Blardy stupid tw*tty owners<wibble>

[WhereTheWildThingsWere]

I don't know if I am more or and I'm not sure who for most.

Just met an idiot in the park with a stafford, dog belted up from no-where and proceeded to bowl over my terrified screaming puppy over and over again.

Owner stood a long way away, laughing and shouting 'she just playing, she won't hurt it', making no attempt to come and get his dog or even call it.

I shouted several times for him to get his dog and that mine was scared and a puppy, he just kept laughing and saying it was 'fine'.

I am well aware that his dog was playing albit very roughly and with hackles up and a very stiff tail so I had a feeling the 'play' was on the cusp of turning. My last dog was a stafford and I am very familiar with the breed, so I blew my whistle to distract her, then as soon as she looked up presented her with some liver out of my treat bag which she sat for (bless), I quickly snapped my puppies lead onto her collar and tied her to a bench, while I set about retrieving my quaking puppy from a bush.

While all this was going on I could hear the guy shouting but just got on with it, as I came out of the bush with my puppy in my arms I was greeted by a furious red faced shouting twat.

'What the FUCK did I think I was doing tying up his dog'

'What the FUCK had I fed it, who the FUCK did I think I was'

He wasn't going to listen to anything I said, so I picked up my lead from the floor where he had thrown it and walked off, while he shouted that he was going to phone the police.

I didn't look back until I got to the gate, and he was standing staring into the distance where he dog had gone off to bother a GSD who was on the lead.

Did I do wrong?

What do I do if I see him again

I have a feeling he doesn't like me.

No, of course you didn't do wrong. His dog was out of control in a public place and it should have been. Hope your puppy's okay. He sounds like just the kind of plonker who helps gives Staffies an undeserved bad name.

You should have offered to phone the police for him. Twat. I don't think you did wrong. I feel sorry for his dog though. How long before it bothers a dog aggressive dog and gets injured?

Why didn't you just pick up your puppy and walk away?

Thanks Bella and Shiny, felt quite calm at the time until all the SHOUTING, as I walked home I suddenly wondered if I was out of order.

scurryfunge I couldn't pick him up as they were just a blur of fur and I didn't want to stick my hands in, also if I had been able to lift him the Stafford would probably have just kept jumping at him in my arms.

ok....I agree that his dog was out of control but I would be wary of handling that other dog...I'm a wimp, I would have grabbed and walked away for fear of getting bitten.

It is surprising how many dogs will sit on command, I suppose that is a good way to judge if they are 'reasonable' dogs. If only some owners would sit when told!

If you caught me on towards the end of lunchtime walk (the one where dd2 tags along with us) I would happily sit on command. Especially if you had tea and biscuits

Did somebody say biscuits???

My mum has a small dog and she takes a walking stick out with her when walking. She will brandish it at dogs like this to get them to bugger off and when a dog hasn't got the message she's been known to clonk it one. Not overly hard but enough to make it stop attacking her dog.

Well done you - the bond between you dog and you has just grown millionfold. Your dog is now happy and knows that whatever happens you will protect it. You will have a chilled well socialised non anxious dog.

The other man however!?!?!!?!?!

Ignore him you did the right thing. You asked him to call his dog away he did not you quietly with out harm removed his dog. Well done you Congratulations and do not give it anoher thought only to praise yourself for doing the right thing. We need more dog owners like you

I'm sending you a big whippety hug and a nice cup of tea, and a slice of home made cake. I HATE numpties like these - they are a royal pain in the backside. Unfortunately, you can only minimise them, not eliminate them completely. We have one greyhound of the three who is not at all sociable and dislikes other dogs - so when this happens she goes potty. I do everything I can to avoid confrontation - she's always on a lead, muzzled etc and I usually walk them very early in the morning but even so you still get incidents. I have a friend who takes a walking stick for these eventualities. The only practical suggestion I can make is to choose the time and place you do your regular walks carefully. We've experimented and have regretfully abandoned certain local parks as they are just full of idiots who can't/won't do recall with their dogs. Generally, most dog walkers are creatures of habit, and once you've found the time/place that works for you, you tend to only see the same small group of others - in this way, you get to know each other's dogs and their characteristics and can take avoiding action if you see any strange ones. This is one of the reasons I have regretfully become a supporter of the idea of designated dog park/areas where dogs can be off lead, and have a default "on lead" everywhere else. Idiots in all sorts of circumstances ruin things for other people. Hope Mr Whippy is now OK

Thanks *Scuttlebutter.

Like I said I had a Stafford before and although I would never have allowed him to behave like that, it's funny how differently you see it when you have the 'little dog'.

My big puppy's very friendly but built like a prop forward, so I keep him firmly under control in popular parks for exactly this reason. If he'd broken loose and tackled your puppy I'd have been mortified - if you'd then got him to sit and lassoed him till I caught up, I'd have been impressed thanking you, not giving you a hard time. Owners like that make my heart sink, because you know they'll be stupid enough to let their dog 'just play' with someone's child too, with potentially awful results all round.

Ignore the ignorant man. You did the right thing.

the man is an arse wipe, i had a staff and she would sometimes turn on smaller dogs, i always kept her on a lead, hes a fucking idiot

Our new rescue Springer is a bit of a devil with other dogs at the moment and I walk him on lead. My biggest fear is exaxtly what happened to you today. I really admire the way you handled it and hope I can exhibit the same calm, confident attitude you did.

Like Scuttlebug, I avoid the lovely big park nearby because it is frequented by morons who seem to think it is acceptable for their dogs to maul any other dog it happens to come across because they "are just playing". I have also received a faceful of abuse when I have had the temerity to politely ask people to call their dog when it is bothering mine. Like other posters have already said, you definately did the right thing. Ignore the man - he is an inconsiderate lout.

I doubt you will have been the only person to object to his lack of control.

My old Setter was repeatedly attacked by an unhinged Collie I met regularly, when out walking.

After the third time of having to listen to the owner saying "He's only playing" and refusing to attempt to call him, I stepped forward when the dog approached mine and threatened it with my lead.

The owner shouted "Don't you dare hit my dog!" (I hadn't actually hit it btw)
I told her, "If you won't keep your dog away from my dog, perhaps you'll keep it away from ME."

Whenever I saw her after that, she changed direction and avoided me. Result!