Recently I was walking with Oban in the mountains when a loose male golden retriever arrived on the other side and with a stiff posture, erect tail and fixed gaze headed straight towards us, behind several meters it was the owner who was talking on the phone and was totally inattentive and disinterested in what her dog was doing. Given Oban’s sensitivity to canine threats and her ‘Go or break’ approach, the situation promised trouble so I got in touch with the other owner and told her that Oban doesn’t like being approached. point raised his eyes from his cell phone, looked at me and with an air of annoyance said ‘What should I do, then, put mine on a leash
‘. I thought I heard wrong, but no, he just said that. Abbacinata I replied that what she had to do was control her dog, the way it was made of her. The choice she made was to start calling him on repeat and try to entice him with some snacks. We had to wait for his head to turn (in front of a dog that is threatening yours you have to get next to your dog, so you can give him security, with a soft leash and send the other dog a clear signal that if he continues to get close if he sees it with you even before your dog) and in the second he did so we quickly moved away.
An anecdote to introduce today’s topic: bad dog owners, who are unfortunately a life problem with the quadruped.
Being a bad dog owner overcomes all barriers of age, sex, origins, nationality: an Italian teenager with a Maltese, a 60-year-old English male with a husky, a middle-aged French woman with a bulldog, who otherwise would not they would have nothing in common, they all behave the same when it comes to dogs and are united by being bad dog owners.
Here are some characteristics of bad dog owners Irresponsibility
Handling your dog correctly requires knowing your dog and having at least a minimum of idea about the behavior and communication of dogs in general. It also requires paying attention and understanding the context in which one finds oneself, reading the signs and anticipating, to prevent, unpleasant and risky situations. Bad dog owners don’t know their dog or have any idea about dogs in general (often thinking instead of knowing everything), go out with the dog and behave with an irresponsibility that they couldn’t afford even if they went out with a stuffed animal, let alone with a real dog. Indifference
Another trait of bad dog owners is indifference and disinterest in everything and everyone: they let their dog loose, whatever his behavior – it doesn’t matter if he behaves in a bully, provocative, ‘aggressive’ way, etc. – everywhere and in any case, often by being on the phone or chatting with others for whom they do not see where he is going and what he is doing; they do not control the dog; they do not anticipate and avoid that their dog causes inconvenience and problems to others; if they intervene on their dog they do it when the problems have already caused them; they go out with the female in heat during peak hours; they put the female in heat in the dog area; they leave the female in heat loose on the street and / or in the park; they do not collect the products of their own dog; introduce their dog – bully, taunt, ‘aggressive’, etc. – in the dog area, etc. etc ..Cowardice
Another trait of bad dog owners is cowardice. Due to the way they (not) handle the dog it is inevitable that they cause problems – ie fights / fights with other dogs – and even if they intervene to tear their dog, as soon as they do they run away. Some time ago Oban was badly attacked by a half-breed German Shepherd, after a while (in those situations it is difficult to understand how much time passes), the owner managed to grab him and within half a second he tied him up and ran away . Note that Oban was bleeding and we discovered later that he had received 3 bites, so in addition to the psychological aspect of the violence he suffered, he had to take antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for days. Every so often, however, justice sees us,“My [dog] is good”
Two typical statements of bad dog owners are ‘My dog is good’ and ‘He wants to play with everyone’. They are said to accompany the dog that runs straight shot towards the others and when he arrives in front of the object of his attention he stares at it, maybe barks and / or jumps at him or has other behaviors ranging from harassing to threatening. The human definition of good and bad as applied to dogs makes no sense; the canine code of behavior is very different from the human one and what humans consider ‘good’ is ‘playful’ and more often than not canine rude and / or provocative, if not downright threatening. Leaving your dog unchecked because he is good and wants to play with everyone is a really bad way to do it.He is small and therefore does what he wants
Another belief of the bad dog owner is that his small dog, more often than not rude and threatening, has the right to do whatever he wants, such as bullying others, disturbing and threaten dogs even much larger than him / her, as if the reduced size were a pass. In addition to being a big problem for others, they are also a danger to themselves. They judge the dogs of others
Dog behaviors are a communication and each dog has its own character and personality, its history, its way of seeing the world, and managed in one way rather than another and has its own way of dealing with situations. . Only its owners (and only if they are attentive and prepared) and any educator (who must be professional, serious and prepared) know the reasons and know how to interpret their behavior. Another classic of bad owners is judging other people’s dogs, convinced that they are superior because they think their dog is good and cool. Aggression
Another characteristic shared by bad dog owners is aggression, active in some others passive but no less horrendous. If you (re) know it, maybe you can avoid it
Avoiding bad dog owners completely is impossible, recognizing them from a distance allows you to stay away as much as possible.
