Dog theft in broad daylight?

[mminn20]

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I've just signed up to Dog Forum in order to post this. I think that somebody tried to steal my dog yesterday. It was sunny and a lot of dogs were out with their owners at our local park. It's a big country park, with woodland, lake, grassy open space and paved walkways. Our pup, an adolescent male gun dog, was off lead as usual, playing with other dogs he came across who also wanted to play with him. At one point, he started to play with a small Schnauzer type dog, and quickly disappeared from view over the brow of a hill in a large field. His recall is generally good, so we weren't overly concerned, and we walked in the direction he disappeared in, calling him to come. A few helpful/concerned walkers, having seen him ahead, pointed us in the right direction, luckily. Walking briskly and still calling, we eventually caught sight of him towards the far end of the field, still following the other dog. We shouted loudly, and I thought that the owner of the other dog, having seen and heard us, could at least have slowed down a bit. She seemed to accelerate, and when she reached the edge of the field, turned into woodland, beyond which were car parks. Worried about cars, my daughter started to run at this point. She reached the woman just as our dog was about to jump into her open boot, her own dog already inside. The car was not parked in either of the main car parks, but by itself, reversed so boot was facing the woods, and could just drive off without manoeuvring. There were plenty of spaces in the main car parks when we arrived, but I thought nothing of it at this point. My daughter apologised for our dog being a nuisance, and asked if hers was a female (one of the passers by had said they had seen him trying to mount the other dog), but she said it was a boy, and quickly drove off, not even turning to see if an adult was accompanying my daughter. We were just relieved that our dog had not run into either of the main car parks at this stage, and I did not think to question the woman. Thinking back, her behaviour was suspicious, as even if our dog HAD been bothering hers, he is obviously young, non dominant, and just playful. If any dog appears to be in trouble or separated from its owner, I would try to look for its owner, or slow down if their dog was following mine. Perhaps we are reading too much into the incident, but I would be interested in what other members think, and wonder if I should notify the park authorities so other owners are on their guard?

 

[chelynnah]

It would certainly raise my suspicions the way you've told the story. It certainly might be worth letting the park authorities know.

 

[mminn20]

Hi Chelynnah. Thanks for your reply. It just seems odd for a fellow dog owner to behave like that. Most walkers look out for other dogs' welfare, particularly an obviously young dog. I know I would scan for the owners if a dog was following ours into a car park. I'll definitely call the park authorities with my concerns. Thanks again.

 

[poppy2714]

That doesn’t sound like a nice experience I will now be more aware as this seems to be on the rise, people stealing to order dogs. Glad you got your dog back

 

[eingana]

I saw a CCTV video of someone's dogs being stolen by a pair of men in a car in broad daylight a couple of days ago, and it's truly shocking how brazen some people are with this sort of thing. I'm so glad your daughter was able to prevent your dog being lost, as getting a dog back after it's been whisked away is so hard. I certainly would make sure that people are aware of what is happening, even if there's nothing that could be offered as real proof to the police.

Is there anything in the way you walk your dog that could reduce the chances of similar happening in future? Maybe reduce how far away from you he is allowed to play by calling him back for a treat every couple of minutes? It would be a shame to limit him to on lead walking if he's a gun dog, since his natural habitat is romping off through the undergrowth, but maybe you could work a plan that keeps him close enough that you could intervene if something were to happen. That would also be helpful if there was a hazard, like for instance an unfriendly dog that you needed to get him away from.

I don't think that anybody COULD steal Molly, and for that I'm eternally grateful. I wouldn't fancy trying to steal 40kg of struggling and panicking GSD who is normally stuck to me like a limpet- she certainly wouldn't be getting into anybody else's car without me as she won't go for a walk with anybody else even when I want her to go. The law doesn't really help most dog owners here though, does it? We have to teach dogs that all people are nice so that minimises the chance of any humans being hurt by the dog, but at the same time some humans clearly aren't nice and definitely do intend to do bad things.