Bloomin' dog owners!

[husky03]

Originally Posted by Spank86

If the dogs the sort to maul he ought to have a muzzle.

rubbish-owner should always be in control of his dog-thats why theres things called leads-you expect every dog to get on with every dog it meets-that goes against their nature.

[Mr Speirs]

I never have my dog on the lead. I could trust her to walk next to me whenever I ask and when I don't she will always stay on the path. She doesn't chase cats or small animals so isn't interested in crossing the road for them.

Haven't come across this attitude from any other dog owners in the park I walk mine in. Everyone seems to be level headed and I can't think of one who constantly keeps the dog on the lead. I live in village in the countryside outskirts of a town though. Maybe that has some bearing on peoples understanding of dogs.

[Bluepete]

I'm just getting into the swing of the different dog owners around here. Our new pup, Poppy is seven months old, is a Black Labrador crossed with a Springer from the Blue Cross. She's very energetic but in the two weeks we've had her, she's gone from being a whirling dervish at the end of the lead to a reasonably well behaved walking companion. She stays on the lead on the roads, cos she's too young and dim to avoid cars, and the way the wazzoks drive around here, I doubt they would avoid her!
When we're in the park, or fields she's generally on a 30 foot rope to a shoulder harness, simply because she's new and she doesn't always come back! It's easier to grab a rope than an over excited pup.
She is allowed to play with any dog we meet, I actually encourage her to, but do keep hold of her rope, just in case, as Husky says, the reception isn't pleasant.

There are lots of different dogs and owners here, from rat on a string to a bloke with two ma-HOOSIVE! Newfoundlands. Poppy loves them and looks like a tiny terrier next to them! They have a whale of a time racing abouth the place. Others are as the OP states. Paranoid, introspective, social regects who probably spend hours choosing their precious little darlings Christmas present.

I do remember camping in the Lake District years ago mind. There was a ditzy woman with a Yorkshire terrier that shart everywhere and yapped all day and night. The husband was a meat-head in a muscle vest who would strut around trying to look hard. One evening, the rt ran off and the bloke was sent to find him. The entire campsite was in hysterics as this guy had to walk around the entire field shouting;

"Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell. Mummy says baaaaad girl"

They left the next day...

Pete

PS, here's Poppy.

At the end of the day all dogs are unpredictable. Even labradors. Though I admit, when I see a lolloping black softie coming towards me I don't tend to run for cover

Like husky says, it's not so much down to your dog being well behaved so much as other people's. When I used to walk our GSD he was always on the lead no matter where we went, unless I could see for miles and knew he could run off happily. He was pretty dog sociable when we first got him, until some eejit let their mastiff attack him while he was on the lead, scarred him for life and he was never the same since. Besides which you are assuming all dog owners can control their dogs' strength. Yes you may think they are weak willed because they are protective of their animals but sometimes there are good reasons for it. You don't know a dog's history and how it's going to react and for your own dog's safety it's surely a good reason to not let your dog beggar off out of sight.

[NTECUK]

Max is 99% of the time been fine.
He was maybe on an off day.
His been off the lead lots in 7 years.
Just this once he got the ach .

Originally Posted by Spank86

If the dogs the sort to maul he ought to have a muzzle.

Have you witnessed how much a muzzle subdues a dog once its on? Hardly conducive to an enjoyable walk when its hanging its head and giving you the puppy eyes. At the same time, making it wear a muzzle all the time because it once snapped at a terrier is hardly fair and makes for a nervous owner which will be transmitted down the lead regardless and confuse the animal further. If you've a dog that's the "sort to maul" then surely it is up to you as the responsible owner to act accordingly and not make the dog lose out because of paranoia.

[Fallout]

Originally Posted by husky03

All very well you knowing your own dog but you don't know how any other dog is going to re-act to yours having a sniff -what would you do if your wee pup playfully went up to someone elses dog who is on the lead and ended up getting mauled ?. Its irresponsible for a dog owner to allow there dog to approach unknown dogs ,wonder if you've came out with the line " its ok mate he only wants to play"-maybe your dog does but unless you know the other dog you can't be sure if he does also.

Originally Posted by Spank86

If the dogs the sort to maul he ought to have a muzzle.

Originally Posted by husky03

rubbish-owner should always be in control of his dog-thats why theres things called leads-you expect every dog to get on with every dog it meets-that goes against their nature.

My thoughts on this are I agree not all dogs get on. If they have a scuffle and my dog gets nipped, I don't care. That's life. They're dogs. They're not porcelain miniatures. If a dog is known to properly bite and injure other dogs, it should be muzzled.

I really don't care if Duke runs up to another dog and gets aggressively routed. It's good learning for him. If he gets clamped on by a pitbull without a muzzle, then that's the other owners fault. What have they done to make their dog so aggressive? OH I know! Perhaps putting it a lead it's whole life and teaching it that other dogs are foes by constantly making a big deal out of interactions.

Apart from the odd dangerous breed with psychopathic tendencies, aggressive dogs are usually nurtured to be that way purposefully or accidentally by poor ownership. Those people can deal with the problem they've caused themselves. I'm not going to restrict my dogs freedom and make every walk a chore because they stuffed up and brought up a dog badly, or chose not to muzzle an already dangerous dog.

[Fallout]

Originally Posted by missyburd

Have you witnessed how much a muzzle subdues a dog once its on? Hardly conducive to an enjoyable walk when its hanging its head and giving you the puppy eyes. At the same time, making it wear a muzzle all the time because it once snapped at a terrier is hardly fair and makes for a nervous owner which will be transmitted down the lead regardless and confuse the animal further. If you've a dog that's the "sort to maul" then surely it is up to you as the responsible owner to act accordingly and not make the dog lose out because of paranoia.

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.

[Sir Trev]

I agree with Fallout up to a point. Unfortunately dogs, like humans, are all different as some of the subsequent posts have suggested.

My dog is a rescued black Lab, somewhere around eight or nine years old when we got her. Nobody knows how many previous owners she had or what her home life had been like - she was a stray in a pound (death row) in south Wales. Recall was zero as nobody knew her previous name although she walked quite well on a lead, showing she had at some point been trained to some extent. After a couple of days of simple round the block walks to get her used to us we head into the park. We could not let her off the lead (no recall remember) so used an extending one so she had a bit of freedom, but the first dog she spied showed her nature all too well. She went in teeth first. In the months that followed nothing changed and she went for anything on four legs she could see.

Professional help and training classes helped her calm down a bit but even after two years with us she clearly sees every dog as a threat and cannot be trusted. Something happened to her with a previous owner that cannot be undone - the psychological scars, according to the professionals we tried, are too deep and she is unlikely to ever improve. I'd like to meet the ******* that did such a number on my dog but it won't change her now.

As a consequence she can never go into the park, is always on a lead, and because most other owners cannot comprehend that she is different and will not stop their dog going up to her she is always muzzled. Walks are always on the pavement and at odd times of the day so we have less chance of meeting other dogs. I lost track of how many times I heard "it's all right, he's very frinedly" as a happy normal dog starts wandering over, but the attitude often changed when I asked if they would be OK with the vet bills following the innevitable fight - happy dogs can easily pick up a vibe from an unhappy dog like mine at which point all bets are usually off...

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.

Originally Posted by husky03

rubbish-owner should always be in control of his dog-thats why theres things called leads-you expect every dog to get on with every dog it meets-that goes against their nature.

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.

Originally Posted by missyburd

Have you witnessed how much a muzzle subdues a dog once its on? Hardly conducive to an enjoyable walk when its hanging its head and giving you the puppy eyes. At the same time, making it wear a muzzle all the time because it once snapped at a terrier is hardly fair and makes for a nervous owner which will be transmitted down the lead regardless and confuse the animal further. If you've a dog that's the "sort to maul" then surely it is up to you as the responsible owner to act accordingly and not make the dog lose out because of paranoia.

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.