Dog Walking Etiquette

Yesterday was a lovely crisp, cold morning. Perfect dog walking weather.

I've noticed that in my Friday Instagram posts, the scenic pictures really make the collage look complete, so I decided to get snap happy with my phone whilst I was out with the dogs. We're lucky enough to live in a rural area with plenty of beautiful places to walk, which makes for very pretty pictures

These woods have a pond which Jessie loves to swim in, whatever the weather. Even though it was partially frozen yesterday, there was no stopping her. Wilson isn't quite so brave, he tittuped around on the bank, holding a stick and dive bombing her on her way out. When they were pups I did all their gundog water training here with them, the pond has an island which is great for teaching them to cross water, stop and hunt on the whistle command. Not all dogs are keen on water, although they may like swimming they see the water as an obstacle between them and the game so they often slow right down and it looks laborious - this was never a problem for Jessie. She takes a run up and literally hurls herself into the water, often jumping so high that she lands bum first. It's hilarious to watch!

Speaking of training, we were having a lovely time until we came across two other dog walkers with extremely poor manners. The first let his dog come flying up to mine and it attacked Jessie, snarling and hanging from her neck. The second allowed her dogs to stop and have a good sniff of Wilson even though I had taken both of my dogs off the path and had them sitting quietly out of the way

I don't allow my dogs to play with other dogs. Firstly because, as gundogs, they have to learn that they're just not allowed. They have to be able to concentrate on work and be relied on to sit motionless until instructed to do something, even when there are many other dogs around. The only way you can achieve this is to teach them that other dogs are not for playing with. If mine see another dog they come straight back to me - I then take them off the path and they sit at heel until the other dog has passed The second reason is that you just don't know how friendly other dogs are. Both of my dogs have been attacked several times by dogs that weren't under their owner's control and that really pisses me off. If you have a dog, you have a responsibility to ensure that it is properly trained and that you are in control of it in public.

Wilson isn't castrated because we had planned to breed from him. So he has the full complement of testosterone and as far as he is concerned, Jessie is his property - if another dog gets too friendly with her he will let the dog know he's not happy. Hence, when we see another dog coming, mine get put on leads and taken off the path, out of harm's way. It's incredibly frustrating when the other person doesn't take this hint and lets their dog come over and either attack my well-behaved dogs or take advantage of them sitting quiet and still and have a good old sniff round their bits! It's even worse when I ask them to take their dog away as Wilson might snap and they say 'oh don't worry, it will teach mine a lesson'. What lesson exactly? And would they be saying 'oh, don't worry' if my dog did theirs serious damage? I expect it would be more something along the lines of 'expect a vet's bill and I'll see you in court'!

Exchanges like this can really ruin a lovely walk and I make a concerted effort to walk where there aren't likely to be any other people and dogs. I know that not everyone trains their dogs to the level that I have but to be honest, it's just a case of good manners and common sense. If I see someone putting their dog on a lead as I approach, I assume they don't trust their dog so it would be incredibly stupid of me to let my dogs go flying up to it at high speed!

I don't imagine this will change any time soon, people will always be ignorant. But if you have a dog, I beg you not to be one of them! Think of your dog's safety and be careful around dogs you don't know

Jessie has been attacked twice, both times by terriers and both times whilst she was on the lead and they weren't. Terriers can be nasty little blighters and both times it was hard to get them off her but there was no serious damage done. Wilson has been attacked twice too, once by two Flatcoat Retrievers and and once by a husky. Both times the owners stood by, shouting but doing nothing whilst I hit, kicked, whipped and dragged their dogs off mine. It's terrifying and we've been lucky that he's got off lightly, shaken but with no serious damage

It's heartbreaking to watch your much loved, well-behaved pet being attacked by one which isn't under control. It hurts to see their wounded expressions - they don't understand what happened - they were doing exactly as they've been taught to do so why have they been hurt?

I'll stop ranting now! But please, please, if you have a dog be careful. There are some nasty dogs out there and they are indistinguishable from the sweet, playful ones until it's too late.