Dog Walking Etiquette Question

[Kevin]

Watchman,
Yes and thanks. We do actually use a harness. The Ruffwear brand. We’ve tried a few of theirs and they seem to be pretty durable.

(Side note: one time on vacation, we bought a dog toy, it was guaranteed for 10 days 😀)

But anyway, thanks for the input, much appreciated.

The best paragraph of this thread:

The most important thing is to be consistent and fair with the dog and your corrections. Always the same expectations, always the same commands, always the same corrections. This lets your dog know what behavior is permitted and what is not. Dogs are very "black and white" in their understanding of the world. Be confident. Be the leader of your pack.

 

[txramfan]

I'm one of those dog people who doesn't always obey leash laws.
With our current golden retriever, Daisy , throwing a ball in the graveyard behind my house trained her to leave and return just like in my fenced yard. We did this before going to a leash. Leash training resulted in walking w/o a leash. Never a problem with people or dogs.
Daisy, is very reluctant to relieve herself while leashed. Her being trained off leash makings traveling much easier.

 

[GypsmJim]

I'm not a dog walker, but I DO walk. I can't tell you how many times I've been accosted by unruly untrained dogs getting walked by irresponsible owners. My main street has a sidewalk on only one side, so MY only option is to walk across someone's lawn. And having to pick up dog feces from MY lawn makes me livid.

To answer the OP's question, if it were me and I WAS walking a dog, I would stop, turn around and walk the other way. If MY dog initiated the bark it would be the respectful thing to do.

I'm not insinuating that anyone on here is a bad dog owner, so don't take my comments personal. It's probably all my fault anyway. I never make eye contact, so maybe I smell bad or its my aura or something. As a delivery boy working my way thru College I used to get bitten all the time.

 

[any ruger]

It's called obedience training . There are ways to walk a dog and ways not to. A lot of towns have animal shelters some offer classes in obedience training. Maybe look into them.

 

[NetNathan]

When the dog barks, correct it. Walk with confidence and short leash ( the dog should be a heal position), but do not pull it too hard.
A dog senses your emotion through the leash, that is why you need to show confidence. If you are worrying abbot another dog coming toward you, your dog senses your worry.

 

[Kevin]

I wish this thread would stop. I’m so sorry I asked.

My question was “why do the other people stop”

I’m not asking about my dog.

 

[Dave P.]

I'll take a guess at the question. First off I don't have a dog right now and never walked one in "public".
First thought is they stop to evaluate the situation a bit looking to see how agitated your dog is, how big
it is and deciding if you're handling/correcting it well. possibly looking around to see if there's a convenient
alternate route to bypass each other and minimize the unknown result of letting the dogs get close.
They really have no way of knowing any thing about you or your dog.
Maybe they know theirs will try to fight and want to avoid that.
Maybe they're just timid or anti-social people......who knows.
I'm used to having dogs bark at me while running, have seen several people over the years who will
step off to the side, stop and make their dog sit till I pass. See one woman with a big Shepard several
times a week all summer and she never fails to do that, dog is completely calm.
Maybe it's something taught to owners to do by some dog obedience classes?
Now horses and riders on the trail could open another whole conversation!

 

[GypsmJim]

I wish this thread would stop. I’m so sorry I asked.

My question was “why do the other people stop”

I’m not asking about my dog.

The answer is that they stop because they don't have a clue what your dog is going to do and they don't know if you are a responsible dog owner or not. It's better to err on the side of caution than take a chance that your dog might get injured.

Also, my experience is that many (not all) dog owners will defend their dog's behavior and assume that YOUR dog is the problem. In that case, is the other dog owner carrying? You don't know. Best to go the other way and avoid conflict.

 

[NetNathan]

One of the best dog collars for walking and training is called a "head collar". It controls the head and neck.
Most humane and recommended by a lot of dog breeders, the K9 dog breeder/trainer, that I bought one of my German Shepherds from, insisted on using this type of leash for training. It is really amazing at how well it works.
Here are 2 examples.

 

[harley08]

My biggest problem with dog walkers is that they seem to thrive on packing new snow on our sidewalks. Why can't they just wait for a couple hours after a snow storm before going for the walk? It's 10x harder to move packed down snow than unpacked. I consider this behavior to be very selfish and rude.

One of these days, I'm going to follow them to see where they live. Then the next time it snows, I'll park nearby and wait for them to head out for their walk. Then I'll pull into their driveway and go up and down it to pack as much of it as I can.

Sometimes it takes a butthead to make people understand that their behavior is not okay.

When I lived where it snowed. As soon as there was a small accumulation of snow on the sidewalk I would shovel it off. I always kept ahead of the snow fall and make a little money shoveling other folks sidewalks!

 

[TestEngineer]

When I lived where it snowed. As soon as there was a small accumulation of snow on the sidewalk I would shovel it off. I always kept ahead of the snow fall and make a little money shoveling other folks sidewalks!

You must have lived where it didn't snow very much. Where I live, it's pretty common for snow to come down at 1/2" or more an hour for 12-14 straight hours. It takes about 2 hours to shovel the drive and sidewalk (corner lot). So if you shovel before the snow ends, you have another inch or two accumulated where you started.

Sorry, but I'm not going to shovel snow for 12+ hours to accommodate a few inconsiderate dog walkers.

My city has an ordinance requiring homeowners to have their sidewalks cleared within 48 hours after a snow storm ends. I just wish they had an (enforced) ordinance banning dog walking during a storm and for 2 hours after it ends. A $100 fine for violations would solve the problem.

 

[Dave P.]

You must have lived where it didn't snow very much. Where I live, it's pretty common for snow to come down at 1/2" or more an hour for 12-14 straight hours. It takes about 2 hours to shovel the drive and sidewalk (corner lot). So if you shovel before the snow ends, you have another inch or two accumulated where you started.

Sorry, but I'm not going to shovel snow for 12+ hours to accommodate a few inconsiderate dog walkers.

My city has an ordinance requiring homeowners to have their sidewalks cleared within 48 hours after a snow storm ends. I just wish they had an (enforced) ordinance banning dog walking during a storm and for 2 hours after it ends. A $100 fine for violations would solve the problem.

They make these things called snow blowers. They're available almost anywhere it snows much in the civilized parts of the world.

 

[TestEngineer]

They make these things called snow blowers. They're available almost anywhere it snows much in the civilized parts of the world.

Had one. Gave it away. They only work well when the snow is all light & fluffy. If the snow (or even just the bottom inch) is wet & slushy, they clog up within a few feet. You spend more time trying to clear the clogs than you do actually moving snow. No thanks!

 

[Dave P.]

Had one. Gave it away. They only work well when the snow is all light & fluffy. If the snow (or even just the bottom inch) is wet & slushy, they clog up within a few feet. You spend more time trying to clear the clogs than you do actually moving snow. No thanks!

You need to try a better snow thrower, many will throw slush without plugging.

 

[Yaworski]

Call Ceasar Milan!

 

[Dave P.]

Call Ceasar Milan!

Does he shovel heavy wet snow?

 

[Yaworski]

Does he shovel heavy wet snow?

I'm sure he does.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Had one. Gave it away. They only work well when the snow is all light & fluffy. If the snow (or even just the bottom inch) is wet & slushy, they clog up within a few feet. You spend more time trying to clear the clogs than you do actually moving snow. No thanks!

I must have just got lucky the first and only time I've ever bought one, but then I didn't buy the two for one Ronco snow OH matic.

 

[larry8]

I don't care where the dogs do their business as long as it's not on my property. I have a sign stating keep dogs off my property. My wife and I am allergic to dogs so we can't have them on our property. I have told many people to keep their dog off my property and they usually do that after I had to yell at them. You can train the dog to pee and poop on your property not on anyone else's property but I found a few people are too lazy to do that. (and yes, dogs can be trained to do that).

 

[Ride1949]