Stranger has just filmed me and my dog

[NewMeNewUs]

We have a 8 month old Labrador. She has good and bad days when it comes to recall, we are still working on it.

i take her down to a large green near my house which is usually empty and don’t often see anyone else and we practice our recall. Today we were there and there was a man with a dog sitting on a bench quite far away from us( could just about make them out) Anyone I let my dog off the lead to practice our recall. Typical she was having a bad day today and wasn’t listening well, so I was calling her name a lot, shouting for her. 2 other dogs appeared out of no where also off their leads. My dog ran over to them (she wasn’t listening to me) she said hello to them and was playing with them. I apologised to the owner and we were chatting for about 5 mins while the dogs ran around.

anyway as we were leaving the green, I was struggling to put the slip rope lead back on the dog was jumping etc. I look up, and that guy that was sitting in the corner of the green was in his car window down filming me and my dog!
he was talking to the camera saying how this large dog is out of control, this lady cannot control her dog yet still lets it off the lead…. I’ve watched this dog attack 2 other dogs, owner has been calling her dog and the dog doesn’t listen etc. I was saying what are you talking about the dogs were saying hello and playing, she’s a puppy we are practising our recall etc.

he was saying I’ve got your whole walk on video as evidence, I’ve got an XL bully and he is much better behaved and controlled then your dog…….

he then drove off. My gosh I am SO upset I can’t stop crying about it.

im trying my hardest with this puppy and it’s been hard. But she is a good girl and by no means out of control. She’s sooooo friendly and playful. It just hurts to hear someone observing thinks your dog is out of control, like I’m basically doing a shit job.

im also concerned about what he is going to do with a video of me and my dog. I was called her name like a lunatic, and struggled the get the lead on her etc, may have shouted at her also. Embarrassing video for me to see of myself I’m sure!

fully expecting some tellings off for letting her off the lead etc which I can accept but please be kind. Thanks for reading x

But she is a good girl and by no means out of control

But she literally was out of control. She ran off and you couldn’t get her back. Her being ‘friendly’ whilst totally out of control is irrelevant - plenty of other people/dogs will not want to be approached by a ‘friendly’ out of control dog. You’ll find ‘oh but he’s just being friendly’ a particular bugbear of many here. And irl. You need to practice recall elsewhere - a hired field maybe - or on a very long line that you can still control, until she is better trained and more reliable. As for the man filming, who knows what he is going to do with the film but I can imagine, given the rules about to be imposed on him and his (he says) well behaved dog, he’s probably pretty pissed off seeing other people getting away with having out of control dogs that aren’t under any legal restrictions.

What can he possibly do with that video, really? Fuck all that's what. No one will care. Stop crying and don't give it another thought. Just keep the training up.

Tbh, whatever the rights and wrongs of letting your dog off the lead, that guy sounds like someone to ignore. Let him enjoy his video, the weirdo.

She is out of control, though. Dogs don't need to be aggressive to be dangerous.

If she won't come back when you call her then she needs to be on a long line.

Her being ‘friendly’ whilst totally out of control is irrelevant - plenty of other people/dogs will not want to be approached by a ‘friendly’ out of control dog.

Noted and taken on board. Thank you

Just orders a longline off Amazon. Thank you

try not to worry, the video will show the you being friendly with the other owner while the dogs played. he sounds like he just wanted to bully you and put you down for his own reasons. I’m sorry you’re upset, I’d feel really shaken up too.

Honestly, if he tries to make a thing of it, he will look like a lunatic. Or maybe it’ll turn into a viral video “Fenton…!!!”

You should be practising her recall on the lead or in private fenced off places like your garden or a fenced in area which dog owners can only use one at a time, she isn’t ready to be loose in a public park with other dogs if she doesn’t have basic recall and will approach other dogs. You should only be letting her off the lead in public once she has mastered the skill. Aside from anything else you are compromising her safety, she may be playful but what if she ran up to an aggressive dog and didn’t listen when you called her away from it, if she was attacked and injured or killed because she approached an aggressive dog would you feel okay about it? What about if she ran into the road or another dangerous situations? If she needs to practise the skill with other dogs then look at dog training classes, don’t just go to a park and have her off lead in an area where you can’t control the environment if she doesn’t have recall yet.

What is he going to do with the recording and if he has an XL bully he will have to have his dog on a lead at all times and be muzzled. Just keep training your dog.

The long-lead you've ordered will really help you, good luck x

Fenton!

I have an 8 month old puppy too.

She is super friendly, but her recall is shocking, so she doesn't get offlead in the park, I hire a field out to practise with her, and will do so until her recall is damned near perfect.

You may not like him filming, but he does have a point. He also has an agenda at the moment with XL Bullies getting such a bad rep no matter how well trained they are, so it must be annoying to see other dogs not being well trained and bouncing everywhere.

Realistically there isn't anything that the guy can do with the video as your dog wasn't being aggressive in any way.
However I'd echo what others have said in that the fact is that all it takes is for someone to feel threatened by your dog and you could have an issue.

Getting a long line and not letting off lead until the recall is perfect with and without distractions is the way to go. She will get there. She is just a baby.

So sorry you have encountered this. But just to add that I really hate it when dog owners say 'oh don't worry, Fido is friendly!'. It doesn't matter how friendly the owner says their dog is, I don't want someone else's dog approaching me, jumping up at me, sniffing me, etc.

I'm allergic to dogs so have to wash my hands thoroughly if I touch their fur, not everyone wants to pet your dog and say hello.

Sounds like he has a bug up his arse because he has an XL Bully. I very much doubt he will do anything with the video.
Agree with long line training and more controlled dog training classes. She’ll get it, don’t worry, you just have to up your training game

My 8 year old lab still uses a long lead, recall still not good.

It'll be for TikTok. Lots of it going on at the moment with XL bully owners turning on other irresponsible dog owners to make their point.

Try and forget about him but teach your dog recall in a private area and keep on a lead until she's under control.

I can see you’ve ordered a long line - I recommend the biothane long lines like those from Rockit Dog. Not cheap but I find nicer to use than the nylon web type ones as kinder on hands, IMO. good luck!

I also have a puppy of a similar age. Interesting what those above say about "perfect the recall on your garden/a field before letting them off" - that's the easy bit. It's in an environment with no other distraction. Nailed on. When there's another dog to play with, not so much. Friend's puppy on the other hand doesn't care about other dogs so would never approach another one. They haven't done more training, just a different dog.

Anyway, try to ignore the weird guy filming, he's taking his anger out on the wrong person.

There are a lot of worked up xl bully owners at the moment. I have sympathy for the caring owners and well controlled dogs but they are getting a bit militant about other dog owners. I was moaned at by a passing driver the other day when my spaniel barked at another dog - the other dog's always spooked mine as he's massive and barky but the owner and I understand it, avoid each other but politely say hello. The driver was ranting about non-huge dogs being viscious. The government could've handled the current dog attack problems better really and invest into more crime prevention as the only seriously viscious attacks are down to awful criminal dog owners who aren't dog lovers at all and use them as defence and attackers of other criminals, don't control them at all and have caused deaths sadly. I'm sure your dog OP is just in nerd of a bit more training and no real threat whatsoever. That man filming you sounds like a creep.

How do dogs ever learn though? At some
Point you have to let them off.
I find comments about puppies in training ridiculous as long as they are not aggressive.
Of course keep them on a long line in a busy park and until you think they are ready but you have to try them off the line at some point and a quiet park sounds ideal.
I would ignore the man because what can he do? Forget him (or report him for harassment) and also take all comments from the perfect dog trainers and owners on here with a pinch of salt.

No one will care about the video and nothing will happen.

However, I'm sick of friendly dogs "just saying hello" and owners thinking it's ok. It's getting impossible to go for a walk without at least one such owner. I don't care how friendly it is, I don't want to say hello to it.

In need! Sorry, that read as a massive ramble!

It certainly seems like he was trying to film something to fit a specific agenda. Try not to worry - it will be obvious from his video what actually happened.

A friendly bounding puppy wouldn’t have bothered me a few years ago, but this morning my elderly dog was knocked flying by a friendly Labrador (who just wanted to play, no malice at all). Had my dog been a younger pup she would have been fine, but today she’s now limping as she’s just not as bouncy as she once was. So there’s no need for there to be aggression for there to be an issue. I’m glad you’ve taken on board the advice on this thread. And hope you’re feeling a bit better now!

Most of the dogs that have gone for my lab on walks have had owners telling me that their dog is just trying to hello or telling "don't worry he's so friendly" when the dog is being a pest and growling. One if the last things said ti me before a dog attacked me was that it was just being friendly, I do not like any dog approaching me off leash for that reason because more often than not, the owner takes offence at their dogs feelings being hurt at being asked to recall their dog back.

Recording others with the intent of uploading to social media is getting more common, I'm assuming that's what he planned because if his commentary, I've seen a lot of xl bully type breeds owners doing it to raise awareness of how poor control and bad behaviour is tolerated much more frequently in other breeds.

It sounds like he was an arse in that sense and I hope he doesn't post you on tik tok or something, but it does sound like you didn't have control of your dog though, it's irrelevant that it was being friendly, you couldn't recall and get him back on the leash, but he's a puppy and mistakes happen so I'd try to focus on training, maybe a long line until recall improves.