Dogs On Leads..

[Frazzledazzle]

Afternoon all, just wanted to get people's views on the situation.

I've increasingly been aware of dog owners in my area walking their dogs off the lead round an area which has HGVs and lots of cars going through the main road. Does anyone else think this is proper annoying? I only say this because i've got two Springer Spaniels, one of which has recently had an operation so is grumpy and the other is a puppy that loves other dogs. It seems everytime i walk them there's another dog owner not abiding by the unwritten 'laws' of dog walking!

Only last night a man was walking his black Lab off the lead, it crossed the main busy road and he didn't bother to call it, only allowed it to come right up to us and had a sniff, then growled at my puppy for being boisterous. This in turn made my adult Springer go into protection mode, and he bared his teeth back. The guy continued walking on the other side seemingly oblivious to what was going on. So i shouted at him to get his dog and he said "oh it'll be alright". Aye, when they're 5 seconds from pouncing on eachother?! I ushered his dog away and it eventually walked off but the owner just didn't care. Unbelievable!

On another occassion when my dog had just had his op and could not join us for a walk, i walked Ruby round the block. I turned the corner to be met with two young kids, probably about 11/12, walking two large Alsatians. They were far too powerful and even i would struggle to hold them, but obviously the bright spark of a parent thought it would be a good idea to let the kids do the work!! So i crossed over to avoid them but the first Shepherd pulled the lead out of the lads hand and ran over to us growling at the puppy. Luckily i have been trained in dealing with dangerous animals through work so i stood my ground and picked up Ruby. Fortunately the situation quickly died down and the dogs ran off home after i charged towards them (Embarrassing now i think back, but effective!).

There's loads of other situations, such as a neighbour letting his dog run right across everyone's gardens and leaving lovely little presents all over. We're in the best area of town, maybe people think too highly of themselves up here??

My point is, dog owners always give themselves a bad name by not taking responsiblity when they buy a dog. What if the dog ran out and got run over? Or they started fighting and it got hurt? Simply clip a lead on, full control. Rant over!

 

[fishyfeet]

i know what you mean my cavaliar king charles was bit by a lab on the thigh, cost me £70 in vet bills, some owners are irresponsible. di

 

[Frazzledazzle]

Did you not charge the owner, fishyfeet?

 

[fishyfeet]

they denied all responibility, i didnt discover the hole in his flank until we got home, i assumed he as being a wuss, screaming and refusing to walk, the vet said it was lucky not to get infected and could have needed an operation.

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh, this is one of my bugbears as well

My dog is an ex-racing grehound, so he's not good with anything small, furry and running even if they're other dogs. I've had quite a few hairy momments with small dogs running up to him; even though he's always on a lead it can be difficult to stop him going for them.

One of our neighbours used to have two dogs that he allowed to run loose in our lane and that were always getting into my front garden and terrorising my guinea pigs out in their run and s***ing everywhere. "Oh, they should have their freedom" was his 'excuse'. What about my piggies freedom to go out on the grass without being blimming petrified, eh?

It's irresponsible owners like that give the rest of us a bad name, it p***es me right off

 

[NottsFishy]

Both my border collies have been trained to heel so therefore i have no reason to put them on leads they both know not to cross the road till i say so they sit at the road if i allow them to walk ahead of me all the time not on a leash.
I will however put them on a lead if i was on a busy main road or there are alot of people around (many individuals in my area are terrified of dogs) i can understand youre point of view i have had experiences of idiotic dog owners not bothering to control there dogs either on the street or on the local field and have ended up getting into heated debates with them.

 

[AquaticAustin]

I personally need to keep my dog on a lead but I know some people (neighbors doberman) who is so well trained he certainly doesnt need to be on one, depends on the dog, owners perspective and training.

 

[Gidge]

I completely agree with this. I have a Siberian Husky (Diesel), when he was 12 weeks old, we took him to a park. I noticed a man enter the park with his dog which was not on a lead. His dog didnt take any notice of Diesel, so that was fine.

About 5 minutes later, I noticed his dog running at full speed across the oval straight towards my dog, which was with my friend at the time. I yelled for him to hold on to the leash and ran over.

im not exactly sure of the breed of dog, but it looked to me like a pitbull cross. It was very staunch with a huuge strong set jaw. Anyway the dog ran over, and grabbed Diesel by the throat. I got over there just as this happened and tried to throw the dog off of him, but he continued to charge at him. I picked my dog up and the other dog was then jumping up at me trying to get at my puppy!

Where was the owner you ask? Casually strolling across the oval! When he got over there, he then had the nerve to say that MY '12 week old puppy' instigated the fight. "He's not a vicious dog" he said. PUT HIM ON A LEAD!

Thankfully Diesel was not hurt, but he was very scared of other dogs for a few months after that!

 

[Frazzledazzle]

I completely agree with this. I have a Siberian Husky (Diesel), when he was 12 weeks old, we took him to a park. I noticed a man enter the park with his dog which was not on a lead. His dog didnt take any notice of Diesel, so that was fine.

About 5 minutes later, I noticed his dog running at full speed across the oval straight towards my dog, which was with my friend at the time. I yelled for him to hold on to the leash and ran over.

im not exactly sure of the breed of dog, but it looked to me like a pitbull cross. It was very staunch with a huuge strong set jaw. Anyway the dog ran over, and grabbed Diesel by the throat. I got over there just as this happened and tried to throw the dog off of him, but he continued to charge at him. I picked my dog up and the other dog was then jumping up at me trying to get at my puppy!

Where was the owner you ask? Casually strolling across the oval! When he got over there, he then had the nerve to say that MY '12 week old puppy' instigated the fight. "He's not a vicious dog" he said. PUT HIM ON A LEAD!

Thankfully Diesel was not hurt, but he was very scared of other dogs for a few months after that!

Tex was different after he had a scrap when he was younger, from an incident with two Staffordshire Bull Terriers. He was just about a year old and we were at the stream where i used to live. Out of nowhere two SBT's ran up and started sniffing him which is all fun and games. But as soon as the older looking SBT growled, that's when it kicked off. My dog wasn't biting though, he had them both pinned down as if he'd been watching too much wrestling. It was a bizarre moment! I pulled him away but they kept on coming so he kept pinning them, the next minute the owner and his girlfriend appeared out of the bushes and aimed a kick at Tex's hip. Unfortunately my temper is shorter than a goldfish's memory when it comes to things like this so i dropped the lead and punched the guy before he even knew i'd reacted. Luckily our scuffle made the dogs disperse and it was only when several other dog walkers got involved that we went our separate ways.

Not my finest moment, but if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything.

 

[Better is Betta]

How about this way of thinking.....A guy was walking his dog when out of nowhere this huge dog rushed in to attack his dog. He placed himself between his dog and the attacking dog and ended up sustaining injuries that required a lot of stitches. When asked why did he do this...he said it is cheaper for me to get medical attention than it is for my dog to be treated by a vet.

 

[Cazgar]

I hate to see dogs off leads on the streets.
Many people think it's clever, it's "look at my dog, isn't he well trained"
It's against many local by laws for one, & stupidity for another, it only takes a split second & the dog is run over & maybe kills someone.
It really is a pet hate of mine & makes me very cross

 

[fluttermoth]

I agree; even the best trained dog in the world (and my uncle used to train dogs for the prison service, so I am familiar with well trained dogs) can have a 'moment of madness', see a cat on the other side of the road or something

 

[Tom499]

This is why I'm for dogs out and about to either be on lead or muzzled. The owner can know the dog as the softest, friendliest pup in the world, but to strangers a loose unmuzzled dog is an unnerving thing, and there are horror stories in the news fairly frequently.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Dogs should always be kept on a lead, regardless of how wel they behave. It is simply a matter of safety. I am not going to say that all dogs have a small attention span, but most do. I had a husky that had attention deficit "oooh shiny" and would run no matter how well behaved you "thought" he was being. Another thing that annoys me is people that dont clean up after their dogs. I have cats. So I should not be picking up dog crap from my yard! Your dog mad the mess, CLEAN IT UP!

 

[Gidge]

I had a husky that had attention deficit "oooh shiny" and would run no matter how well behaved you "thought" he was being.

Husky's sure are difficult to train. I know how you feel haha. Fortunately mine never leaves my side. But he's got a problem with males