Another dog tragedy

The comparison with child minders is interesting. now CM’s follow the same guidance as nurseries. Both should provide high levels of care given the regs and guidance.
People who believe it’s ok to have their dog picked up, put in crates in a van with up to 14 other dogs, then being let out to run into a park, possibly coinciding with 14 more dogs, really lack understanding or knowledge of dogs. Worse, so do the ‘professional dog walkers’.
I mistyped earlier, meant to say I don’t believe anyone can/should walk more than 4 and then on lead. I’ve walked 3 easily in the past, on and off lead but, they were my well trained, calm dogs. I wouldn’t do that now because of the number of off lead, ill trained dogs, often being walked in groups of 5, by friends with a couple of dogs. My spaniel takes it all in her stride, walks on by but my young lab might react if a big entire male, or his nemesis, a yappy jack Russell gets in his face.

I wish everyone would train their dogs. I hope this awful incident results in sensible regulation

Poor child. Thank goodness your friend realised.

A friend of mine used a child minder many years ago and eventually realised that the child minder just put her daughter on a sofa every day and that’s where she remained for the rest of the day.

4 till maturity, mine better keep working on his cute face then.
Yours sounds adorable Iam64.
I wonder if this is what happened with child minding, I dont really remember childminders before regulation, but my guess is it's a relatively recent development, I should probably know that.

Galaxy - my lab was easy peasy puppy squeezy till adolescence hit. He was house trained by 12 weeks, recall superb, loose lead, general obedience all good. He reminds me if the Kevin and Perry episode where he goes to bed a polite well brought up boy and swaggers downstairs talkin Manc. JaneJudge is tight, he’s young and a work in progress. The trainers tell me labs don’t mature till she 4 🙏🏽🐕

Two of the trainers I work with are Steve Mann trained, and were Guide Dog trainers in the past. They’re all as fed up as I/we are with the lack of regulation around the growing industry of dog walkers. One of them offers a dog walking service. She uses her enclosed field, assess dogs, never mixes mire then, she’s fully trained, insured and very experienced.

I agree Maybee. An inexperienced person should not be walking a variety of different dogs.

My lab is 5 months and is great at recall, was easily toilet trained, etc but is a nightmare for lead pulling, I am following easy peasy puppy squeezy guidance for lead walking but not having much success. 'He is still little' is my comfort blanket

My first thought when I looked at the origins of the breed is that dogs bred to guard flocks of sheep might possibly, in a pack of dogs, go into protection mode with it’s pack. And walking a large group of dogs might bring out that latent trait. Many dogs have very strong traits eg people think that Belgian Shepherds are the same as German Shepherds but they protect their territory and that territory extends to anywhere they happen to be, even when out on walks. I know someone who has a Malinois rescue and he said te rescue agency are very careful about who they rehome dogs with. I do think they’re lovely dogs but I do give them a wide berth when out with my dog. When we did puppy classes with my latest dog the trainers were very careful with which dogs they put in the play area together and it wasn’t just down to size. Some dogs they just wouldn’t allow in the play area. It takes a lot of experience to pick up on dogs body language and temperament. I don’t think a lot of these dog walkers have that knowledge.

GrumpyGran8 Leonbergers are of German origin but they are a cross between Newfoundland's and St Bernard's, with a bit of Pyrennean Mountain Dog thrown in. Heinrich Essig, mayor of Leonberg claimed to have bred them because he wanted to pay homage to the town's crest - so the legend goes. They were owned by several royal households during the 19thC.

During both World Wars they were used to pull ammunition carts and this resulted in the breed nearly dying out. Apparently only 8 dogs survived WW2.

In addition to pulling carts they were also used for guarding flocks of sheep. Other breeds are used for this too. In Italy they use Maremmas which are slightly smaller. The large dogs are not used for attacking wolves and other predators - they would not have the speed but for the noise that thy make which would alert the shepherds and villagers.

Now they are used for water rescue/life saving dogs, as are Newfies.

Why should someone not have particular breed of dog just because it's big?

Iam64, I'm sure he'll improve - he is only 2years old

JaneJudge - I’ve packed his bags and he’s on his way 😂

I did positive dog training with my rescue dog and it has worked fine

I have a 2 year old male show type labrador. He came from excellent breeders, pedigree good for health and temperament. He’s been in training groups from 6 months. He arrived in lockdown or would have started at 3 months. Prior to formal groups, I worked on loose lead, basic obedience and recall- he aced
He has been a real challenge, big powerful easily distracted male. The trainers I’m working with all use the words lovable rogue/challenge.

My point - if you decide to share your life with a dog, be prepared for anything. Commit to meeting the needs of the dog you have. Also dismiss this nonsense that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.

There’s no evidence that the dog was bought as a fashion accessory or that its needs were not met, other than that being walked with so many other dogs is less than ideal. I have large German shepherds - they were also used to protect sheep, hence the name. They are very loyal and intelligent much-loved members of the family, not fashion accessories.

Blondiescot

Germanshepherdsmum

Terribly cruel. The dog is nothing more than a plaything for when the owner happens to be available. You might as well have a toy dog to play with.

Indeed. So many seem to think a dog is just a toy or some kind of fashion accessory. It's not fair on the dog and just stores up problems for the future.

As I understand it one of the dogs being walked by that poor young woman was some kind of German moutain breed that stands 3 feet high at the shoulder, weighs 10 stone and was bred to protect sheep from wolves!
Who - apart maybe from sheep farmers - actually needs such a dog nowadays? It was obviously bought as a fashion accessory, with no thought for its needs.

Normally I wouldn't touch a strange dog and am not a great dog lover. One day last year we were walking across the park and I picked up a stick to take home for the fire. A couple we vaguely know were coming towards us with their elderly dog, and as they passed, the dog calmly and gently took the stick out of my hand and then dropped it, obviously expecting me to throw it for her, which I did. Every time after that when we saw them in the distance, we found a stick for the dog. She was lovely, always wagging her tail and enjoying fetching the stick, though slowly! Haven't seen them for months though, so I think the dog must have died.

Once, years ago when out with my children, we met a person with a Corgi on a lead. We like Corgis but were not going to pat it. However, the owner called us back and said, ' Excuse me. I wonder if you could pat the dog. He's very friendly and really likes meeting people.' The wee dog wagged his tail stump and looked at us hopefully. We were surprised but duly and happily stroked him and made a fuss of him. Just a small thing but it fair cheered us up!

When I'm walking my dog some children ask to stroke her, but I tell them she's a rescue dog and prefers not to petted. She was a stray so I know nothing about her and no children really visit my home, it's just her and I most of the time. I tell the kids to just say hello to her as I prefer not to take any chances with me not knowing her background.

Germanshepherdsmum

Terribly cruel. The dog is nothing more than a plaything for when the owner happens to be available. You might as well have a toy dog to play with.

Indeed. So many seem to think a dog is just a toy or some kind of fashion accessory. It's not fair on the dog and just stores up problems for the future.

I agree. We always wanted a dog but thought it too cruel to just leave him/her alone all day.

Not read all of this but I understand this young woman was walking 8 dogs. How could she possibly control that number? The answer has to be largely limits on numbers (4 sounds good) and Policed.

Terribly cruel. The dog is nothing more than a plaything for when the owner happens to be available. You might as well have a toy dog to play with.

Our 2 year old fox red lab barks vociferously at anyone coming to the door, especially the postman. Yesterday I opened the door for a parcel not realising she was loose and out she ran and wanted to jump up the postman. “She won’t hurt you” I said. Then thought how stupid, that’s what they all say! Anyway a dog biscuit soon lured her back in.

Iam64

Agreement with germanshepherd and blondiescott. Secure, well cared for dogs can cope with occasionally being left slightly longer. Rescues shouldn’t be left

Puppies - I’m astounded by the number of people on the spaniel Facebook groups who think it’s ok to work full time with a puppy. It isn’t.

I agree - same on the cockerpoo sites. People get very annoyed if anyone queries their right to work 8 hours a day and leave their dog locked in a crate. Infuriating.

For a brief interval between jobs my husband was a postman and Jack Russells are known to be the most dangerous breed, at least for biting postmen. As the owner of two beautiful, totally harmless dogs I deplore news like this which makes people frightened of dogs. Having said this I would still never leave a baby alone with my dogs because a dog is a dog and you never know exactly what could press the wrong button. I agree with the poster who said 'it's the owner, not the dog' is a nonsense statement (or words to that effect) Some dogs are bred to be vicious and should be seized and - sadly - put down. As for German Shepherds, I love them, but they are not to be messed with. If I had one I would train very thoroughly and be very careful where I let it off the lead, because they are scary (but beautiful). It's such a shame when news like this comes out and turns people against dogs, for they are human's best friend and should be treated responsibly.