Rare rant from me

Probably a rant thats been heard a thousand times.So basically on a saturday morning my lass goes to the gym leaving me with our 3 year old son and the 2 hounds, so with me havin my son its not practical to take the dogs on our usual 3 mile walk to the beach, so i walk to a field thats quite popular with dog walkers and its quite close as im due at work at 9am, so anyway we've been there for ten mins with my two dogs playing with countless dogs when gradually these dogs leave and a couple walk on with a spaniel on a long lead, i always scope out dogs and their owners as you can usually judge how the dog (and owners) are going to behave and they seemed fine, which they were when my two approached and just had a sniff to say hello, the spaniel was very friendly and bouncing about but the couple weren't letting it off the lead so i called my two away (which they did pretty much instantly) anyway my two played with each other for a few mins and then went back to the spaniel and wanted to play (as did the spaniel) and the bloke went mental and started pulling his dog away from my two, which clearly excited both the spaniel and my two (while still remaining very well behaved) so i walk over to put mine on the lead and on the way over (about 100yds) he starts shouting that Digby (male Staff) was biting his dogs head, now i havent taken my eyes off these dogs as they were playing as i like to see how they interact with other dogs and this was a complete lie!! he never left this dogs back end as thats all he was interested in then this guy proceeds to pick his dog up and start twirling about like a ten year old girl in a playground shouting that im irresponsible for having "one of them" off the lead, by this time my two are back on their leads and just sat watching him twirl around like an idiot, i calmly suggest that he learns the basics of animal behaviour and body language before he starts accusing peoples dogs of aggression. I know its maybe not a massive deal but this ruined our morning walk and that does annoy me i also feel sorry for his dog as he's obviousely never going to give it the chance to play and interact and just be, well a dog!

Unfortunate incident and unfounded accusations but sure there will be plenty here that will say the same , if he didn't want to interact the first time then he wouldn't want to interact the second time so in this situation I would just keep my dogs well away to avoiud the grief. I always put our 2 on the lead around strange dogs and do not let them approach unless invited . For me my youngest can sometimes be unpredictable and has on occasion been a little fond of a spaniels ear but it's not really worth the grief in the first place as over and above general dog etiquette there are way too many people totally ignorant to our breed

Rotten way to start the day, wasn't it?

But.....

Dave wrote: if he didn't want to interact the first time then he wouldn't want to interact the second time so in this situation I would just keep my dogs well away to avoiud the grief.

I'd have to agree with this.

I accept that your dogs were well behaved & did no harm, but if another dog is on a lead I never allow Dempsey to approach it.

I do see your point and i guess its a lesson learned on my part but i've always found with dogs ive had through the years (most Staffs) that if you instantly put a dog on a lead everytime you see other dogs (unless its obvious you need to) the dogs attiude completely changes, i think the more trust you show them the better they are, but clearly i accept this isn't always practical

I understand what you mean, but if the other dog is on a lead, I stay well clear because the other owner may not want (for whatever reason) his dog to play with yours.

I keep Dempsey on a lead around strange dogs because he's an unpredicatble bugga on or off lead! It seriously bugs me when other owners let their dogs run up to mine without checking first!

BoroGTI wrote:I do see your point and i guess its a lesson learned on my part but i've always found with dogs ive had through the years (most Staffs) that if you instantly put a dog on a lead everytime you see other dogs (unless its obvious you need to) the dogs attiude completely changes, i think the more trust you show them the better they are, but clearly i accept this isn't always practical

Guess I look on it with a little different view to you as I generally don't know how Tommy will react at times and if a dog gets bouncy over Tilly who is the much more placid one then Tommy can get a little defensive so I know its something I have to do but I do know that in most circumstances then it is not accepted for dogs to come up unannounced. However like you said before this owner was clearly over reacting . If you let 2 labs or BC's run up like that you would never get the same response. On occasions they do get the opportunity to get a good runaround with other dogs though when we know the dogs and owners.
It's just something we have to think about firstly as dog owners and secondly as Bully breed owners

This was an unfortunate encounter for you and your dogs. Try not to let it spoil your walk though should you come across him again, just call your dogs back and put them on their leads to avoid any unwanted confrontation. Sadly I see people like him nearly everyday, and I always have Rocky on a lead or a long training line because he can at times be very nervous with big dogs. These are things that just come from experience and knowing your dog.

Sounds like an unfortunate incident to happen, but I wouldn't let your dogs run up to strange dogs, particularly those on a lead, for their safety and also to stop people like this making stupid accusations. I understand what you said about trusting them, but at the same time you have to know your dog. I don't let Loki run up to strange dogs because he's too boisterous and annoys even friendly dogs sometimes, so it's better for everyone when he's on the lead. Hopefully you won't run into them again

i also have meet a lot of strange people but i always put the lead on my max..is friendly but some people don't know, they see him like is a wild animal .I also meet people with big dogs like Labrador.. German shepherd and they are so proud of them and let they dogs off leash when they see me putting the leash of my dogs

Best to put it behind you & learn from it, and not let it ruin your day

I only have Ledger off lead in a clear park or if we have a ball as then he is totally focused and pays no interest to dogs but even then and if we purposely move to a far corner of the park o have seen other owners just stand at the gate, watch us, turn round and walk away! From more recent experience at agility he would most likely be ok but he can play rough and so some owners I can see how it would look aggressive and am not prepared to take the risk

I personally hate other dogs being allowed to approach Ledger when he is on lead, he can be nervous of larger dogs, I recently heard one of our local culprits has recently been fined as he wasn't in sight of the dog and therefore hadn't picked up after it the dog is a large gsd and is wonderfully placid his size just puts Ledger on edge. The chap does always apologise but he won't change how he walks the dog

All advice above v useful but the bloke with the spaniel sounds like a stress ball and a pain. I have definitely had incidents when my morning walk has been ruined by someone who is just in a foul mood (whether I am with my dog or not). The other day a woman had a go at me because my dog chased the ball she had thrown to her dogs. Yesterday i saw a woman go mental because abother woman walked past her and accidentally tapped her with her shopping bag. It does make me feel upset sometimes as there is no need for people to be so aggressive to one another. Also i think we are all a bit more sensitive than normal first thing in the morning. It is best to just let it go and try and stop thinking about it. I think that story of the 15 year old girl and dog attack has freaked a lot of people out - and I understand it. I suppose it is our job to do as good a job for the reputation of staffs as possible which also means sometimes getting them to behave to a much higher standard then some other breeds (not always easy with hyper Rupes!)

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I don't get it when owners pick up their dogs and spin around with them, if anything it would encourage another dog to jump up at theirs! They look so silly

This is where I think we should keep our dogs on lead whether short or long lines so they can play and run. This may seem like your in some way punishing your dog but its because of idiout like the spaniel owner that this breed gets more and more bad rep. That guys prob gone off and told the world and his uncle, "oh this nasty agressive staffy was biting my poor thing head" blah blah blah. I've said it numerous time on different threads on this website. We are all desperate to keep the image of the staffy good and if keeping them on a lead and under control (as off the lead no breed is ever under 100% control) we can raise the profile of the dogs. Rather than letting your dogs runover why not walk them over and ask if they can play with his dog. If he says no. Thats the end of it. I fear, and maybe this is dramatic of me, that all these little incidents just further hampen the dogs reputation. I for one know that when my Lola eventually leaves me, I will want to get another staff (if not before if the OH lets me) but I will not be able to if they become banned dogs. Another thread on the website was about long lines, which I have purchased. I refuse to believe that and dog no matter how energetic cant get enough of a run from a 30 meter line. Even on an 8M extendable. If i am out for an hour with lola running up and down the length of it. She is knackered.
The guy with the spaniel is an idiot. Your dogs are not at fault and nor you as they have done nothing wrong. But I honestly cant see why we shouldnt just use a long line.

I do understand what your saying although i really cannot agree! the way i judge it is that the positive comments i get from walking my dogs (on lead and especially playing off lead with dogs) greatly outweigh the bad experiences and comments i've had, people are very pleasantly surprised at how well my boy plays with other dogs (of all breeds) and i and my dogs have made a lot of friends this way. I see this as being the best advert for the breed, not keeping them permanently on a lead like your walking a tiger or something, if i see a dog thats never let off the lead i usually presume its not very friendly, is this how you want people to view every staff? or any bully breed for that matter

Caryll wrote:if another dog is on a lead I never allow Dempsey to approach it.

I'm the same, and the thing that really annoys me is when other people see Milton's on his lead and let their dog run up and annoy him. He doesn't mind playing with other dogs, but he's very picky about which dogs, and doesn't like his personal space being invaded when he's not in the mood to play. Generally the owners of these other dogs seem to find it funny that theirs isn't listening to them and is all around Milton, right up until the point that he gives a clear signal that he's had enough, then they'll look at me like it's my fault. And if I stand in the way and tell their dog to go before it gets to him, they tend to look disgusted that I've had the nerve to tell their 'happy little thing' what to do. Just because I can control a situation when they clearly can't. I often wonder if I'd get the same reaction if I was walking a different breed - almost certainly not.
On the flipside though, we were waiting to cross a road this morning and a lady stopped at the side of us with a toddler. I glanced down to see that he little girl was stroking Milton and he looked like he loved it The bit that surprised me though, was that the mother apologised because the girl hadn't asked, then she said what a gentle, friendly dog he is I suppose it all balances out in the end.

Im afraid that i dont agree with this post neither, fair enough his dog was actually ok, but i keep mine on a lead becuuase she cannot be trusted, so it infuriates me when people let their dogs run over to us - she is on a lead for a reason, not because im miserable and dont want my dog to be a dog. I would love nothing more for Louby to play freely with other dogs, but at the mo its not to be.
Although the guy you talk about does sound like an idiot.