I don't live in the country and have never had any of these problems either. We do occasionally like Magpye encounter oddball's having a picnic, who insist on plonking themselves down on the well used mown grass paths that criss cross the main field and then wonder why they get disturbed, they can be a tad abusive even if the dogs keep their distance. Funny how they always leave their wine bottles and picnic rubbish behind when they leave too.

i get this reaction with teenage girls who think they are being cool. they stand and do that silly screaming and flapping their arms. of course the dogs get excited and it makes these girls worse.

my reply " Oh for gods sake stop screaming and stand still" i call the dogs and back they come.
i then explain about how to behave around dogs so next time they wont upset my dogs.

i'm glad i dont live in a city, i wouldnt cope with what your living with. you need to live in a village.

If I have more then one dog on lead and I am walking through my local village I do get people crossing the road from me sometimes. I have never had any type of comment though. We are out in an actual walking area, I only ever get people making a real a fuss of them.

I have had the same reaction with my Bobby since he was a puppy, you meet the few nice dog owners who want to chat and let the dogs play, others run across the other side of the road screaming. I just ignore it now, I used to get upset, and on the odd occasion when im tired, I will say something because its ridiculous!

Sorry to the OP just a brief excursion OT...we've just come back from a week in Suffolk! It was lovely, we were staying in Blythburgh, near Southwold, where abouts are you Wishbone?? Did some fantastic walks, the dogs loved it and plenty of dog friendly beaches. Kids and dogs especially loved the Gun Hill end of Southwold beach.

Back on topic, I have to say I am pretty lucky not to generally get that reaction, I think having small breeds help, but I had a moments panic this morning when Pepper had just run the other side of a bush to say Hi to a doggy friend and I heard a kid scream so I shot over but fortunately it was absolutely nothing to do with the dogs! In fact they had a puppy of their own.

J.