To have ranted at this professional dog-walker?

[Collaron]

Beautiful day here today, went for a picnic and dog-walk with a friend. We were sitting at the picnic table in the woods, ddog under the table waiting for any crumbs or sneaky titbits. A dog-walker passes on the path with a flock of dogs - 7 in all - and one of them, a young spaniel runs over to our table and starts jumping around at me trying to get my sandwich. Dog walker call to the dog 'come here' but it doesn't come. I tell it sternly to 'get down!' I hate dogs jumping up but I was also worried that ddog might get defensive at it (it was obviously quite a young dog)
Dog then climbs on to the seat next to me and tries to snaffle food from the table. I get hold of the dog's harness and pull it back to the ground again saying sternly 'get down!' while glaring at the walker who is just staying put with his flock and calling out 'come here' in a lame way.

Finally the dog runs back to him and i'm turning back to my friend when the man calls out in a sarcastic tone 'okay now? Panic over is it?'
I turned back to him and said 'you should have your dog under control'.
him: He is under control!
me: You called it and it didn't come so it isn't under control is it? You shouldn't be walking so many when you can't control them.
him: oh for god's sake, i'm sick of people like you telling me my job! Your dog's perfect is it?
me: no he's not perfect but he's under control. When i call him he comes back to me!
him: (walking away, calling out) yeah, you're perfect aren't you
me: (shouting after him) you couldn't even apologise!
him: (turning back) why should I apologise? He didn't do anything you stupid woman!
me: He was jumping all over me you stupid git!
him: (walking away again) oh push off!
me: (shouting after him) I wouldn't let you walk my dog, you're not a responsible person!
him: I wouldn't accept your dog you stupid woman!
He walked away still gobbing off but I couldn't hear him any more

If he hadn't come out with the sarky comment I would have left it but I felt goaded to retaliate. Once he was gone I would have forgotten all about it but friend went very quiet and said she wanted to get back home. I apologised for the shouting and she said she was embarrassed and perhaps I had 'anger issues'.

Actually I do have anger issues but in this case I think I was justified?

I don't get why some dog owners think this is ok. That strangers should be accepting of their poorly trained dogs crap behaviour. Just because you love them doesn't mean anyone else does. I've got a dog. There's no way I'd let my dog run off and hassle other people. Some dog owners really are wankers.

Sorry, I couldn't help but giggle a little at this, though I'm sure the confrontation was really uncomfortable at the time! Love that you refer to your pooch as DDog 😍 Your friend sounds rather melodramatic but perhaps it made her anxious so who knows. YANBU for being annoyed by the dog, though I personally wouldn't have engaged with the arsey dog walker!

These dog walkers are just greedy taking so many dogs in one go. I saw one with six dogs the other day. How can anyone have proper control of that many and how can they possibly get a decent quality walk ?

If the walker had done what most owners do in these circs - come over to get their dog and apologise - that would have been the end of it.

The reason why he probably didn't come over and get the dog was if he did all 6 of the other dogs would follow too and you'd be surrounded by his pack of 7 dogs potentially sending you into complete hysterics.

It was better he kept his distance.

Dog walking multiple dogs isn't easy, I'd imagine he knows his pack and trusts they are not aggressive towards other dogs or people and will usually recall to the pack.
It wasn't ideal how the young dog approached looking for food but it does sound as if you were rather intolerant and over reacted.

If it really bothered you and you were significantly concerned about the lack of control and potential danger you'd have made an effort to identify his business name. No point in ranting like a loon in the woods.

Hopefully, there won’t be a next time but if there is I suggest you hold on to the dog, check it’s collar for a name and number and then call the owner to complain. They may be more receptive. Actually, the dog walker might behave better as soon as he realizes your intention to contact the owners.

*Dog then climbs on to the seat next to me and tries to snaffle food from the table. I get hold of the dog's harness and pull it back to the ground again saying sternly 'get down!' while glaring at the walker who is just staying put with his flock and calling out 'come here' in a lame way.

Finally the dog runs back to him*

Ahh.. There we go. No harm done. WTF is this an issue for MN??

Uncreative that’s a very good idea! Can just imagine how unimpressed the owner would be to receive a phone call from someone saying “I have your dog, it at my ham sandwich” when they thought the dog walker was looking after it.

Not sure what isla’s issue here is. She seems particularly defensive of this dog .

So what if dogs are pack animals? Human courtesy comes first. It's the responsibility of a dog owner/walker to ensure the dog doesn't annoy people.

Not sure what isla’s issue here is. She seems particularly defensive of this dog

Isla has no issue with this 'dog' . I couldn't give a rats arse about the puppy/young dog/OP's rant.... Op invited opinions. I gave mine... What's your problem??

If a dog has not got recall then it should not be running around harrassing people. By law your dog should be under control, that dog wasnt by any stretch of the imagination.

Which part of that is too dificult to understand?

And as he said he wished people would stop telling him his job its bloody obvious op wasnt the first to complain to him about his and the dogs he walks behaviour.

Why are people defending someone who has a job which should be making sure that the dogs they have are not a menace to people but they obviously are not doing this? 7 dogs is a huge responsibility, he isnt doing himself any favours insulting people when his dogs are annoying them.

Loving the idea that op should abandon her picnic and her friend and trail the guy through the wood until he eventually returned to his van just to get his name!

Very annoying dog and unreasonable dog walker.
Still, I think you got too dramatic, OP and made it a bigger deal than it needed to be.

If you have gone to the trouble of preparing food for a picnic you aren't going to want a dog to come over and slobber all over it.

Also going out with 7 off lead dogs strikes me as a really stupid thing to do.

Uncreative that's a very sensible idea but it would worry me that he might get even more confrontational if he thought he was going to be reported. As someone said upthread, I highly doubt he would have been so gobby if he'd been talking to a man.

@collarin You have to make your own on-the-spot judgement as to safety. I think it would work because he would need to be able to justify himself to his employer/the dog owner otherwise lose the job. There is always the option of making a complaint after he has left if you have the owner’s number.

In response to the posts that say the dog wasn't doing any harm... That's not the point.

It could have eaten something toxic (raisins), it could have been bitten by OPs dog if it was feeling anxious/under threat or in another situation, it could have run out in front of a car. I'm a vet, I have seen all three scenarios, some more than once.

This dog walker is reckless, arrogant and irresponsible. As is often the case with dog walkers. He is responsible for other people's dogs. If he wants to put his own dogs at risk then so be it, but it's not for him to decide what's ok and what's not with other people's pets.....or what other people should put up with and what they shouldn't.

You realise dogs are pack animals? They dont stray far from the pack. The puppy in your case wandered as he smelt food. He would have returned to his pack

Rubbish. Explain why one I know regularly chases muntjac and disappears, leaving the other dogs and has to be found.

He ran over to some adult’s picnic and they were SCREAMING “FUCK OFF” at him repeatedly. THAT is an overreaction, yelling fuck off at a dog.

But what if one of them were phobic? I’ve had people cross the road to avoid me, mostly of a particular ethnic type. Did my research, turns out all dogs bar Salukis are ‘dirty’ according to that ethnicity, so I shorten the lead in an obvious way to show my dog won’t be able to reach them. I don’t want my dog harassing people or other dogs so he’s kept under strict control.

I wouldn’t let a dog walker let mine off lead, it isn’t safe, IMO.

It could have eaten something toxic (raisins), it could have been bitten by OPs dog if it was feeling anxious/under threat or in another situation, it could have run out in front of a car.

Good point. It would have been bitten by one of mine, I’m forever fending off other dogs for their own safety. Mine is under control as long as nothing bounces on him. I do wish other owners would bother training a decent recall. I was forever having to call mine in to recall someone else’s dog when I walked in particular woods. Their dog would chase mine, who would be at the limit of hearing me/me seeing them so mine would be called back so their dog would come with them.

Maelstrop

They weren’t phobic - I had a conversation with them after their repeated screaming as I went over to apologise and put my dog on the lead. They were just drunk arseholes. And even if they were phobic there are better ways of saying go away then screaming fuck off at a puppy.

My point is that op’s reaction was completley measured.

Dogs do sometimes do this because they are living beings with a certain amount of free will, but it is the dog walker's job to stop it and he should have been a lot more apologetic. I wouldn't use a dog walker who was rude to someone like that. My dog walker has strict instructions to keep my dog on the lead because whilst he is sweet and daffy and harmless he has no recall for anyone except me and that's limited.

I really want to thank the poster who pointed out that the dog might have been at risk because you might have been eating a sandwich full of dark chocolate chunks. The beauty of Mumsnet is that I literally have no idea whether that was tongue in cheek or not

For some of us, choc chunks in an open sandwich could be a picnic staple

The point is not everyone thinks your dog is great.
Some people have a phobia of dogs. I have a friend who cannot go walking alone because of her fear.
I said earlier my dd is allergic to dogs, if your dog jumped up at her I would knock it away quite firmly.

BigChocFrenzy Is it a thing? I'm prepared to embrace it if it is!

I've been running a dog walking business for nearly fifteen years now. The industry is almost completely unregulated. Some local authorities do have a maximum permitted number on their property, and some places require insurance to be in place, for instance MOD property. However anyone can set up as a dog walker with a few postcards in windows and an advert on their local Facebook page, and year in year out I see new start ups. There is no requirement to register with anyone unless you are having other people's dogs in your home for reward. There is no requirement to have insurance (unless you are using open spaces where local bylaws require it). There is no maximum number of dogs per handler as a national rule. The whole dog industry is currently a mess, with puppy farmers rampant too. I have been campaigning for a licence for dog owners, rather like a driving licence. No one is allowed to jump in a ton of moving metal which can kill without proper training, why should anyone be allowed to wander around with a carnivore which can kill without first learning how to control it and care for it properly?

Great post Alpaca!
I agree we need proper regulation for dogs.... is your campaign having any success?
do you think we might have proper licensing soon?