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small/big dog personalities

780 views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Blitz 
#1 ·
The other day my parents came down with their two boxers, we went to the beach for a walk and although there wasn't too many people on the beach to be on the safe side we kept them on the lead. They can be a bit wild and are quite boisterous when playing with each other so my mum always keeps them on the lead in public places so she can control them both. Everyone we saw was really respectful and walked past and keeping their dogs close or they sniffed each other and kept going. One person however who had a poodle threw the ball straight in our direction and the dog came sprinting over. Her dog then started yapping at one of our dogs, showing its teeth and jumping up at her too! Surprisingly, my mums dog just looked quite confused and didn't react (no barking, lunging - just a very confused face) but as my mum pulled her away she was pulling back and this little poodle kept going for her. Then our other dog who is much younger and just wants to play started pulling my dad too and the leads were getting tangled.
I asked the woman if she could just get the dog away but the woman was more interested in retrieving the ball than calling her dog back which was really frustrating, I asked her again to either take her dog away or put it on a lead and she just started hurling abuse at us saying we should control our dogs and should muzzle them (they weren't growling or barking) and then how we should muzzle ourselves. She was really horrible and it was really upsetting.
I have a dog too who is a big dog and she has in the past had two small dogs run up to her yapping at her and jumping up at her and the owners didn't do anything while she was hiding behind my legs.

Obviously this isn't always the case but I've found that this seems to be a common occurence and can only think that if this was the other way around people would be appalled at a big dog seemingly attacking a small dog but some owners with small dogs just think its ok :(
 
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#2 ·
I think you get awful owners of all types of dogs sadly. I don't think it's a dog size thing. Like you say, some owners excuse bad behavior because their dogs are smaller, but I think those people would be bad owners regardless of the size of their dogs.
But like you said, everyone was respectful and nice except for just one owner. So at least the numpties are in the small minority :)
 
#5 ·
I think you get awful owners of all types of dogs sadly. I don't think it's a dog size thing. Like you say, some owners excuse bad behavior because their dogs are smaller, but I think those people would be bad owners regardless of the size of their dogs.
But like you said, everyone was respectful and nice except for just one owner. So at least the numpties are in the small minority :)
Definitely, you're right.
I just couldn't believe how awful she was but thats saying more about her than her dog, would have just been nice if she'd taken some responsibility! Regardless of dog size, she didn't seem like a nice person at all
 
#7 ·
I'm not excusing the woman's behaviour at all, clearly she overreacted to a reasonable request, but I suspect, deep down, she knew she was in the wrong and just too embarrassed to admit it, so took it out on you.

On the other hand, "on lead" doesn't necessarily equal "under control", and if your dogs managed to get their leads tangled, it doesn't sound like they were very well controlled either. Not excusing the poodle's actions, nor those of its owner, but to me, there seems there were faults on both sides.

When my previous dog, Max, who was a medium sized mongrel, was about 2 or 3, we were in the park when 3 off lead boxers (all bigger than him) came bounding towards us. Max didn't wait to see what they wanted - he turned tail and sprinted home, leaving me standing in the park calling for a dog that wasn't there. :Bag

Then there was that time when I was out with him and Milly. It was about 8pm in winter, but a mild night. I heard something large rustling in the bushes -, very eerie - , when suddenly a golden retriever came barging towards us, snarling and barking. It took every ounce of will in my body to stand my ground while shouting for its owner (who predictably arrived about ,5mins later). Once owner arrived and shooed the dog on (no apology, no attempt to get the dog on leash, nothing. In fact, I don't think he had a leash with him) , we continued in the opposite direction until we came to a low wall. My legs and hands were shaking so much I had to sit down on that wall and regain my composure.

We saw the same dog on a different part of the same field the very next morning. :rolleyes:

Any dog, regardless of size, can run up and disturb other dogs and their owners. Many owners of dogs of all sizes allow their dogs to be out of control and go running up to other dogs. Sometimes training slips and an otherwise well behaved, well trained dog goes selectively deaf and blows a recall. Responsible owners would own up to it and apologise while trying to get their dog. This owner clearly isn't one of them.
 
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#8 ·
Her reaction, language and response was utterly disgusting and I would never speak to somebody like this. I totally see where you are coming from with regards to on lead and under control but had they been off the lead and started trying to play in the same manner that a lot of boxers do (being very strong) and ended up squashing this poodle because of the size of them that would have also been our fault. Sometimes I just feel like you can't do right for doing wrong, she shouldn't have thrown her ball towards us, she should have called her dog back, her dog shouldn't have been jumping up yapping and showing its teeth to my dog, if anything I really think that that is totally out of control.
I also think that getting leads tangled is quite an easy thing to happen so doesn't necessarily mean they were out of control.
I'd definitely take responsibility if there was fault on our side but we were walking out of the way of people for a reason. I think its so important to respect other dog walkers and be aware of your surroundings and just feels like she didn't do this at all.
I often walk my dog off the lead and if i ever see someone with their dog on the lead I always put her on as a precaution because you don't know why those dogs are on a lead - I'm not saying she should have done that by any means but she definitely should have been more aware.
Just wish people were a bit more considerate!
 
#9 ·
Apparently it was the fault of my on lead Lhasa/poodle for looking at the off lead dog that ran down the hill to rag him. She couldn’t get him off my dog that was screaming. Luckily her dog was ok with people as it didn’t go for me when I managed to pick him up.

It was also my fault when a car rear ended me whilst I was stationary.

Some people are morons that think it is always someone else’s fault but thankfully they are in the minority.
 
#10 ·
Apparently it was the fault of my on lead Lhasa/poodle for looking at the off lead dog that ran down the hill to rag him. She couldn't get him off my dog that was screaming. Luckily her dog was ok with people as it didn't go for me when I managed to pick him up.

It was also my fault when a car rear ended me whilst I was stationary.

Some people are morons that think it is always someone else's fault but thankfully they are in the minority.
Thats awful!! I know its the people who are morons but its just so frustrating when you do your best and others are so inconsiderate isn't it
 
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