I was walking my dogs at the park last night,which is in the middle of 4 streets,one very busy.I see this car pull up in the dark but cant see anything,all of a sudden he takes off at a slow medium speed with a dog running behind the car I wasnt sure if he stopped to let the dog out or pulled over because of the dog on the road??? Anyway he eventually drives past where i am and i shine my big heavy duty torch at the dog who is still running behind the car and at the guy who is driving.He drives down to the end of the street and turn around,he stopped infront of me and i asked is that your dog,to which he replied yes,i asked what he was doing and he rudely said whats it look like,i am walking me dog! I was just gobsmacked! He then drove off with dog running behind car. This lazy sod couldnt be bothered walking his dog so made him run behind the car! I dread to think what would have happened had a maniac driver come flying down the road,the dog would have had no chance,he wasnt on the foot path,he was everywhere,weaving from footpath to footpath.

Has anyone ever seen someone do this before? I havnt!

Kate

That's unbelievable!! Some people are sriously lacking in brains and common sense. Surely walking your dog is part of the enjoyment of having one?

Just a few weeks ago actually - I'd just turned into the start of a long dirt track leading to the car park of our regular woodland walk, there was a huge 4x4 coming towards me and I suddenly caught a glimpse of a springer running behind it.  Totally confused, though maybe it was lost and trying to follow the woman in the car - sorry, tank!! - then I noticed there was a lab as well.  She was driving quite fast, and the poor things looked panicked, clearly they thought she was leaving them behind.

I'd pulled over to let her pass and she stopped next to me and got out, opened the tailgate and the dogs jumped in.  I was  glaring at her - not intentionally mind you, I was just stunned that she could be that dim (bearing in mind she'd stopped very close to a busy road).  She just smiled, shut the tailgate and drove away.  Unbelievable.  The dogs were quite muddy so she'd obviously taken them round the woods - must've been too lazy to walk far enough to exercise them.  The things some people do are just shocking, they really are :(

Kate, I would report him to the police - if you see him again, take pictures and get some kind of evidence, then go to the RSPCA, dog warden and police about it.  Not only is it bad for the dog, who has to run in car exhaust fumes, can't slow down when he's tired and is in danger of being run over, but it's illegal and constitutes a safety hazard on a public byway for humans, so I'm sure it would be taken seriously.

It's unbelievable the things people do -

A guy in my breed used to drive slowly down a mile long track with his hand out of the window holding the leads of his show dogs so they could trot beside the car
"Gotta get them show fit" he said :rolleyes:  The mind boggles....

Debs

I knew someone who used to drive his car to a field on the outskirts of town, let his Dobe out and then drive slowly round the field until he thought the dog had had enough exercise. Then came the day when the dog literally "saw the rabbit" and shot through the hedge and onto the bypass after it. The rabbit survived. Sadly the Dobe didn't.

Yep, I've seen people do it in a forestry tract that I visit too.  Not as dangerous for the dog there, as on a road.  As long as they don't meet up with hordes of idiots racing their dirt bikes or ATVs.  Makes me wonder too, how many people have run over their own dog by doing that?

Makes me wonder too, how many people have run over their own dog by doing that?

It must also be easily done to just simply FORGET, if your mind is elsewhere. I won't tell the story in detail because it has haunted me ever since I read it, it was horrific, but I read in a Swedish newspaper a few years ago about a dog owner who had tied the dog's lead to the bumper of the car when the car was parked, rather than leave the dog in the car as it was a summer day. When they left they forgot the dog was tied to the car. Say no more.

Years ago I read one of Barbara Woodhouse's books -not the training ones but one she'd written about her life. She stated in that she always exercised her Great Danes with the car!

To add a postscript to my account, by an awful coincidence it was a good friend of ours that was driving the car that killed the Dobe. He was simply driving to Brighton and could do nothing at all to avoid the dog which literally came out of nowhere but he feels the guilt to this day (over ten years later) and that's a dreadful burden to put on anyone. Especially when the accident was completely avoidable if only the owner hadn't been so damned lazy! 

How awful.  My friend killed his dog by running over her though it was completely an accident.  He never, never purposely drove with her running alongside.  He and his daughter had just had a serviceman to their house and the serviceman left and forgot to take something with him.  So my friend jumped in his truck and drove after him to catch him at the gate (rural area, long driveway) and his little BC ran after and got under the wheels.  The poor daughter saw it all.  It was doubly tragic because the wife and mother of this family had died three years before of cancer and the little BC had come to them as her pet while they were fighting the cancer.  I feel like crying all over again just writing this.

Gosh there are some idiots out there.

We have an area of parkland on our estate officially called a Public Open Space, the number of folk from elsewhere who drive there, let the dogs out of the car without getting out themselves,let them run round,do their business and then call them back to the car and drive off. No attempt to clear up after the dogs despite being parked by a dog bin. This makes me livid,I now don't go to that area as it's filthy with dog mess.We have tried complaining but to no avail.

Some people don't deserve to have dogs.

(not Jetstone's friend, that was the most awful accident :-( )