Very upset

[Stoney666]

9 month boy golden retriever was getting so much better at recall and although likes to say high to all dogs and owners he always comes back and people have got to know him. So today was the same but then he spotted a lady (I use the term loosely) with an off lead JR. I called I whistled the works and made my way over but she Screamed at me to get my dog so I moved faster, thickish and wellies just can't run :(. When I got over I said so sorry, he is only 9 months and not always a good doggy lol she screamed and swore at me told me to stop making excuses and that he jumped at her and she had a bad knee and god help me if he hurt her. I did tell her not to swear and shout but she went mad. I grabbed git dog and moved on. Another walker came to see if I was ok the screaming was tat loud. Apart from being extremely upset, I really can't see me ever letting him off lead again :((

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

Breathe. We've all been there. In theory none of us would ever let a dog off lead until we had 100 per cent recall. In practice you don't know if your dog has 100 per cent recall until you try... Mine is definitely not perfect and I still let him off, I'm just more practiced at 'reading' the park to try and predict what is going to distract him and manage to avoid incidents that way.

Wait until its miserable and raining and get yourself up to the park when its empty - do some training to reinforce recall and give yourselves a confidence boost, and steer clear of her in future!

[Principality]

Don't worry, she sounds like a vile woman.

Recall of teenage dogs can always be a bit Dodgey. Just keep practising, maybe do a bit of work with a long line.

But I really wouldn't let her foul ranting bother you.

[SpicyPear]

She sounds like a cow. Definitely recommend a 10m long line if you're concerned though. Leave it trailing, attached to harness and you can stamp on it if he looks like he's about to shoot off up to another dog or person. Really helped us with recall with a dog that ran up to other dogs.

[Stoney666]

Thanks all. I'm a little calmer now lol and git dog is hiding on the sofa . Will go back to basics (yet again) and hope to never see horrid woman again

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Bah, you're not a proper dog owner until you've met your first dog walking loon I think we've all been there. The fact that the other walker approached you afterwards suggests that she was off the scale.

[MrsZoidberg]

Bah, you're not a proper dog owner until you've met your first dog walking loon - I second this.

My first loon story - she called the police on me - my rather large GSD went to say hello to her small posh looking dog - it was on a lead, mine wasn't, so my fault. But even though I was only a couple of feet away, I couldn''t catch my brute because the loon was spinning in circles with her dog flying around on the end of the lead and mine, desperately trying to sniff its bum, was following. She was screaming and hitting him with her bag, and spinning away, and looking back it was comical, but at the time I was seriously stressed.

She then let go of her dog's lead which promptly scappered. She ran after it - LEAVING HER THREE YEAR OLD SON STANDING THERE with my big scary dangerous dog!

She took her dog to the vet and made them xray it - nothing found. I took mine to the vet to have all the bite marks on his legs dealt with - when the vet heard the story, he was instantly checking my dog all over as her breed of dog (its rare and I don't want to out myself) is renown for its viciousness.

My son unfortunately went to school with hers, so I had to cope with the loon on and off for the next 6 months until we moved.

I hope you can avoid your loon - but I agree with the other posters - how can you know your dog has 100% recall, until you let him off.

[Floralnomad]

TBH it sounds like she went OTT but did your dog jump up? I know it's difficult but it is a bit off when other people's muddy dogs jump up , there is a woman near us who walks her dog in a cream coloured coat and I live in fear that one day my dog will cover her in muddy footprints. Fortunately my terrier is a bit of a loner and doesn't approach dogs when he's off lead .

[Shalloween]

Not everyone wants to say hi to your dog however much he would like to say hi to them.

In law your dog is considered out of control not just if it injures someone but if it makes someone concerned that it could injure them. The woman shouldn't have been so rude, but a seemingly out of control, big, bouncy dog tearing towards her was probably not what she hoped or when she set out for her morning stroll.

The fact that you told her you know he's not always "a good doggy lol" but still let him do that would have tested the patience of a saint, let alone a frightened lady with a bad knee and a small dog.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

My most looniest dog walking loon, was not a dog person. He was just an old, miserable man who likes shouting at women I think.

I had my terrier on his bike lead in the park, it is legal to ride bikes on the path in this park and clearly sign posted that the paths are cycle and pedestrian paths, still I slowed down when I passed this man. My dog, who was having a whale of a time, was far too busy watching his distance from the bike and trying to pull the bike faster to pay any attention to the man.

Cue man hollering "That is illegal! How dare you drag that poor dog around like that! I am going to report you for cruelty! You evil bitch. Your dog should be removed from you! And your kids too, if you have any!" Bare in mind that I have just stated the dog is trying to pull me so he can go faster, his tail is upright and wagging (well what is left of it is) and his face relaxed. Clearly a happy dog.

I assume he then waited for me coming back because he was still in the same spot when we were on our way back, he then followed me home telling my dog "It's okay, I am going to save you. You won't be dragged around on that bike any more, you poor thing, look at you. You don't have to suffer anymore"

After this he told me "I know where you live now. I am calling the police and the RSPCA when I get home!"

I never did hear anymore about it. For some reason I seem to attract insane people. My walks are always eventful

[midori1999]

I'm sorry you;re upset, but a 9 month old male Golden is at least a 30KG dog and despite being a dog lover, I would personally be pissed right off if someone let their dog run over and jump all over me and then came out with the excuse that he was only a puppy. If you'd said 'oh my god, I'm so sorry', I might have more sympathy for you.

It is simply not good enough to not accept your dog's poor recall and by doing this you are allowing his recall to be crap. He needs to be kept on a longline or extending lead until he will come back immediately every single time and you really need to work on this.

Sorry if this seems harsh, accidents do happen, but it seems like you think it's acceptable as he's a puppy and it isn't.

[CalamityKate]

I agree that it happens to most of us BUT I agree with Midori - you should always apologise.

It infuriates me when people watch their dog bound over to "play", or stand there shouting "He won't hurt you, he's only a puppy/just wants to say hello" or whatever.

If they make an effort to get the dog back, and/or apologise, I don't mind a bit. Nobody's infallible.

I've been on the other end loads of times in the early days with my dog, but I always apologised profusely. In fact at times it would have been easier if people were LESS friendly - it's really annoying when you're trying to recall your dog and someone's going "Oh, it's OK! I don't mind him jumping up! Hello! Ooh have a treat...." etc

On one occasion I was walking down a fairly narrow path through the woods and my dog was among the trees chasing squirrels. Coming the other way was a woman with a small fluffy thing on a lead. My dog emerged from the woods right where the woman and dog were, and sniffed the little dog nicely. The little dog sniffed nicely back. All happy and fine. Whereupon the woman GRABBED her dog and swooped it up into the air, causing it to emit a startled squeak.

This, in effect, turned the small fluffy dog from a dog into a small, fluffy squeaky toy, given that the woman was sort of waving it around. So my dog stood on her hind legs to sniff it some more. Whereupon the woman kicked out at my dog.

It all happened so quickly, and my dog came away as soon as I'd gathered my wits enough to call her. Fault on both sides I guess; possibly I should have called her to me from the woods as soon as I spotted the other lady approaching, just in case... but I didn't think she'd emerge at precisely the moment they passed. But I still think the other woman overreacted massively. Her dog seemed absolutely fine with other dogs but I'd guess, if she's still picking it up when another dog comes near, it isn't any more :(

[Stoney666]

I apologised profusely and I was extremely ashamed of him BUT I felt very threatened by her she was swearing and screaming in my face I thought at one point she was going to hit me!! Dog will be on a lead from now on and I doubt we will walk in that place again as she has scared the living day lights out of me. So yes I'm a bad owner but I really don't think her behaviour was acceptable

[Floralnomad]

She was OTT ,don't be put off letting him off ,just pick your moments better ie no mad old ladies near by! My dog is 2.5 and his recall is a bit dubious ,I don't know if he doesn't know his name or whether he just doesn't want to admit to it in public. So I perfected a down and wait command and then I go to him ,it works really well and then I just walk to him.

[neontetra]

You are not a bad owner - from my experiences out walking my dog, few owners (myself included) have absolutely 100% reliable recall whatever the circumstances. Hats off to those who do! Your recall will get better as you practise more and dog gets older - I would reward, reward, reward if I were you. The woman who swore at you sounds ignorant and vile - unless your dog had bitten her and she was in agony it is utterly ott. The most upset I've ever been by someone's dog was when a big lab jumped up at me when I was heavily pregnant and hurt my tummy - I still confined myself to just giving the owner a slightly wounded look. And she didn't even say sorry!

[Stoney666]

Thanks will work harder on everything. Incidentally she wasn't an old lady lol she was probably in 30s x

[Floralnomad]

Sorry that's me stereotyping JRT owners with bad knees - very bad of me !

[Stoney666]

Lol

[Actuallylookingok]

Watching with interest here. I love dogs but really am unhappy when they jump up at me, usually laddering my tights/covering me with slobber/mud/hair etc, esp when coupled with a 'don't worry she won't hurt you' from the owner. That said, I am too well mannered to swear and shout, that's bonkers..., an apology from the dog owner is appreciated. My 4 yo DS was out walking with me and a dog ran up and bit him on the arm, completely unprovoked. Luckily it was winter and DS was wearing thick jumper and puffa jacket, so just a bruise. The owner said 'he's usually so friendly'! I suppose he could have mistaken DS for an inflatable alien, given the wadding, but I've always been very wary since and DS knows not to touch any unfamiliar dog and I expect them not to touch him either.

[hoodoo12345]

I have been on both sides of this situation during 20 years of dog owning.
Most recently two days ago on a street, an off lead staff charging at my on lead dogs across a busy road completely ignoring its idiotic owner, my dogs have been attacked by staffs in the past so they are VERY wary of them, cue my terrified dogs nearly ripping my arms out of their sockets and tangling leads trying to get away, with a circling staff
Was not impressed and told the owner if she has no control her dog should be on a lead only to be told by her," i don't need a lead as i am the leader."
which needless to say didn't impress me much!
My DD was also knocked flying into the mud by a big dog when she was 2, i nearly came to blows over that one...
But on the other hand i have has some embarrassing situations with my dogs too, nobody (or dog) is perfect, its all part of the joy of dog ownership

[JRsandCoffee]

As long as you apologised I think you just need to put it down to experience. I've got a JR who was moseying along on a slippy, muddy path at the edge of a field with me the other day when he made eye contact with and got launched at by a retriever of a similar age, I had him on the lead at the time. She's a big girl bless her and very bouncy, the owner did her best to call her back and failed and seeing her coming I let him off the lead so that he would lead her away from me (I'm 8 months pregnant) which he did but they still kind of whirled around a bit while I stuck my walking stick (carried for such instances as well as the mud) into the ground and tried not to fall over!!! Was just one of those things, how else do you train them? Mine is still not entirely perfect which is why he's sometimes on the lead.......you just have to learn the point of "grab" so to speak to try and avoid trouble, sometimes easier said than done!

[NotMostPeople]

I have a young dog who is a jumper. We are having one to one dog training with her and if I see someone coming I put her on the lead but sometimes someone just appears. Although her recall is great in every other situation if she sees people she dashes off and jumps (fortunately she's not a big dog). I always apologies and have also offered to give me number/address for cleaning bills. One of my problems is people being very friendly with her and encouraging it, even when I explain that I'm training her to stop.

Obviously it's not right and dogs shouldn't jump but you can't not walk your dog off the lead for the rest of it's life. How else is it going to learn?

[NotMostPeople]

give me number? Goodness me, give MY number.

[Stoney666]

He's been on lead ever since albeit a long lead. On Tuesday he saw a couple of buddies, nearly ripped my arm off and pulled me on to the floor lol I have been in agony ever since I try so so hard but he wants to say hello to everyone. On the pavement he's fine but off road he wants to be off lead. I will get there, I'm doing all I can. Haven't walked where I saw abusive woman since

[cathpip]

She was rather over the top with the abuse, but you do have a large puppy. Keep working on the recall and have you thought about distraction for when he sees another dog/person, (if on a lead getting him to sit and watch you for a tit bit untill the person/dog has walked past). I have a 10 month old cocker and his dad and if the pup does not come back to his recall he goes on a lead for 5 mins its the worse punishment possible as far as he is concerned!