Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[sovietsong]

So a little background for the people who don't know about my lovely german shepherd dog billie. She is just over a year old and she is our first dog. At first we made a number of mistakes which resulted in things which made us question wether we should have even got a dog but after seeking some advice from a number of very helpful blondes we managed to get her back on track and now she is an absolute joy... Anyway I digress.

we have a good set up to ensure billie gets the excercise she needs. I take her out for an early morning walk at 6:30 for around 20mins or so, the missus goes out again at 10am and I take her out at 6pm. Sometimes I like to take her out at night, 10pm ish as I love going on the park we live next door to when nobody is around.

A little while ago I decided to do this and got myself ready for the cold. Being a soft lad I put on my hat, scarf and gloves while I made the dog wait in excited anticipation. She knows she can't move from her bed until I call her but she gets excited non the less, itching to get up but knowing if she does all the gear is taken off and I have to start again!

So eventually we get ready to go, I pop her on the lead and head out. We start the walk across a football pitch and as usual its deserted, the kids that think themselves cool have gone home as they seem to everyday at 9:30 (real rebels!) and me and billie are the only people there. We take a left off the park and head across a little lane that connects the little park with the big one. Billie runs ahead then waits at the gate, she used to go in so I'd change the route, then she'd go that way so I would go through the gate! Now she's figured out what a child I am and waits for me!

So we go through the gate across a kind of field that has long grass. She often goes bounding through it durning the day but at night she tends to sniff around the outskirts checking for other dogs scents (I suspect but don't know really!).

I've got one of her balls with me that I use as a bit of a training aid, when she comes back when called I give it to her, so at this point decide to have a little bit of light training. I call her back and she darts over, we play for a little while and then walk on.

We go round the pond, finally she has stopped bothering the ducks after an incident where she got her head wet and we walk over towards the cricket pitch.

Its very dark and I can barely see a thing more than 10 feet away, luckily the dog is happy just sniffing around nearby. 

As we start to leave the pitch there was a noise behind. I turned to see what it was and could see a dim light in the distance, not thinking anything of it I started to move on.

The dog had other ideas and bolted off to investigate.

I called her back.

No response.

I rustle the treat package in my pocket.

No response.

Oh dear I think noramally she is straight back when she hears the treats!

I run after her, not really sure where I'm going as I can't see a thing.

Then I hear a scream...

Oh dear. I head to where the scream came from, pretty much shitting myself as there seemed to be more shouts of distress...

To be continued.

[RED-DOG]

 

[RED-DOG]

I have to say Sov, your post shows great insight into a dog's Psyche.

[RED-DOG]

I've got loads of stuff to do today. (It's force work. I feel like doing bugger all)

I have to take the bins to the tip, (I should have done it last week, but I spent too much time pratting about with shower taps and AOL)

I have to go to the bank and the supermarket (On bike, need exercise)

I have to get two new tires on the front of the van. (These wont cost £1500)

I have to wash the dog. (She knows already, I have no idea how)

[sovietsong]

So as I use my limited hearing to try and find the screamer(s) the distant lights become clearer and it is set up in a kind of square. There are also some other lights that are moving about, in my panic I didn't really know what they were.

As my eyes adjusted and my ears stopped ringing from the horrible screeching I could tell that the set of square lights marked out a running track and the moving lights were on peoples heads!

The dog was still not in sight and I was still worried that she had biten somebody in all the excitement. The moving lights were all heading in the same direction so I followed.

I was met by an angry lady that had lots of muddy paw prints all over her but seemed unharmed. The dog was running back and forward between a couple of the runners (mostly females who where waving there hands in the air shouting.

Billie being the friendly sole she is was jumping up thinking what a fun game everybody was playing with her.

I apologised and they told me that I should avoid the park on the first thursday of the month in future!

This is not really the intesting part... A few weeks later I was walking billie in daylight hours and a fellow dog walker came up and warned me of a dangerous german shepherd that had attacked a load of runners a few weeks back!!

Aparantly this evil dog had tried to bite a number of defenceless women while the owner stolled over! I was told to be careful because this terror might attack other dogs!!

I didn't have the heart to say anything, but probably should have.

It showed me that certain dogs have a reputation and no matter how friendly I know my dog to be extra care needs to be taken. I wish everybody had the common sense/knowledge you do red. Less people would get hurt and less good dogs would be destroyed.

It breaks my heart to read stories about dogs that have been destroyed because they have bitten but wonder how many could have been avoided if the person being bitten had spoken calmly rather than screamed, lowed there arms rather than waving them about etc etc.

[sovietsong]

I'm getting much better with the dog, small steps and all that. To be honest I owe a lot to matt(evilpie) without whom the dog maybe at the rspca right now. He helped me and michelle give boundries and we are picking up lots of other things as we go!!

[EvilPie]

Ronnie is very much like the Shepherd you encountered Tom. If he decides someone's a threat he'll approach in much the same way as you described but will back off if the person shows no fear.

If however they get all nervous and agitated as many would when approached by an angry looking rottweiler he'll follow through and jump up them.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is why the hell don't they teach kids at school how to behave with dogs, particularly strange dogs. You hear of so many dog attacks and I'm convinced that many could be avoided if the victims knew what to do.

The simplest advice is "be a tree". Not many dogs will attack someone who is stood still. The most important advice is "don't run away". You can't escape anyway and it just insights the predator instinct in the dog and makes them worse. Why doesn't someone tell kids that if they're on a bike and there's a dog nearby that they need to slow down? Every incident I've had with Ronnie (luckily all minor) has been made worse by the human not knowing how to react. This is not their fault at all, it is because they haven't been educated.

Just a 20 minute talk could save so much heartache for so many families but it's something which I've never heard of happening.

[EvilPie]

Sounds exciting Sov albeit a little bit scary as well.

One thing you could consider is working on a "down" command. When a dog is focussed on a target it's much easier to get them to lie down at a distance than to get them to recall.

This is because to recall the dog has to go against it's instincts and turn way from the perceived threat or target. If it lays down it can still see the threat so is able to react if the threat becomes more immediate.

If you try this it's best done with a whistle by the way. You need to program the dog so that it becomes reflex that when she hears that whistle she'll lie down no matter what.

I'm working on this with Ronnie at the moment. It works in most circumstances but I'm yet to try it when he goes afetr a rabbit or a fox. That's the ultimate test. If that works I know I've cracked it.

[Longines]

James the farmer who lives at the end of our road needed 15 stitches in his back after a local Alsatian bit him.

My wife ended up with paw prints on her shoulders and a paw-shaped bruise on her leg when the same dog ran up and jumped on her last week.

Another neighbour had his jacket ripped and needed stitches in his arm when this dog bit him and knocked him flying over a 2' wall last month.


At what point does it stop being the vidtim's fault?

[EvilPie]

James the farmer who lives at the end of our road needed 15 stitches in his back after a local Alsatian bit him.

My wife ended up with paw prints on her shoulders and a paw-shaped bruise on her leg when the same dog ran up and jumped on her last week.

Another neighbour had his jacket ripped and needed stitches in his arm when this dog bit him and knocked him flying over a 2' wall last month.


At what point does it stop being the vidtim's fault?

I don't know if this is in response to my post but if you read it carefully I say that "it is in no way the victim's fault"

What I said was that with a little bit of education a lot of incidents could be avoided. They teach kids to avoid strangers and how to deal with potential incidents with people so why not teach them how best to deal with dogs.

Most incidents are in my opinion the owner's fault, not the dog's. If you know your dog you know what they are capable of and how their mood changes when they see a threat. If the owner doesn't know their dog properly they won't see the signs. I know exactly when Ronnie is safe to be off his lead and when he needs to be on it but that is because I know him.

It all comes down to education. Educate people in how to deal with dogs and some situations will be avoided. More importantly educate the owners in how to own a dog.

I wish they'd bring back dog licensing. They should also make dog training and socialisation compulsory. I know it would cost money but if someone really wants a dog they should be prepared for the financial commitment that it brings with it.

This dog that you speak of is clearly out of control but it wouldn't have been when it was a puppy. If it had been bought up properly, socialised and trained then these things wouldn't have happened.

[tikay]

Can we chat about cats? Anyone?

[kinboshi]

Can we chat about cats? Anyone?

Yeah, I can't stand cats - selfish, evil creatures.  Would happily feed them to Ronnie though...

[Longines]

Whilst I agree that talking to kids about what to do when approached by a strange dog is a good idea, I'm not sure too many of them would remember to stand still and look confident when 6st+ of bared fangs is charging at them.

As you say, it's the owners who need shooting.

Our 10 year old has been desperate for a dog for two years now. Think we'll be getting a Westie soon - I'm taking all the training tips on board.

[typhoon13]

Can we chat about cats? Anyone?

Yeah, I can't stand cats - selfish, evil creatures.  Would happily feed them to Ronnie though...

snap

[tikay]

Can we chat about cats? Anyone?

Yeah, I can't stand cats - selfish, evil creatures.  Would happily feed them to Ronnie though...

Can we chat about moles, then?