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!

Her dog wasn’t particularly near. I threw the ball and he ran over - was quicker than my dog!

Yanbu to want your dog’s ball back and expect her to be able to control her dog enough to get it for you.

However yabu to be playing fetch in an enclosed public dog run/park with toys from home. I haven’t been to a dog run in the UK in years but where I live now there are signs up instructing people not to bring in their dogs’ toys (nothing that they “own” from home) and to avoid playing fetch because it causes conflicts amongst the dogs. If the place is empty it’s fine, but if there are other dogs in there either let him socialize or take him elsewhere for fetch. If he’s a cavalier then he’s not going to come out on top of any kind of fight/conflict, so better to stick to safe protocol when it comes to mixed groups of dogs rather than risking it.

Teach your dog to be quicker 🤣

Honestly it’s a a bit of both. You need to bring balls that your dog isn’t fussy about and have extra. You can try to get your ball back, but dogs are unpredictable so you kind of have to expect that this will happen. The other dog owners should be doing the same to swap with you if needed or to distract their dog with to get them to drop the purloined ball. But again dogs aren’t perfect and neither are owners and you should expect that.