Im about to go off on a serious rant, so brace yourselves. Fergie and I were with a lovely photographer this evening doing a mentoring session, shooting on location. We were tucked away in a far corner of a very large park, on the side of a big field, and as we were photographing my sweet but dog-reactive dog, I looked over and noticed what I thought was a Great Dane walking toward us with his owner, a handful of yards away. The man continued to walk straight in our direction, which I thought was odd since we were so far off the beaten path and I couldnt figure out where he was going or what he was doing. Fergie immediately started growling, hackles raised, pulling on the leash, to get to his dog. As they got closer I noticed it was a Greyhound, and seemed to be docile and non-reactive to Fergie. My mentee and I looked at each other and said what is he doing? Where is he going?. We were very confused about why he would continue walking straight toward me and my dog when my dog was clearly not reacting in a positive friendly manner to his, or his dogs, presence. When it looked like they were going to come straight over to me, I said loudly shes not friendly!, making it very clear that this was not an opportunity for him to introduce his dog. Oh shes ok.. was his reply, *as he continued to walk straight toward us*. No, shes NOT friendly I said. I was looking at him like he was insane. In the meantime, Fergie is whipping around on the 30 foot lead we had her on, and in my desperate attempt to keep her away from the poor, scared (thin-skinned!) Greyhound, trying to grasp at this leash, I got serious rope burn on my ankle and undersides of two fingers (grrrr). Then I was in serious pain, trying to reason with someone whose behavior and intentions were baffling to me. I dont honestly remember what I said to him, but he looked at me incredulously and said YOU are the reason why she is acting that way. WHOAH. Are you kidding me??? Was what I was thinking. Dogs have a way of working things out, he lectured me about dog behavior. I was shaking with anger and also pain from the rope burns, and was at a loss of what to say. I finally said something like NO, the reason why she is behaving this way is because she is afraid of dogs, because she has been attacked and also has chronic pain in her back and is protective of her body. She cant control her reaction because its based in fear and pain, and Im telling you, she is not friendly, so please dont come any closer. My voice was shaking and I was trembling and desperate. I just coulndt stop looking at his sweet Greyhound, and wanting nothing more to protect him, something the owner seemed oblivious to want to do. (!) He then *continued* to try and get close to Fergie, and said I just want to say hi to her. I was like Are you freaking kidding me??. I finally said the one thing that got him to leave us alone. I said this is my client, and we are doing a lesson, and she is paying me by the hour, and you are taking her time away from her, to which he immediately turned and looked at my mentee and said Oh, Im sorry!, and then walked away. HUH?? Im still so baffled by this. Seriously, what is wrong with people?? I was just shaking my head like did that just happen?. I ask you guys, my knowledgeable and experienced dog owner friends, what would you or do you do in a situation like this? What could I have done differently? What do I say to someone like this to get them to leave Fergie and I alone and not come closer or interrupt our photo session? What tricks can you give me that work in situations like this? Im afraid if this happens again that I may really lose my cool. I was certainly on the verge of it today. Oh, also! Another off-leash dog came running up behind Fergie as we were walking on a path, totally catching us off-guard because the dog was at my feet before I even heard it or saw it. Fergie is always fine for a handful of seconds, kind of freezing and waiting to see what would happen, but the dog was posturing (which is always what happens with us), and then Fergie got snippy and reactive. The moment this happened I heard the dogs owner behind me calling her dog. She had to call his name three or four times before he would leave our side and run back to her, and of course, shes saying Im sorry, so sorry..., after seeing that my dog is not happy. Again- what are people thinking?? DONT WALK YOUR DOG OFF LEASH UNLESS YOU HAVE *OUTSTANDING* RECALL IN *EVERY SINGLE SITUATION*. This has happened so insanely many times in the past year, and Ive had it! When we were camping in Bar Harbor a Jack Russel Terrier ran into our campsite from several sites away, ran up to Fergie while she was tethered to a tree and attacked her in the face!! Ive HAD it I tell ya!! HELP!
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 01:26:57 +0000
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