Argument at dog run

[Eggegggoose]

I don’t think I’m BU but thought I’d check. Took my cavalier to local dog run and throw his ball. A biggish dog maybe a lab gets the ball and runs off. Owner watches. After a minute or so I ask if owner can help get the ball.

She rolls her eyes and starts following her dog. Eventually gets dog still by holding collar. She says drop it over and over again. Then tells my dog to go away as her dog will go for him. My dog is desperate to play fetch.

I politely say can you get the ball from dogs mouth. She says ‘what?!’ As if I had ask to stab the dog in the face. I say it won’t hurt! She says I will do it my way and I said ‘but it’s my ball’ she Says I should find out if there are any ball stealers before throwing balls. I said don’t bring a dog who steals ball.

She said ‘it’s a fucking dog run’ then leaves. Who is BU?!? I don’t think it’s me!

YANBU. It's not at all rude to ask for the ball back. I can only think she was nervous about putting her hand in her dog's mouth. If you own and dog and can't do that, whether to retrieve stolen toys, administer meds or whatever, then you probably have the wrong dog for you or your dog isn't well enough trained.

A field especially for dogs so it’s enclosed and you can let your dog off the lead.

That would really annoy me! My dog steals balls occasionally but I always apologise, recall her, and give the ball back to the owner if the other dog doesn't get it first. It's just respectful. I'm still annoyed about the resource-guarding Shih Tzu that stole my dog's favourite ball months ago - the owner just laughed it off and said she wouldn't be able to get it back!

Some dog owners are dicks, I was at an outdoor event today my two dogs on lead sat on the rug with me minding their own business and someone nearby with their off lead dog chasing a ball. The ball rolled on to the rug I was sitting on and the off lead dog bombs over and starts growling aggressively at my two very bemused dogs as the ball had landed in front of them. One of my dogs is blind the other a very young puppy so I had to pull them closer to me to protect them. Apparently off lead dog "did it on purpose so he could say hi" er no the bloody thing was seconds from pouncing on my dogs because his ball had landed in front of them. Woman was absolutely deluded!

I don’t understand why people are calling her a loon.

Her dog took your dogs ball (it happens).

You asked her for it back so she got it back, firstly by saying drop and then by putting her hand in its mouth.

Apart from it taking longer thank you wanted, I don’t understand what she did so wrong.

I actually think you were rude for swearing at her.

She was …. Unhinged.

My Lab used to steal balls but always gave them back, I took them from him. Thing is, he doesn’t like balls- only other dogs ball because he wants the dog to play with him.

Yabu for playing fetch with your dog at all. It is terrible for their joints. A huge percentage of dogs develop arthritis- something like 80%. As owners we are responsible for keeping are dogs healthy.
So please stop playing fetch. If you want to play with a ball then searching games are so much better and lower impact.

If you don't believe me I challenge you to video your dogs movement in slow motion when they play fetch and look at the forces on their joints.

This is why I only bring mine to enclosed fields for things like this, other dog owners can be pure stupid.

@Eggegggoose so its a shared space ? we only have private hire ones round here, so you get it all to yourself.

How long is acceptable? The dog should have come back and dropped the ball. If it can’t then it should be on lead or in an enclosed private field.

Well clearly YABU to not own a mega phone, bring it with you, then do a public service announcement to all those in the vicinity as follows:
'Ah hello? Important information required here. Do any of your dogs steal balls? I repeat, do any of your dogs steal balls?'

Our otherwise well behaved dog is a ball stealer
Had zero interest in balls otherwise. We always retrieve( often after a little chase) and apologise profusely

I wouldn’t take a ball to a shared space and throw it. You could end up with dogs fighting over it. I have giant dogs and tennis balls (often “lost” by people and then found by mine in the long grass) are a choking hazard.

She swore at me saying it’s a fucking dog run. I didn’t say that.

I think just her resistance to give my ball back irked me when my dog loves it. Rolling her eyes and then saying her dog will go for my dog.

There’s two locally to me which is quite handy.

Most people go to throw balls for their dog so it’s not just me throwing a ball usually but a fair amount of dogs and balls flying all over the place. I think because her attitude was annoyance at me that I had inconvenienced her by her dog taking the ball that bothered me.
I’ve never had a problem at other dog runs. Other dogs often take our ball but usually get it back fairly quickly or at the
very least, the owner isnt annoyed at me!

I will wear a tabard as well next time

😂😂

I’m afraid that my dog would never give a ball up on command - he saw it as a really fun game. If Id have tried to remove it from his mouth Id have had no chance. The only way to do so would have been to give him some food.

Would you be annoyed at ME though if your dog took my ball? That’s the difference, I’m not evenly bothered about the dog stealing the ball it’s the bloody woman

@slugHell if it was my dog's favourite ball, she'd be working out how to get it off her dog & fast.

@Eggegggoose she was stupid & rude. But why the hell did you throw a ball with a dog right next to you? That's just begging for trouble.

Training a dog to ‘drop it’ is one of the first, most important basic commands you ever teach it, mostly because dogs can be little shits and pick up things they shouldn’t that can harm them so they need training to drop whatever that is immediately, be it a another dogs ball or, say a pack of tablets.
strikes me if this dog didn’t have that, the simplest command, the owner wasn’t exceptionally clued up anyway and her comment that it would bite only cements that view for me.

Behaving badly because she knows it's her fault she can't control her dog and is embarrassed.

I fucking despise ball thieves - or their owners to be more accurate. They're never anywhere near their dog who, ta da! has no recall. Then they have a tinkly laugh as they try to call their dog over.

When my dog was young I could see his bold nature and addiction to balls would lead to him being THAT dog, so I circumvented the ball in the mouth/chasing around problem by saying "Leave it" and/or "Not your ball" when he sees an unattended ball and it worked. He never ever chases another dog for their ball and it pisses me off when owners let their dogs chase another dog to snatch it. I

But why the hell did you throw a ball with a dog right next to you? That's just begging for trouble

it's for the ball thief owners to control their dogs, and if this means they can't use dog runs, tough.