Strange Happenings On Dog Walks

What is the oddest thing you have seen or experienced when you have been out walking the dog(s)?

One day we were walking through one of the local Forestry Commission woods and Flynn started barking up ahead. We couldnt see what he was barking at because of the trees and bushes but when we got to him there was a huge red deer stag. Bearing in mind there were 4 dogs and 2 humans this stag just stood calmly about 20 yards away looking at us.

Normally wild deer disappear as soon as they hear humans approaching so it was quite strange and a bit disturbing that this stag hadnt fled. I decided to move quickly away because the whole situation got me worried but the ex decided he was going to move closer After a few steps the stag simply turned and cantered away giving us one last glance as it did.

In hindsight I guess we could've been in a dangerous situation but we were just in awe at how close we were to a wild stag! I'm also glad the dogs arent deer chasers.

I've had a few more weird things like a wild rabbit jumping up and hitting me in the shoulder and about giving me a heart attack because I hadnt seen it and a sparrowhawk ambushing a green woodpecker. It makes walking the dogs that little bit more special when something odd happens!

What strange things have you experienced when you've been out with the dogs? (mine are all wildlife related but yours doesnt have to be).

I had what I would call a strange experience once when out walking my two. There was a lady walking the other way, in her 50s I should say, and she looked at Cherry appraisingly and said "She looks a little ****** but lovely with it"! "Yes" I replied "you've about summed her up"!

Not used to people being able to read a dog's character by just looking at it! Weird!

Oh, just remembered another strange walk on a busy park next to the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

There was a young couple walking along with a Labrador puppy. The lady was carrying a rucksack. Parker would not leave this lady alone-he kept sniffing at her and would not come back to me and normally he is very good. I had to go and grab him and the lady said "It is because I have a ferret in my rucksack" I laughed thinking she was joking but she said "No, I really have!"

Parker HATES ferrets-must be the smell of them. I remember once taking him to the Norfolk show and he was beautifully behaved all day and lots of people complemented me on him. We were just leaving and were walking past the ferret ring when he must have caught their smell and he went ballistic barking and growling and leaping in the air. Unfortunately this happened at the same time as a group of schoolchildren were walking past so he looked like he was a really vicious child-hater sort of dog.

Two weird things happened walking in woods at the back of our previous house.

I used to walk the dogs very early and wasn't used to seeing anyone else. There was a smell like a BBQ & I hoped I wouldn't come across a tramp or gypsies. Finally realised it was the old crisp packet in my pocket that smelt. DOH!

The other time I was walking with a friend with all our dogs. We walked down a remote track and came across a car, couldn't see through the windows, a pipe was attached to the exhaust. We were petrified but opened the door & pulled a man out. It was the days before mobile phones & some horseriders said they would go & fetch help and the police arrived then an ambulance. As far as we know the man survived but the car stayed on the track for days and I had a few nightmares about it.

Oh blimey, loads of weird stuff.

A man wearing a hockey mask and army gear chanting something in woods...slightly disturbing.

Got flashed by an obviously very odd man when walking in local fields.

Someone walking a cat on a lead in the park once; perhaps not a bright idea with dogs running loose?

A woman wearing a full, ground length fur coat and high heels in the muddy woods.

Two people...err...making love (?) in the long grass in the summer, who were unfortunately rudely disturbed by my dogs.

I also thought I saw alien spaceships once.

Wow.... well done you.... I am always nervous of finding things like that on walks.... you always hear about bodies being discovered by dog-walkers, in fact that poor girl Joanna Yeates's body was found on Christmas morning by people walking their dog.

I think it is just as well I'm a night owl and normally don't 'do' mornings, I really couldn't bear to find something like that

If you hadn't come along when you did, then it would have been a much sadder find for dog walkers to discover...

Was out on the Salisbury plains and heard a rumbling noise in the distance. Just had Kiba with me that day, so on we walked, crested the top of the hill and were confronted by two of the most enormous tanks you've ever seen chasing each other across the plain! Told Kiba they were going to eat him for dinner if he didn't behave

Another is Steve and I were out with one of my regular clients who owns a GSD. We like to take them out together occassionally so the GSD keeps up his socialisation. We were walking along the edge of this field and Steve points at this thing that looks like a rock and goes "That's a funny looking rock." so of course he goes and picks it up and hey presto we are confronted with a very muddy hand grenade so we're all stood there looking at this thing, the dogs have come back and are jumping around thinking Steve's going to throw it for them to fetch! So he couldn't just put it back on the floor because we had no idea if it was live or not! So we ended up shoving it in the fork of a tree and wedging it there so the dogs couldn't get it. Next day the army and the bomb squad were down there to collect it! turns out it was a 1940s pinapple grenade left their from when the MoD used to do exercises down there. It was still live and had to be taken away to be disposed of. The police said the pin was still in but it could have rusted away in a few months and we'd have been left with a crater glad it didn't end up on the mantlepiece or in some other dog's mouth!!!

Some of your dogs might find it strange if they saw the people who meet on our woods every Saturday morning! They are a sort of re-enactment drama group and carry swords and spears and wear medieaevil (sp?) costumes!

Fortunately my 2 are completely non-bothered by them, even when they were doing "fighting" with their swords together. Cherry usually just walks into the middle of the group and then they all make a fuss of her. Perhaps she has thespian urgings and wants to join in?

Some people's dogs are scared by them though.

I see them differently now though since a lady who walks a Red Setter there asked me if I had noticed how ugly they all were! (I hadn't until she mentioned it!)

i was walking a dog through a secluded wood area, when all of a sudden it froze still and was staring ahead at absolutely nothing. It was really really spooky, I had cold chills not sure why. I think sounds silly you may laugh.. That it was a ghost of some sort.

I won't laugh, I once had that experience when I was a kid about 12, walking through fields with my sister and the kids from next door. I'm not sure if we had a dog with us or not but we came to a certain spot and we all felt something. I've had that feeling only twice since in my entire life.