To tell Dog owners control you fecking dogs!

[Wishfulmakeupping]

I'll get flamed I don't care. I'm fed up of people letting their dogs run wild just had another dog clamour all over me when I'm walking down the street with a 'sorry' from the owner again this happens to often. Last week a dog off its lead stuck its head near my child pram.
Its simple if you can't control your dog off its lead then keep it on its lead until you get to the park.
I think I'm going to go nuclear next time :(

Why do people keep using the word leash? Surely that's an American term

You don't unlead a dog though, you unleash it.

I am not a dog lover but when running it's generally others runners dogs who are best trained/behaved in my experience.

No rifles in the guardhouse?
What do they do, shout loudly at a baddie?

Pretty much. Daft isn't it (way back in the mists of time I remember being given a pick axe handle to carry on the gate in NI because men could be armed, but women couldn't - now that was terrible )

I don't unleash, I take the lead off
:o

I am a dog owner and agree with you. I have 2 dogs, 1 is very in your face and would run around everywhere and we would never be off the lead when we are out. My little goes off the lead but simply because his scared of everyone and won't go 2 foot from my side let alone go up to anyone. When we was out walking on Sunday there was a very big dog off the lead and the owner couldn't control him I had to pick my little dog up and still he was jumping up. If you can't control your dog keep on a lead or out of public places.

I have had one bad experience with my dog , who is getting on a bit now and is 98% on recall . I was walking through a local beauty spot , as we went round a corner a nice family were walking towards me , parents and children , at the exact same time as i saw them , my dog saw a squirrel on the path behind the family and he set off hell for leather to get the squirrel , hurtling straight at the nice family . Now he is a large dog and all i could think of was to point and scream squirrel at the poor people , my dog swerved round them and shot off after squirrel . I was truly mortified and apologised profusely to them all , they were very very good about it . But now i always keep my dog on a lead unless i can see whats ahead of us , if i see anyone coming he goes straight on the lead .

' I was truly mortified and apologised profusely to them all '

I find this makes a huge difference, and the fact that you changed your practice when out in future. Much more reassuring than yelling 'What's your problem?' at a startled group.

It was awful goblinchild because they couldn't see the squirrel , all they saw was a massive dog running straight towards them . They just sort of huddled together as he shot past them , and they were so very kind , when i deserved the bollocking of all bollockings for it .

Unleash? I'd say "take its lead off".

My dog is a ball chaser, that all he is interested and yet we cannot take him out without other dogs chasing him and owners of small dogs finding it very cute. So now I cannot take my youngest DC with us unless we go for a leashed walk. Owners were we live see having a dog as a social experience rather than caring and training their dog. They stand and chat while their dogs run wild.

Actually, the point upthread about assistance dogs is interesting - do guide dogs and the like get to exercise their sacred 'doggy right' to run around without a lead on? And if not, isn't that an infringement on their dog-person-ness?

Guide / assistance dogs do get off-lead time, yes. It's part of basic animal welfare.

On the RSPCA website.

Exercise is important for dogs and the RSPCA recommend that you should provide your dog with access to a suitable place where it can exercise at least once a day. A suitable place is somewhere that it can explore, play and meet other dogs if appropriate.

It is a bit hard for dogs to explore and play while on a lead. I know some dogs must be kept on leads (and many more should be) but if they are well trained and socialised then surely space can be shared?

My dogs will not approach you and if I met anyone even slightly nervous I would happily put them on a lead.

I hate the term fur baby. They are dogs and should be treated as such but they are part of my family. Sometimes watching them run after a ball or sniffing around the woods is the best part of my day.

Yes Rommell, they do. One of the MOD owned fields where I live (and have free run of) is 'booked' regularly for assistance dog training. 'Normal' dog owners are asked to attend as well, because the assistance dogs need to be bomb proof as much as possible, against kids and other dogs. I see a local dog walker exercising two guide dogs that I know every morning - I assume that is because the 'user' cannot do that for them.

The same fields are used to exercise the bomb dogs at my unit. They have a very important and intense job, so need some 'down time' when they can just have fun or run at top speed.

Dogs brains need exercising as much as their bodies do. Running, sniffing, stalking and playing exercise their brains - like a crossword or a book exercises ours. Some dogs are particularly good at learning 'tricks', especially using clicker training, this is good for their brain as well. I 'hide' DD in the fields and send MuttDogg to seek her, or I walk out early and hide a particular toy or treat for her to find. I find she is much more settled and well behaved the more she has to do.

LtEve - Dog1 loves tracking although it isn't something we trained much in sometimes I get someone to take dog2 out and have dog1 find her. After 30 minutes of solid sniffing and the joyful reunion at the end, he is tired out!

When nephew is a bit older I will 'hide' him. Good idea!

I have 2 staffords who are well trained and have fantastic recall. A few weeks ago I took said pooches for a walk and my 2yo bitch went to the corner to have a look, then came back and tugged at my coat. I went to investigate what was wrong and followed the furry one, found a woman with her child with a huge gash on her head and child wasn't conscious. The mother was frantic so I got her to sit and stroke/hug the dogs to calm her a bit while I tended to the LO. I asked the mother what happened and the child was fine, then just tripped over, banged her head and didn't get up. The woman didn't have her mobile with her as it was at home on charge, so I phoned for an ambulance since the child was only 3yo.

Anyway, I totally forgot about giving the woman my mobile number and received a call from her the other day as I wanted to know how her LO was when she got to hospital. Turns out she knew my DB and got my address from him. Needless to say, she turned up with her LO, a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine to say thanks for helping her. She has now decided to get a stafford from the local rescue because she was so impressed with the comfort my 2 staffs gave her while I was sorting out her DD. She did admit that she wanted to come over to have a cuddle with my furry friends . She stayed for quite a bit, had copious amounts of tea and her LO made firm friends with the dogs and my DC.

Nowadays when she come over to visit, the LO quite enjoys romping about with the dogs and my 2yo bitch is quite protective of her, but that could be down to the fact that she has had 2 litters and is quite maternal to smaller animals and people. It also goes to show that with the right guidance, love and training, staffies are an incredibly loving dogs and can be an asset to any family.

Meant to put that she came to my house the day after her phone call to me. Apologies for any confusion.

Well I had a very bad run in with a jogger today. My puppy is 7 months old and I have been training her and still am. Usually she is very good on recall with treats but today she chased a horrible man who was quite nasty. She kept barking at him and he started growling and trying to kick her. I was very apologetic and very upset myself that my dog was misbehaving. He just shouted I should not let her off if I can't control her. I know I will have to keep her on the lead from now on as can't guarantee that she will not do it again even though I had been confident before that she would come back to me. She is a miniature schnauzer. Can anyone give me any advice please its really shaken my confidence with her. I thought of this thread straightaway!

Keep her on the lead, don't let her chase joggers and don't refer to some poor bloke as a horrible, nasty man because he objected to your dog interfering with his run.

Kerstina, I doubt you'll get much training advice on this thread - try The Doghouse section for experienced dog owner tips.

I would suggest working on a down/stay, then once you've got that nailed do some running around/past your dog so he realises that running doesnt' = chasing, then repeating the exercise in public so he knows it applies to joggers/kids as well. Using treats, lots of eye contact focus etc.

I would also suggest a long line. Retractable lines are looked down on on MN, although used properly they are just long lines that don't drag in the mud/poo etc. Use for training recall, not 'rat on a string' walks, and I think they have their place.

'Kerstina, I doubt you'll get much training advice on this thread - try The Doghouse section for experienced dog owner tips.'

Good point.

Kerstina, don't worry too much, she's still young and working things out. Perhaps a good judge of character too.
Work on your 'I really mean it tone of voice' and reward good behaviour.
Ignore the dog-haters too. They have no souls.

'Ignore the dog-haters too. They have no souls.'

That's us, souless dog-haters who dislike being harrassed. Monsters in human form, the personification of Stranger Danger for doggies.

'Snap at me dog, and you'll be a hot-dog as fast as I can toast a bun'

Haven't read all the posts yet, but I agree totally OP.

Last weekend we went for a walk round our local lake. For the first time we thought we'd let our 18m old walk rather than go in the buggy (though we obvs had buggy with us). Sadly our walk was spoilt as we had a couple with a Rottweiler, not on a lead, hot on our heels and our older two were freaking out and we were so worried about something happening to our little girl we put her in the buggy. It was such a shame. Not saying these people and their dog had no right to be there but this is a place where families go every weekend, it's full of little kids, and there just seemed to be no consideration.

As for the school run round here, it's more like a 'dog run and I'll swing by and pick up my kids while I'm at it'. Drives me mad.