Fog/dog - owner? What?!

[Karyn]

We three got bounced on this morning, by a very spooked, nervous, frisky, off-lead and bouncy sort of collie.

Now, obviously the collie may well be that way inclined anyway (…it might have been a bouncy sort of collie anyway), but I can’t help but wonder how much of it’s nervous, agitated state was because it was off-lead, before sun-rise, in what was incredibly thick, pea-soup kind of fog.

I really couldn’t tell you who was more surprised when it bounced off the grass and onto the path, right in front of us… I think the collie wins it by a whisker, as it let out a very confused, and very soft, short, “..oof”. The fog was thick enough to completely obscure sight of the grass from the footpath – and the footpath is only about 6 foot wide.

Both of my two – half-asleep as they are at that incredibly ungentlemanly time of the morning, took a few seconds to react… by which time the collie had recovered itself from its shock, and was skittering round us in circles. Which obviously isn’t ideal from our point of view (well, mine.. the dogs were otherwise engaged…).

Owner was no-where to be seen at this point – partly because of the fog, and partly because… well, he/she was no-where to be seen.

So I called out a “hello – there’s a collie here bouncing on us – is anyone there?” sort of message – whilst trying to extract myself from the mess that two dogs on leads following a very bouncy dog not-on-a-lead makes… There was no reply, save a distant “eeeeee---eeeeeeee*”… which thankfully made the collie stop bouncing... it made it freeze, in fact, ears pricked up.

A few seconds pause… everything silent and motionless as only fog or snow can create (my two have got their ears pricked up, gun-dog style too, waiting for another noise)…. And then another “eeee-eeee”… at which point, the collie races off, presumably in the direction of the sound – who knows.


So. Ramblings of a crazy dog lady aside – what are people’s opinions on this scenario?

Dark + fog + off-lead with no owner in sight = slightly unsettled dog, yes?

And if you can’t even see your dog (due to light, not because he’s hiding in a bush or something), what kind of control can you possibly have over it, audible recall noises aside? How on earth would that owner have known where the dog was at any point in time? The field is surrounded by roads on two sides – one a main road – and there are numerous “escape” points out the field into back gardens, building grounds, etc. And don’t forget the fog. And the dark.


I’ve realized that this post doesn’t really have a concise point, other than my mild annoyance about the rather cavalier attitude displayed to what was a really quite skittish dog, and the even milder inconvenience to me…

But I’m not sure I agree with dogs being off-lead in well-populated places in the dark or failing light. I know you can get LED collars and head torches and everything else… but… well, that’s you and yours sorted – what about anyone you come across?? Common courtesy, anyone?

It’s my experience that a dog off-lead in the dark is more nervous and more inclined to be not-as-prompt on command as a dog in the full daylight…


As you were.

(Of course, if you felt like sharing your experiences, I won’t feel like such a plonker for posting this!)







*this is the sound of a squeaker toy being squished, by the way.