RANT - loose dogs and crappy owners

I pick midday, on a weekday to walk Buster today think... really. What are the odds od running into many dogs today... no one will be walking them atm surely?
So off we go, 2 houses down there is a chi without a gate on teh yard barking its head off. Buster is only improving with being near small dogs so I could get some basic obed out of him as well as a short "focus" :yikes:

about 20 metres later a person was walkingher dog behind us, he started acting up so I split of into the park next to me and played wiht him for a bit while the person passed. Then we continued.

About halfway through our walk I hear this deep growl, look around, BIG black lab mix coming across the road, no owner in site. I think great, little dogs I can kick away if they get too close, I don't want to deal with a big dog. I start looking for a yard I can run into if need be then think bugger it, I'm not running away again just because some idiot can't contain their dog, so I turn around, point at it and yell "no!"
it stops... waits then growls again from halfway across the road, this is when Buster finally spots it. It follows slowly at a distance then leaves us alone. No owner ever calls it and actually, no other person ever appears in the street.

Then we get to the house with the little dog in it that barked at Buster. I thought it was a fluke it was outside, the next day i went past, outside again. Today... I walked on the other side of the road, figured it would stop.
It comes out, starts barking, gets all to about 2 feet in front of him and stops and stares him down. I stamp, I yell, and the dog just ignores me.
Now I hear the woman... yeah, there is an owner out the front.
"bobo, come bobo" now bobo couldn't care less.
I say very clearly
"come and get your dog NOW, mine does not like other dogs"
Buster is rigid as hell, half his bristles up, all the warnings yet no lunging etc. I'm holding his harness now and holding his front end off the ground, not going to swing him around incase it sparks something, so just waiting as the woman strolls over to get her dog. One side of me is hoping the dog doesn't take another step forward because she'll be within Buster's range, another side of me is hoping she does so she's within range of my foot.
As soon as she gets there, Bobo jumps around behind Buster, he flips around and I follow him to grab him again, they're just about touching noses but still Buster isn't actually trying to kill her.
I pull him back while his owner is saying "your a good boy" to Buster, wtf. I don't want you to talk to my dog, I want you to move slightly fast and stop your dog from sniffing his backside because he's scared as hell because he can't move.

I think if I see her again I'm just going to tell her to lock her fcking dog up, I do the right thing and I still have deal with this crap. I was aboslutley fuming, I didn't say a word and just walked off.
I HATE when things like this happen, it buggers up our walk, Buster looses concentration, I get all shaky and we ended up cutting our walk in half because I was sick of dealing with other dogs (only saw 2 more loose on the way home)


I think this almost calls for the creation of a blog.

Sadly most of us have been there, done that, came home with the t-shirt. Rude off leash dogs are the worst. I would never say a word if you had control over your off leash dog but if you don't keep him on a leash like the rest of us.

I reckon, I like to see dogs offleash, but I also know a few that behave extremly well offleash and I can deal with that.

But when I'm holding my dog int eh middle of road and having to stand and wait for this woman (after I yelled at her I looked up and she was still picking stuff up off the ground not even looking) to come and get it, while it is completley ignoring her.

I'm a lot more argumentative now I think, if peoples dogs are out and they arn't paying attention they are going to hear about it and if they fail to listen then I'm going to defend my dog myself.

That sucks. My neighbors have this GSD, and they keep allowing her to be offleash when she is not trained to be offleash around distractions. Daisy doesn't like this GSD, and of course if the GSD sees us she'll get right in Daisy's face, which is quite rude.

One of the owners did stop and tell me she was sorry for their dog getting out, and that they've been trying hard to train her, and her electric fence collar's battery wore out and they are waiting for a new one. That's fine, but all the times your dog has gotten out of her yard she wasn't wearing her electric fence collar, just a choke chain that is metal links woven with orange nylon. And that still doesn't explain why you persistantly try to walk/run her offleash when she obviously isn't trained reliably.

Has happened to me many times and I personally would pay for a lets burn the flexi leads bon fire any day.

My dogs are always in the left heal position they are not allowed to sniff butts or play at dog shows. Yet some little dog if off leash or a big dog is coming strait for us via the flexi lead. Makes me want to scream..

My dogs are not dog aggressive but a intact adult male stud is not going to play with your doberman. Plus u here it is a "female" point is my dog does NOT know by looking at your dog face first u are a bitch. They wont know that till they smell the butt and by then if u female snarls it will be too late.

I like females that show a male is approuching and shows bellys or lowers head in submission but I dont find that in many of the reg breeds today.

So sorry u had a bad day thanks for letting me rant.

I hate it when this happens. Irresponsible owners! In my past two neighborhoods dogs just roam like you've never seen before. In the country where I live now, and where I am staying until August, there are NO loose dogs. I am so happy! Especially with Sadie right now; who is terrified of everything.