Feeling guilty!

I took Tinker out for a walk today and encountered another dog (doberman)! Oh dear... I know she doesn't like other dogs so I stepped into a gateway to try and keep her away from the other dog. I had her well under control but the other dog was lunging towards her and barking at her. The other owner was carrying a baby in a carrier on her front and her dog pulled her over. Fortunately owner and baby were fine but I feel so guilty. I couldn't cross the road as we were on a busy country road and there was no path on the other side and I didn't want the other dog pulling the woman into the road. We have encountered other dogs on our walks and managed to avoid any unpleasantness but I feel so bad about this situation and do not know what to do next time. I know there is something I should have done different and I am going to find out about training classes to try and help Tinker be more sociable but any advice in the meantime would be appreciated.

Worried!

Jules

IMO you didn't do anything wrong lovely! You stepped out of the way with your dog, their doberman could have done that to any dog that was stood to the side surely? And if the lady couldn't control him, she probably shouldn't have been multitasking with a baby right?

One thing that you could do for Tinker is teach her the "watch me" command, so that when dogs are passing her full attention is on you (and the treat in your hand!) and then reward for calm behaviour. Has worked wonders with my girl who is dog reactive

Rachel33 wrote:IMO you didn't do anything wrong lovely! You stepped out of the way with your dog, their doberman could have done that to any dog that was stood to the side surely? And if the lady couldn't control him, she probably shouldn't have been multitasking with a baby right?

One thing that you could do for Tinker is teach her the "watch me" command, so that when dogs are passing her full attention is on you (and the treat in your hand!) and then reward for calm behaviour. Has worked wonders with my girl who is dog reactive

I have to say I echo this Xx

You didn't do anything wrong at all, you have had a shock cos of the baby being there. No way would I walk my girls with a baby in a carrier its just silly

Thank you. We are trying the "Watch me" but I think she is little hard of hearing...lol!

Jules

Haha oh bless her, Bis used to get into a really stressed state when another dog or man was approaching and I found using really smelly tasty treats and just making sure she could smell it worked when all of her other senses went out of the window She'll do anything for a chunk of chicken or cheese

Not your fault AT ALL Jules, you did the best you could and that's all anyone can ever do, which would include NOT carrying a baby when handling a strong dog.

Rest easy.

Don't fret , the lady shouldn't have been walking her dog with the baby like this if she knew the dobie could be a little exciteable, and for you you have the same with your , it's not your fault she was carrying a baby and you did everything you could , it's just one of them things and six of one , half a dozen of the other in my book. Watch me is good if you can make it work , just trying to get Tommy onto it now

obviously not your fault. Forget about it and move on

jaggededge wrote:Thank you. We are trying the "Watch me" but I think she is little hard of hearing...lol!

Jules

Selective deafness - a bully breed trait!

Not your fault at all. You can't just run away as far as possible from another dog to stop an incident from happening. Anyway, the woman's Doberman is obviously aggressive or excitable itself, so that's something she should have considered too. Don't feel guilty, you do your best with your own dog to not make a situation out of things, and the rest of that is down to the other owner to do the same.

You did all you could to avoid confrontation so don't worry, but thats just my opinion which just so happens to be always right . we all know to watch our dogs with as few distractions and none of us would take a baby if we couldn't trust the dog, i dont even use my phone whilst walking the dog just in case. And i taught Cassie by holding a treat to my chin and saying "on me" . She learnt and very fast to look at me

[quote="Rachel33"]IMO you didn't do anything wrong lovely! You stepped out of the way with your dog, their doberman could have done that to any dog that was stood to the side surely? And if the lady couldn't control him, she probably shouldn't have been multitasking with a baby right?

One thing that you could do for Tinker is teach her the "watch me" command, so that when dogs are passing her full attention is on you (and the treat in your hand!) and then reward for calm behaviour. Has worked wonders with

I agree with this totally You did all you could to get out of the way and if the other woman can't control her dog with a baby on her front she shouldn't be doing both at once

I completely agree with everyone else, you done nothing wrong so don't worry about it. I don't think I would take a strong dog out with a baby in a carrier.

As I read it you did all you could anyway, you cannot really blame yourself for how someone else has reacted or there dog. You seem to have been more aware of others around you than some people are.

Not your fault - what more could you have done? It wasn't you who pulled the woman over; you and your dog were standing still, out of the way.