Bloomin' dog owners!

[Fallout]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Granted most of the people Si is describing are pathetic but some of us really do have to keep our dogs on a lead, for your benefit and for ours. It would be irresponsible of me not to.

That's totally fair Trev. I would see the muzzle and assume the dog had issues and call my dog away. I think you're being very responsible in that circumstance. If your dog wasn't muzzled though, then I'd have issues.

Also the recall thing is an issue I know lots of owners have. Duke doesn't come back straight away all the time. I have to be honest though, I don't think it's fair for 'lead walkers' to expect all other dog owners to keep their dogs on the lead to make their lives easier. Dogs love running free. The people I meet who obviously get annoyed when another dog runs up to their dog are being unreasonable imo.

Originally Posted by Fallout

No need to muzzle a dog that's nipped the odd dog here and there. That's stupid. Dogs bite each other. Some are grumpy. If it does it routinely though, it should be muzzled. It's a very irresponsible owner who doesn't muzzle that sort of dog. People can bang on about how a dog running around is irresponsible etc. but aggressive dogs need to be reined in the most.

Not arguing that at all, my post wasn't meant to be anti-muzzle. Thing is, one owner's idea of an aggressive hound is someone else's over excited pup. A silly moo who sees one tooth bared and thinks your dog's into cannibalism can be enough to scare someone into thinking they've an evil animal on their hands when, as you rightly point out, that's the dog's way of communication and if neither twit understands how dogs work then they shouldn't be owning one. There are far too many idiotic animal owners out there, a very sad fact.

[NTECUK]

Originally Posted by Spank86

No, but if you cant control your dog enough to restrain it from biting everything it meets then you should muzzle it because there's no way you can guarantee it will never get free from your grip and could then maul anything.

I'm not talking about an odd freak ocurrence I'm talking about a dog you know to be bitey.



Im not talking about a dog that once nipped a terrier, thats different.

I'm specifically talking about dogs that will seriously injure others on a regular basis if they get close enough. THere is no non muzzle way for them to be safe. A lead is not safe.

That's not how it read .
But now you have cleared the point .
If you have an pressie dog . Muzzle it.

Apologies.

I used the word "maul" very purposefully as oppose to simply bite.

I love dogs personally even though I've been bitten a couple of times once quite badly.

[timwilky]

Dogs are such sociable animals, round here they have mostly trained their owners to have a chat with each other whilst they in turn check out each other smelly bits. Although if there is one of those cute cavalier king charles types, No nuts don't matter they are having it!!.

One girl called her spaniel a slapper for putting out for Jasper, next day same dog bloke instead. He is raping my dog!


I must talk to at least 70% of fellow dog owners I pass whenever I take Jasper out for an empty.

[NTECUK]

Wizard our keshund would show his teeth if another dog got too pushy .
Never aggressively bit .
But did love to catch poodles pom pom tails .
Which when we took him to dog shows could be an issue .
But fancy putting a style on a dogs tail that looks like a rager .....

[Fallout]

Originally Posted by missyburd

Not arguing that at all, my post wasn't meant to be anti-muzzle. Thing is, one owner's idea of an aggressive hound is someone else's over excited pup. A silly moo who sees one tooth bared and thinks your dog's into cannibalism can be enough to scare someone into thinking they've an evil animal on their hands when, as you rightly point out, that's the dog's way of communication and if neither twit understands how dogs work then they shouldn't be owning one. There are far too many idiotic animal owners out there, a very sad fact.

True! It's like Owenski said, the owners need education, and need to try not to project their personalities onto their dogs. They're independent creatures. They're tougher than we think, unless they're up against a hoover. We can train them and we can confuse them and damage them, but we can't teach them which dogs to like and not to like. Let them get on with it, imo.

It's only really when a dog has had a troubled past like Trev's dog that dogs can end up consistently aggressive. If someone has brought up a dog from a pup and it's always aggressive then they got it very wrong.

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by Fallout

Also the recall thing is an issue I know lots of owners have. Duke doesn't come back straight away all the time. I have to be honest though, I don't think it's fair for 'lead walkers' to expect all other dog owners to keep their dogs on the lead to make their lives easier. Dogs love running free. The people I meet who obviously get annoyed when another dog runs up to their dog are being unreasonable imo.

My last dog was a happy, soppy, lovable, freinds-with-everyone/thing Goldie. Her park deafness was irritating at times but she was on the whole pretty good. Following my current experience I will be more understanding to some lead walkers in future but realistically if you are going to be that pathetic about other dogs just stay away from areas where they're likely to be off the lead!

That also goes for people. One of the funniest memories I have of my last dog was seeing her lollop past a good twenty feet away from (and ignoring) two young kids who huddled together as if Godzilla was approaching them. They ran off screaming towards their father with my dog looking back at them with a puzzled look on her face. The father said something about people not controlling their dogs in a loud voice and I said the same back about parents not controlling their pathetic children. The look on his face was priceless.

+1 Sir Trev,
If you're been responsible with your dog by having him/her on a lead and muzzlied then I'd definitely be aware of the danger and as I said Miya is voice controlled (this was paramount to train her in it after we had the farmer incident about 3years ago, the threads on here). Anyway a quick call and she'd be back to my side without fail, the only test she's never had to execute is if she'd come to me if someone were simultaneously offering her a treat.

I (and hope it didnt come across as such) dont have a problem with people walking their dog on a lead, I'd much rather see the dog running free but its not my prerogative to worry about those dogs. My beef as it seems is Simons is those owners who poochie-woochie-kins their dogs and bark accusations at me when I near with mine.

[Mark_h]

Problem is every dog owner believes their dog to be super friendly and great with kids.

My two (kids not dogs) were both terrified by dogs because of a couple of dogs who jumped up at them and knocked them over when they were little. We've gradually introduced them to dogs again and they are now mostly fine unless a dog jumps up at them when they are not expecting it.

Now when we go for walks they will ask if they can stroke a dog, get the sniffing done and give strokes all very nice and friendly. However we still get the odd dog who jumps up and frightens the life out of them and the owner will just say "it's fine, he's great with kids he's just exited". Actually, it's not fine. You've got a dog who we don't know jumping up uninvited to my kids who are often smaller than the dog. At this point we don't know if it's a friendly dog or a badly trained face ripper.

So have a bit of sympathy with the other side. No dog should be let off the lead and out of controlling range if it's not trained well enough to not jump up at children (or adults for that matter). I'm all for seeing dogs running and messing with other dogs but if your dog jumps up and scares my kids I'm not impressed. How do I know it's not a kiddy mauler just by looking at it?

I have on occasion grabbed a dog by it's collar and held it down while it's en-route to my kids and on occasion been critisised by the owner as "it's OK, he's great with kids". Well I'm not prepared to take that risk and I'm also not prepared to have the hard work of getting my kids to be calm around dogs put back again.

Happy to be flamed by the dog-lovers but I see the safety of my kids as far more important than the freedoms of your unknown dog.