ten fold by just being his daft self and even if he is never the 'perfect' dog he is 100% worth it. And he's stuck with me now haha.

RuthnJasper

Rev wrote: »

I'm the same. I have thought about rehoming him. But given his start in life and the fact that I can't guarantee any future home I couldn't do it to him.


My mum passed away a year or so ago and he grieved along with me, much more so than my other dog. He was depressed, wouldn't play etc and lost a lot of weight. It just brought home to me how much of an impact rehoming him would have on him. And I couldn't put him through that.

His good point far far outweigh this bad points.


He is hard work but he repays the effort I put in ten fold by just being his daft self and even if he is never the 'perfect' dog he is 100% worth it. And he's stuck with me now haha.

Oh no, please don't re-home him! He would be devastated. He is well-worth your hard work. xx

mossstitchmama

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Scared people invoke fear in a dog, hence will antagonise them further!

Prime example ... my puppy is friendly to everyone, she loves people and wants attention ... on a recent walk we met a couple who suddenly behaved strangely upon meeting her. They backed off, despite no threat, so then she got worried and started growling. This then provided the ideal opportunity for them to accuse me of having a vicious dog.

She's a 16 week old puppy for !!!!!!!!! She's still being socialised and has never growled at a soul until she met this pair! They scared her by their reactions :mad:

It's frightening that she could be condemned by the actions of ignorant non-dog owners

Very similar thing happened to me recently. I have a year old Jack Russell who is six kilos wringing wet. Most cats are bigger than her.

Where I walk her is a local country park which is usually empty during the week. However, as it is the school holidays, it is now very busy. There are many coach trips of people (I assume from the city centre) , who obviously don't get out much.

After walking past playground, there is about a 1/4 mile walk between fields with horses in and then you get to the long country trails where I let doggie off lead.

Pooch had stooped to do her business when I noticed a little girl on her own, coming towards us. I was scooping poop when she started screaming at my dog, who was sat waiting for me to finish and give her a treat. I ended up having to pick my dog up so the girl could pass and she seemed very upset.

About 20 mins later, I passed a family where a mum was putting a plaster on a child's scuffed knee, whilst their wet spaniel sat nearby. A group of people were approaching who I assumed were with girl I met earlier (they were not dressed for muddy wet bridle paths shall we say!). I put Luna on the lead before they started wailing and pointing at both dogs. The spaniel approached them curiously and they ran away panicking. The spaniel was at no time threatening, just friendly, but I was very aware this group could have said they felt threatened by both my dog and the spaniel.

Where is the line going to be drawn? I was in a fairly remote area, well known for horse riding, dog walking, cycling etc., so anyone local would know what to expect. Dogs now legally have to be on the lead next to public roads in our area. It is unfair and unrealistic to keep a dog on a lead at all times. They need exercise. As dog owners, we can only use common sense and hope other members if the public do the same.

catkins

Free_Spirit_31 wrote: »

To be honest, I would be quite annoyed if this mother was mouthing off to me in the street, a woman bellowing in the street is so unbecoming, in the area I live, it is overwhelmed with fish wives! LOL!

I think her making threats about reporting you and the dog is an idle threat! The dog did not attack him, unless she is the sort that would inflict a wound on her darling offspring and pervert the course of justice!

I wonder if her name is Violet Kray and she can see no wrong and is completely oblivious to what her blue eyed boy is doing! When I walk my dog, I stand aside with my dog and tell the dog to do the same and let people by. I do encounter some kids, once, some young boys were shouting 'Doggy, doggy' and I told them not to call him because he will get too excited. I have my ipod on and hopefully people can see the earphone leads and know that I am not ignoring them, when really I am! LOL My dog loves kids and is about the height of a toddler, so the dog could look like he is overpowering the kids calling him (these boys were about 10 or so). If anyone wants to stroke him, I just make a joke about hoping they do not get slobber on them! LOL

I think it is her that needs to train her child and keep control of him in public instead of him hot wheeling it down the road, while she is too busy liking things on Facebook or posting something on Mumsnet! I bet she would be the sort that would sue a car manufacturer if her son blindly ran into the road and got ran over by a car!

I wasn't happy that she started screaming and shouting. Luckily it was not busy but the few people around were looking to see what was going on and it made me annoyed and upset that they might think my dog was a danger.


On an ordinary pavement or path I always stand aside when people come past with children, not because I think either of my dogs will be funny to them but because they are both young and love children but are quite big dogs and don't want children to be scared. Also, as I said, the one that the woman was screaming about is only just a year old but also is a rescue. He spent the first 7 months of his life locked in a barn so had no socialisation whatsoever and things are still very new to him.


I do like to think I am a responsible dog owner and of course I realise not everyone likes dogs and some people are scared of them which is why when they are people around I make sure the dogs are on fairly short leads and I have control. I just never expected the boy to make a beeline for the dogs on such a wide pavement. If the boy had been younger I would probably have thought it might happen but not the age he was.

zaksmum wrote: »

Pity some people don't have to pass a capability assessment before being allowed to have kids. A bit like they'd have to do when trying to adopt a child!

If people had to have an assessment before they could have children there would be a lot less children in this country!

lostinrates wrote: »

At so e point in training, they will still be in training but be in the environment they will be in. Even if you have the best facilities in the world. Regardless of the dog. This is domestic dogs, working dogs, horses, whatever.

You cannot train a dog to walk along a road with traffic and people without a road with traffic and people. You cannot train with distractions , without distractions.

A few weeks ago I took my younger dog to the train station while I waited for my husband, for the first time in a while and we practised things like sitting and heeling, and staying, not in hugely demonstrable ways. It took a long time to start work, maybe ten minutes before he'd focus, and this caused quite a bit of mirth. Which reinforced how important it was we do this not just at home, where we have plenty of room but not many people, but somewhere where the distractions are of such a different nature.

I totally agree. In order to learn how to behave around people, children, other dogs, traffic etc a dog has to go into situations where those different things are. Ideally a dog is taught young. One of my dogs I started teaching at 10 weeks so he was quite small and if he jumped in excitement or fear it wasn't too much of a problem but, as I say, the other dog I haven't had long and has had no training or socialisation. He is a pretty big dog so I do realise when he jumps it can look bad but I know he is a big softie.


Both dogs were taken to a pub garden yesterday while me and OH ate. For 2 hours they both lay quietly by the sides of our chairs which I was very happy about. The garden was crowded with people and children and quite noisy with some children running around and both dogs ignored it all.