Calamity1971
If Mr Peanut says It's okay, then it is.
Apart from the fact a puppy (which can be quite excitable and easily distracted) was let off the lead its lucky worse things didn't happen.
WWYD - walker has muzzled and hurt Willow
- Thread starter astral
- Start date
Silas Loom
Well-Known Member
The bloke shouldn't be walking dogs for a living, and if a filthy review makes him consider some other line of work, then all to the good.
Hope Willow is chipper again now.
Hope Willow is chipper again now.
I would not be happy if a walker decided to override my requests - most especially, allowing the dog off the lead. As he is just the walker, not the trainer/owner, I would feel extremely anxious that he chose a muzzle because of either an inability, or lack of confidence in his competence. I don't really have a problem with muzzles as such...but a badly fitted one is often worse than none at all. However, not sure you have much recourse apart from removing your custom and venting your spleen - dogwalkers have sprang up all over my town and there are some clueless types - personal recommendations are the only way to go, I think. The insurance is probably personal liability (if a dog in his charge bites a person).
I do not think you are over-reacting - I would also be enraged...but probably would be inclined to let it go (after a lifetime of dog-owning and being on the end of many hundreds of infuriating canine related 'misadventures').
I do not think you are over-reacting - I would also be enraged...but probably would be inclined to let it go (after a lifetime of dog-owning and being on the end of many hundreds of infuriating canine related 'misadventures').
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scifisam
deleted
But a negative review is all anyone's seriously suggested. If you can't leave a bad review for bad service there's no point having them at all.
astral
author unknown
I wasn't suggesting a "he's maimed my baby, she's disfigured for life type post" but honestly I don't think that he should be walking puppies of he thinks this is a good way to treat them.
He's distressed and hurt an animal directly through his actions which were against my express wishes. I'd feel bad if he did this to another animal, which given his reaction when he was told that we were unhappy about it seems likely.
Willow does seem to have perked up now though
He's distressed and hurt an animal directly through his actions which were against my express wishes. I'd feel bad if he did this to another animal, which given his reaction when he was told that we were unhappy about it seems likely.
Willow does seem to have perked up now though
Treacle Toes
Time
Twat? WTAF? Calm the fuck down and stop insulting me. I am disagreeing with you not attacking nor harming anyone, nor anything.
That is your opinion. I don't really understand why they did it but you are not explaining why you think all of that either.
Just fucking stop it. Don't be a fucking arse. THERE ARE MANY MORE FACEPALMS IN THE FUCKING WORLD BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE INFINITELY MORE DESTRUCTIVE AND WORSE FOR FUCKING REAL. The puppy has a scratched and swollen nose. No-one and nothing died.
Never come at me again with this absolutely abusive, shitty, attitude.
Fucking hell. Batshit.
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Treacle Toes
Time
I didn't disagree with leaving a bad review though.
astral
author unknown
Yeah, what's a bloke being able to pay his mortgage compared to a small scratch on a dog?
It's not a small scratch. The pictures up thread were taken two days afterwards when the swelling had gone down. On Wednesday night she looked like a bee had stung her snout because it was so swollen. She had a open wound on her nose that was still bleeding when I got back four hours later. I'm not hysterical or precious about my dogs getting scratched, I'm pissed the fuck off about someone who I pay to care for my animal directly contradicting my requests and as a result causing her harm and distress.
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
I am a cat, rather than dog owner but would be well pissed off if someone I had paid and trusted to look after my pets had done something I specifically didn't want them to do. (We use catfeeders, and ask them to lock the catflap at night. If they didn't, I wouldn't be using them again and would make my feelings clear).
I agree with doing a bad review but also think you should talk to the guy and make it clear why you are displeased.
I would have thought that letting a pup off the lead could risk her running off and that is what would piss me off most, if she was my dog. Glad to see she's perked up.
scifisam
deleted
What were you disagreeing with then?
Treacle Toes
Time
Nope not playing this game. My post was clear enough. Thanks.
scifisam
deleted
No, I'm genuinely confused. If you don't think leaving a bad review is out of order then I honestly have no clue what you were disagreeing with. Athos reckoned that leaving a single bad review could lose the bloke his job (and his home!) but I assume you aren't agreeing with that, because it's daft.
trashpony
Hag
He has hurt the dog. A dog walker who doesn't understand that muzzles need to be properly fitted before using them and that dogs need to be trained to accept them should not be walking dogs. If astral doesn't leave a bad review and alert other dog owners, he could harm more dogs.Twat? WTAF? Calm the fuck down and stop insulting me. I am disagreeing with you not attacking nor harming anyone, nor anything.
That is your opinion. I don't really understand why they did it but you are not explaining why you think all of that either.
Just fucking stop it. Don't be a fucking arse. THERE ARE MANY MORE FACEPALMS IN THE FUCKING WORLD BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE INFINITELY MORE DESTRUCTIVE AND WORSE FOR FUCKING REAL. The puppy has a scratched and swollen nose. No-one and nothing died.
Never come at me again with this absolutely abusive, shitty, attitude.
Fucking hell. Batshit.
It might be a temporary injury, it might mean that if astral does ever have to muzzle Willow that it will be a huge uphill struggle. It might mean she's frightened of new dog walkers.
I'm not going to prioritise the bloke's livelihood over the dog's well being. That's an idiotic argument. On that basis, I shouldn't campaign to stop puppy farming either because it will put then out of business.
Sorry if that upsets you. I just think your priories seem a bit screwed
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Twat? WTAF? Calm the fuck down and stop insulting me. I am disagreeing with you not attacking nor harming anyone, nor anything.
That is your opinion. I don't really understand why they did it but you are not explaining why you think all of that either.
Just fucking stop it. Don't be a fucking arse. THERE ARE MANY MORE FACEPALMS IN THE FUCKING WORLD BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE INFINITELY MORE DESTRUCTIVE AND WORSE FOR FUCKING REAL. The puppy has a scratched and swollen nose. No-one and nothing died.
Never come at me again with this absolutely abusive, shitty, attitude.
Fucking hell. Batshit.
Wow.
Treacle Toes
Time
You know full well what pissed me off about your post but crack on pretending you don't.
astral
author unknown
Yes absolutely. She's only six months old and her recall isn't great. We specifically requested that she was to be kept on her lead at all times. He had previously asked me about muzzling her because she can be a bit nippy* with other dogs. I told him that although I'm not against muzzling dogs I didn't feel that Willow needed it while she was on the lead and that if he felt this was necessary in the future we'd discuss it and I'd get a properly fitted muzzle for her and train her to use it.
* She's not sure when to stop playing and she has very powerful jaws. I am easily able to control this when I am walking her. This is one of the main things we talked about when we interviewed walkers and I was assured that this guy was able to help work with her on this point.
Treacle Toes
Time
I honestly don't know if dogs ever suffer temporary injuries when they are being trained or people use new kit on them. I still see people using chokers collars for example and I imagine although we don't see damage they hurt/bruise?
astral
author unknown
Choke collars are not humane and are not a training aid that I use.
This is NOT about what 'some people do'. This is about what *I* do and what *I* asked someone that I'm paying to care for my pet to do. Deliberately causing harm and distress to an animal is not something I'm on board with and I'm horrified that this has been done to my pet.
trashpony
Hag
I genuinely don't.
I've been interviewing two different dog home boarders this week and one of the first things they ask (and write down on a form) is 'can I let him off lead?'. If I said no, I would expect them to comply with that.
All dogs may need to wear a muzzle at some point in their life and it's a good idea to train them to wear one. But this is how you do it: Dogs and muzzle training
Treacle Toes
Time
Well it certainly wasn't the reasonable, informative and non-abusive tone/approach you've now taken, was it?
trashpony
Hag
A dog has been hurt by someone paid to care for it properly and your concern was the impact of Astral leaving a bad review on the bloke's business. I was angry that you were so dismissive of the pain and distress caused to the dog. And as someone who uses dog walkers when I work, I would want to know that they were going to override my instructions because that means they're not the right dog walker for me or my dog. Or indeed for anyone I know who uses a dog walker.
I'm sorry for swearing at you.
I have a new dog walker starting next week so it possibly touched a nerve more than it might have done in other circumstances.
astral
author unknown
I'm sorry if this thread has worried you.
trashpony
Hag
Oh bless you. The bloke who normally looks after my dog when we go on holiday didn't recognise me last time I went to collect him (although they have been looking after my beloved dog 2-3 times a year since he was a puppy) - I think he was pissed and it was only 10am. It's made me feel really shit and question my judgement
Training should not injure a dog.
This wasn't training though. My dog is muzzle trained (to an extent - he's never had to wear one for long periods of time so that might need more work) because we've lived in places where he had to wear one outside my room. It took several WEEKS of slow progression from holding the muzzle in front of his face for a second then removing it and giving praise/treat, to holding it on his face, to doing it up then taking it off immediately, then taking it off after 5 or 10 seconds etc to get him to wear a muzzle without any fuss. He is older and has issues from abuse in the past which mean it probably took longer to train than astral's dog might, but just shoving a muzzle on with no training and apparently no attention to the dog's response is never the way to go.
As trashpony said, it could cause issues with future dog walkers or with muzzle training if required later on. Since the dog is young and not fully socialised or recall trained yet, it also could have led to her running off and getting lost or injured. If the dog walker is ignoring owners' instructions regularly it's probably only a matter of time before there's a more serious incident after they let a dog off-lead when they shouldn't. There's also the injury - they didn't seem to think it was an issue or even to tell the owner, which makes you wonder how they'd react to slightly more serious injuries that might need cleaning or watching for infection, or a trip to the vet.
Silas Loom
Well-Known Member
Astral, how long does it take to train a dog to happily wear a flowerpot?
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