I've been walking Luke (2 1/2 yr lab) really early lately because of the hot weather - however today it's cooler so we went out at 8.30am. He did his second lot of poos (!) just before the subway which leads to the short path to the park. As I was bending down to clear it up, a little girl of about 5 came throught the subway on a little bike, shouting loudly. Before I knew it Luke (on lead, of course) had jumped up at her and nearly knocked her off her bike. She was very upset and crying loudly..:-( :-(. then her dad came through the subway with a bull terrier on the lead - I explained what had happened and apologised profusely. By this time the 2 dogs were making a lot of doggy noises at each other - not really growling , just a lot of noise. The chap looked at me in disgust and made some comment like "some dog you've got there" very disparagingly- and went off to comfort the little girl, who was still crying loudly. We moved on at this point, and Luke had his usual play in the park, relating well to the other dogs, no problem. However I am now home & in tears - he is our puppy, one of our dear Maggie's litter, but honestly if I'd ever realised how hard it would be ....:-( :-( :-(

An unpleasant experience :( but as it didn't happen to me, perhaps I can look at it a little less emotionally than you :)  To me it is just a set of unfortunate circumstances that led to one of life's small accidents.  Nobody got hurt, the bloke didn't even react particularly over the top, just passed a comment perhaps reflecting his annoyance that he was going to have to deal with an upset little girl. 
No doubt there may follow a series of posts laying "blame" with you, him, the girl, the dogs whatever ;) but in my view a minor accident is all it was, nobody at all to blame.  It's a youngster you have got and no doubt more minor incidents will occur before he reaches maturity (about 9 in Labradors I understand ;)) to upset and frustrate you but I don't think you need stress about this particular incident, just put it behind you :)

Yes, I agree. Children on bikes can be an absolute menace.

Alfie hates kids on bikes, this stems from a group of them crowding round him when we first moved here a year ago. He is a 3 year JRT. Whenever we are out and he sees a child on a bike he barks but does not attempt to go near them but it is embarrassing.

Hi Carene,

Isabel stole the words out of my mouth (fingers ) when I was in the shower :D

Enjoy something sweet & sticky, have a cuppa and don't forget to share with Luke ;)   

Don't beat yourself up over this as it was just an unfortunate incident and you had the decency to apologise :)

Five year olds can also cry for England when the occasion demands ;)

Lucy
xx

I agree. These things happen; six of one and half a dozen of the other. :)

Really annoys me how many people think that it is OK to jog, run, ride etc right up to and past a dog (dogs) :( :( Not all (probably very few) dogs are totally bombproof :(

Daisy

Especially as that dog might be deaf or blind, and be startled enough to react.

Thank you all so much for being so helpful and reassuring. :-) :-)

I think we've probably all been there in some shape or form. Bet you feel like public enemy number one at the moment. It was an accident and thankfully not a bad one. Really don't beat yourself up. Dogs will be dogs my boy would have been scard but he'd have run and probably knocked/dragged me over

A lady who walks her GR at the beach near to where I live once had her dog take the shoe of a woman who was sunbathing and he ran into the sea with it and then dropped it. She had to wade out into the water and retrieve it (as her retriever wouldn't ) and then apologise profusely to the woman who, all things considered, didn't take it too badly.

If that had been my dog I would have died of embarassment but these things happen and nobody was hurt so it could have been worse.

Just look on your incident as one of those things that you would have preferred not to have happened but it did and nobody was hurt. :)

I'm not an expert by any means or even an experienced owner but one thing I have learnt from all these kind people on here that have given me advice is that I sometimes forget that the behaviour I am seeing in my dog is maybe behaviour that would have been seen by the majority of dogs in that situation.  Dont get upset and think this is a big problem with your dog, many dogs would have reacted that way in the same situation - and dont worry about a snap decision that somebody you dont know has made about your or your dog.  You know how much effort you put in, and how much care you take - and so do all your friends and family.  His opinion doesnt matter.  Hope the cup of tea and 'something sticky' helped - always works for me.   

We also do get the impression from the odd person or two (not on this thread, I would add), that their dog has never, ever, done something like that and that we lesser mortals have failed dismally if it happens :D :D :D

Daisy

I've just eaten a delicious choccie digestive for you, Carene! But as others have said, don't let this incident stress you out. Instead, think of all the positives - nobody was actually hurt (and yes, small children can wail for England!), the dogs may have eyeballed each other but no physical damage was done and when you did get to the park, Luke behaved very well.

Of embarassment and mortification on a walk, the memory of day that Nips realised that the best way to wind up an already hysterical dog owner was to bury his nose up her Westie's bottom (in between skipping round like a loon refusing to go back on lead) remains with me several months after the event.

I wonder if they are the same folk who just LOVE to look down on you when your 99.9% perfect dog forgets himself just once ;)

Chloe !!!!! You don't have one of them do you - shock, horror :D :D :D

Daisy

He is 99.9% norty all the time Daisy - he rarely disappoints :D

:D :D :D Most of us aren't too proud to post about our little failures :D :D :D

Daisy

Bandit once found a football(the hard case type) abandoned on the beach,  so he picked it up and took it into the sea to play  (having a whale of a time)  till this chap comes up to us and shouted, your dog has my ball!  i want it back!!  so my hubby had to wade in the sea to get it off Bandit(he was`nt giving it up gracefully)   , gave it back to the chap who walked off muttering under his breath, holding the ball at arms lenght becaus it was wet, Bandit took exception to this after all it was his ball (finders keepers  )  so he took of after this chap ,  did a wonderful dive after the ball knocked it out of the chaps hand (almost knocked the bloke over)   then took off with the ball across the beach...........we still laugh about it often, but the chap did not seem to see the funny side of it............. so dont worry its all part of owning dogs I am afraid,  i also remember a old chappie saying to me while on a walk, what a well behaved Boxer I had.......... I saw the same chap later on the walk, but this time I was covered in mud, the same well behaved Boxer had not long caught me unawares , and decided to chase a rabbit, while on the end of his long lead..... trouble was it was a very wet and muddy day, could hardly keep upright as it was,  so I ended up bottom deep in the mud..... so when I told the chap what happened, his answer was....... well they do like to make us look like fools now and again.

A few days ago I had to remove my Lab from a complete strangers' house.  I'd probably just been on the phone to the rehomer saying how much his recall had improved. :rolleyes:

I agree it was just one of those things, it's happened to us all and I expect every dog owner has been through this kind of experience at some time in their dog owning life - the only thing you can do is just always be extra vigilant which I suspect we all do over time. I am very wary due to some experiences i had with my previous dogs when the DDA was at its height in the 1980s, many people seemed to actively hate dogs esp. if they happened to look like GSDs! :rolleyes:

Put it past you and keep going - don't let it spoil your enjoyment of your dog :)

Lindsay
x

Put it past you and keep going - don't let it spoil your enjoyment of your dog
i agree, here here

I think you have to have your embarrassment gene removed the day a dog enters your life. ;-)

passing the CD box of Thorntons over to you

Don't upset yourself over a minor incident like this. As several other posters have suggested, something involving calories and chocolate is what you need right now.I quite agree with Daisy. I was once walking my dogs in a local country park in an area specifically set aside for people to let their dogs run loose and I was berated by a very pompous jogger because one of my dogs trotted after him for a few steps. When I pointed out to him that this particular area was specifically for people to let their dogs run loose and if he chose to jog there then that was what he must expect he became extremely rude and abusive and shouted at me in a very self-important manner that he was training for a VERY important race on Saturday. I told him that, as he felt it was ok to jog in the dog park, would he mind if I came along on Saturday to excercise my dogs on the running track during his race!!!

OK, confession time - Willis (Great Dane), as a puppy, ran up to a man and stole his walking stick!!

See, THATS when you have to worry. My husband had to prop the man up whilst I retrieved the stick. The shame :D

My first cocker invited herself to someone's picnic.  The very silly man tried to fed her off with a Mars bar :)

My first Dalmatian weed up someones sand castle. Do I win? :D

No, because he probably wanted a moat.

Ah, picnics! I'm sorry to say that Nips "rained on someone's parade" only last week. Quite why the woman with several children and bicycles had chosen to pitch camp across the top of the steps leading down to another part of the nature reserve I don't know. Especially since there's acres and acres of equally nice ground to sit on. But having negotiated our way around the picnic rug with difficulty (and a deal of tutting and huffing from the owner of it) I looked back to see the norty little chap taking a crafty widdle on her bike wheels.

That is the only time I have any trouble with mine.  The picnickers are too shocked, and I have once or twice over the years I have had to hoik their  noses out of the rubbish bags. 

To be honest picnickers in our country park know it is the most popular dog walking area so are reasonably sensible about keeping their food out of reach, it is the rubbish mine have gone for 

Also courting couples having a cuddle get a shock when a dog thinks they need the kiss of life..

At Border Union Show my friend's GSD puppy got away from her and jumped into a stall holders car on top of all the products

A friend's Rottie ran away from her at a show and landed in a display of pigs' ears - accidentally of course :D

Daisy

LOL!!

One of my GSDs was addicted to Ice Cream & he would steal Ice Cream at every opportunity. One day as a mum with toddler in a buggy was passing us in the opposite direction he deftly whipped the Ice Cream & topping off the top of the cornet in the kiddies hand & swallowed it in one go When the kiddie screamed I looked at his innocent face No it couldn't be him could it ? Hm I think the Ice Cream on his lips was a bit of a giveaway :D :D :D :D

I have told this a few times before - my aunt's beagle escaped from a friend's house in the IOW many, many years ago and returned some time later with a, still warm, leg of lamb :D :D :D

Daisy

Jolly good of him to share it with the family :)  Did it take her long to rustle up a few bits of veg?

:D My aunt was mightily embarassed and put it in the dustbin (fearing chasing neighbours), but her friend would have eaten it :D The friend kept a guest house and the lamb had probably come from a neighbouring hotel/guest house :D :D

Daisy

Tramp (the Border Terrorist) ad Jet (Large Lab with Small Brain) came back from one of their hunting forays over the the golf course once.....carrying between them a HUMUNGOUS yorkshire pudding :rolleyes:

If only they'd pinched the beef that went with it......... :D

Margot

LOL :D :D :D

Daisy

There was a local charity event and my friend was absailing with some other brave souls for a hospice. My dog was sitting to my left and I was happily chatting to my friend telling her how wonderful she had done, whilst she was painfully white and ready to pass out I suddenly heard a load of laughing and squealing, my girl had gone to one of the stalls and started scoffing all of the cakes.  She was only 12 months at the time, but I learnt my lesson that no amount of training was as appealing as a nice cream cake. :-D  The embarrassment!  She cost me £10 in cakes that day.

We both trotted off with our tails between our legs.

OK I will join you all in confession corner...once on the beach my young golden stole a soft toy out of a childs hand and proceeded to drop in in a pre-dug hole...we suspect she planned the whole thing.

My cocker stole a sandwich from out of the Vicar's hand at the tea after OH's godfather's funeral

My dogs are far from perfect.  My big girl hates bikes with a vengence and at agility once a ladys dog cocked his leg on my bag and the next minute my JRT cocked his leg up the ladys leg.  Talk about get your own back LOL

Sorry, cat one here.  My cat Blue came home with a full roast chicken one day and spent ages trying to get it through the cat flap so was spotted by the neighbour he stole it off.

The shame:rolleyes:

Nonsense, I would have insisted he prove it was his :D

LOL!!! Got a vision of that now :D

When Delilah was 13 weeks old I took her for a short visit to the canal....as we walked by a fisherman  she whipped the baseball cap off his head!! He was laughing so much, but I was mortified!!

Oh my, I've had a few good laughs here! They may embarrass us at times, but the memories are great :)

Our last two dogs, and this one now, have all been very sensitive where bicycles are concerned - I think mainly it's when they come up from behind on the footpath! Today, two passed us from in front (1/2 cycle path 1/2 footpath) and she wasn't too bothered, but if one comes up from behind, it makes her jump & she spends the next 5 minutes looking over her shoulder.

It makes me jump too if people whizz past and you haven't heard them approaching - children on bicycles we have to accept, and on the whole, they are careful when passing people and dogs, but adults on pedestrian pavements should really know better, and many go past far too fast and close. After all, it is still illegal for anyone over 16 to cycle on the pavement

we went camping the other week , bought a new tent with an area for the dog, bedded down for the night and he crawled under neath and escaped to the beer tent and hog roast.:rolleyes: