Lead in Hand, but apparenly neither connected to brain

Does anyone else come across this. You meet someone in the park who has their dog on the lead. Your dog has her ball, the other person says oh mine steals balls and won't give them back and then proceeds to follow their dog to get your dogs ball before you can stop them.

It's almost like the dog isn't on the lead as the owner follows them and doesn't even try to hold them back. I see it in lots of situations not just with balls.

What is it with them? Why do they bother having the dog on the lead if they are just going to let it go where it wants and follow it about?

Anyone else notice it or is it just numpties in my area

Because these people are usually being walked by their dogs at the end of a 30ft flexilead and have NO connection with each other, the humans are merely the weight that their dogs pull around behind them!

Not all jerks are at the same end of the lead............

Know what you mean!

Met some people with an off-lead Border Collie and a Greyhound the other day. As soon as they saw Parker they grabbed their dogs and put them on leads so I recalled Parker and leashed him. The Collie was going mental at Parker but the Greyhound's owner walked it over to Parker when it tried to have a pop at him but he stuck up for himself 'cos he was on a lead.

Jamie didn't see the Greyhound get in first and thought it was Parker -I ws just surprised someone would bring their dog over if it obviously wasn't dog-friendly.

I've had it a few times where i've moved off the path to let someone pass told them mines not friendly with other dogs so they've put theirs on the lead and then they walk them over to us anyway

I've also had on a couple of occasions people reel in their dog on a flexi lead as they pass then release it after they've taken two steps past you so of course the dog flies back at us. So its not just your area!

There is a deaf great dane near us, very friendly but steals balls and won't give them back. The owner has told me before "I can't get it back" and just looked at me as if I should leave my dogs ball with her dog!

I do remember a few years ago when I had my previous dog Rusty, she was older and slower and this woman used to let her dog bounce up to mine every morning. I used to move my dog away, ask her to hold hers back as mine wasn't keen. Nothing I said made a difference until one morning I lost it and asked why she had it on a f****** lead when she obviously had no clue how to hold the lead and control her dog.

For some unknown reason she didn't speak to me after that.

I've had those people before who think everything is fine if they tell you they can't get the ball back. I'm afraid I'm a nasty sod nowadays and refuse to go away without the ball A while ago before I became quite so 'hard' I did allow someone to go off after 30 minutes of her trying to get her dog and the ball back. She was so embarassed but I stood there and refused to say it doesn't matter. In the end she gave me her dogs ball as a replacement.

I'm not sure if it's old age or just by meeting so many numpties I am not as soft as I used to be

I've had an instance where two dogs came over to us, my dog sitting nicely in front of me ONlead waiting for her ball which I had under my armit, owner casually carrying on walking not even calling her dogs away, the collie started snapping and snarling, circling us ever closer, so I yelled at her to call her dogs away, but she said "it's the ball, put it away" I replied that it isn't in sight, it's under me armpit but she said "well, put it in your pocket" and just carried on walking PAST all the commotion So it was left up to me, to yell at her dogs to GO AWAY which they then did! I called back at her in no uncertain terms, that my dog isn't allowed to have HER ball on HER walk just because SHE can't control her dogs!!! Grrrrr

Then I get the people who's dogs come over, pinch her ball and run off, only to be told they can't get it back, so I have to tell them which car is mine in the car park, with the windows open, so just chuck it in the window when they leave Then they have the cheek to mutter under their breaths "dogs shouldn't have balls on a walk" WTF?!

I tell the owners that the ball cost £x and that if they can't get the ball back I need that amount so I can buy a replacement.
They soon manage to get it back!

Sounds familiar! I also had someone say to me that it was my fault that their Rottweiller bit my dog as I shouldn't be giving my dogs treats on the heath! I was well away from their dog doing some training with Cherry when their dog decided it was going to charge up and bite a hole out of Cherry. He was just walking away saying it was my fault and it wasn't his dog anyway, it was his Mum's. I screamed and screamed for someone to get the police and made such a scene that he came with me to the vets to pay the large bill. Sadly if it had been someone less intimidated in these circumstances he would probably have got away with it as it wasn't the first time this dog had bitten.

I've got a ball-stealer (he'll give them back but he likes to pop and strip tennis balls and he's very very good at it) - he goes on the lead when another dog with a ball is around.

Doesn't stop them letting their dogs charge up to him, ball in gob which they promptly drop to have a good sniff though - so I just can't win. I've started addressing the dog with a "I wouldn't bring that ball near him cos he'll have it" comment which 50% of the time gets them to call the dog (and attached ball) back. The rest of the time - well I've done what I can - if you continue to let your dog bother mine and he has a quick chomp on the ball that's been dropped at his feet - stuff yer luck matey cos you were warned.

I've also been known to very pointedly (and loudly) ask an off-lead pest "where's your human gone?"

Oh the other one I'm getting lots of at the moment is owners wanting to see how their dog would fare in a game of chaseys against a greyhound - a) she ain't getting off the lead b) they'd lose, just deal with the idea!