Please call your dog

Its irresponsible owners I dislike; I love animals.

Oh dear.I stirred up a hornets nest.
To be clear I am fine with dogs running around at a distance, dogs on a lead, dogs that ignore me, even dogs that start the run up and are called back. I even bought a Christmas card yesterday for my daughters dog!
It's the uncontrolled bounding up to me that puts me back to "Its going to bite." because it happened once.
That might not be logical but it's like my friend who's car was hit by a lorry some years ago. She's grips the seat whenever a lorry comes towards us. Because it just might happen again.
Just call the dog!

I suppose my fear of big dogs goes back to the days when I was working, and had to do home visits. The number of people who had an alsation!
One time I visited a family who lived above a pub. The lady asked me in , sat me on a sofa and disappeared. A huge alsation came running in, tail wagging, placed his front paws on my shoulders, and started to lick my face . I was frozen to the spot. Another time someone called come in, and another huge alsation started to circle me growling, until she appeared.
These experiences made me cautious, though I still like dogs.

The washing machine engineer came this morning and was extremely fearful of dogs. Duncan stayed in the dining room then went out for his walk. No problem. Engineer is coming back and the same will happen.

I don't think the problem is the dogs. It's people's attitudes and manners. The lack of consideration for others and selfishness. At various times I've heard various people say in all seriousness that dogs should be kept on short leads and kept only in the countryside, cats should be kept indoors, horses shouldn't be ridden outside their fields and children not allowed in restaurants. A bit of consideration, such as properly training your dog (or cat/horse/child) and a bit of empathy and all would be well.

(And I still think doggy play areas would be a good idea!)

Some years ago, when my grandson was still in a pushchair, a big dog rushed up to him in a London park and scared him very much. (I was quite scared, too.) I was grateful for the confident and authoritative way my DIL tackled the owner, a young man, pointing out that the dog should be on a lead and there were notices to that effect. The young man didn’t have a lead with him, but he removed the long lace from his trainers, threaded it through the dog’s collar and slunk away, shamefaced.

I hope he learn his lesson, but will never know.

Children in pushchairs are at dog level and I do worry about little fingers being snapped at.

Strangely enough, for most of my adult life I've had cats but, now that I'm catless I've become very wary of them; feel they're going to lash out at me if I stroke them [I guess DD's cat, who used to do that, didn't help]. Same thing with horses; totally confident around them when I had one but these days the wariness has returned. The only dogs that I do tend to stroke when I'm out and about are young dogs that are learning to socialise because I think it's important for them to meet lots of people and have positive vibes from them.

There’s a black and white cat which sits quietly by the fence in the car park opposite waiting for dogs and their owners to walk past. He stalks behind them and then attacks the dogs with great ferocity!

That reminds me of an incident many years ago. Our dog at the time was still very young and impulsive,and seeing a cat on the towpath one day decided to chase it and raced off towards it. Thirty seconds later she was heading back towards us at full speed, tail between her legs, with the cat in hot persuit. She never tried chasing a cat again after that! Seems that cats are very good at training dogs

Cats are good at training everyone. I saw a very apt little sign once - 'cats don't have owners; they have staff.'

There's a cat called 'Ginger' who lives in the next village and sits by the side of the road watching the world go by. Supposedly he 'comes with the house' as, whenever the house sells he just stays where he is. Sometimes he'll disappear for a while but then come back again and resume his position both by the side of the road and in the house. However, I have been told never to stroke him as he will go for me.

Maybe the answer to the dog problem is for us to dress up in giant cat costumes and chase away any dog that comes too close

Thank you Eglantine for starting this thread. My DH suggested recently that I had hypnosis to try and overcome my fear of dogs which has increased with age.

I walk every day and am super alert to looking for dogs. I take a walking cane and would be prepared to hit a dog on the nose if he came for me, then have a heart attack ?

I too tell the owner 'I am really frightened of dogs please take it away' this latest response was 'my dog can pick up on your body language' I know that all I want us for them to take their bloomin dogs away.

I find standing still and not giving them eye contact helps.

Someone I know keeps dog biscuits in his pocket and throws them to the dog. I'm not sure I fancy that method in case they come back for more.

No! I mistakenly took that approach with a persistent seagull last week, tossing a bit of my sandwich away from me to get rid of him. Before I knew it, every seagull on the beach was marching determinedly towards me!
Imagine if that happened in the park with lots of dogs

This has provoked quite a discussion between me and a couple of friends, both of whom are dog owners. It gave me the courage to remind them both that much as I seem relaxed around their dogs I'm actually quite frightened. They both said I should learn about dog behaviour and then I'd be less anxious. My response? I shouldn't have to! For seven months of the year our local beach is dog friendly and I love walking there. It's a long stretch of sand and, at low tide, it's possible to walk for a couple of miles or more. Yesterday there were more dogs than people. I like watching them but I'm always wary when they seem to gather into ever larger groups.

"Shouldn't have to" - indeed!!!!

I am intrigued by this thread which has shown very clearly that dogs are a problem to many; it is a message that needs to get out there so that those owners who wish to be considerate can see the level of this concern. It is not about being "hysterical", as anya suggested on her doggy thread; it is about having the right to walk in peace and safety.

We're lucky that our dogs never have to leave the farm other than to go to the vet or kennels where they are well behaved and sociable (thank goodness)

Although I like to think of myself as a dog lover I'm not in the slightest bit interested in other people's dogs - if that makes sense.

When walking our dogs I am always on red alert when I see anyone approaching, as I know that not everyone likes dogs. I have a sister who is absolutely petrified so I do understand. If we are in any doubt, they go back on the lead.
For their own well-being though, they do need to run off lead. If there was a dedicated dog park available, I would use it but they are an unknown thing in our area.

You're right you 'shouldn't have' to learn about dog behaviour Kezia but wouldn't YOU benefit from doing so?

Then you would understand when you should be cautious and when a dogs behaviour is not as threatening as you perceive it.

This issue of poorly trained dogs is down to a number of issues in my opinion and to be fair its about the people not the dogs.

1. Too many people breeding their pets to make money . They are not using good stock, not taking into account issues i.e breeding from dogs with excellent temperament etc.

2. Too many people not buying the right dog for them. Choosing a dog for fashion or looks and not understanding the nature of the breed. Buying working dogs and not working them etc

3. People purchasing dogs and not training them. And I mean more than sit and give me a paw. Going to classes, learning about the breed and your dog in particular. learning how to control your dog for its own benefit and for those around it.

None of these things will ever change unless it starts at the grass roots in my opinion. Every little should require a licence. Every pup sold should require a licence. Training should be obligatory .

It'll never happen ...but its good to dream

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5088241/Scientifically-proven-six-week-puppy-training-regime.html

Here we go folks, the answer to all our dog training dilemmas.

n&g guilty of getting working dogs and not working them, but in our defence we went to training classes with them for several years. We give them long walks, hence the need for them to be off lead.

Today we bought our DS for Xmas the Bear Grylls’ book ‘How to stay alive’. We thought it would be useful when he takes our two DGSs camping and walking.

Lo and behold on pages 379 to 383 there is a chapter on ‘is the dog dangerous’. Maybe it would be worth looking at it in your local bookstore.

In short

‘If A dog is showing signs of aggression.....

Don’t look it in the eye - it will take that as a challenge.
Don’t smile - it could interpret that as you baring your teeth.
Stand sideways to it so that you present less of a threat.
Gradually back away.
Make no sudden movements as you get yourself out of the dog’s line of sight’

Hope that helps.