Keep your dog under control!! - Page 5

Question:
After reading all of this I think there is a bit of give and take... yes the other walkers could have avoided you but the fact is they didnt for whatever reason... We all learn from our mistakes, a good job it wasnt a more costly one this time!

With my two... they get walked separately. Honey, my 6mth old Leo X, has not been off lead in the open yet because her recall in the garden is bad! Snoop my nearly 4yr old Lab X, has learned to come back when called in a field because of a bad experience he had with an aggressive dog he met. We went through a stage after that where he would just lie on the floor upon seeing another dog... considering we used to see quite a few other dogs on our walks and he is quite a large Lab, this became quite a problem for us! With better experiences and other friendly dog owners he was back to normal within a few months and his recall is better for it, not that I would wish anyone to go through that experience for a better recall of course! God forbid!!!!

Anyway, back to the point, I think you should forget about the arguement... life is far to short and there will always be disagreement on one side or another! Do what you already know you should be doing... one to one training on recall. Who knows, maybe you will be able walk your dogs together one day

Answer:


After having read through this thread I can sympathise...

Where I walk Max, lots of people have their dogs off lead. People with small dogs often pick their dog up out of Max's way (even if he is nowhere near) or shout at me to "put that thing on a lead" before it eats their little dog.

I used to get really upset and angry about people's attitudes and how thoughtless they appeared to be. (Last week someone asked me if I would change the time of my morning walk so he could let his dog off the lead)

I've tried to be calmer about it. If they don't care about their dog, not my problem.

I will often shout to a potential problem owner "Watch out, my dog is off lead!"

If they put their dog on lead, I call Max back and put him on too. If they don't, then Max stays off lead.

His recall isn't 100%, on a good day it's about 90%. One of the best ways to get Max back I've found is to turn around and shout "Bye-bye Max" or "I'm going" and he races back... unorthodox, but it works!

Answer:


Originally Posted by Ripsnorterthe2nd I think in this case they were being a bit difficult. Like someone else has already said I judge every situation individually and in this case I think they had a couple of options open to them to avoid the situation, but just chose not to take them.

First one, walk a different route. Not difficult with so much space, it really does bug me on my walks round the fields when someone coming behind me decides to take the exact same route as me and follow me all the way round. Now if that was me I'd do the sensible thing and walk the same route but in the opposite direction. That way the dogs get to socialise but we aren't on top of one another for what would've been an otherwise pleasant walk!

Second option, if they wanted your dog under control then they should have put they're dog on a lead once they were in the area you were. Although their dog didn't wander over to greet your dog, if they were that insistent they should really have lead by example. If I see someone coming towards me with off lead dogs mine stay off lead and vice versa. You should always practice what you preach! Very true.

Ok...The little one was off lead also right? So infact you were both equal no one is more right or wrong than the other in my opinion.

They could have easily avoided you and had they put their dog onlead first that would have been your que to put yours on. They didn't so would it be fair for you to put yours on and them to leave theirs off maybe to chase around yours and totally wind them up? There are alot of people that think it is ok to leave a smaller dog bouncing away while bigger dogs should be restrained and in my opinion that is not fair - If they wanted your dogs onlead and under total control they should practise what they prech.

And even so, why do people have to be so damn a*ssy for?...It seems some people just want something to complain about

Some people don't want to do a thing themselves to help shape a situation and expect things to work out exactly how they want them too - put in zero effort to get the outcome they want - and then blame everyone else. If they were that bothered they would have put their own dog onlead and given you some space to do the same. It's called taking responsibility for yourself.

Answer:


Originally Posted by muttzrule Forgive me for being contradictory, but I thinks its just good sense to keep dogs you KNOW have bad recalls on lead until you KNOW they have a good recall. Part of being a responsible dog owner is protecting your dog. To me the risk of allowing my dog offlead, without a reliable recall, knowing that she could take off after another dog or animal and get hit by a car or lost or attacked is taking her life into my hands. Its a risk I would never take.

I have a border collie with high energy needs so we do walk or run the miles and miles every day needed to meet those needs because there are few places around here safe to allow a dog off lead (recall or not)

Its just good sense. Looking at your profile I see you are quite young. If you didn't have a dog you'd likely be jogging 4 or 5 miles a day anyway, but what about people who can't run, you know who I mean (Those not quite as young as you )

For them walking 4 or 5 miles is difficult with a dog , he's going to want to divert to smell things, likely chase a rabbit, dig for a mole, etc. etc. if he's tied to you all the time, walking, he ain't going to get the exercise he needs.

As you say, where you are, having a dog off lead is dangerous (Theft, RTA, etc.) so I applaud your efforts in running to keep your dog fit. Just that it's not an option for everyone.

Returning swiftly to OP - If it was a huge field, if the other dog was off lead, why didn't they take a different route It doesn't make sense to me. We were in the forrest yesterday, sitting, having a breather when a couple with a dog came towards us. They saw our two and immediately turned down another track. I don't think they planned to go down it ('cos it's a dead end) It makes no difference which track you use in the forrest so everyone was happy, what's so wrong with that??

Answer:


Originally Posted by Losos Returning swiftly to OP - If it was a huge field, if the other dog was off lead, why didn't they take a different route It doesn't make sense to me. We were in the forrest yesterday, sitting, having a breather when a couple with a dog came towards us. They saw our two and immediately turned down another track. I don't think they planned to go down it ('cos it's a dead end) It makes no difference which track you use in the forrest so everyone was happy, what's so wrong with that?? That's cool...We were walking down a track in the forest the other day when some cyclists started heading our way so we jumped off into the under growth and made a diversion with dogs in pursuit! Cyclists passed, called out thank you and I called back from in the weeds! etc - no problem...That's how it should be - everyone making an effort and being polite and if it does go **** upwards no need to become all disrespectful - that's what I hate the most - how quickly people can turn for no reason.

It was easiest for me to get out the way as I was on foot so I took it upon myself to act first and I didn't mind. If it was easier for these people to just avoid making a beeline for the original poster when there was penty of other space and they didn't put their dog onlead either then they were just being picky.

Answer:


i do wonder,would the owners of the small dog of acted the same way if you owned say,a miniture poodle?!
i think not,to be honest i think this does have alot to do with the fact you own dobes.
all dogs of a young age are alittle excitable,but the bigger the breed the bigger the dog at younger age.
people seem to think you should have a large breed of dog 'under' control woteva the age,where say you have a energetic 6month jack russel people think its cute.
ive had people ask me to put trin on the lead just because there little dog is getting all excited and wants to come and play and there on the lead,trins walking nxt to my leg and i dont always put her on alead just because theres another dog.
i bet the people that owned the little dog had no intention of putting that dog on its lead as you own a large breed so wot happens is your responsability not theres