Puppy knocked a kid over!

dekaspace1

Really stressed at moment, I was taking dog to field to go to toilet and it was next to a kids playpark, the lead which is barely 2 weeks old snapped and she was excited and ran to the kids and knocked 2 kids over and was running around some others, took me a few minutes to catch her and I carried her most of way home and for rest used the remaining lead, as it was a long one.

About 10 minutes later the kids parents arrived and shouted abuse at me which is understandable, but then another 30 minutes or so later I heard a commotion outside and my door was getting knocked on loudly and door bell rang consistently, I could also hear my gossipy neighbour saying bad things about me, from what I heard people believe I LET puppy off her lead and I didn't hurry and stop her bothering the kids I didn't answer door but I heard a voice saying they will come back tommorow.

I live alone and worried to leave the house now, this is to vent a little but also asking for advice as I am aware they can report puppy and me being alone with no one to back me up (not physically but maybe should it come to that) but in case of a witness.

cymruchris

If no harm was done, I wouldn't worry, I'm sure the dust will settle. Keep the broken lead for the moment, so that if anyone approaches you to have a sensible conversation, you can show them, and apologise. And for now - get a better, stronger lead from another supplier. 

dekaspace1

Well the kids parents claimed the kid had a cut on his head, I did try and explain the lead snapped and I rushed after her but they were having nothing of it, though I totally understand their point of view, I even made sure when I answered the door that pup was on a short lead beside me and when the door was answered pup was just standing there wagging her tail, no agression, no jumping.

This lead was £14, it wasn't a cheap one and it was thick, the break occured where puppy likes to jump at lead and pull but I didn't notice any damage before this, I only just changed from a metal lead as it was too short for her now shes grown I did just buy a harness but sadly it wasn't on at time as I was just taking her for potty, with the harness the metal lead will be long enough.

But regardless of what I said or what happened she did jump on some kids,

It's just hard to prove myself, the other kids were excited and trying to catch puppy which made puppy more excited and harder to catch.

sevenhills

dekaspace1 said:

Really stressed at moment, I was taking dog to field to go to toilet and it was next to a kids playpark, the lead which is barely 2 weeks old snapped and she was excited and ran to the kids and knocked 2 kids over

The lead snapped, so that is an accident, not negligence.

elsien

She was 20 weeks old last December, so less of a puppy now and more of a teenager. 

You really need to be doing some work with her on teaching  her to be calmer. She’s getting to the age and size where people are going to be much less tolerant of her if there are any concerns.
She shouldn’t still be jumping and pulling if you’re working hard on the training. Did you have a look at that site that we directed you towards previously?
in the meantime, if she is excitable around children, then just don’t take her close to children’s playground or play areas. 

What are the parents expecting from you? Probably to know that she’s going to be more under control in the future, so apologise and explain that it was an accident and what you will be doing to stop it from happening again.
avoiding them is going to make them think you are hiding something.

Emmia

And hopefully, as a responsible  dog owner you also cleaned up her poo, before or after the incident.

Flugelhorn

I would make sure you only take the dog somewhere where there is  no-one else around. I am sick of sitting on the beach or going for a walk and seeing people who have over exuberant dogs claiming "they won't hurt anyone" "they are just saying hello" etc. 
I doubt a "broken lead" would be much of a excuse if the dog had seriously injured a child

dekaspace1

Yes, the annoying thing was I am taking her to trainer next week, she had calmed down a lot until she had her season and then she got more excitable around cars, normally if strangers especially kids come up to us I hold dog close and say she likes to jump and give her a cue.

Now I slept (badly as pup kept me awake till past 1am due to heavy winds) I can be a bit more descriptive about what happened.

Dog was on lead, lead snapped, dog ran forward for a bit, kids saw her and as they know her as they have seen her around called her, she ran to them and due to how many kids there was she knocked one over, there was other kids chasing her as well which made her more excited and hard to catch.

I normally just take her on a walk through the woods and fields its just that entrance tio the woods is next to a kids park, I can do a diversion if I go by some houses but that would mean more chance of passing by people who are just out for walk with a dog.

Katiehound

She's a border collie: needs massive amounts of exercise- either physical or mental.
Think how far a working collie runs in a day- miles
Border collies are not for inexperienced dog owners.

Sounds like she still isn't well socialised....  the trainer should be giving you 'homework'- you are the trainer

Do not allow her to chew the lead! I guess that's what weakened it

A really good lead is a 'police style' one- you can have it extra long or normal length. Halti make one- called a 'training lead'  £12 from Amazon.:

you were given lots of useful information/ references  etc by experienced dog owners before- which I suggest, you just chose to ignore. 

sheramber

She should have been at trining as soon as she had had her vaccinations and was allowed out.

If she was 20 weeks last December, she is not a puppy any more, she is a 1year old dog.

People are more tolerant of a puppy than a fully grown dog.


Puppies don't 'grow out of it'

You need to research mental stimulation for dogs. Border collies need plenty to use their brains. particularly ones from a working background , such as farms.

Physical exercise only makes them fitter and need more exercise.

A walk in the woods on a lead is not sufficient exercise/ stimulation  for a border collie.

dekaspace1

Katiehound said:

She's a border collie: needs massive amounts of exercise- either physical or mental.
Think how far a working collie runs in a day- miles
Border collies are not for inexperienced dog owners.

Sounds like she still isn't well socialised....  the trainer should be giving you 'homework'- you are the trainer

Do not allow her to chew the lead! I guess that's what weakened it

A really good lead is a 'police style' one- you can have it extra long or normal length. Halti make one- called a 'training lead'  £12 from Amazon.:

you were given lots of useful information/ references  etc by experienced dog owners before- which I suggest, you just chose to ignore. 

Thought I responded but its not showing, she was socialised a lot when I got her and she goes to dogsitter with other dogs, she only gets this reactive when theres multiple kids around it was just bad luck the park was busy as its normally empty or near empty most of the time. (EDIT yes my fault for not training enough there, but I mean bad luck as if the park was empty I could of caught pup quicker and with no problems)

What the lead thing is she gets excited when she goes out and jumps at lead until I tell her a cue and she lets go and normally she is fine unless she gets over excited again and I tell the cue again.

The lead I had for her was meant to be a extra strong one, it had a handle where it clips and was about 5 foot long it actually worked well until it snapped it actually cost £14, what happened with it seems to be the insides are like threads and theres a lining over it and the lining snapped,

Bear in mind with me is I often just post things I directly ask advice for so it may seem I am not listening, puppy has calmed down a lot since I got her she listens to most cues and lies beside me its only since she had her first season she regressed and I was trying to deal with that and before that I was focusing on stopping her having accidents and settling which did work, she hasn't had an accident in about 6 weeks then another 6 weeks before that (or there about)

Today shes been sleeping pretty much all day, I did take her on a walk earlier despite panicking, she had bad sleep last night (so did I, feel terrible today) as the wind was so heavy she was doing mini barks until past 1am and again from 7am.

I have gone back to her metal lead now, its long enough if I put it on her harness, it wouldn't be if it was direct on her collar, I only stopped using it due to its length and being worried it might choke her.

I grew up with a collie so I was aware of certain behavours like they are energetic.

I go back and forth by calling her a puppy as whenever people ask her age they say "shes still a puppy" or ask me "how old is your puppy" even the kids called her puppy

Finally about mental stimulation what a flaw I have is if shes napping I let her nap, but when she wakes from nap she wants out so thats why I take her out and after 15-20 minutes or so and she does her business she comes back in and can go back to nap again, I would prefer mental stimulation for her but not sure the best as she only plays with toys when she is restless i.e when she needs out to do business the only thing she loves to do any time of day is steal socks and chuck them around so would be great to get some advice on that, that was another reason I was going back to trainer to get a plan in place.