Mortified with dog, annoyed at myself and pissed off with passer by - all before 7am !

[Avantia]

Early morning walk in a Royal Park - everything hunky dory - nobody about - no sign of deer .

Walk nearly over when dog spots two deer heading towards our way - she bolts for them and chases them into bracken . I am shouting , blowing whistle but chase is on - I am mortified with dog , annoyed with myslef for not spotting the deer first - lead would have been on. She has never chased deer before - she has never had the chance to for a start .

As I am calling her frantically some passer by on a bike shouts ' Get her on a lead ' - No shit Sherlock ! You can imagine my reply to him .

Once she lost them in bracken she came back to me - I was angry with her but also pleased she came back - how do I deal with that ?

Passer by could see and hear I am frantically caling her back - what a stupid comment - yes I know she needs to be on a lead !

I am truely mortified what she did - now worried that she has had the inital chase she will be up for more .

She is just over 1 yr old .

Still fuming about it all , I supposed I dont blame passer by for his reaction but bloddy stupid comment . I blame myself for not spotting deer.

I just need to rant about my dog and me !

You have my sympathy. Dogs can really make you feel mortified. Deer are hard to spot in the bracken.

She is now sitting by me looking at me with those brown labrador eyes - how can I be annoyed with her !

Well doggy I still am !

You are only more stressed because the passer-by stated the BLEEDIN' OBVIOUS. If he hadn't you would have merely been annoyed "bloody dog, silly me. Ah well, lesson learned."

But actually you have done a very kind thing. You have made someone's day. He will now tell all his mates about the incident 'so I told her I did...' And they will say to him' Oh well done you. yes what is society coming to. tut tut.'

And they will all feel v worthy and you will have boosted their self esteem.

(and do not be angry with dog, It's all 'yay!' and 'good boy!' and 'have a sausage'. Because he will think 'ooh I came back. sausage!' And if you mention the deer he will be like 'deer? What deer? Where there deer?')

SQUIRREL >>>> !!

Merrylegs - you hit nail on head about becoming more stressed by his comment. Hopefully he works or lives witha MNer who reads this and think what a tosser he was for stating the obvious .

I did praise her when she came back but all through gritted teeth !

my mum was walking my 2 border collie/jack russell crosses YEARS go with her Irish Wolfhound over the local common when they came across a deer - all 3 normally placid/docile dogs suddenly went into 'pack mode' and attacked the deer, ending up chasing it onto the road whereby it got hit by a car and had to be destroyed by the local vet. instinct is a powerful thing...

oh deer.

Hi Coffee

I usually do walk her on a long line near deer but didn't spot them in time as they dashed across the road .

They were also a 'moving' target , usually when they are grazing in the distance she doesn't notice them. I also put her on lead when approaching another dog if deer in distance in case ' pack' instinct takes over .

The Royal parks are a lovely place to walk the dogs , especially early in the morning .

It is a good place to train your dog on long line - horses , deer, geese, swans - although they give a good hiss if you get to near , children , balls , other dogs all shapes , sizes etc etc

Had a lovely walk this morning - no incidents to report thankfully .

I wouldnt worry too much about it Avantia I think all dog owners have a 'moment' in The Royal Parks where instinct takes over. It is just a case of getting control again ASAP and hoping nobody saw anything.

Thanks Coffee