HA ha! That is so funny! When Foster was a puppy he used to eat whole pecans that had dropped out of the tree in the backyard and then the next day he'd walk around for ten minutes trying to poop the whole thing out! He learned pretty quick not to eat them!!

Ah, yes we have bad parents on this side of the pond as well! I think the fact that she was swearing like a trooper in front of her young children really shows what kind of person she is!

I agree, Foster was way over his threshold for stress. Me too! It was just one of those days when everything goes wrong all at once…..today seems better!

I did like the previous comment about dropping stray dogs ninja style...I will have to keep that in mind for the future!

Thanks to everyone for the support...it's nice to know that I am not the only person to encounter these situations!

Thanks. I am feeling much calmer now….had a nice cup of tea and a relax! I just felt so completely helpless with the staffy. I knew that if they started fighting there was no way my boys would have come out on top and I felt so trapped and I had no escape route. I guess in hindsight, I should have just picked the boys up off the ground and moved on.... And you're right, I should have stepped in front of the dogs to block the little kid coming up to them, I guess I was feeling rather stressed already and I was certainly on edge since I had never seen Foster so aggressive before. I guess I am just most angry about being yelled at for trying to do the right thing.

Ugh, feeling so very stressed and angry after our trip to the dog park today! everyday we take Foster and Ferret down to the local dog park, lucky for us it's about 500 yards down the road from our house. We walk them down on the leads to a great big open field that is fenced all the way around. In order to get to the gate we have to walk down a narrow path that has fences on both sides. Well lo and behold when we got down there today there was a horrible looking staffy on the loose. No tags, no owner, just on it's own wandering down the path. He came over to sniff the boys and started growling and getting into the alpha male stance. Foster of course felt very threatened and did the same. There was fur flying and teeth showing. Even Ferret, who is such a wimp and never shows aggression, got into it with this dog. So we (and thank god there are two of us walking these two) managed to put about ten feet between the boys on their leads whilst this awful dog kept going back and forth between the two of them trying to start fights. It would have been so much worse had I been on my own and had all three dogs under my feet. We finally managed to make it to the gate and this dog tried to follow us into the park and then made a lunge for Foster, so I had to give this dog a bit of kick to move him out of the way so I could close the gate. Of course once we got into the park the boys were completely upset and stressed. We were all alone in the park so I let them off the lead (and yes they are very good on recall) and they had a good run around. Then one of the regular dogs arrived. They've all met before, so no real dramas I thought….wrong! Foster actually gave chase and tried to have a bite of this poor dog! He has never done anything like that before ever. As soon as they ran off I ordered Foster to sit, and he did, and he knew he was in the wrong. I apologized to the other owner, and we all had a chat about how the staffy had been winding up all the dogs today. So I thought my adventures for the day were over.....wrong again! On the walk home there was a couple of moms with babies in strollers and a couple of 4 or 5 year olds walking on the path in front of us, so I had the boys sit and stay in order to get a bit more space between us and the kids. Well one of the little brats comes running towards us with hands outstretched. I said 'please don't pet the dogs' and he kept coming, so I said it again and again. Finally he was within inches of the dogs, so I had to yank them away and yelled at this kid 'DO NOT TOUCH' and the moms finally figure out one of their kids are missing and come running over and start screaming at me!! Yelling about 'well if your dogs don't like kids why are you walking them by a F*CKING school'!! I have to admit it, I completely lost my cool. I told this woman that it's not that they don't like kids, they just don't like to be touched by strangers. She started swearing up a storm and carrying on, so I ended up just leaving. I just couldn't believe it! I had done exactly the right thing, as a responsible dog owner, by making the boys sit and putting a lot of space between us and them because I knew that the boys were unpredictable and stressed out, yet she is the one who hasn't taught her little brats not to run up to a strangers dog and I'm somehow the bad guy! I am so angry right now! I never want to leave the house again. I'm angry that someone just let their aggressive dog wander the streets alone, and I'm angry that Foster chased another dog, and I'm angry that parents don't teach their kids about dog safety, and mostly I'm angry because I try very hard to be a responsible dog owner, yet I've been yelled at today for doing nothing wrong.

Right, vent over...

So, having said that, anyone have a better idea on how to deal with stray dogs and kids who run up to you?

I've got two B x's and I really feel your pain about trying to train them both at the same time! As others have said, it's best to try to get some alone time with each of them and then work them together…..

As for when out walking, I have the same issue...our first born is much better behaved, except when they are together in which case he just stirs up trouble with the other one. What we have found works the best is to take them down to the park on leads, and then let the better behaved one off the lead and attach his lead to the others lead (so it's now twice as long) and do a few laps of the park with one off lead and the other on a long lead. Once we've gotten them around a few times and they are both a bit more settled we let the other one off. This works brilliantly. Once they are both off, they behave fairly well and come when called. If we started off with them both off they just tend to wind each other up and end up running around like crazy animals.

As far as getting them to 'leave it' when off lead....I have had some success with this, although not always (foster rubbed his face in something very gross just the other day YUCK). I find a very stern 'leave it' works most times, however if it doesn't, I get as close to them as possible and clap my hands really loudly followed by a 'leave it' as loud as I can. I think this just shocks them and gets their attention away from whatever disgusting thing they were looking at.

Best of luck to you!!!

Well here is a picture of the two Boys…..not a great photo (no curly tails to be seen!) but at least they are looking at the camera, which almost never happens! More on the way!!!

Well my lovely B cross (jack Russell) seems to have OCD. Whenever he is lying down he just starts licking whatever he is lying on. This is mostly the sofa, and thank god it's leather, but he does it for 10 minutes or so. Just keeps doing these long licks (not short quick ones like there is food on whatever he is licking), it's almost like he is in a trance and just can't help himself. The other night we got into bed only to find this huge wet spot where he had been laying and he had obviously been licking the duvet over and over so it was all wet. Does anyone else have this problem???

Hi All! I've just found this forum, and couldn't believe it! It's such a great place! I've got two B mixes. One is mixed with a Jack Russell and the other with a Whippet. Their names are Foster and Ferret…..Foster, because he was a 'foster dog' that we never rehomed (because he was so darn cute we had to keep him!) and Ferret, well, he's called that because that is exactly what he looks like when he wraps himself into a little ball on the sofa.

I got Foster when he was a very small puppy when I lived in America and I've had him for about 7 years. When I moved to Australia Foster came with me, and whilst there I found poor Ferret at the local pound the day before he was due to be put down. He was about 3 years old or so, and I've had him for about 5 years now. As a rescue dog, he has had a lot of 'issues' and he has far more B traits than Foster does, so Ferret is quite the handful.

I've recently moved to the UK and of course the boys have come with me. They made a stop over in the states for a few months to stay with my parents while I was here sorting out a place to live that would accept pets. But they are here now and loving it.