Castanet

janalta wrote:Something doesn't add up here.
First off...why bother 'warning' people about this guy and then refuse to give any sort of description of either he or the dog he Some major voids in the story.

Got that right.

juz516 wrote:Why, immediately, would someone think it would be the dog? Also, why would the owner be so passive? I certainly wouldn't be if someone did something like that to one of my dogs. They would be reported immediately, not that it would do any good....maybe the owner is afraid to have anyone involved. Seeings how things are handled, and unless there were other witnesses, it would be one word against the other....and we all know how that works where dogs are concerned.
Sure seems to be a lot of crap goes on in West Kelowna...imo.

There's always two sides to every story. The owner might not have seen what the dog did just before the guy's reaction. Or may be it was completely unprovoked - you never know. I just asked the question without assuming anything.

Captain Awesome wrote:................

There's always two sides to every story. The owner might not have seen what the dog did just before the guy's reaction. Or may be it was completely unprovoked - you never know. I just asked the question without assuming anything.

Not two sides. There are three sides to every story. His, Hers, and the Truth.

janalta wrote:I've been to that park hundreds of times and have never witnessed anyone abusing or hitting a dog...their own or anyone else's.

I was at the Ellison park once with my big dog. A woman started smacking him with her dogs leash when he came to say hello to her and her dogs. I was dumbfounded. Why bring your dogs to a dog park if you don't want your dogs to interact with other dogs?
Only time I've personally had difficulty at a park, but I've seen others try to break up dog play by kicking the dogs, their own and other people's.

Not everyone's mom teaches them manners!

The OP says they were a fair distance away and the man had his back to them....so how does the OP know what happened and that he was hitting the dog in the face?

The OP didn't say "fair distance away" and didn't say anything about not being able to see the dog.

with the way the man was faced away from me and the distance between us I was unable to put a stop to the attack on my dog before it started

This is how quickly words get taken out of context. I've seen a man hit his dog with a leash - the man's face was turned from me and I was too far away to stop it but I did indeed see the abuse. Perspective.

A first time poster tries to put a warning. There won't be any more information forthcoming so take it for what it's worth. Keep an eye on your dogs and keep them safe and there's nothing wrong with that.

Fancy...if someone was holding your dog in the air and hitting it....exactly how far away would you have to be to start yelling at him to stop ??
Warning people about a middle aged man with no further details doesn't do anyone any good at all.....that covers about half the people who go to that park.

If someone abused my dog I'd be on here with full description, what he looks like, what he was wearing, what he was driving, what kind of dog he had, etc, etc

To answer the inquiries about the mans description:
Middle aged male
Average build
Owns a Boston terrier

I will not be divulging further information on this matter.
I just wish people to be vigilant, and hope that they are careful with any dog owners they are not familiar with.

All this post was intended to do was raise some awareness on animal abuse in the area.

janalta wrote:Fancy...if someone was holding your dog in the air and hitting it....exactly how far away would you have to be to start yelling at him to stop ??

Distance and yelling is irrelevant if he's already got the dog in the air isn't it. The abuse has already happened - the point made was the OP couldn't stop it from happening to start with.

H+E O wrote:To answer the inquiries about the mans description:
Middle aged male
Average build
Owns a Boston terrier

I will not be divulging further information on this matter.
I just wish people to be vigilant, and hope that they are careful with any dog owners they are not familiar with.

All this post was intended to do was raise some awareness on animal abuse in the area.

Thank you for posting more information - people can be more vigilant now in protecting their pets.

H+E O wrote:To answer the inquiries about the mans description:
Middle aged male
Average build
Owns a Boston terrier

I will not be divulging further information on this matter.
I just wish people to be vigilant, and hope that they are careful with any dog owners they are not familiar with.

All this post was intended to do was raise some awareness on animal abuse in the area.

That helps a little more, thankfully haven't seen him there before so maybe he won't be back

Bunnyhop wrote:[
Forget Cesar Millan - call one of the local dog trainers for real help.

(I get it, you said that "tongue-in-cheek", but really CM (and other TV celebrities) uses outdated and ineffective methods. Many of the local trainers are well educated and very skilled at using current theories in animal behavior. Call a few, ask questions, and choose one that you think best meets yours and your dog's needs.)

Thanks bunnyhop, we're a little concerned that with her age she may be set in her ways. Don't know if you've ever had a border collie or any other herding dog but they seem to have unbreakable focus once keyed in on something. But given that I will call around, it may be something correctable. Thanks again,.

It's not really correctable...it's in her genes...it's what she needs to do.
Border collies have to work.
You can sometimes find ranchers that are willing to let you use their herds for excercise and practise time....might be a good idea to try you find someone who trains herding dogs specifically....a whole different ballgame than obedience training. ( I know some really good ones in AB )
As for curbing her behavior with other dogs....might have to resort to a low voltage shock collar until she catches on what is OK to herd and what is not...it's the only thing I've seen that evenly remotely works for border collies and heelers.

Poindexter wrote:
Thanks bunnyhop, we're a little concerned that with her age she may be set in her ways. Don't know if you've ever had a border collie or any other herding dog but they seem to have unbreakable focus once keyed in on something. But given that I will call around, it may be something correctable. Thanks again,.

If you are interested in talking to someone who trains border collies in herding, Agility and Obedience, let me know and I can put you in touch. I can't PM or email you as you don't have those features enabled.

I can also recommend a certified dog trainer if you would like to address the behavioral issue. One of my dogs is 5 years old (or maybe as old as 7 years, he's a rescue and his history is spotty) and he is still learning new behaviors and tricks all the time. Again, please contact me via PM or email.

Edited to add: I just read your original post and you are talking about a Belgian Sheep Dog not a Border Collie. No matter the breed, I have no doubt that this issue can be retrained, many of the local dog trainers have Growl Class or Reactive Rovers, etc. and the success rate is very high.

A full description?? If someone did that to my dog he would be easy btom find.. KGH emergency

Thanks for the advise. I think in the short term we are going to try that low voltage collar. She's extremely obedient once you have her attention but that herders focus can't be broken by voice commands, hopefully a little zap will do the trick. Finding it near impossible to snow shoe with a leash so I'm hoping this works.