Just need to vent .......

Took the boys out this afternoon, decided to go out the back of my place on the footpaths that go round the fields, dont often see other dog walkers round there so low risk of my two being attacked which seems to be the norm if I walk the other side of the village.  As im walking down a footpath, the boys only a few feet ahead, I see a man with a dog which is off lead, all of a sudden he grabbed it and put it on lead so I told Alfie to wait (Fagan ignores other dogs) Alfie waited then all of a sudden ran to this dog and Fagan joined him, the man shouted at me really nasty straight away.  I grabbed Alf and straight away knew his b#tch was in season by the way they were with her.  The guy was just shouting at me telling me my dogs should be on a lead, I did try to tell him they were allowed off lead there and that he shouldnt be walking his b#tch in season where there are likely to be off lead dogs he just gave me a mouthful of abuse and ended up calling me a sl#g :(

This all really upset me, I was in tears afterwards - which is unlike me !!  It just keeps going over and over in my mind now, what else could I have done differently? and whether I was in the wrong. I always put Alf on a lead when I see another dog onlead and usually he waits for me to put him on lead but he got scent of the b#tch there was nothing I could do.  Now im worried about where I can walk, on the days that I work I walk the boys in the dark at 6am in the little park down the road, now im worried that I might bump into this guy and not see him in time because its dark.

Mybitch is on day 18 of her season and i will nottake her out to parks and woods she is in the garden and comes visting with me on a daily bases Its not fair to other dogs or herand that man should of understood not been nasty Hope you feel better soon

People generally resort to name calling and using awful language when they have lost the argument, the man in question knew he was in the wrong, but resorted to bullying you instead. So don't feel upset about it. 

Not your fault he was a plonker to have a bitch in season off lead, the fact he put the dog on lead makes no difference, males will still follow. And quite frankly why should all dog walkers have to lead their dogs throughout the walk because he has a bitch in season, persistant dogs will still run after the bitch even once past and the scent will be picked up from a long way away, if the man thinks he can shout at all dog owners for their dogs doing what comes naturally then plonker is a polite word.

Walk wherever you need, hopefully you won't encounter him again, make sure you have your mobile and a safety whistle. Try not to worry the guy probably went home with his tail between his legs, what a nasty piece of work. Come on now, your not going to let some plonker upset you, hold your head up!!! :-)

lol, thanks, just the words I needed, I think im more frustrated than anything because I wanted him to understand that it was him in the wrong.  I did then have to keep my boys on the lead there was no way I would have chanced them running back ....... you should have seen me trying to put their leads on and still hold onto them both I was frightened to let go of one to put the others lead on in case he went back after her !!  I always have my phone with me, am going to start wearing my whistles too.

Just put it down to the fact he is an ignorant p...g of a man talking to a lady like that, and he should of had his dog on a lead in season its not your fault.
Your dogs were only doing what comes natural.
Sleep well and try not to worry about your next walk.

Sorry you had such an awful walk. I have an entire bitch, when she is in season she is driven to a long road where there is a wide footpath, no houses and definitely no offlead dogs, and walked on lead. In my eyes no "man" would speak like this to a lady so just rise above it and put it down to his ignorance.

You did nothing wrong, the bitch owner was in the wrong. 

Being charitable he was probably in a panic and knew he was in the wrong, but Like you thought he was unlikely to bump into any other dogs so took the chance, (a stupid one in my view).

Don't let his appalling bad manners rattle you.

Amazing, isn't it--this bully thinks you should be looking out for his bitch? If he isn't more careful he will end up meeting someone who is quite capable of decking him for this kind of behaviour (maybe he needs to walk on the other side of your village!), or perhaps he'd be more suited with a Heinz 57 litter? I once took my dogs on a similarly remote walk and along the way they went racing off after a bitch (not on a lead). My dogs' interest was unmistakeable and I did clip them back on  fairly smartly before they could do anything, but the other woman just said "oh do you think she might be coming into season then?" and strolled off...still with her bitch on the loose.

I have a male that would love to play with an in season bitch ;-) There is no way I would be able to stop him from going to say hi. Once I'd got hold of him he would listen, but off lead? Never :-) I also have bitches and would never dream of letting them off lead where there are male dogs, or the likelyhood of there being any. I just wouldn't take the risk. Having said that, I do walk my bitches off lead, but I live in the countryside and have no male dogs (apart from my own) that live nearby. They are all bitches.

The man was a prat. :-D

Just reply to any insults 'Takes one to know one' that normally shuts them up for a bit.

how horrible that must have been.Theres a man round here that shouts nastily at anybody with an offlead dog(including my daughters harmless 13 year old)anywhere near his on lead rottie.Hes possibly(only guessing)afraid his dog may attack,but why be so nasty!Ive also prayed many times over the years that I dont bump into certain people!I thnk you did all you could at the time.not your dogs fault either.

Thanks all, made me feel much better (although still going through scenarios in my head !!) 

Hoping the snow has melted enough tomorrow so I can drive to the woods a couple of miles away where you tend to only meet like minded dog owners !!

> he just gave me a mouthful of abuse and ended up calling me a sl#g :-(
>
> This all really upset me, I was in tears afterwards - which is unlike me !!

Despite it being on every soap and TV programme, having someone being rude like this to your face is actually very unusual. I think it's the shock of it all that is so upsetting.  You find yourself thinking of all the things you could have done differently, the things you could have or should have said.  You also consider that it was just you, your two dogs and a very abusive man. No wonder you were upset.

I've just made you a cup of tea xxx

I'm sure you'll worry about it for a few days but you needn't.  Be thankful he only shouted at you, he didn't lash out at you or dogs.  You can also be comforted by the fact that he probably knew he was in the wrong and will, in all likelihood, keep his bitch at home for a while.  You may have taught him a valuable lesson. 

>I think it's the shock of it all that is so upsetting.  You find yourself thinking of all the things you could have done differently, the things you could have or should have said.  You also consider that it was just you, your two dogs and a very abusive man. No wonder you were upset.

you are right, it was the shock ..... and I was very angry, and frustrated at what I should have said.  I also had my little one with me, she was in a carrier on my back which made me a bit more defenceless.

>I've just made you a cup of tea xxx

thank you but ive just had a couple of glasses of wine :)

Nothing like a couple of glasses to relax you.  I had something similar with my dog getting attacked by another.  Without going over the details again - the other owner was clearly in the wrong and gave me a dreadful mouthful as a result of loosing face.  For months now I have avoided walking in a certain direction at a certain time of day - he is like clockwork thank goodness - same time every day, same route.   He was so nasty that I dreaded meeting him again.  This morning I didn't check the time what with snow and everything and I bumped into him just as he was joining the main path.  I just looked at him and said 'shall I go first?' and just walked on in front of him before he could answer.  So my dog got into the field and I could let her safely off the lead before he let his off.  He didn't rush to let his dog off thank goodness and did hang back a bit to let me get ahead of him.  Once Meg is off the lead then it is alright.  So the worst has happened and I have faced up to him.  I have been reassured by many people that this man is not a very pleasant guy and I bet you will find other walkers who have had dealings with your nasty guy.  They just can't be in the wrong can they - they can't say sorry it is my fault.

the man sounds like a bully.

if his dog was in season it shouldn't have been off lead in the first place.

im guessing you still have to exercise your in season dog somehow? (ive never had the issue)
as 21 day is a long time without a walk, so im guessing you would normally keep your dog on the lead and go somewhere where their isn't likely to be many other dogs?
from your own description of the locale, maybe he thought he this was the case?

> Just reply to any insults 'Takes one to know one' that normally shuts them up for a bit./[/url]"><IMG][/url]

Or " I am sure your Mother is very proud of you" !!

"You kiss your wife/kids/mother with that mouth?" usually works for me ;)

What a t!t. My dogs will rush to play with anything on or off lead but usually come back pretty quick when I call them. Couldn't guarantee Wolfie would be so keen to return if it was a bitch in season. Lets hope for every stray in the area to be howling outside his house all night!

>from your own description of the locale, maybe he thought he this was the case?

the place where I bumped into him was the footpath in the field nearest the village so is quite well used (by lazy people who cant be bothered to walk any further !!!)

fair enough

but on your first post, you did say you dont often see other dog walkers rounds there

sorry, yes I did, the footpaths go round about a few fields where you only see the most hardened walkers, then the last field before the village is the one people use (although granted its not overly busy)

Even so if he were taking a chance that no-one was about it should have been him apologising for being there and causing your dogs to take an interest when your not aware of his bitches condition, not for him to get angry.

I had the reverse experience today.  I went on to our local beach which is always busy with dogs.  I have a very biddable entire nine-year old male.  All of a sudden he took off like a rocket. I saw a human male with two dogs that were wandering all over the place.  One took off with my chap right behind her.  I ran after them and shouted to the man whether his dog was in season - yes, she was!.  I gave HIM a mouth full of abuse in passing.  The dogs ran off the beach on to a neighbouring golf course.  I had to follow but had no idea whether golf was in play or whether it was safe for me to be there.

To cut a long story short, the bitch was a very young Great Dane.  Thanks to my lad being nine and not a three-year-old that can run all day, I got him back.  I had a real fright, I'm just post jet-lag and have a lot of life stresses at the mom.  I went back to the beach to look for the male (I refuse to call these humans with dangly bits 'men', just because they have dangly bits!)  I am fifty-eight years old but I wanted to thump the idiot.  I caught up with him and totally lost it.  The abuse that I heaped on his head was appalling.  I was just incandescent with rage.  His dogs were tucked up in his spotless Discovery and he went and got his digital to photograph me.  He asked me my name and would I repeat the abuse for the benefit of the camera.  I declined to give him it but wrote down his car reg and told him I'd get his from the police!

I continued my walk but it was a waste of time because he'd been all over the dunes (on a two-mile beach) and I had to keep my lad on a lead.  I did go to the police and report my abuse of the person and I will report him, and his car reg to the dog warden on Monday. 

I could have lost my dog today. I could have lost my own life if I'd been hit by a golf ball in play.  If a bitch in season needs to have outside exercise then it must, as the posters here have said, be in an out of the way place, late at night or early in the morning.  Years ago I had a castrated male that caught by an in season bitch and he mated AND tied with her!  Bitches too are attracted to in-season bitches.  When I was young then the received wisdom was that they were kept in for the whole three weeks. 

I got abuse from this chappie too.  Some males are really taken aback that a female has the temerity to tell them that they are way out of order.  Tough.  He was complained about the verbal abuse I gave him but it just doesn't seem to register that walking his bitch off lead (he had no leads and no dog bags on him that one could see either) was an abusive act towards other dog walkers.

Don't let the b's grind you down, ClaireyS!  People that do this are like the kids that rip wing mirrors off parked cars.  They have no other way off making a mark amongst their peers so they use a flamin' dog to attract attention.

And that's my rant!!  Night All

> If a bitch in season needs to have outside exercise then it must, as the posters here have said, be in an out of the way place, late at night or early in the morning.&nbsp;

Or better still only walked where dogs are requied to be kept on lead, i.e. road walking.

Reply to all posts not just OP
This re-enforces both my need to get Heidi spayed and my deep fear of walking her for the 4 weeks [for her] around her season.  It's an awful position for owners of both sexes.  Terrible having to keep your bitch at home when in season and frightening consequences of taking her out.  Even in way out places and at ridiculous times of day and night, there can/may be dogs around, for many of us, and terrible to expect a healthy male [dog] or even a bitch, to suppress their very strong natural instincts to mate.  I don't really think that keeping a dog - esp the bitch - on a lead could prevent a very determined male and/or female.
Got to say this gives more credence to the recent argument about neutering both sexes of dog. 

You should be fine road walking on lead, and this I wouldnt have a problem with because my dogs would be on lead and under control.

The problem with neutering is that you cant neuter all dogs, there will always be some needed for breeding.  One of mine has been used at stud and will again in the future, he produces nice pups so no reason why he should be neutered.  My other boy (he of one testicle ;)  ) will never be used at stud but I wont get him neutered due to the fact that it will change his coat and may change his excellent personality ..... but then im a responsible owner !!

> You should be fine road walking on lead, and this I wouldnt have a problem with because my dogs would be on lead and under control.
>

ClairyS
- I'm sure you would have your dogs under control - 'fraid to say many in my locale would not be so. 
I'm nowhere near experienced enough with bitches to judge whether Heidi is at the fertile stage or not, so I don't walk her once she's started showing and at least until her hormones [personality] seem to have settled.

> The problem with neutering is that you cant neuter all dogs, there will always be some needed for breeding.&nbsp;

In an ideal world these dogs would have owners like yourself who can and will control their dogs and be aware of potential matings.  I certainly don't want to have to take Heidi to the vets for  a 'morning after pill' and the potential dangers this may involve.

I was just starting out a lovely walk with my eldest on the lead and had joined a friend for a walk who's dogs were also on a lead.
This bouncy Lab came over on a lead and dragged its owner over. My boy was in seventh heaven, after a minute of them sniffing the owner then says oh yes she is very friendly as she is in season
I pull my boy away and make a remark that my boy is entire..
The park itself can be remote in places but on a lovely day like today there was a high chance of a lot of dogs and the the normal dog walkers with their packs of hounds.
Was a little bemused but thought with the bitch being on a lead it was better than nothing and the lady holding the dog seemed lovely and the male who was with her..Felt there was no need to say anything else..

ETA: My eldest does love a sniff of the females ;-) so there was no telling that she was in season from his behaviour..