Ok people, so, it's muddy, you're walking your dog...

[AllTheYoungDoods]

Scenario A.
You see another young dog/pup ahead. It's owner calls their pup to heel and puts it on a lead.

You let your dog walk right up to the pup and owner off-lead. It's all waggy tails, so the pup owner says, 'is it ok for them to say hello?'. You say yes, the pup comes off lead, runs around playing, and by some miracle does not jump but brushes a small amount of mud on your trousers. Your dog becomes aggressive and defensive.

And you get cross with the pup for causing the growling and the mud. Reasonable?

Scenario B.
You see another young dog/pup ahead. It's owner calls their pup to heel but, as it's in the middle of the moors and your dog is also approaching off-lead with a friendly demeanour, does not put it on a lead.

You let your dog walk right up to the pup off-lead. It's all waggy tails, so the pup owner says, 'is it ok for them to say hello?'.

You say yes, the pup runs around playing, and this time miracles are in short supply so unfortunately jumps up at you for attention. Their owner immediately apologises and begins to call him off and away, but you pick up your treat bag and lead, stick your straight arms out like a scarecrow, and spin around repeatedly. Then are surprised when the pup does not instantly give up the game .

Scenario C.
You see another young dog/pup ahead. It's owner calls their pup to heel and puts it on a lead.

As you walk past you say sarcastically: 'Is that one a bit of a jumper then?'

While your dog trails behind you looking like it's never had a day's fun it its life

Seriously, do some people just have amnesia about what it's like to train a puppy, were their dogs all born with perfect recall, or do they spray them with Teflon to keep the mud off?

I never let him rush towards dogs on lead, people without dogs, small children, the elderly, or people wearing smart clothes no matter how inappropriately dressed for dog park they might be With everyone else when it comes to recall and jumping I AM VERY CLEARLY TRYING but there is a small chance that if you allow your muddy offlead dog to meet my muddy dog, some mud might be exchanged!

And breathe.

It annoys me HUGELY when people have a dog and allow it to run up to people/other dogs WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

However, with pups/young dogs things DO happen and I will forgive almost anything if it's clear the owner is trying to train/rectify the situation, and/or they apologise.

I've certainly had times in the early days when my dog rushed up to other people. Mind you, it doesn't help when you're going "Sorry - please ignore her" and they're going "Oh it's OK I don't mind!" (while slapping thighs and going "come on then!") and then "Can she have a treat?" and then when you say "Well, thanks but no" they go "Aww, just one won't hurt, will it??" while giving dog said treat.

Thanks for that. You've just set my training back WEEKS.

I used to flirt with the idea of having a "PLEASE IGNORE ME" jacket printed, similar to the "Assistance Dog In Training" ones, for her to wear.

And much as I am usually on the side of innocent bystanders, if you're going to go for a walk somewhere muddy it makes sense to dress appropriately so that if you DO happen to meet a muddy dog it isn't the end of the world. It's amazing how many people wear stupid clothes for walking. My dog ran past a woman once (totally ignoring her) but mud flicked up her pale beige trousers and she was FURIOUS.

I mean, it was MUDDY. What if she'd fallen over? The way I see it, you dress for country walking (dog or not) ASSUMING you'll fall over. Then if you get home clean it's a bonus!

The Scarecrow thing is baffling, btw!

Calamity - if you make those jackets, I'll buy one (size: medium border terrier).

I don't want to start being rude to other dog walkers when they are being nice to my dog, but it really does not help if they carry on making a fuss of him when I am saying 'off' or 'down' or 'sit'.

I am SO tempted by one of those jackets Kate. In fact I know someone who has one.

Am concerned people will think I'm impersonating a blind person or something!

Even people who should know better are guilty, exexpat!

I was chatting to a girl the other day who had a just GORGEOUS blonde, 10week old Staffie girlie, and when I stroked her (while she wriggled her whole body and beamed up at me - she was SO adorable and I'm not usually a Staffie fan) the girl was explaining how she was working really hard to make sure that pup sat for attention rather than jump up. All good! Excellent plan.

Until my dog went up to the girl and she opened her arms and went "Hello!!! Aren't you gorgeous!! Come on then!" and my dog jumped up her and I said "Oooh, OFF!" and the girl went "Oh, it's OK, I'm already muddy" and carried on cuddling my dog.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Honest, I was speechless.

OP, poor you. Where I live it seems that every piece of grass/field/woodland has turned into a deep muddy bog. I havent worn anything but skanky dog clothes for months it seems and am permanently covered in mud.

My car looks like god knows what and my wellies are mud coloured!

I am also training a puppy so know how you feel.

Passes clean clothes, a fluffy towel and large wine to you!

Our ddog had to have two showers last week (poor thing) not because of the mud but because she managed to roll in something stinky twice!

In this weather how can you walk a dog in anything other then old jeans and a dirty coat! My lab is a mud magnet and filthy after every walk!

Every coat I own has a line of muddy paw prints about waist height on it... mud doesn't bother me apart from on my feet because I can't walk in wellies because of problems with my feet so have to wear trainers and my alternating pairs so one dries out while I'm muddying the other ones are starting to fail as a system.

Have had to steer clear of one field we walk in as the undulating bits and mud has had me flat on my arse on more than one occasion - could be worse, in the snow I slid over and landed on the full poo bag I was carrying which then exploded.

emptyshell

I have a foot problem too, which means I have to wear walking shoes not wellies. In this mud I carry an extra stone in weight on each foot!