Dogs in Public. (Canine type)

ThePrettyDamned

It's okay to not like dogs. But blaming dog attacks on them is stupid. The owner should take responsibility, and sometimes the person who is attacked could be partly to blame. 

With that said, I would like to see more people obeying public park signs that specifically state dogs should be on a lead. Put them on one of those extendery ones so if they start bounding towards someone you can stop them. It's really not hard. 

ThePrettyDamned

As for dogs in cafes and stuff, as clever and well trained my collie is, she's not well trained enough for that. So we wouldn't take her. 

Other people have very well behaved dogs that just hang out by the table gnawing on a treat from the pub landlord.

digitalscream

capo4th said:

I think all you dog lovers should get a separate doggy forum section where you can all love each other's dogs, dog photos and have doggy banter and bark at each other and do doggy stuff together. 

I have seen seen the way you all congregate and stare at each other longingly in the park.

Two out of three of the admins are dog enthusiasts (yes, that includes me). I think we're safe on this one, thanks.

lasermonkey

The last time the Mrs and I were hassled by a dog ( a f**kin' great, big thing!) it was "under the control" of a professional dog walker. By that, I mean let loose so it could run at us, snarling, barking and generally acting rather bitey. The walker eventually put it back on a lead and apologised, but we were both a bit shaken by then. I just wish more people would use those extendable  leads, as it makes a huge difference to those of us who are wary of dogs.
 

SimonC

Bucket said:

capo4th said:

I think all you dog lovers should get a separate doggy forum section where you can all love each other's dogs, dog photos and have doggy banter and bark at each other and do doggy stuff together. 

I have seen seen the way you all congregate and stare at each other longingly in the park.

I started off agreeing with some of what you said, as I have had a lifelong, deep-seated distrust and fear of pretty much all dogs and really dislike them running up to me, jumping, barking, sniffing, whatever.

But the longer you've gone on, the more you're making a fool of yourself and looking like a total prick. Stop it.

Agreed, clear rule #1 contravention.

digitalscream

lasermonkey said:

I just wish more people would use those extendable  leads, as it makes a huge difference to those of us who are wary of dogs.
 

I've found that those extendables are actually pretty rough on the dogs - there's a hard "yank" when you engage the brake, which can produce unpredictable behaviour in the dog (something akin to barrier frustration, which is going to make the dog even more bad-tempered).

We use a 50' horse training leash for ours, which we just leave trailing behind us (coiled up when we're crossing roads, obviously). They're much stronger than retractables for a start, but you also end up with a lot more control and most of the time you don't even have to grip it - just have it sliding through your hands. Our trainer also showed us a great alternative way to use it where you can loop it round the dog's chest to simulate a 3-point harness, thus having even more control over the dog if there's a problem.

Iamnobody

digitalscream said:

lasermonkey said:

I just wish more people would use those extendable  leads, as it makes a huge difference to those of us who are wary of dogs.
 

I've found that those extendables are actually pretty rough on the dogs - there's a hard "yank" when you engage the brake, which can produce unpredictable behaviour in the dog (something akin to barrier frustration, which is going to make the dog even more bad-tempered).

We use a 50' horse training leash for ours, which we just leave trailing behind us (coiled up when we're crossing roads, obviously). They're much stronger than retractables for a start, but you also end up with a lot more control and most of the time you don't even have to grip it - just have it sliding through your hands. Our trainer also showed us a great alternative way to use it where you can loop it round the dog's chest to simulate a 3-point harness, thus having even more control over the dog if there's a problem.

We were told by the trust not to use those extendable leads under any circumstance. No control at all and with a dog like ours (greyhound) it could be leathal if he ran and got tangled up in it.

Some of the walkers where I live favour those leads. The problem is when they are pissing about on their phones and the dog is 20' in front they can't react in time - especially at road junctions when the animal turns the corner before its human does. That has happened to us before and it was a particularly nasty black Lab that we met...

I like a short leather lead so I'm in as much control as practical at all times.

I've also used the above loop it round method when walking particularly keen/strong dogs - it really pulls them under control.

digitalscream

Iamnobody said:

digitalscream said:

lasermonkey said:

I just wish more people would use those extendable  leads, as it makes a huge difference to those of us who are wary of dogs.
 

I've found that those extendables are actually pretty rough on the dogs - there's a hard "yank" when you engage the brake, which can produce unpredictable behaviour in the dog (something akin to barrier frustration, which is going to make the dog even more bad-tempered).

We use a 50' horse training leash for ours, which we just leave trailing behind us (coiled up when we're crossing roads, obviously). They're much stronger than retractables for a start, but you also end up with a lot more control and most of the time you don't even have to grip it - just have it sliding through your hands. Our trainer also showed us a great alternative way to use it where you can loop it round the dog's chest to simulate a 3-point harness, thus having even more control over the dog if there's a problem.

We were told by the trust not to use those extendable leads under any circumstance. No control at all and with a dog like ours (greyhound) it could be leathal if he ran and got tangled up in it.

Some of the walkers where I live favour those leads. The problem is when they are pissing about on their phones and the dog is 20' in front they can't react in time - especially at road junctions when the animal turns the corner before its human does. That has happened to us before and it was a particularly nasty black Lab that we met...

I like a short leather lead so I'm in as much control as practical at all times.

I've also used the above loop it round method when walking particularly keen/strong dogs - it really pulls them under control.

That pisses me off no end. Unless we're in a field, we keep the lead short so the dog's no more than a couple of feet in front of us. It's not just so that they don't hassle people - dogs don't see the same danger in being on the road as we do, so we keep the lead short to keep them safe.

The phone thing is another idiocy as far as I'm concerned (yeah, I'm quite judgemental about these things). A friend of mine used to run a large breed rescue, but when we told her we'd got an Akita she said that's the only breed of dog she would never touch. One day she was out with a couple of her dogs in a park, and some woman was poncing about with two Akitas - leads in one hand, phone in the other. The Akitas took exception to my friend's dogs, and dragged the woman 50 yards across the park to attack her dogs, flat on her face; all because she wasn't paying attention to what her dogs were doing, they took her by surprise...and once you're flat on the ground being dragged by dogs, the "keep control of the situation" ship has sailed and there's basically nothing you can do about it until they stop.

Coco did the same to my daughter (because daughters don't listen and always know better than their parents), but just because she wanted to run rather than attack. She was on the phone too, and got dragged through sheep shit for a good 30 yards. As an aside, that was an excellent teachable moment.

On a funnier note, our Coco always has a point during walks where she decides that there's plenty of space, so she's going to bunny around us for 5 minutes. When this happens, all of her brains leak out of her ears and she spins, runs, spins some more, jumps a load, spins some more, runs....and inevitably ends up on the floor with her legs tied together AT-AT style, looking at us pitifully...."How the hell did that happen, human, and why on earth didn't you stop it?".