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Dogs In Radford Park - Richard (31st Mar 2019 - 22:57:29) Message to those walking dogs in Radford Park Kindly keep them on a lead if you cannot control them. I had to pick mine up and calm her as she is not good with dogs off leads and suddenly she has about five of them coming towards her. She was bloody terrified and shaking like a leaf. I voiced my concerns and to the credit of those walking them when I saw them again a little later ( we ended up crossing paths again 20 minutes or so later ) they were on leads. Mostly. A couple weren't. So this has undone some of the work we have been doing acclimatising our dog and she has spent the rest of the day feeling very out of sorts. All because of selfish bastards who are BAD DOG OWNERS.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Derik (1st Apr 2019 - 09:12:54) REALLY it’s a free world! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Dawn Hoskins (1st Apr 2019 - 10:39:34) Hi Richard It would probably really help her is she went to a group training class so she learns to be around lots of other dogs in a controlled environment. If she is young enough she can go every Saturday to Pet's Corner at Country Market for puppy socialization and also at Pets at Home in Farnham - who also run a puppy socialization class. It would also be good for her is you could organize a group dog walk. When they are all walking together in the same direction the newbies very quickly learn that this is their pack and that they are all together. It gives them confidence. I'm sure that many of us [dog owners] would be happy to come for a stroll with you to help her gather strength. Generally, if we ever see a dog on a lead - we call ours and 'lead' them. If dogs are off lead we normally let them trot over to greet one another. Dogs will naturally want to come and say hello, but that can be daunting if there are a large number of them all at the same time. I hope she soon recovers

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - helen (1st Apr 2019 - 13:13:38) If your dog is nervous you can buy a harness which says nervous dog in yellow lettering. Also if she is v nervous, consideration should be given to taking her where there are fewer dogs eg Weavers Down or longmoor my dog reacts badly if he passes a dog and he is on the lead and the other dog is not, so he is the opposite. Socialisation will help too. People are not bad owners just because their dog is not on a lead.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Kate (1st Apr 2019 - 15:28:50) Sick of being told to put dogs on leads in a park, its not the law and never has been, whilst I was not involved in this event my dogs are obedient, recall to command and like most dogs are inquisitive and energetic. They are no risk to any other human or dog and wont engage in any trouble. You have no RIGHT to require good dogs and good dog owners to place their dogs on leads. If your dog cant cope with meeting other harmless dogs then dont bring it to a public place and get the problem resolved. If your one of these dog owners that isnt able to train a dog to socialise and behave itself without threating or dangerous behavior then keep it on a lead and better yet dont bring it to places that have other well behaved dogs enjoying proper off the lead exercise.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Pete (1st Apr 2019 - 16:30:04) Please not weavers down, we stopped going to Radford park because walkers with dogs off lead are not made very welcome there. We now go to weavers as the majority of dogs are off lead. Dogs being dogs we have the occasional spat but they soon sort it out between themselves and most of the owners up there understand that not all dogs get on together. If you have a small dog then lead walks may be enough but medium to large dogs need off lead exercise, a bad owner would be one that didn't let them off lead.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Sam (3rd Apr 2019 - 10:56:14) Whilst I think that Richard's original post was rather harshly worded at the end, his point was that dogs should be on leads "if you cannot control them" not on the lead fullstop. Dawn said that if she's sees a dog on a lead she will call hers back and lead them until they have passed each other. This is polite, good manners and shows consideration for other people and their dogs. There are a number of reasons why a dog may need to be walked on the lead and for Pete to state that people who don't let their dogs off the lead are bad owners is extremely offensive. All dogs are different, and some more trainable than others, and people should not be so judgemental.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Pete (3rd Apr 2019 - 13:07:05) Sam What you mean offensive like the last line of the original post at least I didn't use crude language, are you really surprised it got my back up. As it happens I call my dog to heel and clip her on if we come across another dog that is on a lead. Obviously there are reasons that some larger dogs may be on a lead through illness, sprains etc but in general if you have a larger dog it needs proper exercise and this involves being off lead. Far too many dogs are not as healthy as they should be through lack of exercise due to people getting a dog because it seems like a good idea without realising just how much work is involved. If you have a healthy dog 'with training' there should be no reason to keep it solely on lead. Training doesn't require a professional or expense just time and patience.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - jason (3rd Apr 2019 - 15:14:45) To summarise. Richard the original poster is; Out of order for calling what appears to be normal dog owners Selfish B******’s Out of order for telling other owners to put their dogs on leads when he has no right to do so. Out of order for suggesting that a free dog “coming towards” his dog is something frightening (He did not say anything about aggression) so they probably just wanted a sniff of his dogs bum. Is himself and Selfish B****** for weeping about his physically unharmed a dog and not caring that other dogs need exercise. Is himself a bad dog owner whom knowingly took his emotionally unstable dog to a public place within which it is legal to have other dogs off the lead so therefore knowingly took the risk his dog would see other normal dogs running around. Is himself a bad dog owner as he thinks “control” is a dog in utter fear of its owner whom won’t move of the lead and or will come to a complete standstill and return on the very instant it’s called. Let’s not get sucked into the word control, the word we good dog owners use is behaviour, my dogs are not aggressive, they will not fight another dog, they will flee. My dogs will return on command, however if my dogs are 50yards away in the safe environment of Radford park and they are closer to new dog than me then they might be tempted to say hello to that other dog rather than instantly return to me. This is normal behaviour, if that other dog does not want to say hello my dogs will ignore it and get on with enjoying themselves. Richard, I appreciate you care for your dog alot, but trust me mate, you’re going the wrong way about it and I doubt it’s got much chance of developing out of its issues as your so overbearing and likely to be reinforcing the issue. But don’t expect positive results from this forum when you use that language or indeed place your stupid expectations onto the rest of us. Your dog needs socialising, but if your going to fly off the handle because you cant control the socialising environment when that environment is a public place then well...

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Dawn Hoskins (3rd Apr 2019 - 15:16:32) I agree with the training point. You don't have to pay out loads of money - however - it is good to be in a group with other dogs regularly if you want your dog to be able to be relaxed with other dogs. The original poster seems to have a dog that is not relaxed around other dogs - so a group walk or a group training session would help. Although most dog owners I know will automatically put theirs on leads if they see a dog on a lead approaching them, it is not everyone that understands that this is simple good manners. Many a time I have asked people to call their dog - only to be told 'don't worry he's fine'. That is not the issue - if your dog needs space it doesn't matter if theirs is fine or not. We have a blind puppy as well as a regular labrador. It causes him problems/anxiety initially if more than one dog rushes up to him to say hello. I have often been surprised at some owners complete lack of control over their dogs. Even when they do attempt to call them - the dogs take no notice, which can be very frightening for a dog with no sight like Jimmy. Even though he is blind - we still go to group classes every week so that he learns to socialize with other dogs and generally he loves all dogs he meets. He has a facebook page if you re interested called 'Adventures of a Blind Dog'. It's only for fun.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Jen (3rd Apr 2019 - 22:44:42) When out walking, I often encounter off-lead dogs and my experience is that dogs off the lead, almost without exception, do not respond to the owners' commands to "come back", "leave", "get down" or whatever else is required of them. Inevitably, the dog runs up to me, runs around my feet almost tipping me up, jumps up and plants muddy paws on my clothes or continues to follow me instead of going back to the owner. It's clear that the vast majority of dogs are not "under control" when off the lead. In my opinion, no dog should be off the lead in any public place.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Paul (3rd Apr 2019 - 23:21:10) Jen Of course you are entitled to your opinion but I can only assume you are either extremely unlucky or are very attractive to our k9 friends.

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Ellen (4th Apr 2019 - 09:20:31) I appreciate not everyone likes dogs but a big lively dog would naturally become frustrated and underexercised kept on a lead Mine is lively but would not approach a walker on their own without a dog. I think the last poster is maybe scared of dogs?

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - oldie (4th Apr 2019 - 09:32:26) As with most people I like dogs generally I have no problem with a friendly dog approaching me briefly for a stroke or just to investigate me (even if this means pawing at me uninvited) and most owners are responsible. But as a walker what I don't like is when a dog charges at me with the owner 50 yards away shouting "down Rufus, down, leave that old man alone Rufus, come away now Rufus don't play with that man, get off him Rufus, come back, leave his coat alone, put him down Rufus" I tend to smile like a clown and say "its OK I can see he's just a friendly fellow really, thank god, he's just playing" whilst trying to retrieve my hat and briefcase from his slobbering friendly jaws. And then there's the professional job lot, off the lead dog walkers on the phone to their boyfriends whilst half a dozen upper class little friends run off to play, let out for their daily run. It's not illegal by any means to have a dog off the lead but the walker must be in control at all times and according to the gov uk website it's a criminal offence and your dog is considered 'dangerously out of control' if it 'makes someone worried that it might injure them', so beware and as responsible dog owners ask yourself that question, it's not your judgement but the recipients feelings that constitute the crime (according to the wording)!

Re: Dogs In Radford Park - Jen (4th Apr 2019 - 22:00:57) Oldie, I too have encountered "Rufus" on numerous occasions! At least once on every walk, I meet a dog like that. Like you, I'm polite and smile sweetly (through gritted teeth!). I do sometimes say something to dog owners about keeping the dog under control if they're walking the dog off the lead during the nesting season for ground-nesting birds. There are many sites locally that are bird conservation areas and dogs should not be off the lead from April to August: Iron Hill, Ludshott Common, Chapel Common, Weaver's Down, Hindhead Common, to name a few.

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