What would you do?

[shorty]

A few weeks ago(on my way to a rescue meeting) I saw a man walking a sheltie. This poor dog kept trying to lay down and the man kept jerking the dogs leash pulling the dog back on its feet. It looked like the dog was pulling away as far as he could then would lay down.The dog looked scared and the man seemed very annoyed and was not talking nice to him. I thought about stopping and asking this man if he needed help,but I was alone and was worried that the man may take his anger out on me. So I kept on driving,but I was still concerned about that poor sheltie. I was wondering if anyone else ever saw a dog being mistreated and stopped and talked to the owner about it. This man was not beating the dog in public or anything ,but I know this dog was very scared and not being treated properly. So what would you do?
Wendy

[Aroura]

Its times like these its always handy to keep a few dog treats on you.
If you had some treats, then you could stop and show him how to get the dog to walk nicely by bribing it, just holding the treat infront of the dog. Then leave him with them and he would probably realize how much it helps.
He sounds like the type of guy who if you just told him what to do he'd tell you to butt off because its his dog yadda yadda yadda.
Thats what I would do anyway, hopefully by a good example it may help.

[Guest Anonymous]

yes it is handy to have some treats in ur pocket or bag if u carry one around cause i use the treats to try and feed a stray dog or try to get it in view to see if its badly hurt or not
that man i think was kindof choking the dog and i think he beats it at home thats why the sheltie cowers from him and maybe it tried to lie down cause it might have a leg injury :evil:

[sixjollydogs]

:evil: I always hate to hear stories like this. Here is what I would do....the man must live somewhere in the area....watch for him.

I am not advocating you stalk the guy...just keep an eye open.

If you then see abuse...report the jerk.

[Guest Anonymous]

shorty napisał(a):

A few weeks ago(on my way to a rescue meeting) I saw a man walking a sheltie. This poor dog kept trying to lay down and the man kept jerking the dogs leash pulling the dog back on its feet. It looked like the dog was pulling away as far as he could then would lay down.The dog looked scared and the man seemed very annoyed and was not talking nice to him. I thought about stopping and asking this man if he needed help,but I was alone and was worried that the man may take his anger out on me. So I kept on driving,but I was still concerned about that poor sheltie. I was wondering if anyone else ever saw a dog being mistreated and stopped and talked to the owner about it. This man was not beating the dog in public or anything ,but I know this dog was very scared and not being treated properly. So what would you do?
Wendy

First off you were right - endangering yourself would not do the dog any good. What you always do (and I can tell this fits you) is you do the best you can and then live with the things you could not fix niggling at you.
in this situation I might have asked the man (from my car ) if he needed any help. I might have also just gone on and wished there had been something it was safe to do. OTOH I might also have offered to buy the dog if I had a pocket full of cash - wishes and would'ves line all our lives but remember the ones you can help and have as often as the ones 'that got away'.