glad it's not just me then...

Zeke's leg is ok now it was tender to the touch it seemed at the top for a day, that's all. Phew. That's the last thing the poor mite needed.

Similar thing happened at Liverpool animal hospital last week but it was an accident, an old man 'dropped' his terriers extendable and it caused a bit of havoc (-nowhere near us thank goodness). I noticed there was a boxer offlead too, well ok, on a lead but the man purposefully put the lead on the floor?! - but the poor mite looked petrified of it's owner who was carrying a walking stick .

Very good point Blu - the whole 'oh look my dog doesn't need a lead, it's so good' poor owner, well his dog, will probably get his comeuppance one day

I hate hate HATE that! Especially at vets offices. Hello? There are SICK dogs in vet clinics? Don't just let your dog go sticking his nose all up in their business then complain that your dog got sick at our vet! *end rant*

Anyway, it seems to be any type of dog owner afflicted with this condition here. My dog has impecable manners off lead, but I still keep her on lead in public. Not everyone wants a dog near them. Grrr. I'm mad for you! I hope Zeke is okay!

How irresponsible!? Ridiculous, glad the receptionist sorted them out. I often see dogs offlead near roads, etc and normally the person has a lead in their hand and it's not used, sooo annoying!

Oh my god - i know exactly what you mean i was having a rant at my friend about this the other day

I rescued a little terrier in March and the emotional baggage he came with is slowly being worked through but he is reactive towards other dogs - he is aggressive but only through fear due to poor socialisation etc. I was walking to the shop the other day so i took him with me and this idiot was training his dog to walk with no lead - and he saw me walking behind him and he kept stopping to test his dog to make sure he wouldn't run off.

i know he wanted to train his dog and fair play to him i guess but don't you dare use my dog as some kind of training aid - that is not what i am there for it was all my friend could do to stop me walking right over there and smacking the man - i am no ones training stooge - my poor dog was all over the place he was so scared by this bigger dog - if i see that man again and he EVER tried to do something like that again i swear to god i am going to hit him - i was so fuming then and it is making my blood boil now!

i just can't believe the cheek of some people - yes you have a working type dog and we live in the country and you get off on this display of dominance but don't do it near my little man - he is scared enough of every day life as it is i do not need you setting him back a few months

ok rant over ... for now, i think!

I'm not your typical working dog owner then...

My dogs, all but one do walk to heel, and if they do wonder off do come back if called. However I'm very fortunate and live in the middle of nowhere and have my own field to walk my dogs in. If however we do go on the road (and the very rare occasion of a car driving past) when a car does drive past if I haven't already got all the dogs walking to heel, a quick call usually brings them back to me.

The vet situation, I would always 100% use a lead. As no matter how confident I am that they wouldn't cause havoc it'd be better to be safe than sorry. It's happened to me when a dog has just ran into the reception room without a lead, and they've caused havoc and knocked all the fliers and table etc over.

Isn`t this just the country version of the chav-with-a-staff? You know - the ones who bowl through town without even looking to see if their little dog has managed to negotiate the traffic?

Good description!!!