Weeing on demand

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Aaaaargh. Dog did a scent marking wee on a boy's sport bag yesterday. Boy's father very, very, very angry. At the local playing fields where I walk him. Man put bag down, dog off lead, ran over to investigate, sniffed, I called him, but he did a quick leg cock before returning to me. I suppose there is no way of preventing this, other than keeping him on the lead all the time. Man told me I wasn't fit to be a dog owner, which seemed a bit harsh, no?

yes, way too harsh. I can't see what you can do about this except have the good grace to look very sheepish and embarrassed and apologise profusely (which I'm sure you did).

Sounds like the guy has anger issues!!

Don't punish your dog for perfectly natural (albeit mistaken) behaviour by keeping him in the lead...

Man totally over reacted IMO
'not fit to own a dog' because you took him out for a walk in the park for a run off lead. I can't imagine what a good dog owner would be in his eyes!

my dog once nicked a football during a match. Luckily he didn't damage the ball and everyone thought it was hilarious lol

He is a Springer - he would go mad if kept on the lead - and so would I.

I did apologise profusely but he kept on swearing and shouting at me. I asked him what I could do about it and he suggested that I took the kit bag home to wash it and then return it to him. I said OK, continued on my walk, then crept up through the woods and made a dash for my car. Left me feeling dreadful all day. I think he did have anger issues.

I meant a woman and her dog on the beach last year, and her dog weed on someone's towel - far worse in my opinion

haha its a good job we love them so much, they've got no manners!!

There's all sorts of nutters out there, this guy was probably one of them. Even if there was something you could have done to prevent it, there's no excuse for shouting and swearing. You're a lone woman, and he's trying to intimidate you. Not fair IMO...

i think you did everything you could have been expected to do

he sounds a horrible man

He probably marked it because it smelled like something that needed marking. Perhaps he should wash his sports kit more often!

Is it worth investing in a clip-on moustache / big floppy hat - just incase he sees you again? :o

I guess you have to just keep an eye out for the dog venturing near anyone's bag or other items and call him away before he gets the chance to do the deed.

The man was very unreasonable though. A dog wee'd on my bag a few weeks ago (I'd put it down on the ground while playing with my dog) - I thought it was my fault for leaving it unattended really, and woudln't have occurred to me to shout at the dog's owner. Did shout at the dog to stop, but it was too late :)

My own dog cocked it's leg on my DD when out Last week!, then friends dog did same in same spot!

To be fair she was standing on her scooter and they must have smelt something on the scooter, nothing came out of either of them luckily!

Not sure how your dog cocking it's leg up a bag makes you unfit to own a dog though.(hmm)

My Beagle nicked some one's jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn in the park last week - I was mortified! Luckily they laughed.

I think you're right, with male dogs even if they've been taught to go on cue, they are still likely to feel the urge to scent mark. In theory it should be possible to train them out of it with enough hard work and perseverance - after all I've never seen a guide dog cocking its leg on every lamp-post, fence or sports bag. I think for it to be effective, you would have to start very young with them though!

Don't start keeping your dog on a lead, but do do some recall training with him to increase the speed of his response to your call. You need to make yourself so interesting to him that he doesn't want to wait a second and cock his leg before he comes back to you, in case he misses his reward/treat. For that you'll need a top notch reward that he only ever gets if he responds immediately to a recall command.

Some attention training at home, where you reward him for responding to you and then keep upping the game so that he has to respond really quickly to get a reward would also help. I'd recommend a using clicker for this this video is an ok basic introduction to using a clicker for attention training.

My dd has had a dog cock its leg on him twice when he's been sitting on the grass with his back to the dogs that did it. The first time we were lazing around at a lovely summer music festival and had all had a few drinks, so everyone except him found it hilarious - in fact I could barely breathe I was laughing that much!

Second time he was sitting on the beach minding his own business and didn't even notice the dog! Cue much guffawing and rolling around in the sand from our two dses!

The guy was definitely out of order for saying you are unfit to own a dog and it was totally unacceptable for him to shout and swear at you as well.