Other dog owners!!!! GRRRRR!!!

So I finished work this evening and as soon as I got home I put the leads on the dogs and went straight out, same as I do every evening and I do the same walk. I always keep the dogs on the lead until I know that there are no other dogs about, not that mine are aggressive, it's other people's dogs I'm worried about as had a few run ins before and it's not pleasant. Anyways there was a owner with her 3 legged Lab, he was OFF the lead I might add, walking straight towards me and my 2. I could see the Labs fur on his back start going up and he started growling so I asked the owner if she could put him back on his lead and her reply was "he is friendly, don't worry about it". With that the Lab started running at my 2 barking and growling so I asked the woman to put hers back on the lead again and she laughed at me. He then pinned Diesel and Scarlet was going crazy and doing her best to get hold of this Lab and protect Diesel which is what any companion dog would do so i screamed at the woman "if you don't get that f***ing thing back on its lead now I will let my 2 off theirs!!!" Another 2 dog walkers came over and told her that her dog is vicious, not mine and that she needs to control her dog better. I was lying on top of my 2 at this point to stop Scarlet from defending us because she would of probably ripped it to pieces, ive never ever seen her act like that before. The Lab owner had the cheek to shout at me saying I was an unfit owner of that type of breed of dog! How dare she! Well if she did! An unfit owner would of let the dogs off their leads!!!! The abuse she had back was too much for her and she stormed off cursing under her breath. All I asked was for her to put her dog back on its lead as I could see it was a nasty dog and not fit to be around others until trained properly. Some owners of dogs need to have training themselves before taking them out for walks! Rant over now lol

Its a shame but not uncommon.

I was walking Moo with my mum last week on the common which is really sociable for dogs, we meet tons all off lead and very happy to sniff and play.

There was a young pup, couldn't be more that 20 weeks a boxer I would say, well Moo and this pup had great fun, snarling growling and rolling each other over. Pup started white and well ended brown! And would not leave Moo alone.

I had to stop play as the owner was nearly in tears (young mum not much more than 20 with a buggy).

Its all about training and its not that hard Xx

It's annoying as I always used to let Scarlet off the lead, I knew she would never attack another dog, she's scared of her own shadow lol and now I have to keep mine on the leads as other dog owners haven't got a clue when it comes to training.
I would guarantee it though, if a fight had of broke out then the finger would of pointed at mine as the breed, wrongly so, has a bad name.
There's a few owners around the village I'm in that actually bring there dogs out when mine are out so they can walk and socialise together which is great. It's every now and then that a untrained owner comes along and ruins it. Not impressed at all.
It's not hard at all and I feel that if you take responsibility of a pet then you should do as much research into that pet as possible and get as much training as possible before socialising it x

Agree Xx

It's amazing how some peoples minds work. Love it when people like that seem to think your the one in the wrong

Oh don't I know it. I was the devil reincarnated by the time she walked away though lol. She should not of p'd me off Guess she will think next time before letting her dog off its lead

if its one thing i hate its people whos dog is off lead that come to annoy our dogs that are on a lead. Its so annoying

Couldn't agree with you more!!

This kind of thing happens to me every day when out for walks with Rocky, who is always on his lead. I just get so fed up with people letting their dogs run up to him and jump all over him, he is great though and will usually just stand there and let them, he does sometimes have a grumble at them, then of course he is the one in the wrong not the one who's dog is off lead and acting like a jerk.

It all gets soooooo frustrating.

I find a lot of dogs I encounter off lead are a total handful. However, I do meet a few that are excellent. I never let Logan off lead now, he is good with most dogs but hates alsatians/huskys and I feel it's a better idea to keep him on lead.

I can also appreciate that some people are just afraid of dogs and I feel it is unfair for them to have to deal with off lead dogs when they want to enjoy a walk just as much as me. There is one girl that literally closes her eyes when she walks past me and Logan and she is obviously terrified, even though he is on lead and is a good natured dog.

If I see a dog off lead that looks like it could cause trouble I stop and tell the owner to put it on the lead. Thankfully, everyone has always done this when I've asked.

I put Olly on his lead when i see another staffy as he is nervous of them he barks and backs off as he was attacked by one that he was playing with ,it bit through his lip and put a few holes in his head before i got ot off him he will play with all other dogs but is nervous of staffys .

harlou wrote:I put Olly on his lead when i see another staffy as he is nervous of them he barks and backs off as he was attacked by one that he was playing with ,it bit through his lip and put a few holes in his head before i got ot off him he will play with all other dogs but is nervous of staffys .

That is being a responsible owner. You know that he is nervous of other staffys and you do something about it, others would leave him off lead and thats when a fight would probs break out as one is nervous and the other may be a dominant type dog so on and so forth.
What really grates me is the ones that dont and wont do anything about it and then people wonder why dog fights and attacks happen.

With the knowledge available today through forums like this and the rest of the internet, there should be no excuse for lack of training. These dogs are very very powerful dogs and if not trained properly they can and probably would cause a lot of damage and end up getting PTS because of human ignorance.

Sorry about the rant, I just feel so strongly about training any pet and making sure the ins and outs are researched before even considering a pet of any kind :-<

I do it with Olly cos i dont want him getting hurt he wont fight he just stands and barks even when the dog was biting him

shellie25 wrote:
Sorry about the rant, I just feel so strongly about training any pet and making sure the ins and outs are researched before even considering a pet of any kind

It's shocking when we have these confrontations. It's bad enough under any circumstances, but to occur when taking our dogs for a walk (a relaxing time) is all the worse and really gets the adrenalin coursing. Ironically, it's the time when incidents are most likely to occur, because our dogs bring us into contact with everyone, good and bad. Anyway, it's good to talk it out amongst friends afterwards

Some owners don't have a brain, sorry to say this but it's true.
I'm only 17 years old and I've got a staffy that is not friendly (not my fault we bought it when it was a year and a half and it was ok with my lab so therefor I thought the dog was friendly), now when I'm out on walks I ALWAYS have my dog on the lead and if I see another dog of the lead we tell the owner to put their dogs on the lead, some of them don't even care even when we say my staffy bites they slowly walk towards their dog to put it on the lead while my dog is strangling himself by pulling so hard and me trying to hold him.
I only ever let my dog of a lead when there's no dogs around and if another dog comes i get mine on the lead and do a little walk until they're gone.

I reckon some people don't care about their dogs and don't care if they end up getting hurt, because they don't seem to bother when we say ''My dog is not friendly towards other dogs'' They just walk as slow as possible towards their dog, ridiculous.

If you are that bothered by other dogs being off their leads why not find somewhere where dogs are not allowed off their leads to walk/exercise your dogs? There are parks around my city where dogs have to be kept on leads. If local byelaws allow the exercising of dogs off the lead and you don't like it then do not go there. You really can't expect everyone to have their dogs on a lead because you want them to. If your dog is on a lead and it bites a dog that is off lead then technically you have the law on your side as you have your dog under control.
Storm is brilliant off his lead and even when he comes across a stroppy dog he thinks it's a game of chase and legs it. He is rarely on his lead. I have very good recall over him and do call him to me when we approach other dogs on leads as I assume that they are on leads because they are not good with other dogs. Storm has bitten one other dog in the four years I've had him but only after the other dog bit him first, both were off lead. He doesn't like some GSD or boxer type dogs so I'm always aware when we approach either of these types of dogs. If Storm was a nasty dog then he would be kept on a lead but he's not so he won't be kept on his lead.

iamajc wrote:when he comes across a stroppy dog he thinks it's a game of chase and legs it.

Heh heh, yes, my little guy does the same. I've noticed that all of the dogs who have taken a lunge at him, have tended to be out of shape (maybe their routine lack of exercise contributed to their behavioural shortfallings), and he's normally a safe distance away by the time their teeth reach where he had been. He thinks it's just fun. No harm, no foul.

Of course, I wouldn't be careless, but recognise he needs to be off playing and making chums. Bumping into the occasional grouch in the process is as much a part of doggy life as it is of ours.

Just a thought - I wonder if the Lab's owner thinks that because her dog only has 3 legs he is less dangerous/forgiven things 4 legged dogs wouldn't get away with? Oh, also - Labs are so gorgeous and friendly aren't they?

TS06 wrote:

iamajc wrote:when he comes across a stroppy dog he thinks it's a game of chase and legs it.

Heh heh, yes, my little guy does the same. I've noticed that all of the dogs who have taken a lunge at him, have tended to be out of shape (maybe their routine lack of exercise contributed to their behavioural shortfallings), and he's normally a safe distance away by the time their teeth reach where he had been. He thinks it's just fun. No harm, no foul.

Of course, I wouldn't be careless, but recognise he needs to be off playing and making chums. Bumping into the occasional grouch in the process is as much a part of doggy life as it is of ours.

yeah, he tucks his tail in and he's off, spends as much time looking backwards as he does where he's going.
He is very aware of other dogs as the amount of times he has leapt backwards I couldn't count. But he does it when a puppy yelps at him too.
As you say it's great to see them making friends and socialising and they amount of ground they cover whilst playing with other dogs means they get a really good exercise. Much more effective than our sedate walking pace.

Lynda wrote:Just a thought - I wonder if the Lab's owner thinks that because her dog only has 3 legs he is less dangerous/forgiven things 4 legged dogs wouldn't get away with? Oh, also - Labs are so gorgeous and friendly aren't they?

Well hopefully next time she'll realise that for whatever reason her dog doesn't seem to like Staffys and will exercise a little more control over it.
I don't put Storm on a lead when I see a GSD or boxerish type of dog, but I do call him to me, If their paths cross he is next to me and can be controlled, mostly he is fine with them and after a short time is playing with them if he's in a playful mood. Three times in four years he has barked aggressively at them but never actually attacked them. Those occasions have made me careful when approaching those types of dogs even though the majority of the time he is fine.

iamajc wrote: yeah, he tucks his tail in and he's off, spends as much time looking backwards as he does where he's going.

I can picture the scene exactly!

iamajc wrote:If you are that bothered by other dogs being off their leads why not find somewhere where dogs are not allowed off their leads to walk/exercise your dogs? There are parks around my city where dogs have to be kept on leads. If local byelaws allow the exercising of dogs off the lead and you don't like it then do not go there. You really can't expect everyone to have their dogs on a lead because you want them to.

I understand that and I would never expect someone to do something that they didnt have to do. The area that I walk the dogs is restricted by law for all dogs to be kept on a lead. So when I asked her to and she refused thats when I threatened to let mine off. There's another part of the area that I walk the dogs that they don't have to be on a lead, so she might of been coming from there and didn't think to put hers back on a lead.
But with that said, if her dog is a nasty dog, which it is, surely common sense would be to keep it on a lead when in a public area? Especially when children are out playing and a lot of other dog walkers are out.

This Lab has also be vicious towards another 5 dogs in the area so I found out today from other dog owners. The owner thinks that the Lab is a well behaved dog and that she has full control of it. Obviously she doesn't lol

Lynda wrote:Just a thought - I wonder if the Lab's owner thinks that because her dog only has 3 legs he is less dangerous/forgiven things 4 legged dogs wouldn't get away with? Oh, also - Labs are so gorgeous and friendly aren't they?

She probably does think that. More fool her lol. The whole time I've walked dogs ive only ever come across 2 Labs that are aggressive. This one just recently and another when I was down the beach with my first staffy Lady. Lady just looked at it and walked off, I never had her on the lead, she was so laid back she was horizontal lol. I am still unsure of Diesel though as he is a rescue dog and this is the first time he has encountered another aggressive dog since being with me so I only let him off lead when I know that no other dog is around at the moment as I don't know what he would do

Shellie,
I would suggest if you see her again to start taking some pictures/video of her and the dog on your phone and letting the woman know that you will be forwarding them to the council dog warden as she should have the dog on a lead by law. Unfortunately there are more than a few idiots with dogs who haven't got a clue about controlling them in a satisfactory manner. I know the parks in my area with restrictions advertise a £1500 maximum fine. I do understand where you are coming from, as I've said if Storm was the type of dog to attack other dogs he would be on a lead, and I do take a chance that he will be fine off the lead. I know he will retaliate if bitten first so is able to defend himself but that said the last thing I want is for him to be injured in a fight. He's been attacked by a pit bull and within a split second of being bit had it by the throat. Luckily the owner and I were talking and right next to them. Storm had been playing with the american bulldog bitch that lived with the pitbull so he might have been miffed at him about that.

My parents have a doberman, so prejudice is there too when walking, she's been attacked by 2 labs, each time followed by ' this is the first time its happened...' well we met her again and clearly it wasn't the first time as we had the same issue with the same off lead lab! I think labs are great dogs but some owners become complacent and therefore don't think they need to train there perfect pooch!

I will deffo be taking vids and pics from now on. It's the same story that we hear all the time though, nasty vicious dogs attack and if mine were not on a lead then it probably would of been a fight, if I didn't have some sort of control over my dogs (granted I had to jump on Scarlet) and they did damage that Lab even though they were on a lead and the Lab wasn't, what would be the topic of conversation with the locals around here? 2 Staffs attack 3 legged Labrador.
That woman would be a great advertisement on how NOT to look after a dog in public.

Yeah with regards to the Pitbull and Storm, he was probs telling him "hands off my woman". One of them macho man things that males do

cesca1 wrote:My parents have a doberman, so prejudice is there too when walking, she's been attacked by 2 labs, each time followed by ' this is the first time its happened...' well we met her again and clearly it wasn't the first time as we had the same issue with the same off lead lab! I think labs are great dogs but some owners become complacent and therefore don't think they need to train there perfect pooch!

I couldn't agree more, I'm sure some owners think that the majority of a certain breed, act a certain way, without realising that all dogs have there own personality. It's a very stereotypical world we live in >=P

If you see her again, maybe you could say from a distance, in a full voice and with a large smile: "Madam, we both know that your dog is going to attack my dogs, so I ask you to please put him on a leash".

If she laughs off your request, then perhaps you could suggest that she finds a comfortable wheelbarrow to carry her dog for walks in future, because an aggressive three legged dog will probably find himself needing one at some stage.

I will say that to her!! That has tickled me!!!

I know how you feel, we get this all the time to were now its got to the point were we rarley let him off the lead if we know people are going to be about. Again as the same as your dogs he is not dog aggressive and has always been dog orientated from day dot. But due to the size of him we have had people pick up there dogs, cross the road and tell us to keep ours on a lead. sometimes the pure panic in peoples face is unbelievable. As with many other dogs he is very nosy and wants to make friends. I hope it doesnt happen again as its the worst feeling in the world

iamajc wrote:If you are that bothered by other dogs being off their leads why not find somewhere where dogs are not allowed off their leads to walk/exercise your dogs? There are parks around my city where dogs have to be kept on leads. If local byelaws allow the exercising of dogs off the lead and you don't like it then do not go there. You really can't expect everyone to have their dogs on a lead because you want them to. If your dog is on a lead and it bites a dog that is off lead then technically you have the law on your side as you have your dog under control.
Storm is brilliant off his lead and even when he comes across a stroppy dog he thinks it's a game of chase and legs it. He is rarely on his lead. I have very good recall over him and do call him to me when we approach other dogs on leads as I assume that they are on leads because they are not good with other dogs. Storm has bitten one other dog in the four years I've had him but only after the other dog bit him first, both were off lead. He doesn't like some GSD or boxer type dogs so I'm always aware when we approach either of these types of dogs. If Storm was a nasty dog then he would be kept on a lead but he's not so he won't be kept on his lead.

It would take an extreme case for a dog on dog to reach courts, in law its regarded as a given to happen. Its good grace to pay vets bills if your dog is aggresor though. With regards to bylaws ets there is always someone out there bucking the trend...my two are always leaded and if an unleaded dog comes over to investigate i let em both full lead length to show my comfort with the situation and they always sniff and then tag team play. If people complain i tell em to lead there dogs if they dont like rough play, my dogs aint da but they do play hard and rough just like anyother bully breed

Its a shame some people are like that.

I know my staff isn't friendly with other dogs, however I have trained him so he will always stay within reaching distance off the lead, comes back 99.9999999% of the time i call and if another dog owner is coming from a fair distance automaticaly either put him on lead or keep his eyes on me while we walk out of site (if theres enough time).

Hes really good with that, but no matter what ive tried, he cant play with other dogs.