Letting down your guard with dogs

WHAT a horrible scare I had yesterday.:sick: Though everything turned out ok.. how it "might have evolved gives me the chills.:eek:

My sister and I took our dog's for a long park walk, something we do regularly. On the way home I pulled in to a large supermarket parking lot while she went in to pick up her dinner items.

I waited in the car with the dogs, but hers was kind of anxious that she was gone, whining.. so I decided to take them next door to an adjacent park field.. to just enjoy the open air and (rare) sunshine.

We all sat there quietly for a bit, all was calm, he seemed relaxed now, as he knows me very well.
Then I decided to take a few pics of the two dogs. I scanned the large grassy field, there wasnt a soul around. I dropped their leashes and took out my camera..
I didnt foresee any danger.. a large and safe open area.
All was fine as I snapped a few shots - until her dog spotted a woman walking way across the field. To my shock, he suddenly began moving toward her...thinking it was my sister, his owner. I called him.. he kept going. And then.. he bolted - off at top speed.
I ran after him as fast as I could, panicked. The ground was wet and soggy, and I slipped and fell, with my own dog Percy under one arm. Luckily I didnt hurt him.
My camera was still in my hand, but my purse was left sitting on a big rock far behind me.. money, credit cards, car keys. I didnt care..I had to get him!
But he wouldnt stop or respond, as I raced after him screaming at him to stop, stay! But he's not "my " dog, and was oblivous to my commands.

Worse, he kept on going, right back into the underground parking lot! Many cars entering and exiting, drivers certainly not expecting a loose dog racing through. Now I was "really" terror- struck.. that he'd be hit, began screaming at people to grab him. He just darted wildly all over.. but finally I got him.
My heart was just pounding, What "seemed" safe and harmless had tunred into a potentially life threatening risk for him. And.. it was my fault. :sad::mad:

Completely shaken,covered in wet mud and out of breath, I looked like a wild woman, I'm sure. I was relieved to find my unattended purse still where I left it, luckily.

I returned to my car with a frightening lesson indelibly learned.:sad:
Can NEVER rely on another's dog to respond to your command, and can NEVER risk giving up control of any animal, even for a moment.

The doggie guardian angels were looking out for us, thank God for that.:angel:

The "other scenario is too awful to contemplate.
If your actions caused the injury or, God forbid ..the death.. of another's precious pet, what on earth could ever alleviate your guilt.. or their resentment?:sad:

I'm glad your story had a happy, albeit soggy, ending Shamrock - thankfully all ended safely :)

:grouphug: Shamrock! Glad it turned out OK.

Wow ~ very scary Shamrock.

Small suggestion ? Your sis' needs to "generalize" training. Dawgy needs to learn to respond to the emergency basics with other voices/ persons.

I know one of my previous dogs wouldn't be on the planet if he hadn't learnt "down" as universal (no matter from whom, when, why or where). :o

Oh my, that was scary indeed! So glad it turned out OK for everyone involved!!!!
Take a deep breath now!! :grouphug:

I'm glad it turned out ok ! Must had been so scary :sad:

I am so glad no one is hurt and that things turned out ok, you never know what can happen, I know with Bree she responds to my commands but when she get something in her head nothing i mean nothing can stop her.. (working on that one)

Thanks for the sympathies. :cloud9: It was a shocking and horrible thing for me, I just burst into tears after at what " could" have happened from my carelessness.

Judging by how devastated and depleted I was, I'm obviously far too old for this sort of thing..(both the awful fright and prolonged full-out sprinting lol):D

Mum, you are quite right about this. Her dog "does" need general training of responding to commands.
Now that I can look at this a little more rationally - I have to realize.. their dog doesnt even listen to "them".
What made me ever think it would listen to me?:frustrated:
It's a small and supremely spoiled dog that does whatever it wants.:shrug:

And.. this is dangerous on many levels.:sad: What happened is just 1 example. Could happen to them next time.

I will suggest this to her - in a bit.
Though she said it was ok .. things happen.. blah blah.. I could tell she was NOT pleased about this...:shrug: .:D

:eek: OMG, that must have been awful...I am so glad everything turned out ok. :grouphug:

Yikes, hope your not hurt from the fall! I would be very sore. I've seen a lot dogs do that. One time I saw a dog headed full force for a super busy street, the owner shreiked in absolute horror and the dog somehow whipped around and stopped! I don't think that was a command though.

Your heart must have been in your throat! :eek: I'm glad your story had a happy ending. :grouphug:

Oh my I can completely sympathise with you and am so happy everything turned out ok. I have a similar story from last summer while up at the cottage my cousin who lives there locally had to go to work and left me with his boxer which knows me very well. I decided to take him for a jog as I often did and figured once we got a little ways away from any cottages, roads or anything really that i could safely let him off lesh to frolic around- wrong. He was great for ahwile until he decided he wanted to go home and bolted back towards the cottages. Out of breath and bearly able to walk by the time I got back to the cottages I found him happily sitting next to a group of kids who were jumping on a trampoline.

Kayla

That would be a scary thing to have happen.at least the ground was muddy and not hard. so you or Percy weren't hurt from the fall or your sisters dog hurt from running off like that.atleast it all ended with a happy ending.

Glad things turned out OK. I always fear something similar happening to us so I never ever even for a second take Lukka off leash unless she is enclosed in a fenced area. Where I walk her it is deserted and I have only seen someone else in the area maybe three times in the year I have been taking daily hikes in the woods, but I still would never take her leash off because you just never know.

I hope you are recovering well from the sprinting! I was told in my obediance training 7 years ago "if you dont trust your dog to listen to you then dont let him off leash!" you know he listens but I dont trust him! he is so curious! my dog would probably run if he thought I was coming towards him! I can see it happening...he waits in the car and knows when I come out of a store!

I hope your feeling better!

Yes, I am fine now, thanks!:grouphug:

One blessing of a "near-disaster"- offers a profound lesson in preventing another similiar event to ever occur.
It's easy to become complacent, lulled into a false sense of security.
Cant never forget that animals can be unpredictable outdoors. The scene can change in a instant with the right stimuli.:eek:

I'm thankful and SO grateful that this only provided a lesson to me, instead of heartbreak and sorrow.

I just noticed today that these are the last two pics on my camera, a moment before chaos erupted.:rolleyes:
With such an upset...forgot all about such a trivial thing as what I was "trying" to do.

Looks harmless, but the difference in safe, and UNsafe!:eek:

Sorry for your ordeal Shamrock. :grouphug: Heart attack material, for sure.:grouphug:

How's Percy's recall?

What I do with Jemma and Boo is tie their leashes together... Jemma's a good girl and she'd probably pull the big twit back with her.:D So far though, he has never tried anything while tied to her. I think he knows.:D

:grouphug:

Prin, Percy's recall is not the best:o , but he "will" respond... never had any real scares with him.:fingerscr
He is rarely off his leash at any time though, so hasnt been put to the test outdoors much. :shrug:
Too small for the offleash dog parks, and in most open park areas, cant run free because of the coyote worry.:shrug:.