Help writing dog walking article.

[spring6]

Hi people,

I am a freelance writer who also owns two lovely staffies. I am currently working on an article on the problems we all encounter when we are walking our dogs and what kind of things we can do to avoid problems. It is a topic that seems to always get dog owners going. So what do you consider good dog walking etiquette? What problems have you encountered? Any dog walking tips or stories could be a help.

If you prefer to contact me privately my email is michellejbuss@googlemail.com

Thanks in advance for your help.

[rooooooooby]

Hi,

one thing i consider good dog walking ettiquette is if someone has their dog on a lead then you dont allow your dog to rush up to it - the dog is very likely on a lead for a good reason and many of these reasons mean it probably doesnt want your dog in its face

another thing is to always pick up your dogs mess - alot of people still ignore this part of dog walking

joggers .... please dont be suprised when you zoom past from behind about a foot away from a dog if it then barks and chases you !!

lastly - if you dont have the feintest bit of control over your dog then it belongs on a lead at all times - this means you people who drive to the park, let your dogs out and sit in the car while they terrorise everyone else lol !! 

Claire x

[spring6]

Seriously? Sit in their cars? Do people really do that? That is classic. Thanks for your reply, that is funny.

[rooooooooby]

yes they do lol !!!

espeically if its raining or really cold

Claire x

[kendal]

people who drive to the park, let your dogs out and sit in the car while they terrorise everyone else lol !! 

Claire x

they do what, i couldn do that, my two can be barky, but i normaly have them under controle.

the only time i dont pick up after my dog it if they have gone  under a bush where no sane person is going to walk anyway.

i try to read the person aprotching me to see if the would rather i put my three on a lead, but most of the time i will just call them into my side and walk past.

its the screemes i cant stand, the dog is no where near them and yet the screem like they are being malled. which only atracts the dogs atention and makes them want to go and investigate.


oh my frind had a friend, i couldnt beleve it.

"Situation:
Giles off lead in wide open area. Other owner and dog in far distance. Giles spots said dog (3 times size of him by the way). Giles tears straight towards dog wagging tail and wanting to play. Im shouting on him to come. Other dog not really interested in him, but if you know Giles - he's a serial friend-maker and is persistant! Other Dog chasing a ball that owner keeps throwing - still showing no interest - Giles chasing Dog as fast as his wee legs can take him (not ball).
Owners sees that i cant get his attention for him to come back so I start walking towards them (about 100m away from me at this point).

At this point owner attaches leash to their dog and starts walking quick pace away from me. Giles walking with his new adopted friends ignoring me shouting on him...  

Owner still walking away from me - I am almost jogging to catch up.  
I get within 20-30 metres away from them and call once more - Giles responds and comes straight towards me
"

[Izzie]

Picking up after your dog, its a major thing for me, I live down the road from my local park, and the amount of times I have stepped in other dog's poo whilst picking up after my own is disgusting. 95% of the time, the piles are mounds! It just pure lazyness on the owners part! 

Dogs who have no control running round without a collar on, owner is halfway accross the park calling them, not making an effort to get their dog under control 

I could go on and on and on

[spring6]

Yeah dogs who are not under control seems to be a common complaint. It is annoying.

I have a question though, my staffs are very friendly and always want to be with people. And "control" really has seemed to be an age issue as much as anything and constant reinforcement. the four year old now does everything she is told and the two year old has improved to about 80 percent. My question is how will young dogs learn if we dont take the chance of letting them off the lead, even though we know they are not 100 percent?

[Izzie]

You build it up
starting at criteria one (inside the home) until it is 100% and fluent

Kizkiznobite has done stickies on having control over your dog have a look, if you cant find them - let me know and will find them for you! 

[rooooooooby]

Hi,

oooh you reminded me of another Izzie .... people who talk on their mobiles and pay s*d all attention to their dogs !!  i know i take the occasional call but i will ring off if i need to manage mine more than being on phone allows !!

spring6 - in basic terms, you get your dogs to a point where you are as sure as you can be that they'll obey your cues and then test them gradually working up to more and more distractions.  they learn that if they want fuss/treats/toys/playing they need to stay with mummy and not scamper off without your say so   particularly important for staffies as they (SHOULD) be naturally people-friendly and inquisitive to people BUT most people see them as some sort of diseased monster so the more you can show them you have control the more at ease people will be

As izzie says - have a look in stickies  

I would say 80% is an excellent level already for a dog who never learned as a pup (coz if it had it would be 100%) and if your other dog is better than 80% then it sounds like you already have pretty good foundations already - maybe a little tweaking here and there would get both up into the 90% ish area - with dogs that havent learned as l'il pups you'll probably always  need to manage the last 5-10% or so - what i mean in this case with recall/leaveits -  is if you think they'll bolt then act before that happens to get them on the lead

My dogs - I would say on a good day in most situations Wills is probably 85-90% cued but will need other dog distractions managed at high criteria.  Bonnie is probably as near as i'll get her to 100% cued but needs management with some new animal distractions (e.g. meeting say ... a pig / duck / horse / cow etc... for the first few times).

e.g. she did an off-lead "heel close" past a field of ducks with post + rail fencing round it so she could have got to them easy.  but i wouldnt have expected her to do that until after we'd done things like squirrels, rabbits, wild ducks/geese/swans etc ...  and built it up

Claire x

[Izzie]

Hi,

oooh you reminded me of another Izzie .... people who talk on their mobiles and pay s*d all attention to their dogs !!  i know i take the occasional call but i will ring off if i need to manage mine more than being on phone allows !!

Oh yes, that is a good one Claire!

The other one for me, is the lady with a Goldie who is known to bite- owner thinks its everyone else's dogs - everyone avoids big time! He is known as bob the biter, yet she will still walk up towards and through you if she can

Annoys the heck out me! 

[spring6]

You build it up
starting at criteria one (inside the home) until it is 100% and fluent

Kizkiznobite has done stickies on having control over your dog have a look, if you cant find them - let me know and will find them for you! 

Yep. My point is while you are building it up you have dogs off the lead that not a hundred percent in control. Sort of cant be avoided.

[Izzie]

While you are building it up, you dont have the dog off lead!

If you do- what is the point of trying to build it up?

[spring6]

I would say 80% is an excellent level already for a dog who never learned as a pup

Ha ha, of course he learnt as a pup. Exactly the way you recommend actually but he is very young. My experience of staffs (these are my third and fourth) is that it takes maturity as well as training for them to be 100 percent reliable. Anzac is so good now a whole field of squirrels could do a tap dance a foot from her left elbow and she wouldn't move  from my side but two years ago it may have been a diffferent story. So it leads me to two questions

1. Do you think breed is factor?

2. How much do you allow for people who have not got dogs 100 percent under control but who are obviously trying to train.

[spring6]

While you are building it up, you dont have the dog off lead!

If you do- what is the point of trying to build it up?

Well you have trained in the house, then the yard and then a long lead in the park. At some point you have to remove that lead and try it out for real, it is part of the build up?

[spring6]

Oooo yea good one about the mobile phones people do that a lot and there is just no way you can be completely in control if you not paying attention.