Dulcee
12-12-2010, 02:43 PM
I need to vent.
My dog is normally very dog friendly. However she hasn't been feeling well the past two days and has been a little out of sorts so when I took her out today instead of taking her to the dog park where she might encounter another pooch and get irritated we walked.
We were walking down the street when someone else came towards us also walking a dog. I purposely turned to avoid walking head on into this other dog as again I was aware my pooch was feeling off and small jumpy dogs can aggravate that. Well despite my turning the other way the other owner had their dog on a retractable leash and allowed their dog to come bounding up behind mine, a distance of about ten feet, which caused mine to be startled, turn around and nip.
Now my dog was on a short leash right at my side so I was easily able to pull her away and get her to sit but their dog was on one of those god awful dangerous retractable leads so they had no control and their dog's ear ended up getting scratched.
Now, I do feel awful for the other dog and no my dog shouldn't have nipped but it makes me so angry when I go out of my way to insure the safety of my animal when people just completely disregard it with their own. My dog was significantly larger then theirs so it doesn't take much for a little guy to get hurt.
If you use a retractable leash please, please be aware of this. These types of leashes allow for very little control over your animal and make it very difficult for other dog owners to know where your animal is going to go.
My dog is normally very dog friendly. However she hasn't been feeling well the past two days and has been a little out of sorts so when I took her out today instead of taking her to the dog park where she might encounter another pooch and get irritated we walked.
We were walking down the street when someone else came towards us also walking a dog. I purposely turned to avoid walking head on into this other dog as again I was aware my pooch was feeling off and small jumpy dogs can aggravate that. Well despite my turning the other way the other owner had their dog on a retractable leash and allowed their dog to come bounding up behind mine, a distance of about ten feet, which caused mine to be startled, turn around and nip.
Now my dog was on a short leash right at my side so I was easily able to pull her away and get her to sit but their dog was on one of those god awful dangerous retractable leads so they had no control and their dog's ear ended up getting scratched.
Now, I do feel awful for the other dog and no my dog shouldn't have nipped but it makes me so angry when I go out of my way to insure the safety of my animal when people just completely disregard it with their own. My dog was significantly larger then theirs so it doesn't take much for a little guy to get hurt.
If you use a retractable leash please, please be aware of this. These types of leashes allow for very little control over your animal and make it very difficult for other dog owners to know where your animal is going to go.