I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

We found getting a second dog to be great - you have to do the same amount of walking, they have each other if you do have to go out for a bit, there are two dogs in your life - what's not to love?

I'm in Tonbridge, but haven't used a dogsitter - will ask dog-walking friends and let you know if there are any recommendations.

What does your dog do at home when he's not being fed or walked. An educated guess is sleeping which he'll probably do when you're not there too. Fix up a GoPro or something and leave him to see what he does. It's easier if your dog has a decent walk, poo, wee before hand too. Occasionally my dag has to be left about 10 hours. If that is the case my son sometimes nips home at lunchtime briefly or my neighbour pops in but it's not really necessary. Get your current dog to be happy before you get another as they cross-pollinate and can pick up good or bad habits from each other.

Dear World,
when does eating shit stop?
Does it ever?
Also, I know my dog's ears work. I can test this at home by quietly opening things.
WHY YOU NO LISTEN OUTSIDE IN THE PARK?
(I know this, outside is busy, there's smells, and other things. LIKE DOG / FOX SHIT to eat)

D

Training is pretty basic in principle, you've got to be more rewarding than whatever they're doing* (that you don't want them to do).

Afraid that by default you are less interesting to your dog than fox poo. Bring treats on every walk and make it clear that being around you = treats and coming back = lots of treats.

*When we did dog training with our lurcher, the trainer suggested using a toy as a reward. Dog just looked at me every time like, what the fuck am I supposed to do with that.

Also work on the drop it/leave it command at home and get it as solid as possible then use it outside with mid value stuff like sticks or in my case, eating mud, so that it can build up to stopping the really high value stuff like rolling in fox poo.

Afraid that by default you are less interesting to your dog than fox poo.

I want this at my funeral. "Less interesting than fox poo"

Yeah. I think the kibble wasn't up to the "wet grass","outside" etc etc today. Recall is still ok but I think that's mainly "don't fucking leave me out here. unless there's fox poo to eat"

My sprollie was oblivious to treats once out in the wild. Little bits of liver, stinky cheese etc worked in the garden but as soon as he was out of the house you could drape treats all over his snout and he'd still ignore it. The JRT cross loved a bit of poo, his or anyone's. He did grow out of it by about 18 months. Taking away his freedom and going back on the lead seemed to work along with distraction treats, he liked treats and was very keen to please.

We always use a high value treat when we're working on new stuff with Crumpet. Kibble for basic good behaviour, high value treats for anything we're specifically working on. Sprats (tiny fish), cheese and cut up hot dogs work well because they fucking stink. Hot dogs were what sorted Crumpet's recall out. She is still partial to the odd roll in a fox turd if it's particularly inviting though.

I just want them to stop eating shit. Much like my children.
FOR FUCKS SAKE LADS, I BUY/MAKE NICE FOOD. WHY THIS PROCESSED SHIT?

What’s the etiquette for when you go to a small park and where you want to let your dog off and run and maybe play and maybe interact with another dog, there’s someone there with a dog that isn’t / does t want to interact with others? I think “tough tits damo, find somewhere else”

This afternoon a fella was sat on a bench, getting some me time on his phone, throwing an occasional ball to his dog, who would fetch it and bring it back (I’m jealous), and then wait for a minute or two until it got its owners attention. Then the ball would get thrown again.
My dog was going nuts to play, tried got told to piss off by the other dog (fair enough). And I don’t have recall- which in writing that does tell me it’s my problem.
Properly frustrating, as there were time constraints around getting back to my desk and not being able to use the park either.

Puppy energy vs older dog energy really.

You know the answer already don't you? You've gotta have your dog under control, and if you can't recall/get him away from another dog who's not interested, you've gotta put the lead on and find somewhere else to walk/play. Ideally you want a park with enough space/zones that if there's a disinterested/training/reactive/nervous dog somewhere you can take yours elsewhere and keep out of that dog's way.

it is annoying when someone rocks up and interrupts a play session though, often I'll get two or three throws of the ball in before someone has brought their "must be leashed at all times" dog into the park and I have to leash benny so he doesn't act like a dog and try to interact with them.

always feels like they make a beeline straight for the bit of the park we're in too just to prove some weird point.

Oh yeah, it's really annoying! My personal gripe (and apologies if he's on here) is the guy who LARPS as a shepherd on Hilly Fields with two incredibly well-trained sheepdogs. He walks around with them, off lead, but if another dog has the temerity to look to engage them with play he orders them both to lie-down and glowers at the owner (often me) until they have got their dog away from them. I mean, the unwritten rule is that offlead dogs can interact with each other (and Owen is the gentlest of greeters, offering his belly to any dog he can get close enough to) but it feels like shepherd-guy just wants to show-off his superior dog control, at the expense of his poor dogs who clearly want to play but have to obey at all costs.

Yeah, this all sounds about right actually. It’s not so much that “oh my goodness I was here first so you know you should respect me. I’m a puppy blah blah blah and so on” but more there was a whole section of the park that couldn’t be used by anyone, not just me but any other dogs that were off lead and running around.
It just wasn’t an efficient use of resource. Sigh.

(I did put the lead on after the first interaction just then had to do so much luring with food and trying to throw a ball, for a dog that didn’t want anything I had, to get back to a place I could just let them do some off lead stuff.

It just wasn’t an efficient use of resource. Sigh.

No, you're being selfish (sorry!). You can't control your dog so it should be on the lead. It's a public park, not a dog recreation zone.

One thing here is most parks have a big gated areas where you can go and let your dog off to play.

Got a long line? Good opportunity to practice recall if so. Plus did the owner mind? Personally (because it's not too long ago that Ada was a puppy), am quite happy if younger dogs want to interact with her - she'll tell them off (increasingly firmly) if they try and take her ball and the end result is the puppy is going to learn not to bother other dogs. Best thing I did when training her was chatting to some of the more competent professional dog walkers in the park and letting her get pinned down/put in line by a large pack of dogs when she got annoying.
But yes, in the end it is your responsibility if you don't have the recall yet.

This does remind me that I never posted any updates on Ada since my initial new puppy excitement. She's turned out to be the best dog in the world.

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Yeah I thought as much!
That’s why I’m just having a bit of a moan, I’d gone on lunch break to do a bit of outdoor stuff in the park. Couldn’t. Having a whine about it on here.

I guess there is that “how does your dog learn the cues to not interact with certain dogs if they don’t interact with certain dogs and their dog cues”.

I’ll bring the long line next time

I mean, I still remember when my little puppy ran over to a big German Shepard that was off the lead but super behaved next to owner. I tried to recall to no avail, the owner looked concerned but then amused when the seemingly grumpy Shepard took up the offer to play. But yeah I have to keep mine on a lead as he thinks little kids that shreek in unneeded fright want to play, awkward!

Yeah that’s my big fear…..
Kids jumping around, daft puppy, no recall.

I guess there is that “how does your dog learn the cues to not interact with certain dogs if they don’t interact with certain dogs and their dog cues”.

Yes, I'd like to think unless someone's got a reactive or particularly elderly dog they wouldn't object. Plus who does't enjoy meeting puppies? Suppose I'm lucky to have a large park nearby where it was always relatively easy to find other dogs to interact with and she's really benefitted from it. She's almost always very calm/confident in her dealings with other dogs now. Though lately she's a lot more into balls and sticks than other dogs, unless they're ones she knows already.

Also I'm sure pretty much every dog owner has had an incident where their recall has failed, so don't feel too bad. I thought Ada was near perfect a few months back, at which point she chased another dog out of Clapham Common, across a main road and back to its house. Which was incredibly stressful and I felt terrible about and led to her going back on long line for a while + some intensive chicken based recall reinforcement.

If you bring your dog to a public park where dogs are known to be off lead you should expect other dogs to interact with that dog. Have you met dogs?

The idea that you need perfect recall (or really, any recall whatsoever) before you can let them off the lead is just fucking bollocks too.

I had a very reactive dog and I only took her to the park twice - as part of her training and it was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done. I knew to stay away from the park normally as there’s an assumption there will be lots of off lead dogs there. where you dont expect to find off lead dogs is in the street but it does happen. personally, always thought that was a bit selfish.