Dogs on towpaths

Well I had a novel experience earlier today. Walking the river towpath here in Bath. We saw a huge black and white (somesortof) dog by a narrow boat with no human beans in sight.

So I put Bella back on her lead and approached with caution (towpath 3ft wide) but the dog ahead went down into a submissive, head between front paws, pose - so I continued chanting 'good dog, whose a lovely dog then' - all that rubbish. This dog was FINE right up until we passed it - then it went berserk!

Wasn't trying to kill us - just leaping up and lurching and trying to get at Bella. It was CHAINED to the narrow boat! On a chain longer than the narrow boat! I had to pick Bella up.

Jesus! Some dog owners! No wonder all dogs get a bad press at times.

I really wondered whether they'd left it like that to GUARD the boat or just so that it wouldn't disappear or follow them but would have a 'bit of a run'. But the narrowboat had to be 45ft at least and this chain allowed it to go twice that far both sides of the boat on the narrow towpath.

Yuk, never happened to me and I walk the Caen Hill Flight quite a lot, it is down the road from me.

Oh Caen Hill Flight! What happy memories you've brought back to me (probly more than 20yrs old ones!) I loved that place. We had canal boats for years.

Thing is SB - if Bella was bigger than the wimpy 4kg she is - I doubt I'd have even been at all bothered. But this was a BIG dog. Big as a GSD and more chunky.

Typical (to me) of the sort of thing you 'should' report but would not do so because you think the DOG would suffer when it's the stupid bleedin' owners who are at fault!

I'm a bit sad because I love that towpath walk. We get down onto it from the bridge by Sainsburys and then do a few circuits round a well fenced little park and then back out the other end of the park onto it - follow it right to the Bath Spa Centre by the Railway station and then walk back via the cobbled streets and funny old worn steps until we get back to Wells Road and the gate to the Academy where my son lives.

If I do it again it would mean backtracking to save the hassle of getting past the towpath keeper dog! And I really DO prefer 'circular' walks and not those where we go out so far and then just turn round and retrace our steps.

I've seen this dog there before last week (it is quite striking black and white and big) when walking on the road looking over to the towpath across the river going into town (for retail therapy sans Bella) but hadn't realised it was chained to a boat or a mooring rail. Just assumed it was pottering around with its owner. So it's obviously a long term moored boat.

sigh......what a ridiculous thing to do.

Helen

Was the dog being aggressive or was it being OTT, perhaps frustrated play behaviour ?.

I'd be inclined to report it, I wouldn't want to get a dog in trouble either, but so many things could go wrong with this scenario.
What would happen if someone cycled along there ? an accident waiting to happen.
Or, the dog itself could be victim to abuse or worse.

A towpath is there for everyone, and shouldn't be out of bounds because of someones thoughtless actions.

How terribly dangerous ... the poor dog could fall in between the boat and the bank ... this has happened to both Tai and Ben several times when we have been biking along the canals ... and crushed. Ot it could just fall in full stop and the weight of the chain drag it under. It doesn't bear thinking about, aside from the potential to harm other humans/dogs on the towpath.

I'm going down there later today and if it is still there on a chain and there is no one on the boat to speak to again - I will check who I have to speak to here to report it.

I am rather hoping that the boat will have moved on!

My thoughts are - take the dog with you if you think you will be gone too long to leave it cooped in the cabin.

In answer to Celli - no I wouldn't call it aggressive behaviour - but then I'm not afraid of dogs. It did drop down as soon as we got close in a submissive way then stood to greet Bella - it was as we 'passed' it started going bonkers!

Probably didn't want us to leave! But Bella is tiny and it could easily have been her that got knocked off the path. I'd put her lead on as soon as I spotted it in the distance just because the path is narrow.

I should think someone who is nervous of dogs would actually turn around and go back rather than try to get by it while it was being so boisterous.

It's just no bluddy wonder that we get all these restrictions on dog owners about where we can walk them and whether they have to be on or off lead and all that - it's because of people like the owners of this dog.

We owned canal boats for 20 odd years in the UK and lots of boat owners have dogs with them (I used to think my GSD was the only dog in England that didn't like boating!) this is honestly the first time I've ever seen a dog left on the towpath chained to the mooring rail alongside an unoccupied boat. Whether it could jump on and off the boat I don't know.

Didn't actually realise it was on a chain until we got right up to it and heard it rattle. I'd been looking for an owner to come along behind it or emerge from the boat.

From the sounds of it, that would have been my guess.

But as you say, someone who isn't dog savvy could be very frightened, it's happened to me that Daisy's been doing her " Daisy Dance of Joy " at someones feet, but she's been completely mis-read, especially by parents of small children.

Here's hoping the boat will have shifted by tomorrow.