Can we just normalise people recalling their dog back to them when they see another dog!
I live in a small (well expanding) village, and it is shocking how many incidents I have witnessed where owners just seem completely oblivious to their own dogs’ capabilities!
A few weeks ago my husband was walking Flash along a quiet lane, my husband is really vigilant when walking our dogs but he had stopped to pick up Flash’s poo then all of a sudden out of nowhere this large tri coloured dog was up in Flash’s face picking a serious fight! My husband had to intervene and thankfully scared the attacking dog away with minimal physical damage to Flash. It turned out that this dog is owned by a frail old man who never walks this dog on a lead (he lives close to where this happened and was heading out on a walk, so the dog ran out ahead) This man heard the commotion, he was nowhere near when it happened, he never apologised, and just carried on his walk!
This incident has rightly made Flash quite weary of unknown dogs running up to him, so as a responsible owner, I avoid this happening.
Today, I walked Flash at the top of the village in some big open fields where you can see for miles around. I noticed a man walking a golden retriever in the distance, happily letting his dog run up and interact with any dog it came across 🤷♀️.
Obviously, this man was going the same way as us, so I walked right up to the top of the field, well out of the way so Flash and I could carry on enjoying our walk in peace. The look of confusion and almost discust on this man’s face was plain to see. How dare I not let my dog interact with his?!
On the same walk this morning, I also witnessed a couple walking a large wirehaired visla type in the fields opposite. Now the trouble was, the dog was a whole field in front of the owners!! He was running up to a Jack Russell. The owners weren’t even in the same field! I have previous experience of this particular dog as it has run up to my dogs before and the woman owner said the usual ‘oh he’s never done that before, he’s friendly’ He clearly hasn’t got any better at his recall skills in the past year!
Now, just in my village, that is 3 incidents that could have had very different outcomes, and from what I could see, each owner was completely oblivious as to what damage either their dog could cause or could receive!
At Chatsworth last week, again, an off lead dog ran up to Flash – we’d seen the dog in the distance and put Flash on a lead. When the dog got to us, there was some growling, and I quickly got Flash out of that situation.
Now Flash is a dog I can control 100% off lead, his recall is spot on, he walks close to me when he sees another dog etc, I can 100% say I have control of him both on and off lead. However, I can’t guarantee what dogs he will like and which he won’t.
I’ve never had a problem with Flash and other dogs, and I don’t have one now. However, I do know that the incident where he got attacked really worried him. He has shown me all the signs of not wanting unknown dogs running up to him because he is scared he will get attacked again. So, I don’t put him in that situation. I’m working on building his confidence back up at his pace.
I still don’t understand in this day and age, when there is so much on social media about dog attacks, yellow dog schemes, putting your dog back on lead when you see another dog, that we are still on the whole, oblivious to the emotional and physical damage it can do just by allowing your dog to ‘say hello’ .
Now I’m obviously not talking about not socialising your dog or your dog not having friends, I am purely talking about the unknown ones you meet when walking.
It’s actually really weird to expect your dog to want to say hello to every dog! I certainly don’t want to speak to everyone, and I’m sure you don’t, too!
There are many reasons a dog doesn’t want to interact, here are just a few:
- Anxious
- Injured or recovering from surgery etc
- Old age
- Reactive
- In training
All you need to do as an owner is recall your dog and pop it back on a lead. If it is obvious the other dog needs space, please give it some and don’t make the owners life harder by making comments etc!
If people are happy for the dogs to interact, they will let you know, or if you are unsure, ask BEFORE, letting them anywhere near.
I do think there needs to be more work done on owners reading dogs’ body language. It should be a compulsory part of every dog training class! I know I cover it at length in my courses, but I’m surprised at how many trainers don’t include it.
So next time you are walking your dog and another dog walker is making it really obvious they don’t want your dog to interact, please just respect that! If not, you might just end up with blood on your hands and a large vet bill or worse! Nobody wants that!!
Feel free to share this blog to spread the word and to keep all our doggies safe!
Till next time, happy training,
Katrina 🐾
KB Dog Agility 