Right, stop feeling so sorry for yourself, lol
If I had posted that thread people would have said the same to me, the thing is to now take what you can from the thread and learn from it,
I see no one picking on you or being rude, its just people giving there views.
If dog forums were just full of threads where people stroke each others egos then no one reading them would be able to see things from both sides of the fence,

FWIW, I think this thread has demonstrated both sides very well.

I don't think anyone is picking on me at all!!

In all honesty i think i probably came across as uncaring to other people and the girl on the beach when it comes to my dog.

Monty is only young, he's 4 months old next week which is why he is so easily distracted but he's attending puppy classes and i've said to the trainer i really want to work on his recall so she gave me some tips and he's improved loads in a week. He learns really quick but also gets bored very quickly and loses concentration so we're also working on concentration techniques.

I really do appreciate all the comments and as Shona said its all been taking on board and will be used as a learning curve for me.

I dont think you came over as uncaring, You were very appologetic{sp?} The mother of the child could have been more forgiving, tbh her attitude and anger prob just made the child more upset, A calm mother goes a long way to calming a child whos had a fright, As a parent I wouldnt have delt with it by going off on one, no harm was done,
As a parent I wouldnt want my child to be fearful of anything, I would do my best to work through issues with my child, just as I would if my dog was fearful,.

your dog is very much a pup, boxers are a bouncy breed at the best of times, But looking on from today, you know hes going to run to people given a chance so now you can work round that,

Its horrid to say this but owning rotties its something I have to think about,
If one of my dogs ran and jumped up on a child, they could knock it clean off its feet, {me being me} then thinks what if the child hit its head of the cerb or something, it could be a really bad sinario,
So I go off and work on it.

My dogs are pretty good, but one day teagan shot out the door and it was winter, ice all over the path, she skidded right down the path and knocked a kid over, I however was lucky, the mother seen it was accidental, the kid was not hurt or upset, both her and teagan were sat on there bums looking at each other wondering what happend, the wee girl just started to pet the dog. But on a diff day with a diff mum and child I could have landed in the same boat as you did x

We started from day one in teaching him not to jump up and he's cottoned on pretty quick. He still does it to us occassionally but never to strangers. He's going to be a big dog and i can't have him jumping at kids or elderly people as he could do some serious damage.

People will stand and say "aww its ok he's only little" and i'm like "yeh we'll see how you feel when he's fully grown"!

People keep trying to teach him paw as well which i really don't want as i don't want him lamping his great heavy paws in peoples laps when he's older!

I would say your doing pretty well with him, you have the right views on how things should be,

I also hate it when people say its ok for him to jump and stuff like that... that is one of my pet hates lol x

Esme, I don't think this thread shows you're a bad owner, at all and I think it's very selfish of you to say it made you feel bad, how the hell do you think I feel now I've announced I suck d***!! ;op

I've decided 4 months is the new 6 months as Woody seems to be very adolescent lately and we both feel abit rubbish about it. It's possibly that stage where you thought you were doing so well and haven't noticed that you have but HE'S moved onto the next stage. Well this is what we've decided so time to step it up a notch.

With the recall every dog is different in my opinion. We started off doing it in the house at random moments, i.e. if he was in the living room and I was in the garden I'd get a treat (always, always have them on you at all times) say "Woody come" and when he came to me I'd reward and fuss. We did this so many times and then again outside with him on lead (husband running him to me) until we were ready to let him off.

Now we have it mastered 100% I'd say but we still practise it at random moments, such as in the middle of playing with another dog, running for the ball etc and he comes everytiime because he knows full well he gets a treat. Greedy fecker ;o)

Don't be sad, do what I do, if I feel abit rubbish I make it my mission to work my **** of on whatever it is he's not good at until I've nailed it so I don't feel bad anymore.


HTH xx

I agree, I also think you have the right approach on dog ownership. Because it's all in black & white on paper (sort of ) it's harder for people who want to help to put over their advice in a way which, when talking face to face, would not sound the same, if you get my drift.

As Shona has rightly said, mothers should do everything in their power to calm a kid and they should also know that the screaming noise - to a dog - is identical to an animal in distress so it's pretty bleeding obvious that any dog will want to investigate.

Best not write anymore about the track record of mothers in UK 'cos it seems the minute you say anything negative about their little 'darlings' you get the whole might of the PC Police down on you

Hahaha, very well said! The preciousness is what has made the world what we live in now, OTT and ASBO infested!

If my child was crying because a dog came near it I'd wallop it! I do not agree with molly coddling children.

Now I'm in trouble.

i agree! im not CMing my dogs but would agree with him loose on the bratlets!

Definitely going to be working harder on the recall and making sure my OH does as well.

Todays walk was a chuffing nightmare and i think i'll be grey when i wake up tomorrow!!

Me and a friend took him for a stroll by the river and there were quite a few other dogs there. I was proud of him at first cos he did come straight back but then it all went wrong so he went back on the lead!! He also darted towards a gate which lead onto a road and i quite honestly nearly shat myself thinking that was it. Another lesson well learnt and recall is now my goal. I'm going to speak to my puppy class trainer on Tuesday night and see if we can work on it a bit more.

Then that was a nightmare because other half bought him one of those bungee leads and Monty just thinks its a tug game cos he doesn't understand that its the lead stretching and just assumes i'm tugging back. So that one is going in the cupboard until he's older.

The trouble with Monty is, and this is going to sound odd, he doesn't generally do stuff for a treat. He'll sit, lie down, come back for a toy or something but not for a treat.

I've got a lot of work to do with him but thats all part of the fun and at least at the end of it i should hopefully have a well trained happy dog.