Dogs…& their owners.

[Colin C No.3]

We have recently moved to Helmsley in North Yorkshire & whilst it certainly is a beautiful part of the country, I swear there are more dogs here than humans!

Because it is clearly a ‘hunting, shooting & walking’ area, the dogs are welcome in pubs, hotels & indeed some eating houses.

So at this juncture I would like to pose a question. Is there such a thing as a ‘bad or misbehaved dog’ or is it all down to the dogs owner?

In the two months we have been here I have witnessed dogs being pushed around in pushchairs clearly ‘adapted’ for them with blankets, toys etc presumably for them to play with or snuggle into when they get bored or tired. You know, as you would do with a young child.

Some owners aren’t ‘satisfied’ with having one dog. I have seen one lady walking four dogs (granted all on leads) but you do have to ask yourself “Who is walking who here?!”. And I tell you no lie when again me & my wife turned a corner to see an elderly lady (I’m talking in her 70’s here) with a ‘bull mastiff type’ dog literally dragging her down the road!
I said to my wife “If she doesn’t fall before she gets that dog home It’ll be a miracle! But WHY would you have that size/type of dog at that age? A dog full of muscle & with a face that screams “What you looking at fella, do you want some?!”

We now have handy local pub, again you have to ‘share it’ with a pack of hounds (no offence hound) & as you sit there with your drink, it’s unbelievable the number of people who will leave their seat, walk across to another table & ask the occupants “Please may I stroke your dog?” “Oh absolutely, he’s a real softie”. So the dog (as if by instinct) rolls over on its back as this stranger of a woman (in almost 99% of cases it’s female admirers) strokes it’s face, mouth & nose, belly (right down to the old nether regions at which point the dogs hind legs begin to ‘shudder & shake’….well let’s be honest if it were you, you would wouldn’t you!) then said woman stands & runs her hands through her hair!!

But the ‘coup de grace’ has to be (& unfortunately I kid you not) while walking into the same pub behind a couple with just one dog each on leads, the woman took a handkerchief (not a tissue mind), bent down, wiped the dogs arse & put the handkerchief back in her coat pocket!

Now for an incident that set me thinking to ‘share my annoyance & yes, disgust’ at dog owners in general, & yes I know using the term ‘in general’ may raise some hackles (no pun intended) but I can only speak as I have found.

I was walking with my wife in an area of the North Yorkshire Moors where obviously you expect to see umpteen dogs with their owners (I purposely put them in that order) when we were aware of two young women (I would guess late twenties early thirties max) walking towards us with six, SIX, small dogs none of which were on leads despite countless signs telling dog owners their dogs must be on leads as some of the tracks pass close to farmland.

The young women were strolling & engrossed in conversation as the dogs ran around their feet & in & out of ditches & bushes. As we drew level you didn’t know which bloody dog to watch. The women stopped to let us pass on a narrow track & no sooner had the word “Thanks” come out of my mouth when one of the ‘little darlings’ weaved its way between my legs & tripped me up.

I hit the ground with my knee landing heavily on a rock sticking out of the ground. It hurt so much I daren’t move at first & couldn’t speak to save my life such was the bloomin pain.

The women were very apologetic & one must have asked my wife or made a move to help me up but knowing I have a ‘back problem’ just to complicate matters, I heard my wife say “No it’s alright. Please just carry on, we’ll be alright honestly. We’ll just be a while”.

So, once I was able to get to my feet with the help of my wife, we ‘assessed the damage’.

One cut & bruised knee (it swelled & stiffened up that night & honest, it proper hurt!), jeans torn at the said site, & let’s be honest jeans take some tearing, elbow also grazed & bruised. I limped back to the car, my wife holding on to me with my knee throbbing & my tail between my legs (pun intended).

So, who’s to blame. Owner or dog?

Whatever happened to ‘A man’s best friend’?

[BobG]

I have always believed that all dogs possess two irredeemable problems. Dogs possess legs. And they possess teeth. Get rid of them and dogs'd be fine.

BobG

[scawsby steve]

Recently, an old friend of mine, Kev Evans, one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and a brilliant footballer who used to be a part-time pro with Frickley, and later on captained our Scawsby Rangers team, was out walking with his lovely wife, Phyllis.

They were walking along the Roman Ridge, both of them in their 80s, when 2 huge unaccompanied dogs bounded up to them. Phyllis was scared of dogs, and retreated backwards. She fell, and hit the back of her head on the ground. She died 3 days later from a bleed on the brain.

The police investigated, and discovered the dogs had got out of a yard nearby. The woman who owned them claimed the wind had blown a fence down. As far as I'm aware, no further action has been taken.

[tommy toes]

My beautiful daughter (she really is) was at her friend's house on Saturday when their corgi, which she had met several times, suddenly attacked her.
She's had to have 17 stitches in wounds around her top lip, and probably scarred for life.
Not only that she's had panic attacks and has shut herself away until she looks better.
She won't report it as the dogs owner is her best friend.

[danumdon]

You can only have sympathy and feel for people when you here stories of the like that Steve and Tommy describe. There has been some proper horror stories of late of dogs attacking and in some cases causing the death of adults and children.

But in the cold light of day is it the animal or the human behind it that's at fault? we have all seen people with what look like totally unsuitable dogs, they look like they either can't or won't control their pet.

Its a massive shame that some people will not take the time and effort to train and look after their dog correctly.

I have a dog and i love my border terrier, he's such a great dog and gives all our family a great deal of enjoyment, he is a member of our family.he's cute, clever, inquisitive and playful, i believe I've trained him into being a dog that can play and mix with people and other dogs equally. He's not aggressive or bad tempered but he is a terrier and he will always have the traits of a working dog so any cat, rat, squirrel or bird is always going to be a temptation for him, i understand this and i'm always aware when he's out and about so i can prevent this happening. I would never say he's 100% never going to do something because he's a dog and people always need to be aware of this.

But i think i can say if people approached pet ownership in this manner then we would very rarely hear about some of the awful things that have happened to people as mentioned by Steve and Tommy.

[Colin C No.3]

You can only have sympathy and feel for people when you here stories of the like that Steve and Tommy describe. There has been some proper horror stories of late of dogs attacking and in some cases causing the death of adults and children.

But in the cold light of day is it the animal or the human behind it that's at fault? we have all seen people with what look like totally unsuitable dogs, they look like they either can't or won't control their pet.

Its a massive shame that some people will not take the time and effort to train and look after their dog correctly.

I have a dog and i love my border terrier, he's such a great dog and gives all our family a great deal of enjoyment, he is a member of our family.he's cute, clever, inquisitive and playful, i believe I've trained him into being a dog that can play and mix with people and other dogs equally. He's not aggressive or bad tempered but he is a terrier and he will always have the traits of a working dog so any cat, rat, squirrel or bird is always going to be a temptation for him, i understand this and i'm always aware when he's out and about so i can prevent this happening. I would never say he's 100% never going to do something because he's a dog and people always need to be aware of this.

But i think i can say if people approached pet ownership in this manner then we would very rarely hear about some of the awful things that have happened to people as mentioned by Steve and Tommy.

Thanks danumdon.

That’s exactly the response I hoped to hear.

[scawsby steve]

My beautiful daughter (she really is) was at her friend's house on Saturday when their corgi, which she had met several times, suddenly attacked her.
She's had to have 17 stitches in wounds around her top lip, and probably scarred for life.
Not only that she's had panic attacks and has shut herself away until she looks better.
She won't report it as the dogs owner is her best friend.

That's awful, Tommy. I sincerely hope your daughter will get better, and will be able to put that dreadful incident behind her.

[tommy toes]

Thanks Steve. She's resurfaced today and is going back to work tomorrow.
So sorry to read about you're friend too.
Very sad indeed.

[Colin C No.3]

tommy I am so saddened to here about your daughter.

I hope she can put this awful incident behind her eventually.

She’s a ‘brave & resilient girl’ not to allow such a traumatic ‘attack’ prevent her from her working & social life.

She has my upmost respect.

[Dagenham Rover]

Personally I think its the "owners" I have a 5 year old pug and a 13 year old labrador  The pug is a totally inquisitive little bugger but all mouth and trousers he stays on an extended lead  and pulled back if needed Now the old girl labrador when you consider they are retrievers etc we let her off the lead she gets so far in front turns round and checks i am there if another person or animal comes into view she runs straight back and basically asks to be put on the lead. I really think 99% of the time its down to the owners and sadly too many dont give a toss

[ravenrover]

We have a dog and have had others. Our grandchildren have been brought up with them so have little fear of dogs. However our 7 year old grandaughter walking with her Mamon Staithes beach was attacked and bitten by a Dachsund running free off the lead. The owner only asked if the grandaughter was OK whilst putting the dog back on the lead  no apology. He walked off with said dog on lead only to unleash it farther down the beach where other families with children were walking. This is the type of behaviour and lack of control over the dog that gets owners a bad name. My daughter was to bothered about her child to get any details to take it further