Would You Feed Treats A Random Dog At The Dog Park?

[Dame Aussie]

I always ask if a stranger's dog is allowed treats - then I make them sit for it if they are allowed.

Love your suggestion pepe001... that's gold!

T.

My OH often has treats in his pockets and he does the same. We would never just feed them without asking.

[redangel]

If i have treats in my pocket and im chatting to another dog owner and the dog seems interested in my treats I would ask the owner first then hand the owner the treat to give their dog as I believe dogs should learn to take food from only the owners hand.

That being said I have to fess up that at obedience school I was guilty of giving a treat sneakily to a fellow members dog because she was of the opinion it was vegetarian like she was. Ugh! Needless to say her dog and i became very good friends!

[rusty&biscuit]

No, I don't think it is acceptable, however the lady was probably trying to be kind and thinking she was doing the right thing, so maybe just a kind explanation :)

I always ask the owners before I give their dog a treat, if I give them one. But my 3 are fairly good, if there is someone approaching without a dog, or the instance I see a small dog, I call them back and get them to wait until the person/child has past, or get them to heel as we walk past. The they get extra treats! And if the person has a dog, that's where the focus is, they don't really care for other people. In fact, Cherry goes for a quick run then decides she is a starving mongrel, so won't leave my side, Biscuit will play with any other dog or chase his ball, and Rusty's biggest thing is getting to p*ss all up the beach *insert rolly-eyed emoticon here* :laugh: However in your instance, I do find dog parks more difficult. More people visit who all have treats, whereas majority at the beach don't, which leads to dogs being fed. I guess it's just a lack of experience/education on the topic

[mumof4girls]

She was probably being nice.. .. You just need to politley educate people, she probably never thought about alergies if you don't have a dog with allergies then why would you.. I don't go to dog parks, not that fond of strange dogs approaching me ..

Edited April 14, 2012 by mumof4girls

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

I don't find it acceptable but at the same time, I think people should control their dogs so that they don't run up to other people begging for treats. If you allow your dog to do that, you can hardly whinge about people giving treats to your dog!

I'm not whinging about it, simply asking how others feel about it as my OH got extremely angry over it. We are training her on her recall but that itself is hard enough when you've had a sibe since a pup let alone one which is 2 and you've had her for a couple of months. She only gets to go off lead at the dog park for this reason.

[❤LovesPoodles❤]

She was probably being nice.. .. You just need to politley educate people, she probably never thought about alergies if you don't have a dog with allergies then why would you.. I don't go to dog parks, not that fond of strange dogs approaching me ..

I know she was just being nice, it's hard to resist a dog sitting there looking up at you with those puppy dog eyes :laugh:

[mita]

I'd always ask an owner before giving any dog a treat.

First, it's plain courtesy. Having got the OK, & depending on the circumstances I'd then give someone's dog a treat.

Second, I've had a dog with food intolerance, who'd suffer bowel upsets after eating anything with grains in it.

And I've also had a dog with severe pancreatitis where anything the slightest bit fatty, could cause an attack. So I'm aware there could be other dog owners who've put dietary restrictions on their dog for medical reasons.

Edited April 14, 2012 by mita

[Staffyluv]

No I wouldn't feed treats at a dog park unless the owner said it was OK...

However, I realise that not everyone would know that this is not the done thing in the dog world (like those of us who frequent dog sites etc), so I am fine if someone gives my dog something in good faith that it is not toxic or anything.. I would then ask them not to feed him... But I certainly wouldn't make a big deal out of it..

[mumof4girls]

She was probably being nice.. .. You just need to politley educate people, she probably never thought about alergies if you don't have a dog with allergies then why would you.. I don't go to dog parks, not that fond of strange dogs approaching me ..

I know she was just being nice, it's hard to resist a dog sitting there looking up at you with those puppy dog eyes :laugh:

It's hard to resist your own dog hahahaha!! :-)

[Skitch]

I always take treats to the dog park with me for my dog (to praise for good recall, etc). Sometimes another dog might notice that I have treats but I've never been harassed.. I have given other dogs treats at the park but never without asking the owner of the dog first.

[Bundyburger]

I'll always ask first, but I'll only feed dogs who belong to people I know. If a random's dog came up and was begging for treats forget it... but even if I'm out walking with friends, I'll ask before giving their dogs treats.

Edited April 14, 2012 by Bundyburger

[TheCheekyMonster]

I always ask if a stranger's dog is allowed treats - then I make them sit for it if they are allowed.

Love your suggestion pepe001... that's gold!

T.

Yeap me too......

[cowanbree]

I have a sheltie who has throat issues that mean he can only have liquid food. Whenever we go out he wears a plastic muzzle with please don't feed on it and yet last weekend at a dog event somebody tried to squash food through his muzzle as it wasn't fair he has to miss out. Seriously? I would have thought anyone with half a brain would have read the don't feed written on his muzzle and thought hmm not a good idea.

[Atanquin]

Nope I would ask the owner first, commen sence I don't think there is much floating around these days

[MishB]

I have a sheltie who has throat issues that mean he can only have liquid food. Whenever we go out he wears a plastic muzzle with please don't feed on it and yet last weekend at a dog event somebody tried to squash food through his muzzle as it wasn't fair he has to miss out. Seriously? I would have thought anyone with half a brain would have read the don't feed written on his muzzle and thought hmm not a good idea.

OMG sometimes theres no cure for STUPID!!

[MishB]

Some dogs have the memory of an elephant, I gave a Bassett Hound a piece of chicken over 2 yrs ago at a park which Im hardly ever at, I was there the other day, she saw me from the other side of the park and came running over, sat in front of me with big brown sorrowful eyes fully expecting food

I dont give other ppls dogs treats unless I know them & have cleared it first.

My dog isnt keen on taking food from other ppl than me(he generally isnt interested in other ppl much)& I take treats with me to the park as insurance for recalls,

I have been followed by other ppls dogs begging for food, I am usually ok with it, but if the owners cant call their dog away from me, or if my dog gets annoyed that there is another dog hanging around me being too pushy then it becomes an issue. I have a GSD so most ppl automatically think he is being aggressive even if its their smaller dog chasing me & he tells it to go away.But I understand too that dogs who are normally well behaved sometimes decide that they are going to ignore their owners on a given day, so I try not to get cross, dogs are like kids in that they will embarrass you at the worst possible time, and generally most dogs take the hint when I ignore them.

I think if you have a dog that you know can be a bit food aggressive & not rock solid on a recall then use a long line while you are out, it is far better to be safe than sorry in a public place.It can be annoying to have to do that but you wont have to worry about what if's then, as most ppl are just trying to be nice & dont have any clue not to feed other ppls dogs.

[koalathebear]

Sometimes if I'm giving my own dogs treats and another dog comes up, I feel bad leaving them out so I'll ask if they're allowed to have anything. I don't feed other people's dogs without asking permission first - allergies, special diet, courtesy etc.

For my own part, I'm not overly fussed if other people want to give our dogs treats. Our dogs aren't in the habit of asking for treats from strangers and they are generally pretty good about adhering to a "leave it" command so I'm not particularly worried that they'll take food from strangers. Even at the vet, the dogs tend to stare at us for permission before taking food from the vet. I have to say, I don't think I've ever met anyone who fed my dog without asking first.

If I was particularly concerned about it, then I'd probably train them not to eat food from strangers and if there were medical reasons why they shouldn't eat treats from strangers, then I probably wouldn't put them in situations where they could be fed by strangers i.e. no off lead play unless I could call them off the food. As a dog owner, I think that the onus/responsibility for looking out for the well-being of my dog rests with me.

[Chris the Rebel Wolf]

I was sitting on the ground he managed to come up to me and chomp straight through the bag of treats I had, ate some of the plastic and all of the treats in one go!

Whoops! Did the owner notice?

I don't think it's acceptable in a dog park, no, unless you have prior clearance with the owner.

I don't get hassled while at the beach because it's not too crowded and not being an official offleash area people are usually pretty good about control. The rule when dogs visit at work is 'ask owner first' and ask for a sit first :)

[lilmisssascha83]

Yeah I don't feed other people's dogs at dog parks. Or anywhere for that matter. If I know the owner I will always ask but I don't just feed them. Iknow a few dogs at dog school that have allergies so I know it can be a real issue with giving someone else's dog a treat. I do have treats with me but that is only for my dog.

The other week when I went to a dog park, there was this child holding some kind of maltese dog ( don't know where her parents were) and she was feeding all the dogs there. I just saw potential disaster thinking there could be a dog that is food aggressive and she was surrounded by dogs as she kept feeding them.

One of the sillest things I had seen.

[LizT]

Well here's a heads up for those who keep large barky dogs in front yards near letter boxes. (Which we know you should but you'd be surprised how many people do!!)

Posties who are dog lovers and don't wan't their arms bitten by large dogs jumping at front fences or want to 'subdue' noisy angry dogs keep dry dog kibble in their paniers. They feed these barky dogs and make great friends with them. I found this out when I lived on a property that only had one "home paddock yard" and saw our then Postie feeding our young German Shepherd who had started jumping the fence and following her, (I really do think he did this because he was feed! It completely stuffed up his "food refusal" training. We hot wired the top of the fence and after getting his front paws zapped a couple of times never jumped our fence again, but also wasn't keen to jump at agility after than either.

This was 20 years ago, and today I work for Aust Post and know several Posties who feed dogs on their runs, to make friends with them.