Tactfully Speaking to Other Dog Owners

[CarolineLovesDogs]

I’m sure like me some of you guys have seen dog owners in public correcting their dogs in totally inappropriate, unnecessary ways, and I’m wondering if there is ever a way you can tactfully mention it and maybe suggest another way? I’m thinking like if you saw someone jerking their dog’s leash to teach him to how to walk on a loose leash you could ask if they would like to see how you trained your own dog (if you have your own well behaved dog with you) and show them how to use a treat to reward the dog for walking next to you and stopping walking when the dog pulls on the leash. Would this work? Or maybe you could mention a good website or training video to check out- such as kikopup’s YouTube videos? Or do you think it’s never a good idea to interfere because most won’t listen anyway? What are your thoughts and / or ideas? Thanks! I’d love to step in to help those poor dogs who are being corrected but I’m not sure how!

[Dibbythedog]

Great idea. I think if you could get chatting first and then bring it up , they might listen .

It breaks my heart to see dogs being over- corrected , usually with men its because they have been watching CM on the telly but often its becauser the owners dont know hot to train and get frustrated at their dog pulling them along .

I found that if you you get to know the people first and get chatting and then casually bring it up , they do listen especially when you have well behaved dogs yourself.

.

[JudyN]

I agree, you need to be able to get chatting first, and then if possible, introduce the subject by 'My dog used to do that but...', or 'I read on a great dog training forum about a dog who used to do that but was fixed by...'

I saw someone walk two dogs the other day, giving each a jerk every so often - I guess when they got a centimetre out of position, because they didn't seem to be pulling. She also had a rattle can in one hand. As far as I could see, the dogs were ignoring the jerks and the rattle can, and weren't at all focused on the owner (she wasn't focused on them either of course, I reckon the jerks were reflex). It was frustrating to watch and I'd have loved to have gone over and offered a few hints, but it would have been rude if it wasn't in the context of a friendly conversation.