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

I think the worst thing he can do is post it on social media, but a rambunctious Labrador is hardly going to go viral. The comparison to an XL bully is ridiculous, your dog was running over to play not to maul someone to death.

Have you tried working with a trainer for recall? Things like repeating an ignored recall command and getting worked up won't be helping. My older dog was a bugger when it came to recall and we had to work really hard at it, we went through a few different trainers until we cracked it. I know how stressful it can be. My new puppy is really nervous around dogs she doesn't know and I finally get how frustrating it is to have a dog bound over and not go back to its owner. A long line for now is a great idea.

Read all of my posts before you decide to post sarcastic comments - thanks

Completely agree re sheep
I put my well behaved 2 yr old sighthound on a lead around sheep as one never knows-

A footpath near here crosses a sheep field and the farmer is always keeping an eye out for off leash dogs.

He’s entitled to shoot any worrying ( chasing) sheep.

A farmer lost 22 sheep to an XL bully recently.

Have you thought about training her to the whistle with high value treats rather than standing there shouting her name (which she's ignoring)

I wouldn't give the video-taker a second thought, not least because there's nothing you can do about it. But your dog's recall needs work. Once you're shouting its name repeatedly to no effect, you've lost (and are doing more harm than good). Best to go back to basics - there's lots of decent tutorials in books / on Youtube etc.

Dogs don't learn like us. Practicing recall in a garden or enclosed space doesn't mean they'll still recall while out and about with distractions that they may not encounter in said enclosed space. It's unfortunate but It's true-they're not like us where, we'd learn how to say, turn on a tap at home as a child and then also know how to do it at a grandparent's/nursery/friend's-they learn in a linear fashion rather than integrated way.

Minefield, I realise but saying to practice at home or such doesn't mean that dog will automatically know how to recall elsewhere. They apply it to each situation.

Yep, it'll probably end up on TikTok or Instagram under a page about shit dog owners.

There are lots of similar videos doing the rounds at the moment of all sorts of breeds behaving badly.

The absolute worst he could do is report the dog for being out of control, which can come with a fine.

So he's sat in a park on his own no dog, filming ladies?

Take the appropriate steps to improve your dog's behaviour as recommended.

@Mrsttcno1 Can it be reported as out of control for running over to another dog and not coming back though? I understand that if it had say, knocked someone over, or run into a field and started sheep worrying, then charges can be brought?

Having a dog and training it is a learning curve for owners as well as the dog. Everyone on here will tell you they are perfect dog owners and their young dogs never got away from them etc. But in reality it takes time to learn how to handle your dog and even then they sometimes do things to surprise you!

People letting their massive labs run up to me and my dog are annoying yes, but it happens and you are still learning yourself.

Longline, definitely! I would keep her on it until she is about 1yo and comes back reliably every time you call.

The recording man was just an angry XL Bully owner, best ignored.

Op I would probably put her on the extendable leash for at least the time till she learns to come on the call.

By that you stay in the control and prevent further kind of situations like this.
And save yourself the stress later.🌼

He could be a twat, but you need to realise that some people are simply scared of dogs overall- puppies or grown ups, big or small.

He did right, your dog is out of control and you're a bad owner.

I do agree that friendly untrained dogs can have long term consequences for others. I love dogs and if friendly, personally I don’t mind if they bound up to me. But, when my child was about 4 a puppy (quite large breed) was off lead and mistook my child for the owner's child. It bounded up really fast and excitedly and completely knocked my child flying. They were ok but they developed a massive fear of dogs that took over a year of gentle exposure to various dog walker’s dogs (asking with permission to gently pet) to get over. I do think all dogs should always be on lead in public unless in designated areas. It doesn’t matter if friendly or not.

You did nothing wrong at all OP. It’s a puppy and they need to learn. Make sure you have some good treats to help lure him back in future. All sounds completely normal and fine to me.

Unfortunately, there are always people that hate dogs or have a stick up their ass for whatever reason. The guy was a nut job, the video won’t be interesting because nothing was happening of interest other than a puppy bouncing around. He’s got a bee in his bonnet because he has to keep his dog which is a dangerous breed on the lead and others don’t. That’s not your fault.

A tip on the longline, have a go without the dog reeling it back in etc, or you’ll end up in a right tangle.

Our dog was an absolute twat as a teenager, now he’s an adult he walks nicely beside us, ignores other people and dogs unless he gets his release command and can reliably go anywhere without the need for a lead. At your dogs age he would have caused absolute chaos off lead around other dogs and people.

Your dog has now discovered that being off lead is very very exciting, so don’t get down hearted that it will now take a long time to untrain that, you’ll get there.

We were recently on the wrong end of an out of control lab while walking our dog and the neighbours staffy. Neighbours staffy isn’t very confident due to previously being attacked, so after being jumped on by the labrador he was very very nervy. You have to think how you would feel if a person ran up to you screaming “I’m friendly” and the proceeded to jump all over you, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

You did nothing wrong at all OP. It’s a puppy and they need to learn. Make sure you have some good treats to help lure him back in future. All sounds completely normal and fine to me.

OP did do something wrong (which she has admitted to). Having a dog off the lead without recall is a huge issue - it could catch a scent and run into the road and be killed, it could run up to a non-friendly dog and be attacked, it could terrorise a small child.Don't and minimise that (and I say that as a dog and fellow retriever breed puppy owner).

The second part of your post is the important bit. The XL bully owner was a turd.

Yes it can be reported, it doesn’t have to actually cause injury to be out of control, whether it would be taken seriously is another question entirely, but it could absolutely be reported. A video showing a dog running away from its owner to bother other people, an owner screaming and shouting running after the dog completely unable to recall it, and then unable to get the dog back on lead is out of control. It’s something so many people don’t realise, we have a Lab and the amount of times dogs run over to us and it’s always “ah don’t worry he/she’s friendly”, my dog is also friendly so it’s only irritating/a nuisance but people do need to realise it doesn’t actually matter if your dog is friendly or not, if your dog is running over to other people and you cannot control it then any of them could report you for your dog being out of control, even if all your dog did was run over to say hello

Unfortunately we have been in a scenario where someones 2 dogs came charging down a field and we scooped up the 3 toddlers as we had no idea if they were friendly or not. The owner was yelling for them but they didnt respond and then one started jumping up at me. 6months on the twin I was holding is still nervous of dogs when they walk past in the street. So I can see why it didn't look good tbh. My lab has perfect recall but I still won't let her off a lead where other dogs are about because I have no idea what might make one kick off. Luckily we are in an area of lots of remote forest walks so that works best for me if I want her to get a run off the lead

Did you get his number plate? Depending on what he does with the footage it may be defamatory: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/A-video-of-you-goes-viral-without-your-consent-–-what-does-the-law-say

Wow thanks a lot. Kick me when I’m down

If she was a bad owner, she wouldn't be on here asking for help.

Thank you for your support.
i think calling me a bad owner is really harsh. Having a puppy is hard and I am a still learning- hense why I’ve come on here to ask your advice.

Ignore them. You've ordered a lead and you're working on your dogs training.

Have a look at clicker training. It's the most effective method I've found to train dogs (and cats).

I wouldn’t worry about the video, though I would say you need to work on her recall before allowing her off in public (which you have taken onboard), there are also places you can rent a big bit of fenced off grass here for £5 an hour so might be worth looking into that? My dog is nearly always off lead but has perfect recall and ignores other dogs (she’s a collie from working dogs so with this one training was easy for us), dose t care if there’s a dog that thinks she’s playing with them as they chase her chasing her ball (which a lot of dogs at my local park do 😂) what I would add though is if there’s a big puppy jumping at her face she won’t tolerate that for too long and would have had a grumble, she wouldn’t actually sink her teeth into another dog during a grumble but if it’s getting too much some will and they wouldn’t necessarily be in the wrong (talking a nip not a full blown attack) - which is something you will also need to keep in mind x