What Do You Say When You See A Dog Being Mistreated?

[Tibbie_tabbie]

I bit a poodle once... but it had bitten me first! It's owner thought that biting strangers was acceptable behaviour from his unleashed dog... he soon learned to leash his dog to "protect" it from strangers that bite back... lol!

T.

You should have bitten the owner if you wanted to bite someone, rather than traumatise the poodle further.

[sandgrubber]

I turn my head. There are dogs all over my neighborhood. A large fraction of them are neglected. The guy across the street recently reported that his pit bull died . . .she had been having seizures. He figured something between flea infestation and the seizures killed her. Didn't take her to the vet. I doubt I'll get anywhere talking with someone with that kind of attitude. I'm the only person in the neighborhood who walks their dogs.

[tdierikx]

I bit a poodle once... but it had bitten me first! It's owner thought that biting strangers was acceptable behaviour from his unleashed dog... he soon learned to leash his dog to "protect" it from strangers that bite back... lol!

T.

You should have bitten the owner if you wanted to bite someone, rather than traumatise the poodle further.

Trust me, that poodle was NOT traumatised when it bit me... it may have been AFTER I bit it back, but it deserved it - nasty thing that it was, biting people for no reason.Bloody thing had drawn blood too... it was a bite, not a nip that it gave me, and I wasn't trying to interact with it at all.

T.

Edited September 3, 2014 by tdierikx

[hankdog]

Yesterday there was a very timid, young cav x tied outside the shops. I stopped to sit on the bench next to her to have my coffee and she came to sit with me. She was tied with about 3m of rope. I noticed a large tick in her head so I hung around to see if the owner in some way needed help to see or remove the tick. When the woman turned up I pretended to notice the tick for the first time.

"Lovely dog, oh what's that on her head?"

"A tick."

"Oh, did you want me to remove it?"

"No, it'll fall off by itself."

"Oh have you poisoned it?"

"No, they only drink a small bit and then fall off."

"Oh, couldn't it make her sick?"

"No, it's been there for a few days and she's fine."

I do hope that ticks' babies go on to infest the woman's nether regions!

[twodoggies2001]

I really don't like saying anything to other owners, but I have done when absolutely necessary...

I had a minor incident at the fenced in dog park when a westie attacked my 24kg Husky. It was a bit vicious but my dog wasn't hurt, The man with the Westie, folded up his lead and was about to belt his little dog. I just said "DONT!" to him in no uncertain terms and he stopped. He later came in by himself and apologised to me.

There was another chap with a very nervous mid sized dog in the same off lead park and he had him on lead in the middle of the park and the poor dog would be in-between the owners legs and would snap at any dogs that approached. He slapped his dog on the mouth. I told him that this was not going to help his dog overcome the fear and he can either try a short period of off lead in this area or take his dog out. Bearing in mind this is purpose built off-lead enclosure. He was so over protective that the dog must have been super stressed out so he eventually left. I didn't really want to say what I thought, as it would have simply been, "leave the park - now" as it is not my place to order someone around and believe that giving them the opportunity to make the decision on what would be best for their dog would be more diplomatic :D

I really think that lots of owners will smack their dogs as a way of showing another owner that they realise their dog has done something inappropriate. It is a fine line between someone who just doesn't care and someone that cares but doesn't know what to do or how to react.

If my dog is rude...and on occasions he can be, especially being an early teenage husky, I will clip on his lead and take him to a far corner of the park and get him to sit, then drop to calm him and then let him off again. If he is rude again - I will repeat and say "If you are going to be rude, we will have to go home" - now I know he doesn't really understand this but it tells the others at the park that I am keeping a good eye on his behaviour. If he does the third misdemeanour - I will clip his lead on and say - "okay, lets go, no more play" again the words are more for those around us to know I won't just let him create havoc. Having said that if the misdemeanour is more than being 'a bit rude' he will get marched out immediately.

Again my thoughts are that I believe that there are quite a lot of owners who just don't know what to do - they are shocked, worried, embarrassed or perhaps nervous and they think a slap shows others that they know that their dog has erred

What a wonderful post Yonjuro. So much wisdom, especially the bolded part.

Yes, Yonjuro's post was very sensible and informative. The problem with a number of dog owners is that they just don't know how to handle their dogs inn certain situations. I don't believe it's them wanting to be cruel to their pets, it's just plain ignorance. They need to be taught the ins and outs of owning and caring for their companion. Many years ago at the park I frequent with my boys, there is a woman who has a beagle. When said Beagle was a puppy, she was walking past me and my boys who were off lead, and the puppy, as as most puppies are overexcited, this pup sort of lunged at my boys to say hello. Nothing nasty about this puppy and my boys didn't mind. But stupid owner wanted so show that she was in total control, yanked the lead so hard the pup was swinging in the air. I tried to protest that this was not the way to go and that positive reinforcement was. I was told in no uncertain manner with her arms akimbo that she had a personal trainer for her pup and that she would do as she wishes. Now, how could I argue with that lol. Needless to say, years later, her dog still doesn't listen to her and the poor thing is so obese, she can hardly waddle around the park. That's what I call ignorance.

[Christina]

1st time was in a park. The man was really laying into his German Shepherd. I ran up behind him & kicked him up the butt & he fell over. I was yelling something or other at him & then I ran away fast. I was 12.

Grown up since then & got more careful. Not seen much abuse apart from a few incidents in dog grooming to be honest. Even allowing for differences of opinion on what is ok & not I have seen lots of neglect though. Its sometimes a fine line between neglect & abuse.

Sometimes its done through sheer laziness or stupidity & sometimes by total lack of insight or learned ways from parents & environment.

If someone was hitting their dog hard or lost their temper & belting it I would say something because I would get very angry & not care about repercussions, can't help it.

For things like weight, on chains, isolation etc even when you know the person you are treading a fine line & upsetting as is it sometimes there is little you can do if a polite voice remarking on your concerns is ignored.

Re biting a dog back because it bit you even if done with intense aggression is totally wrong IMO. The dog is behaving like a dog. People don't need to stoop to that level.

A biting dog needs control & firm but kind discipline not physical abuse.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Christina

[BarbedWire]

Twodoggies I have seen dogs being mistreated when the handler did know better. Once at an obedience trial I was a spectator and as the dogs were lining up for their stays I saw a handler twisting his dog's ear. I did point it out to whoever was sitting beside me but I don't know if she did anything. I didn't because obedience trials can be quite formidable, and I would only have made myself unpopular which is a no no if you want to do well yourself. The handler in question won the ring with a perfect score.

[CrazyCresties]

I bit a poodle once... but it had bitten me first! It's owner thought that biting strangers was acceptable behaviour from his unleashed dog... he soon learned to leash his dog to "protect" it from strangers that bite back... lol!

T.

You should have bitten the owner if you wanted to bite someone, rather than traumatise the poodle further.

I'm actually quite appalled that anyone would bite a dog in retaliation.

I have to agree - not really an appropriate way to deal with the situation

[sas]

You say something or report it, that simple.

[Tibbie_tabbie]

I bit a poodle once... but it had bitten me first! It's owner thought that biting strangers was acceptable behaviour from his unleashed dog... he soon learned to leash his dog to "protect" it from strangers that bite back... lol!

T.

You should have bitten the owner if you wanted to bite someone, rather than traumatise the poodle further.

Trust me, that poodle was NOT traumatised when it bit me... it may have been AFTER I bit it back, but it deserved it - nasty thing that it was, biting people for no reason.Bloody thing had drawn blood too... it was a bite, not a nip that it gave me, and I wasn't trying to interact with it at all.

T.

Dogs don't bite for 'no reason'. I totally agree it was sounds like it was acting appallingly, so tell the owner to secure and remove the dog and/or report it!

If a child is misbehaving in public and hits you do you hit it back or talk to the parent?

Unbelievable......

[BarbedWire]

You say something or report it, that simple.

I assume your post is referring to my post.

I wish it were that simple. Sometimes it's easier to just not notice things.

[twodoggies2001]

You say something or report it, that simple.

I assume your post is referring to my post.

I wish it were that simple. Sometimes it's easier to just not notice things.

I think the post referred to was by Tdierik

[BarbedWire]

You say something or report it, that simple.

I assume your post is referring to my post.

I wish it were that simple. Sometimes it's easier to just not notice things.

Just because it's easier to ignore it doesn't make it right.

I agree Snook. But sometimes it's easier to not notice something than to do the right thing. I admit that I don't always do the right thing. I don't think that makes me a bad person. It's just expedient.

Edited September 4, 2014 by sarsaparilla

[tdierikx]

You say something or report it, that simple.

I assume your post is referring to my post.

I wish it were that simple. Sometimes it's easier to just not notice things.

I think the post referred to was by Tdierik

It was 20 years ago in my wayward youth... and it seemed like the thing to do at the time. Wasn't the first time that particular poodle had been a menace towards me, and words had been exchanged with the owner on previous occasions obviously to no avail...

Future sightings of said poodle saw that the owner was finally walking it on leash... so at least it had some effect...

T.