Decided to start this topic to see if you guys have seen any weird behaviours by dog owners.

Every day when I walk my dogs I see many out of control dogs both on leash and running free. Usualy the off leash dogs are street dogs and they have more sense than some owned dogs.

But there is this one guy who "walks his dog" by just letting it run loose and essentially following it where ever it goes. It is a 5-6 yr old intact male. Every time I happen to be on the same street with this dog, he will run towards my dogs aggressively and I will step between my dogs and this dog ready to use my cane. The dog backs off and the owner catches his dog by it's collar

This guy is upset by my behaviour and kept saying that his dog just wants to smell mine. Usually at this point I change direction and go away. Day before Yesterday the same thing happened and I told him very kindly "Sir, please dont mistake me for saying this, but I WILL HIT ANY DOG THAT APPROACHES MY DOGS with out my permission". His face got all crinkly as he walked away.

Today I saw the same guy walking his dog off leash but with a new way of controlling it. He has filled his pockets full of small pebbles. Whenever his dog (which is usually ahead of him and urinating every 10 feet) needs to be controlled, he flings a pebble at his dog to correct it's course (sort of like a negative feed back control system). I could not believe my eyes. A guy actually thinking this up. I guess a leash is a weird concept to him.

Amazing people... Around here it is not uncommon for elderly ladies to walk their small dogs that they have no control over with carring a small (or not that small) stick to whip their dogs with when they think the dog should obey but doesn´t. Many are not leashed, some a not small dogs.

I have been reprimanded for tormenting my dogs with having them on leashes (roads in every direction just some seconds of doggy sprinting away) by a lady that walks with a cane and never has her obese papillon on leash. Now her dog has started to bark and do short distance lunges on other dogs and the owner now carries a stick also. Yeah, and I am the cruel one here...

I don't really want to open this can of worms. But yeah, I'm feeling ornery. Lot's of dog owners are weird, and a lot of the time, the more they get into their dogs, the weirder they get.

I have countless scenarios to back this up but I will just mention one which sort of embodies them all. Recently my wife and I went to a pet expo at the stadium near my home. It was lots of fun. Lots of dogs and things to see. Yet, when I finally found something truly exciting I was shut down.

I approached a table for a local flyball team. I'll try to be as exact as possible. "Oh man! I found a flyball team! How do I get involved?" -Me, "Hey..." -Random Flyball team member. "So you guys compete a lot?" -Me, "No, not a ton." -Random Flyball team member. "Oh, okay, so you guys just train and have lots of fun and aren't too much into competing? That's cool! I could definitly get into that! I have a little puppy I'm raising, once he's about a year I'm going to do some sports with him!" -Me. "(Scoffs) It's summer that's why we aren't competing." Random Flyball team member. "Oh is there any teams that compete and train inside?" -Me. "You gotta have a facility." -Random Flyball team member.

I literally walked away with my wife with my mouth gaping and eyes drooping. My wife said to me, "Why are dog people so rude and weird?" Ramachandran, on top of people just being flat out abusive and annoying about how they handle their dogs, people can be flat out snobby too. It seems so rare that you talk to someone into dogs that isn't close minded and snooty about their style.

Sorry for the rant, but I figure you all will be receptive to this comment. I guess this is why I'm becoming so obsessive with this board. Everyone here is so kind and helpful. Rarely does anyone get ugly with each other here. I really appreciate this board and all of you here, because it is very uncommon to have this many great people in one place.

The majority of pet owners are uninformed, uninterested, unmotivated etc etc in training their dogs or acknowledging the rights of other dog owners. JMO as I have had myself & my dogs attacked 5 times in the last several years by out of control, no recall off leash dogs allowed to run free by their stipid owners. Not intentionally offending anyone here as there are some really good owners out there. Just telling it as I see it most of the time. These people think that it is cruel for me to make my dogs obey my commands. ig: why am I ordering my dogs around...why not just let them play & be dogs? SLAP HEAD HERE....Gee I don't know... maybe I want my dogs to listen when I speak to them for both of our sakes..my sanity & their safety. BTW, I thought they were having a good time chasing their balls & bringing them back to be throw again & working for their balls that they love more than almost anything. Good god, how stupid can I be to actually think that this is fun for them. I take & work & run my dogs on multiple school & sport fields in my area & I am constantly having to try to run off dogs that have no business being off leash while the owners are running behind the dog calling their name & trying to catch up with them. Sooner or later these dogs will run out in front of traffic or get into a fight that they start but cannot win & everyone looses especially the dogs & these owners won't understand why or how this happened. GEEZZEEE. Sorry for the rant, but this has really become my pet peeve these days.

Most of the people that have trained pets or working dogs are for the most part nice people. I haven't realy encountered snobbery or nastiness at all. They are usualy happy people with happy dogs.

I've just had a lot of weird run ins, I know there are lots of nice dog trainers. Otherwise where did you all come from? I must be having a long string of bad luck though. Maybe times are about to start looking up!

I don't understand all of the dogs being off leash....are there not leash laws where y'all are?

I have my dog off leash in the complex at this point, though I always have his leash around my shoulder if I need it. My dog is NEVER out of my control and I have been told off for giving (usually a verbal) correction if my dog even THINKS about moving in a direction he's not supposed to after I've told him to stop or come. However I also got permission from the complex to have him off leash (and before I permission I had him on a drag)


However there are a few people in the complex who have no buisness having a dog off leash. My favorite is this lady who EVERY SINGLE TIME SHE LETS THE DOG OUT TO USE THE BATHROOM lets him off leash out the door, then proceeds to chase him around the complex screaming as he runs in front of cars, chases the stray cats, runs after children, other dogs, etc. Seriously, she opens the door and the chase begins....I will NEVER understand it....the dog is going to get it's head eaten off one day, we have several very dog aggressive or leash reactive pups around here and that dog weighs about 6lbs tops...

That is absurd! Maybe she is not very smart like those people who let their dog walk right up to my 100lb (not terribly dog friendly)dog, I am constantly telling people to back their dog away so I have taken to being very careful about where and when I take her places.

I hear ya Jaime, I see the same kind of stuff all the time.

What kills me around here are all the people I see walking dogs off leash on the sidewalk. I live in a very busy urban neighborhood of Boston (Dorchester to be exact) and I honestly think that no dog could be trained to a point that it would be safe or sensible thing to do. There is just way too much going on all the time. No matter how well trained a dog is there is always a chance of something completely weird and unexpected happening.

We actually got rushed by a huge Staffordshire terrier last week. The owner was zoned out listening to his Ipod, the dog was a few feet out in front dragging the leash. When he saw us he had a look of panic and tried to step on the leash but missed. The dog ran out across the street to get to us!

I don't get why people insist on doing this kind of stuff in situations where they could just as easily have the dog on leash. There are times that it is more fun to let the dog run loose during more physical activities, like when you are hiking or mountain biking. But 99% of the time the dogs I see off leash are just hanging out and ignoring their people.

It just seems like it would be much less stressful for the owner if they used some common sense.

Maybe you could leave your neighbor an anonymous gift of one of your old long lines!

 Quote: Spencer Martin

I've just had a lot of weird run ins, I know there are lots of nice dog trainers. Otherwise where did you all come from?!

Oh, I would say 50/50 split in my area of friendliness. It seems that I run into a lot of 'breeders' with attitude and some very closed minded thoughts. There are also some 'all for ONLY rescue' that are a little over the weird-scale. Clubs that make fun of their own members behind their backs, outsiders not welcome. And those every day people and situations similar to the other posts. For some reason I am more tolerable with the every day people, I guess it feels like an opportunity to help them and the dogs. It's the 'professional' types that make me nutty. There are so many dog people in the world, I keep myself involved with only those that have the same priorities, internet has made that sooo much easier!