Rant about other peoples dogs!!!

[tritonx]

This sort of situation has happened to me and Fraser way too frequently. Dogs in most locations here are supposed to be on leash, but monitoring is slack. I wouldn't even know who to phone. Just the other day as we were finished our walk and heading back to the car, an off leash young boxer/pit(?) mix ran up to Fraser and loomed over him, hackles up, stiff body posture, tail high, staring. Fraser went small and sat down and did all the calming behaviours. I saw the owner and called out to him several times to call off his dog, but either he was deaf (old fellow) or couldn't care less. Eventually I was able to lead Fraser away, but I didn't want to interrupt the early part of the interaction in case it triggered the other dog since it was clearly being dominant. What drives me mad is owners always say, 'he/she's friendly' right up to the moment that the dog makes an aggressive move and then it's, 'oh, Fluffy, be nice' as if it's a naught child.  Also,  I don't whether Fraser is going to act defensively to another dog's behaviour and set off a brawl. When I was passing the old fellow, I said, 'your dog might be friendly, but I can't account for how my dog is going to react to yours rushing up." He said, 'oh, I didn't think of that.  I empathize with your frustration.

[Helen]

There is a fine balance between allowing your dog to be a dog and intervening, and as has been said dogs speak dogs better than we do 

I wouldn't have intervened - unless Jarvis is in danger of being attacked I don't.  Never have, even when he was a puppy.  He had his fair share of bossy dogs doing this and learnt pretty quickly if he didn't react they would bog off.   When I thought he was feeling really overwhelmed I would approach the other dog and distract him away by offering him a piece of liver cake or high value treats.  Labs in particular never said no    It wasn't confrontational (again your pup will pick up on that and think that you are angry with them!), and it was done in a pretty relaxed way to not upset my dog.

Remember how sensitive dogs are - they can pick up your feelings very quickly.  If you are scared and nervous they will feel this and think there is something to be scared of and I truly think in the case of some dogs this is how their fear manifests and becomes a problem.  I say *some* dogs as there are always those that will and always have been very nervous and their owners will always have to work with this.

Obviously if there are bites and blood involved then yes, that's an attack and I would intervene. 

[PopPops]

There are a couple of dogs around us who are lovely and Pops has a great time with them, but a lot more dogs who charge at her and dominate or harrass like Zac experienced, and Pops isn't the most confident puppy. She's screamed, she's tried to run, I've always got between her and the other dog, talked to and distracted the other dog, tried to be confident and act like it's no big deal and help her handle it - it's happened too many times though and now we're getting a lot of nervous barking and after she had the exact same experience at her first session at puppy class too, our session last week ended with the trainer spending a long time with us trying to rebuild her confidence to be around the other dogs. With hindsight (always great) I wish I'd picked her up a lot more often and a lot quicker   (The dog who mobbed her at the puppy class while the owner did nothing mobbed another puppy within ten minutes of starting the session and was moved to a different session and won't be back thankfully  )

[Pip C]

Well, I now have a walking pole to carry with me and I have asked my OH to come with us tomorrow.  It's making me angry to feel the need to do this,  but my confidence was knocked today and I couldn't bear another bad walk tomorrow.  Some support will help me a lot.  Conscious that don't want to scare little zac either by being anxious. Hopefully a great walk tomorrow will give both zac and I a boost. Kind of hoping woman there again so can have a rant, but at least OH there if dog comes over again. Here's to awesome walkies tomorrow. 

[Helen]

I think you've nailed it 

"Your" confidence was knocked.  Your pup wasn't hurt or injured and it sounds like he got up and carried on as normal, it's you that is concerned and you are right - your anxiety is the thing that will harm your dog most here.

[DarceyTheDog]

Darcey and mitsy play fight constantly, when it first started it was showing who's boss but now it's just play. Surprisingly it's darcey - cocker not mitsy - lab cross who's the boss! They both want to meet and play with other dogs but I tend to lead them away as alot of owners we see look as if to say keep your dog away from mine!

[kalami]

It's school holidays here and a time of year I hate, dogs that I'm not familiar with suddenly appear, i call them weekend dogs, most of which don't have any manners or 'just want to play' oh please how many times I've I heard that before, yeah well not all dogs 'just want to play' particularly when your rottie cross is trying to sink its teeth in Molly's backside.

This drives me mad . Brodie is not the most confident of dogs and situations like this really scare her . She used to scream her head off but these days will tell the dog off - not aggression, just a warning to back off. Of course, some people then see Brodie as being in the wrong .

I really hate it, especially when I have done a lot of work to build up her confidence, only to have it ruined by someone's boisterous and out of control dog

Same for us with Bella, recently even she had had enough and she told a dog off which surprised me as she'd never done this before. The owner of the other dog said what a grumpy cocker, lol funniest thing ever after I'd stopped laughing I did tell the owner what I thought of her overpowering dog, the fact that anyone old see Bella wasn't happy and that she the owner stood there like a lemon without a clue thinking it was normal dog behaviour. Not seen her again

The other thing you could carry is one of those ball chucking things, after all they are designed for dog walking, so no one can question why youre carrying it

[Holly2009]

Personally if your that scared your taking a walking pole I'd really try & get out more and socialise with other dogs! Taking something with you with an intent to use it in what could be a completely unjustified situation really wouldn't be the best for anyone involved. I hate seeing people strutting about with sticks, poles etc walking around in fear of other people's dogs (maybe I would if I'd had a horrendous experience) but no, not something I would ever consider.

[Pip C]

Personally if your that scared your taking a walking pole I'd really try & get out more and socialise with other dogs! Taking something with you with an intent to use it in what could be a completely unjustified situation really wouldn't be the best for anyone involved. I hate seeing people strutting about with sticks, poles etc walking around in fear of other people's dogs (maybe I would if I'd had a horrendous experience) but no, not something I would ever consider.

Zac gets out loads and has plenty of socialising with other dogs. He goes out at least twice a day and is usually fine. Its just some dogs. The thing that is scarey is not being able to control the other dog
 Anyway we conquered it this morning. Decided to go without OH and we had a great walk.

[Lovely]

Sorry Holly 2009 we're not talking about friendly bouncy dogs we're talking about domineering dogs which actually are the ones that need more socialisation as they don't pick up on the clear cues they're being given. I walk my dogs where a dog was killed by another dog in the past few months, again during school holidays. I've also been bitten by a dog that attacked mine. I'm not in the least scared of dogs and will generally let mine get on with it but i'm not going to stand back if it gets out of hand and i'd rather have a stick get bitten than my arm. Carrying a stick doesn't mean i'm gonna bash any dog that comes along.

[Holly2009]

Sorry Holly 2009 we're not talking about friendly bouncy dogs we're talking about domineering dogs which actually are the ones that need more socialisation as they don't pick up on the clear cues they're being given. I walk my dogs where a dog was killed by another dog in the past few months, again during school holidays. I've also been bitten by a dog that attacked mine. I'm not in the least scared of dogs and will generally let mine get on with it but i'm not going to stand back if it gets out of hand and i'd rather have a stick get bitten than my arm. Carrying a stick doesn't mean i'm gonna bash any dog that comes along.

I really don't see how carrying a weapon would help in a situation with a domineering dog 
I see far to many older people carrying implements and I'm sure a lot are walking scared & would use them in unnecessary situations due to their own fear.

[Lovely]

I've never used it so i might be totally wrong but the kind of scenario is this- male dog keeps trying to mount spud. Spud warns him. Dog mounts again. Spud air bites at him. Dog mounts again, spud goes for him. I would use stick to seperate dogs or worst case scenario hit either dog to stop fight preferably not spud. Or i could stand back and let them fight it out, not an easy thing to do but some people can. Please understand that i'm equally concerned about the other person's dog. Obviously everyone has their own views on this. I like my shillelagh cos i can carry it in my pocket and doesn't get in the way and is handy for getting through brambles too. The person who bred spud said i should have just let him fight it out with the lab as a border terrier will bite a large dog's under belly and inflict alot of damage, but i'm not happy to allow that if i can prevent it. Spud never attacks dogs but any dog will defend itself when it has to. Not an easy answer to this i guess.

[Archie bean]

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people carry sticks for their own stability, not for use as a weapon. My Dad had arthritis and always used a thumb stick. I guess he might have resorted to using it to try to separate two fighting dogs if he felt it was absolutely necessary. However, I personally feel that taking a stick with the express purpose of using it as a weapon against either a dog or an owner is wrong. I am amazed that it has even been suggested to be honest.  carrying a concealed weapon is even worse and surely against the law? Admittedly, I have never been faced with this situation. Or at least not so bad that it has made me so worried about walking. Maybe I'm just lucky with where I live and with the dogs we meet.

[JeffD]

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people carry sticks for their own stability, not for use as a weapon. My Dad had arthritis and always used a thumb stick. I guess he might have resorted to using it to try to separate two fighting dogs if he felt it was absolutely necessary. However, I personally feel that taking a stick with the express purpose of using it as a weapon against either a dog or an owner is wrong. I am amazed that it has even been suggested to be honest.  carrying a concealed weapon is even worse and surely against the law? Admittedly, I have never been faced with this situation. Or at least not so bad that it has made me so worried about walking. Maybe I'm just lucky with where I live and with the dogs we meet.

I dont carry mine as a weapon, but would feel lost on a walk without a thumb stick , I guess its what you are used to, must admit in my old age it is a helpfull walking tool but I have carried a stick on walks with and without dogs since I was in my 20's.

[Lovely]

I'm not suggesting other people do it and it's not for the "expressed use" of using on people or dogs, as i said it's handy for lots of things, it's just  shorter stick for goodness sake. As always, everyone has an opinion on this, but i kind of feel a bit fed up that it sounds  like i'm "carrying a concealed weapon". I put it in my pocket so i've got one hand free. A blackthorn walking stick is exactly the same thing just longer. Having been in the situation of seperating 2 seriously fighting dogs and getting my arm bitten, i'm happier having a stick so i  can intervene. Standing there screaming or crying  or waiting for someone else to come along ain't much use.