So angry!!

[ellangirl]

Sorry, really need to rant. So, my puppy walking nicely on lead through the small car park where I am going to go for a walk. Car drives up to park. Dogs in the boot are hurling themselves at the window watching us walking. Man goes to the boot of his car and says 'watch yourself when I let these out'. I ask 'are they going to be alright with the puppy?' He says, 'oh yes, they just want to play'. Well did they want to play my a**e! All four rushed straight up snarling and growling and bowled her right over. The stupid idiot man was still trying to say 'oh they just want to play'. The puppy was screaming her head off totally petrified. I am so cross!!
As I own a grumpy dog as well, if she ever gets a chance to have a go at another dog I at least blooming well apologise and remove her pronto from the situation! I am trying so hard to make sure the puppy is well socialised and has good manners. What is the best thing to do if she is frightened by a situation like this? How do I make sure she doesn't develop some kind of behavioural problem herself? We met another dog shortly afterwards who snarled at the puppy too, and the owners said 'oh she was attacked, so now she doesn't like other dogs'. How do dogs learn to cope with stressful situations like today without becoming nervous in the future?
Thanks for any thoughts on this!!

[DooinMeCleanin]

Numpty!

We had a numpty outside the school on Friday. Tied her bloody to the fence out of her sight and then buggered off for a chat with the teacher

Obviously all the children rushed to him, including dd2, who really should know better. I had Whippy with me and had no choice to but to bring Whippy closer to get dd2 away, as I hate her being near unsupervised dogs, as soon the dog spotted Whippy all hell broke loose. It started growling and trying to slip it's collar knocking dd2 and another little one over

The woman came out and half heartedly apologised saying he was good with kids, but not other dogs. Had it not been for the all the children and the fact that dd2 was shaking with fear, I'd have swore at her. Stupid fuckwit. Why tie a dog to a fence and then leave him when you know he is aggressive towards other dogs, especially where there will be children around, not to mention the fact that you cannot predict how your dog will behave when you are not there.

Some people do not a clue do they? I hope your pup is okay and it hasn't put her socialising back too far.

You need to find bomb proof dogs to meet your pup. Where abouts are you? There might be some mumsnetters around you who could help, otherwise book her into puppy class.

[mdoodledoo]

My Goldie pup was attacked suddenly on a walk about a year ago - it wasn't even a bad attack as no actual biting happened but he's naturally a big softie so screamed his head off and came to me as soon as he could get past the other dog.

Since that day he's much more wary of other dogs and will usually take the approach to sit completely still while he gauges the other dog's response to him. Once he's confident of not being attacked he'll start to sniff and eventually play. But - and this is a year later and he's still developing his confidence. That one incident has certainly affected him. We work hard at gently reassuring him while trying to let him develop his own coping skills; and of course letting him meet lots of other dogs so that he learns how to read situations, and learns who wants to have a lovely play and who doesn't.

Your pup may have had a confidence knock but will be fine & that man was a bloody idiot who gives those of us who are more responsible a bad name! Numpty indeed!

[CoffeeIsMyFriend]

That man is a total idiot! He would have got the sharp end of my tongue I can tell ya! Both my GSDs have been bitten by staffie dogs and both are a little wary now of black staffies.

I would take your puppy out for another short walk, praise good behaviour and if you come across another dog just ignore it, walk straight by. I suppose it is like falling off a horse - you have to get straight back on to confront your fear.

OR If you know anyone with non aggressive dogs maybe ask them to meet you and do some parallel walking and then maybe a play.

I swear, if I had £1 for every fuckwit dog owner out there I meet out and about I would be a very rich woman!

[ellangirl]

Thanks for your help. She is already going to puppy class, but I wouldn't say that the other dogs and puppies there are bomb proof as they take rescue dogs too, and a lot of them are very unsure of things.
Before the pup goes up to another dog, I always ask the owner if it is ok. (unlike a good number of owners that allow their dog to rush up without checking it's ok, but that's another story....) I am very surprised at the number that say 'ooh, it should be ok, but such and such happened when they were a puppy so they're a bit funny about x' There are an awful lot of screwed up dogs out there aren't there! I really want to make my pup bomb proof with really good doggy communication so she doesn't become screwed up too!

[DooinMeCleanin]

'There are an awful lot of screwed up dogs out there aren't there!' not really, no. Dogs are easily trainable, even after a bad experience. I would agree with 'there are an awfull lot of lazy owners out there aren't there!'

You don't sound like a lazy owner, your dog will be fine. Talk to the trainer at puppy class about it. My three are rescues. Two are excellent with other dogs, one can be over excitable, but friendly. We are working on this issue.

[ellangirl]

Fair point dooin. I really do want to do as much good socialisation as possible with her such that even if she does have a bad experience (which are unavoidable with aforementioned numpty owners out there), she can cope with it.