managing (large) puppies

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

and I do not mean breasts btw.

This is actually 'is my dh being unreasonable' as I was not there - anyway - we went out a couple of weeks ago for a sunday walk around a local (v popular) nature reserve and a well used gravelled path around it. DH went on ahead with dd and ds as they are learning to use their bikes and I strolled with dd2 as she is 2 and flatly refuses to ride her trike for more than 5 minutes. So I was not with them when they met a large puppy coming the opposite direction. DD1 is 5 and prone to nervous reactions around dogs and as she is still v wobbly on her bike she is very nervous aboput falling off. So when the puupy came bounding up barking and jumping up at her she screamed and stumbled back. No real harm done fortunately and the dog was being friendly in his own way, but dh expected the owner to bring said puppy to heel and apologise.

She half-heartedly pulled puppy off dd and when dh spoke to her she became defensive and blamed dd for squealing and scaring the puppy! Dh said she did apologise 'sort of' then stormed off but as they had met half way round the route they bumped into each other again at the end. Dh commented (v sarcastically knowing dh) that she had the puppy on a lead now at least and she huffed and puffed about it and said 'yes, now there are people around'. But there are always people around as this is a very well used reserve with a bike hire place and cafe/ conference centre lots of bikes going round and families and untrained dogs are a danger to themselves and cyclists. Plenty of dog owners use the paths but they are generally on leads and no problem - there are also wide open spaces suitable for letting them run off the lead.

Dh took note of her car reg and contacted the police to ask them to remind her of the responsibilities of dog ownership - which they did.

I know if I had been in dh's position I would not have been so confident about calling her on her behaviour and would never have thought to call the police. But I do think he was right.

I am having a mental picture of a puppy sitting there, hanging its head in shame whilst a stern policeman tells it off. If it is anything like our dog, it is doing sad face, but there is a little waggle of the tail going on, in the hopes that it will be forgiven soon because it knows how damned appealing it is.

You called the police?!?

And your husband took the opportunity to make smart-@rsed comments when he met her for a second time?

You all sound lovely.

Incidentally, I was knocked over by an over-friendly dog when I was about 3. I landed in broken glass and was scared of dogs for many years. I still have a scar on my leg from the incident. It was an accident. There was no need for any confrontation. And certainly no need to involve the police! It has never occured to me to blame anyone for the incident (except maybe whoever thought leaving broken glass in a children's play area was a good idea). It was a park. The dog was playing. I was a kid and ran, so it chased me.

@SDTG.
You've just given me a mental picture of mine, and I'm giggling as I type.

"It is not the dog that caused the problem - it was the owner - he called the police to speaker to the puppies owner not to the puppy! If you see the distinction - I think it is an important one."

Er, well thanks for clarifying that. I do actually see the distinction because I'm not a fucking moron. You and your DH both come across as very strange. I bet you were both the kind of kids to tell tales weren't you?

wow Rhinestone - that is harsh I think I might cry. Whatever you think of me and dh - I was reiterating the point as some posts implied we were out to get the dog and I thought I needed to make my position clear.

Clearly dh and I are petty mean minded dog haters who phone the police at a drop of a hat and mainly enjoy twitching our curtains and noting registrations of an evening. I quite enjoy how far from reality that is.

probably got a big police dog round to give it a good barking talking to .

YANBU to be annoyed about puppy jumping up but to call police was OTT.

Also children who shriek round dogs get right in my neves - dog thinks great they want to play .

lessons learnt :

teach your DD how to act round dogs
Dont waste police time with such crap,
Dog owner has probably learnt her lesson too

You took the words out of my mouth Bigmouth.

Gosh, do you all put your dogs on a lead till they have perfect recall?

Mine is pretty good around kids but runs off to other male dogs, the little slut

In fact we have just come back from a glorious walk, where we met a male dog on a lead. My baby ran up to him wagging her tail with anticipation of lovely doggie anal hellos. The boy was not interested and growled at her. She is not a shy one around the boys and continued wagging and sniffing a bit saying please let's play. The owner gave us a very dirty look as if to say 'control your dog' and pulled his away.

OP, I understand your DH felt upset that the lady was not in full control of her dog but as others have said, these things happen and no reason to get the police involved.

Also no reason for some of the posters to mouth off to the OP either. Some of the stuff said to her is quite mean and unwarranted, imho

The fact the lady was not in full control of the dog was not the problem either to be honest - it was the fact that she clearly felt it was not a problem and therefore would no doubt let it happen again. One day it will be a grown up dog and she needs to make sure it knows how to behave. For the dogs sake as much as anyone elses.

Sigh - I do not mind the name calling tbh - it is umm ott - but why does that sound familiar...

Well - to be honest, we didn't put ours on the lead until her recall was perfect, flatbread, but we are lucky enough to live somewhere where there are plenty of open spaces that are mainly used by the local dog owners and their dogs, so it isn't such an issue for us. I do think that you should make sure that the recall is mainly reliable before you let your puppy off the lead in an area where there are likely to be cyclists/walkers/children - though as other posters have said, even the best behaved puppy can have a lapse.

As we speak, dh is out with ddog and ddog's best friend, and they will be running freely through the woods, aiming for the river (or for fox shit to roll in if they can find it - apparently that is what the well-dressed floozy lady labrador rubs behind her ears when she wishes to make a good impression on any gentlemen labradors she may meet). She is a bit of a tart, tbh.

I'm just interested in what the police will have said to the puppy's owner.

The area was an 'off lead' area. (OP said this on duplicate thread.) Whether the owner had lost control of the puppy is a moot point. Hopefully the police will have issued words of advice, but the owner doesn't have to accept them.

Tbh it's best to stick to 'on lead' areas with children who are scared of dogs. In my town there are mostly 'on lead' green spaces, with two well known 'off lead' runs for dogs.

We are in the Cun'try and there is little 'on lead' space tbh - and as I am not a dog owner I do not take much notice - I assume there is a strong chance we will come across some off lead dogs whereever we go as that is our experience iyswim. The nature reserve is designed for and encourages cyclists, walkers and dog owners and all and is well and harmoniously used most of the time.

What would I do if a child shrieked at my dogs? Well, I have 3, all adult, all large breeds and all recall trained. GSD1 is bombproof, GSD2 scared shitless easily and Lab old and grumpy, just like me.

So if they were shrieked at it would VERY VERY likely be just because they were there and the shrieking child would get a very firm explanation as to why their behaviour was unnecessary and unhelpful and probably a bollocking as well - just as my own children would have had they acted in the same way.

Don't work, Beer.

Beer tricks, is it this one
www.punchcartoons.com/p2193/Naughty-Puppy-Punishment/product_info.html

Huge overeaction imo, the dog was excited not vicious. No need to call the police, your husband had made his point by then.

Best thing you can do for your DD is to teach her that there is no need to be scared just because a dog comes near her. Most dogs are friendly. So glad my 3 year old loves dogs and has never been scared of any she's met. Mind you she knows the number one rule: never, ever pet a dog without asking it's owner first.

Your dh sounds like an arse.

You say she sorted the dog out and put it on a lead, so basically your dh phoned the police because he didn't like her. She wasn't apologetic or smiley enough. But what she acually did was fine.

Ridiculously OTT reaction.

How do you expect puppies to be trained without ever being let off the lead? For all you know, she had been going to puppy classes and the dog was quite good at recall in practice, but there is always going to be a nervous first time to let them off.

Absolutely agree bubbles.

I would have to question your DH's motives for calling the police - it certainly doesn't sound like he did it out of concern that she wasn't able to manage her dog, after all it was on a lead and under control at the time of the second exchange. He sounds spiteful and vindictive.