RANT RANt RAnt Rant rant...

[mbc1963]

So, I'm out walking reactive dog Buddy at the reservoir. I see a family with three kids about 100 yards ahead. I kind of see a puppy, too. Naturally, I leash Buddy. Whereupon the puppy starts barreling at us, all puppy-clueless, and resolves into a beagle. I call out, "My dog isn't very friendly!" One of the adult-owners calls back, "I know!" and the other one clearly tries to clarify what I'd said. Doesn't much matter now, because the pup has crossed half the distance and he's leaving his owners in the dust, anyway.

 

So, he bumbles into us, and Buddy does his typical, "Who the he&& do you think you are, you young whippersnapper!?" snarl and snap. The puppy comes back in Buddy's face, and it happens again. Third time, the puppy gets a bit of a clue, and puts his hackles up a bit and at least looks uncomfortable, but comes at Buddy again. So, I "lie down" my dog, put him in a stay, and pick UP the puppy so he's not causing any trouble.

 

I look up, and who's come toward me and my grouchy, snapping dog? The biggest child - maybe 6, at the most. She's obviously thinking she's going to save her puppy. I have to tell her to not approach, please, and let her mother get the puppy. Which the woman finally does, as her small children pool around me and the dog she JUST SAW SNAPPING AT HER PUPPY.

 

Fortunately, Buddy clearly distinguishes between dogs and humans, so I give the nearest child (a toddler) a bit of kibble to give the dog. Finally, the woman seems to recognize that her children are not in the best situation, and begins calling them to her.

 

I'm being oh-so-gracious, and say, "These puppies! They just don't listen when older dogs yell at them!" The woman says, "No - he's just not aggressive." Implying, I guess, that my dog is.

 

GRR. DUH. No point in trying to clue this woman in. Oy.

 

Mary

[Laurelin]

I honestly feel your pain. I have a very dog reactive dog and no one seems to understand the concept not to let their dogs rush her. Because 'their dog is friendly'. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that.

[Cody & Duchess]

I know exactly what you mean . Cody - the Mr Congeniality, with both people and dogs - I see another dog and Cody is off leash - he is recalled immediately and put on the leash. Why - because it is rude to have your dog greet people or other dogs without permission. With Duchess, if she is on leash and another dog comes barreling at her off leash- it takes all your attention and concentration to make sure that a bad situation does not happen. Why are people so obtuse? I DON'T KNOW. I try to be as cream cheese as possible to people to explain that approaching a dog without the owner's permission is not wise. You want kids to love and respect dogs. You do not want them to have a bad experience. The situation with a large group of little kids who try to swarm a dog can be unnerving for the best behaved dog. Honestly - the dog attacking your well restrained dog - wish I had a solution. It is the damn little toy dogs that I hate when they come attacking in a boxer's like jabs that really can be worrisome. Good luck.

[nancy]

Geeze. Fergie is the absolute friendliest dog ever. Well, unless someone is not just friendly but gets way too personal.

 

Even when we're not in a state park (son-in-law is a park superintendent and would give us a ticket in a heartbeat because he's told us the rules) we keep Ferg on leash.

 

If we meet someone with a dog, as soon as we see that person, I yell, "Is that dog friendly?" That's usually enough to get the owner to put the dog back on leash - and back to being legal.

 

It also doesn't hurt to be able to remind them that there are signs about keeping dogs on leash. And then to tell them that we know that the local ranger is really a stickler about that.

[border_collie_crazy]

I know exactly how you feel there. Happy is loads better now, but she has been highly dog reactive for many years, and the kinds of morons I would run into... I can control her, if dogs run up and have for several years been able to get her in a down/leave it and normally the dog looses interest after a couple seconds of sniffing an unmoving lump on the ground, they leave and I can freely move with my dog. well in one instance I was biking with a few dogs, with some idiot let there dog run INTO THE STREET(biking on sidewalks in illegal here) and jump all over Happy and my other dogs, , on my bike with several dog going loonie and trying to keep the aggressive dog under control, I could not move I was stuck in that spot, trying to get the bloody dog away who would NOT move with no owner in sight. some children happend into the area saw my predicment and helped me untangle up going crazy dogs and pulled away the strange dog for me. I thanked them profusley and went on my way..that when I realzied that the bloody "owner" was a few door down WATCHING and LAUGHING from a friends front porch!

 

or anouther time I was biking with dogs on the bikepath, I see a woman with her dog,m so I pulled over into the feild, got control of my dogs and waited for them to pass. did they just continue on? no of coarse not, she SENDS her dog up to mine to "say hi" blantly ignored my yelling at her that my dogs are NOT friendly and to get her dog away, im on my bioke and controlling several dogs to there was absolutly no way that I could do anything about her dog, finally when I could not control Happy anymore and she attacked the womans dog, she had the nerve to yell at me about it! like christ, I can only control my dog aggressive dog for so long while you ignore my warnings that my dog is aggressive!

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

It's even bad when they're on leash! We just moved into a new neighbrouhood by the RIVER!! and thought that we'd explore some of the pathways. ALL of the river pathways here are on leash unless you are in an off leash fenced park. So, we're ambling along having a nice evening stroll around a lagoon and I am commenting on how well Daisy is behaving. She's not stressed about runners, bikers, rollerbladers, people and their dogs. Nothing, she just keeps on trucking. I was so, so proud of my dog and feeling like all my hard work is paying off. She even had a "smile" on her face! Up ahead a little I could see some 20-something year old girls with their pretty little pocket dogs, and I figured "this will be interesting." Most of them were ok except one. It was barking and screaming and kicking up such a fuss that this girl proceeded to "string-up" the dog (all 10lbs of it). The dog was so pissed and ill mannered that it continued to SNAP at the leg of the owner. I really could not believe what I was seeing. If I wasn't so dumb founded, I would have gave that girl a piece of my mind! Ms.Daisy arched herself away from the dog and continued on. I was really proud at that moment. Some people should really not be allowed to have pets...or kids for that matter!

[desertranger]

It's not an unusual situation.Jin get's reactive usually when we're downtown for street fair. Last night we ran into 3 other dogs and I had no chance to calm him down between dogs so we left. Still there are the kids who want to pet Jin and I'm always careful about that because he does snap sometimes. One group of kids listened and when Jin got testy over the attention they backed off. A little later another group of kids just had to see and pet the doggie and despite repeated warnings the parents just let them go ahead. One boy sneaked up behind Jin to pet him and Jin turned and snapped at him with a big bark. Scared the kid and pissed off dad. I wound up telling dad that he was told not to let his kids even near Jin much less touch him. BTW I don't say something like, :Best not ket your kids near my dog. Oh no, I tell them in no uncertain terams, "Stay away from Jin"

 

As long as we're on the subject I should mention the main place I have probs with Jin on a lead is street fair. I don't seem to have that problem anywhere else. Suggestions, comments?

[Laurelin]

I know exactly what you mean . Cody - the Mr Congeniality, with both people and dogs - I see another dog and Cody is off leash - he is recalled immediately and put on the leash. Why - because it is rude to have your dog greet people or other dogs without permission. With Duchess, if she is on leash and another dog comes barreling at her off leash- it takes all your attention and concentration to make sure that a bad situation does not happen. Why are people so obtuse? I DON'T KNOW. I try to be as cream cheese as possible to people to explain that approaching a dog without the owner's permission is not wise. You want kids to love and respect dogs. You do not want them to have a bad experience. The situation with a large group of little kids who try to swarm a dog can be unnerving for the best behaved dog. Honestly - the dog attacking your well restrained dog - wish I had a solution. It is the damn little toy dogs that I hate when they come attacking in a boxer's like jabs that really can be worrisome. Good luck.

 

I honestly have the opposite problem. My reactive dog is a toy dog so no one takes me seriously when I say she is not dog-friendly. I mean what harm can a 7 lb dog do? People let their big, small, medium, whatever sized dogs come up to her then get angry when she growls or snaps. She has only landed a bite once now and it was a stray dog that came looking for a fight. Anytime she snaps, I get the whole 'Spoiled nasty toy dog' spiel when I've explicitly told them she's reactive to begin with and please keep their dog away. They never listen though because she's cute and little.

 

She is the best, most trustworthy dog I've ever had on a lead. She has perfect manners, heels and ignores dogs. I can take her in crowds of people and dogs without issue. The only problem is if a dog comes at her head on and ignores her 'back off' signs. She is very clear that she doesn't appreciate their advances and wishes to be left alone.

 

We run into problems with schnauzers more than anything else. I have no idea why but we've had three schnauzer incidents this month.

[Tuxedodog]

What are people thinking! We have made a few trips to the vet's in the past few months and people let their dogs come right up to mine in the waiting room! Last night this huge Great mountain dog or some such name for a short haired Bernese dragged his owner right up to Buster. I told him that Buster is extremely submissive and in a minute he was going to be peeing on the floor - I also worry that if he really feels intimidated that he will flip out and attack the other dog. Then someone walked in who was obviously afraid of this huge beast (he was a nice dog, just not at all under control) and he started barking at her and the owner did nothing. By this time Buster was trying to climb into my lap, he was as terrified as the woman. Then he went after a dog coming out of the exam room, and then after another one who walked in the door! Common Sense People! Just because your dog wants to play stop and think, the venue is not appropriate.

[Lizmo]

Ugh, I know. We have neighbors who have no clue about things called 'leashes'. It's gotten to the point where sometimes I can't even walk my own dog because I know she doesn't get along with one of the loose dogs. And I won't run the risk of harming either dog, when the dog was clearly in MY yard.

 

And we also have an Aussie run up to us on walks because his owners let him roam. They even have a fenced yard for the dog, for heaven sake. Thankfully he's friendly and is what I call 'a blonde dog'.

 

It's very annoying. The main reason why I don't walk my dogs in the neighborhood much anymore unless it's early early in the morning when all dogs are still put away.

[Tranquilis]

I honestly have the opposite problem. My reactive dog is a toy dog so no one takes me seriously when I say she is not dog-friendly. I mean what harm can a 7 lb dog do?

Believe me, I'd trust your judgement!

Dakota, big galloot that she is, is a bit twitchy with strange dogs - especially loud ones. Mind you, so far, it's "hide behind daddy and look the other way' kinda of twitchiness, but there's no way I'd risk letting that escalate by inviting a confrontation with an unfriendly dog, however small. She's big enough to fit an entire Chi in her mouth - Literally. I could only imagine what might happen if she decided she needed to defend herself.

 

Thankfully, Suka has already gained confidence that I'll protect her, and Dakota is coming along rapidly.

[bc4ever]

I've started walking Scooter in the early morning too, the thinking being that most of the neighborhood dogs aren't out yet--except for the other people thinking the same thing!

 

We've had sightings of two boxers running loose in the area, which really makes me nervous. No one in the immediate vicinity seems to know where they belong. We've already had one encounter with a boxer. That was enough.

 

As far as calling out to an approaching owner, "Is your dog friendly?", I don't think I'd trust their assessment. Most people don't have a clue, or think that, of course he/she is friendly--see how they're running towards you? I prefer "My dog isn't friendly!" or as happened a while ago when someone came at Scooter all ready to do the pet and pat thing and he backed up and started barking, "Ohhh no, that's okay. He's a little hyper today." (He wasn't till you pulled that!)

 

Actually, I'm the "dog reactive" one. I hate it when dogs off leash come racing up to me, barking and circling. I'll admit, I have a hard time staying calm sometimes. I think I'll try the singing thing! Scooter's better about it than I am. He drops to the ground and ignores the offending dog till it goes away. I could try that too I guess.

[Tranquilis]

As far as calling out to an approaching owner, "Is your dog friendly?", I don't think I'd trust their assessment.

If they gave a positive assesment, yeah, I'd still be watching damned close. But a negative assesment will be trusted as gospel until proven otherwise.

 

I frankly don't know how strictly the leash laws around here are enforced, because I think I've seen maybe one violation in the last ten years. And that violation was a lab so elderly that I don't think he could chase a parked car successfully. IOW, we don't have loose dogs - Not even The Rude Dogs At The End Of The Neighborhood run loose.

 

Actually, one of my bigger worries are people whom have inadequate leads or collars - I've seen a flexi-lead lose its brake under the pull of a large Rottie bitch (fortunately a good-natured girl), and a chainlink choke collar come apart in multiple shattered links under the lunge of a Am. Bulldog/Rottie mix (male, and fortunately another basically good-natured dog, if grossly under-trained). People don't let their dogs roam, but many don't seem to understand what makes a secure lead/collar combo. I really distrust flexi-leads.

 

I'm highly annoyed that I can't find a properly-fitted martingale for Dakota locally. At 100 pounds (give or take a small bit), she needs a fairly robust collar. I can find pinch collars in her size, but she doesn't really need that much of a reminder. I can find martingales sized for Mastiffs, but that's a bit too thick in the neck. She falls neatly between 'Size Big' and 'Size OMG!', and I've got to special order her gear 'cause no one local carries the right stuff.

[painted_ponies]

as her small children pool around me and the dog she JUST SAW SNAPPING AT HER PUPPY.

 

Well, look on the bright side - it's not a very good bet her offspring will live to make more like her.

 

I feel your frustration. I used to have chows, which look like big fluffy cuddly bears to young children. Unfortunately, my chows also behaved very much like bears - the kind that took out Timmy Treadwell. And we all know what happens to dogs who consume children, even if they are the offspring of the completely clueless. Happily, I was always able to intercept the little kamikazes - but I got so I wanted to scruff-shake the parents.

 

As for loose dogs? I'm afraid I just stand back and let the dogs work it out themselves anymore. I used to wade in and break it up, but the older I get the less I care to get hurt for someone else's stupidity.

[DeltaBluez Tess]

Once I was walking with my dogs when we lived in the city and had my white training wand. Someone's dog came running up, a huge not so friendly dog, and I swished the cane in front of them The people called theuir dog back and I heard them say to each other as they walked past me..."Look a blind person with their guide dog" (As if a blind person couldn't hear them)....and apparently they thought my stick swishing was part of a blind person walking technique. I would see them now and them, before I moved and they would contain their dog as it went past me but down the street, they would let it go.

 

Now when I walk (the few times in the city or park or trail), I take my white wand and still swish it front of approching dog. This year, I got to us "I just had heart surgery and you dog is going to knock me down" routine and people call their dogs back.

 

Next year, I guess I'll still carry my white wand and have to think of some other excuse to swish it. The noise of the swishing stops the approaching dogs in their tracks.

 

As for a street or highland games fari...I take Tess. She is pretty people proof but if kids comes running up to her, I just step in front of the kid. One year, I had a kid come up nice and ask to pet her. This was after her sheep run and they had seen her run. The kid petted and swooned over her and told her how great she did. I gave him a few dog treats to feed Tess and they were happy together. I showed her how to make her do her doggie tricks. His dad told me that his son wanted a dog but they lived in the city. Also that one day he was going to get his boy a dog when they had a house(?) but in the mean time his boy had to show respect for dogs. The boys eyes were gleaming with tears when Tess licked his face. The dad and I sat down and I let the boy walk Tess. I told him to come back next year and he could be my assistant. I never saw them again but the boy was dancing with joy when he left and I thanked him for asking to pet my dog. Wish more kids were like that.

 

Diane~

[desertranger]

It's strange Diane. I was out with Jin Thurs night at street fair and a bunch of kids came up and surrounded Jin and started to fawn over him. I would have thought that Jin was used to it by now but after a few mins he became agitated and his body said I'm going to snap at someone so I backed the kids off and told them Jin was getting cranky. There was one boy however who seeme to be (I'm guessing here) autistic and he would leave Jin alone despite my telling his mother please take him away. The kid just sat down and jin crawled into his lap and started kissing him. When his sister tried to pet Jin he growled at her and then went back to the boy. Amazing. It's like Jin knew that boy needed something special.

 

I'm just glad that no snarky dogs passed by since Jin was already in reactive mode due to a couple of other dogs. In Jins case since he wears a halti when he gets that way I pull him to one side telling him no and I drag him away while calming him down. Yet it seem hwever that somme people when their dogs start going out of control don't do anything to help the situation. The just let their dogs go crazy as if their afraid to stop them or to try to control the situation.

[Krambambuli]

Just shows you that bringing up kids who don't listen and dogs that don't listen isn't really very different .. ))

 

I hate meeting loose dogs -- Sky has gotten mauled several times. She's gone from a dog who was super excited to meet any dog, and very, very submissive towards them and friendly, to a dog who assumes the worst, unless she happens to already know the dog well. It's kinda sad. I often cross the street when possible, or wait at some distance. This is not how I had imagined walking my dog! Luckily most people are too busy or lazy to walk their dogs, so often we are alone on our trips around town.

[Tranquilis]

Amazing. It's like Jin knew that boy needed something special.

Not really all that surprised. Dogs understand us better than we understand ourselves, sometimes. Give Jin an extra 'Atta Boy.'

[Laurie S.]

It's strange Diane. I was out with Jin Thurs night at street fair and a bunch of kids came up and surrounded Jin and started to fawn over him. I would have thought that Jin was used to it by now but after a few mins he became agitated and his body said I'm going to snap at someone so I backed the kids off and told them Jin was getting cranky. There was one boy however who seeme to be (I'm guessing here) autistic and he would leave Jin alone despite my telling his mother please take him away. The kid just sat down and jin crawled into his lap and started kissing him. When his sister tried to pet Jin he growled at her and then went back to the boy. Amazing. It's like Jin knew that boy needed something special.

 

I'm just glad that no snarky dogs passed by since Jin was already in reactive mode due to a couple of other dogs. In Jins case since he wears a halti when he gets that way I pull him to one side telling him no and I drag him away while calming him down. Yet it seem hwever that somme people when their dogs start going out of control don't do anything to help the situation. The just let their dogs go crazy as if their afraid to stop them or to try to control the situation.

 

 

I know what you mean. Yesterday, I took Cheyenne into Pet Smart so she could show me which toys she wanted and buy her some treats. I usually don't take her in, but since I was picking up new toys I wanted her to choose. She loves people and other dogs and gets very excited around everyone wanting to get petted or play with the other dogs. She did pretty well while shopping with me doing "look at me" and having her in her traveling harness. But when I went to check out, a guy came in the store with a boxer mix and stood behind me about 10 feet back. Cheyenne started getting excited to go over to the dog so I put her between my legs against the counter to help hold her steady. It was working until the other dog started barking at her and jumping around. That only got Cheyenne even more wound up until suddenly she pulled out of her harness (and it was on tight). She knocked me over and I stopped her by falling on her and pinning her to the floor. The guy with the barking dog just stood there letting his dog bark more and more. I told the clerk she had pulled out of her harness and she yelled to lock the door in case Cheyenne tried to run out (which she wouldn't do). The other dog was going on so much that I needed help from another clerk to get the harness back on her. If that guy had only taken his barking dog away from us we would have been fine. I couldn't move because I was trying to pay for my items.

 

Once I got her outside away from that dog, she was fine again. Sometimes you just want to smack someone.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Actually, one of my bigger worries are people whom have inadequate leads or collars - I've seen a flexi-lead lose its brake under the pull of a large Rottie bitch (fortunately a good-natured girl), and a chainlink choke collar come apart in multiple shattered links under the lunge of a Am. Bulldog/Rottie mix (male, and fortunately another basically good-natured dog, if grossly under-trained). People don't let their dogs roam, but many don't seem to understand what makes a secure lead/collar combo. I really distrust flexi-leads.

 

I couldn't agree with this more! My current foster dog came to me with a plastic clasp collar and a flexi lead. She is about as tall as a mastif (she can very easily rest her chin on our dining room table and I am really surprised she doesn't counter surf) and a lean mean pulling machine. She's some sort of bc/husky/shep. cross and the power this dog has is unbelievable. There is NO way her owners had any control over her at all and that plastic clasp is just a problem waiting to happen!

[mbc1963]

Sometimes you just want to smack someone.

 

::Blushing:: What if you want to smack someone at least once a day?

 

Mary

[border_collie_crazy]

I couldn't agree with this more! My current foster dog came to me with a plastic clasp collar and a flexi lead. She is about as tall as a mastif (she can very easily rest her chin on our dining room table and I am really surprised she doesn't counter surf) and a lean mean pulling machine. She's some sort of bc/husky/shep. cross and the power this dog has is unbelievable. There is NO way her owners had any control over her at all and that plastic clasp is just a problem waiting to happen!

 

ahh yes the flexi's on big dogs! I had that happen, I was walking Ladybug one day and these kids were standing in a parking lot with a Husky on a flexi, the husky wanted to say hi to Ladybug(which was actually a friendly polite dog) and litteraly WALKED to ladybug the flexi breaking on her way, like she didnt even pull, the Flexi just offered zero resistance, it just broke at the slightest pressure. the kid RAN over and retrieved his dog and apologized, and the street had been blocked off that day for some church event, so it was nothing serious, but still, what if that happend one block up(which is a VERY busy street, known for speeding), and his dog felt like crossing the steet to greet someone, ambles accross the street and leash just gave way like that? when if if hadent been Ladybug that I had with me, what if it had been Happy or something?

[Malvie]

Makes me CRAZY.

 

I walk my three nice, sweet Border Collies around in our neighborhood. Because we live in town, I have them on leashes (it's an adventure!). They are good dogs, non-aggressive.

 

We go past this particular cul-de-sac, staying on the main drag (we don't go down the cul-de-sac).

 

Dude who lives there has a huge shepherd/lab mix. The dog is not that friendly. Dude sees no reason to leash his dog (I also know this idiot from the Homeowners Association. The next time we agree on anything will be the first).

 

So, I walk by with my 3 sweet little dogs and here comes Bruiser, growling, barking, showing teeth, and otherwise acting aggressively. I rein mine in, down them, and stand there. Dude finally (in no hurry) comes up to get his beast. He looks me up and down (I'm standing there with three downed dogs with wagging tails) and says, "What are you doing here?" Um, jerk, (a) this is a public street, and ( walking my dogs on a leash, which concept you don't seem to grasp.

 

People are just freaking clueless.

 

I think I will move out into the country somewhere and shoot any people who try to come around and just have dogs and horses.

[desertranger]

Save your time Malvie. There are people here who regularly let there unfriendly and untrained dogs loose on the greensward when a dozen or more dogs and people are out. They just seemed to think their dogs are going to stay nearby and then do nothing when fideaux decides to come and see what Jin and Abby are doing despite the fact we may be a couple of hundreds away and doing training.

 

Jin is always on at least a 25ft long lead, sometimes a 100ft that I can reach. It is very rare for e to turn Jiin loose without a leash. Abby on the other hand is the perfect off leash dog. She never wanders more than 50ft away, ignores other dogs and most important recalls immediately. In a gourp or crowd she's never more than 6ft away. Jin hasn't learned to hang in close yet, but he wil. In the meantinme long leads are the aswer and I wish more people would use them.

[Caerus]

I don't even like it when people let their dogs coming running up to me when I'm NOT walking my own dogs. I love greeting dogs that are under control (leashed or not), with owner permission, but that doesn't mean I want your manic labrador to come bounce off my chest.

 

I really distrust flexi-leads.

 

I hatehatehate flexis. And the place I see them the most around here is at horse shows of all things! I don't mind a well-behaved dog, but the dogs on flexis almost never are and it scares the bejeesus out of me. Imagine the damage if a flexi attached to a jumpy dog gets wrapped around even a fairly calm horse's leg. Yuck.