Thanks very much for posting, it’s really interesting to hear your point of view and the experiences you have had.

It’s a shame that so many dog owners cause issues for those that do train their dogs and how awful that you have been assaulted by another walker!

You would think that we’d all be fairly like-minded folks and get along quite well so it’s sad that some people behave like that!

I completely agree with you about the importance of recall training and think all clubs should devote as much time as possible to working on this with their attendees as well as the owners working on it with their pups.

I’m a professional dog walker and trainer, and after nearly two years of trying to protect the dogs I walk (during which time my own dog was attacked and severely bitten by an out of control dog and now really doesn’t like other dogs bothering her or running towards her) I too have stopped speaking not only to the owners of out of control dogs, but the dogs themselves.

Asking owners to control their dogs is pointless. They only want to play, they’re being submissive, they are just friendly, or I get a mouthful of abuse as if I am doing something wrong to not want their dog hanging around, getting my dogs agitated and all the leads tangled up as they try to get away from the intrusive dog. All excuses because owners can’t get their dogs to come back when they call them and they are trying to disguise this fact.

So I started telling dogs ‘No’ when they approach. That worked most of the time, for the dogs it didn’t, a sharp ‘Away!’ to startle them worked, although only temporarily, at least it allowed most owners to finally run over and take their dog away. However, I was assaulted by a man walking his dog who refused to put his dog on a lead, decided to walk very close to me and allow his dog to keep bothering mine, all the while threatening me not to speak to his dog again. After he grabbed hold of me after the third time I had to tell it to leave my panicked Greyhound alone I called the police and he was arrested.

So now I simply body block dogs because it’s too dangerous to speak to either owner or dog. When they do finally leave us alone and go away it’s nothing to do with their owner calling them. It’s simply that their critical distance has been reached and they return to their pack. I don’t carry a stick, but if I meet a persistent dog I wouldn’t hesitate to use more forceful means to get it away although I’d fall short of trying to hurt it because I quite like dogs, it’s why I do the job I do! It’s not their fault their owner has failed to train them. I carry spare slip leads and I’d be more likely to put one on it and tie it to something. If nothing else, it may decide that it’s more important to go back to the owner when it’s called than it first thought!

So, if the man who hit your puppy has had similar experiences, I am not surprised he never said a word before dealing with an out of control dog to protect his own dog in the way he deemed best.

I’m afraid if a dog is well socialised it does *not* run up to dogs on leads without an invitation. The idea that dogs need to be ‘socialised’ comes from the American culture where dogs are sentenced to dog parks so are in a much more crowded environment, don’t have the space to run free, so it is of utmost importance they learn to play with other dogs nicely. In the UK we don’t have this, although with more and more dogs ‘just being friendly’ it can’t be more than ten years away.

There is no reason for a dog of mine to ‘say hello’ to another dog unless it’s going to eat it or mate with it, neither of which I allow! If my dog wants to play, well it has me to play with, which makes it a much more useful member of the *human* society in which it has to live because I can use play to train my dogs to do all sorts of helpful things.

I too have had a young dog go through that teenage stage, so I know exactly what it’s like when your dog runs off and prefers to be with another dog than with its owner. However this happened only ONCE. No other dog I’ve cared for has been allowed to continue to practise this behaviour – puppies I’ve cared for since they were baby puppies learn it’s more fun to stay with me so the problem never occurs. Dogs that are this age when I start to walk them STAY ON THE LEAD until they’ve outgrown this behaviour or I have been able to train them to stop doing it.

This behaviour is so widespread due to the bad habit of ‘socialising’ dogs that I specialise in recall training, it’s pretty much all I train.

Liver cake is a good doggy training aid! It smells horrendous when you cook it so presumably it must taste lovely! =) Goodluck with the recall work. Hopefully you won’t bump into this man too frequently!

May I ask what you are thinking of using it for?
Personally, I would try to avoid using pet corrector as it can actually cause behavioural problems (you are effectively ‘frightening’ the dog into stopping whatever it is he is doing, so it *could* cause fear related problems / aggression) and you have to be absolutely spot on with timing which is rather difficult.

I know some people who carry them for emergency purposes (i.e. incase of a dog fight) but for some dogs they really, really don’t work. I am part of a forum where this discussion came up a couple of years ago which pretty much reiterates what I’ve just mentioned but I found the thread for you if you are interested in having a look: Pet Corrector

Lots of differing opinions but essentially I would be careful as although it is not physical punishment, it is still an aversive.

Have you tried clicker training? Takes a bit longer and requires patience for some things but reinforces behaviours brilliantly – and you can start to train in different places
with different levels of distraction as you and your pup increase the criteria of what you want him to do (i.e. recall when lots of dogs are around / massive distractions).

If you want to have a look into it, there’s a book by Karen Pryor called Clicker Training and she also has a website Clickertraining.com

Have a look at this article on distraction training 10 techniques for Training with Distractions

I hope this is useful but please do get back in touch if you need any more advice.

Many thanks,

Hayley

thank you so much for your response. Rudy and I will be working on recall (with liver cake which he loves!) but I will keep an eye for this man and make sure I have Rudy back and on the lead before anything can happen.

Can I ask your opinion on corrector sprays?

Thanks again
Su

Thank you for your comment. I’m so sorry you’ve had such an awful experience tonight. There is NO EXCUSE for that man hitting your dog (he may well have his reasons for why he prefers not to socialise his dog but he could have handled it in a much more appropriate manner!)

I completely sympathise with you as yes, his reaction could indeed have made things worse and it is a credit to your dog that he didn’t bite the person hitting him!

I would suggest either that if he is approaching, you leash your pup temporarily just to get past without any issues (I know this is a bit unfair on your friendly dog but would be worried that the man wouldn’t hesitate to be violent again if your dog went over to his and I think it would be safer to avoid this as it could end up causing problems for your own dog, physically and emotionally) , or alternatively work on his recall (maybe find an extra special reward like a squeaky toy or something amazingly tasty like liver cake that he will come back for?) so that it is easier to get him back with such a big distraction present.

I really do feel for you and think this person’s behaviour was not acceptable regardless of whether his dog is dog friendly or not.

Thank you for the post. Firstly I would say you are doing the right thing by ignoring the provocation. Leashing your dog and moving away or indeed, walking past him and his dog, is absolutely fine. It may be tough to hold your tongue but you are keeping your dog under control and setting an example for other responsible dog owners.

Castration can help dogs calm down but your boy is still only a pup so it could be hormones that are making him react – if you are concerned that he is becoming dog aggressive, you should seek out a behaviourist and work on socialisation but it sounds like normal doggy behaviour to me (albeit difficult to tell without actually seeing the dog) – I have a collie who can get grumpy with dogs that get ‘in his face’ and who haven’t learnt proper ‘doggy manners’.

The key is what you have just told me at the start of your post – he loves sticks. So use that as his motivation to focus on you and ignore the other dog.

My collie is obsessed with balls so we take a special ball out with us – as a result, he can largely ignore any dogs that are trying to ‘get in his face’ – he even had a lab jumping all over him but his focus was on the ball. Likewise with your dog, it builds your bond with him if you can make yourself the most exciting thing in his world (ie the one that makes the sticks move ) and you can then use this as a form of distraction training (you could try a squeaky ball or tug toy, whatever is most likely to keep his attention on you).

Ignore any other grumpy dogwalkers – you enjoy your walks and training with your dog. You are right, that other people should keep their dogs under control but unfortunately they don’t always!