A young Edinburgh woman is urging fellow dog owners to be more responsible after a distressing walk through Leith Links.
Murrin McColl, 22, was out taking her Romanian rescue pooch, Lotus, for a walk on Wednesday November 30, when it was chased by another dog who appeared to not respond to its owner calling it back.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Murrin explained that she regularly takes Lotus to the Links to train her on a lead. The business management student has had the pup for a year and actively practices positive reinforcement in her training.
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Lotus came from a Romanian shelter where she was rescued from a killing pound which has left her nervous around people she doesn't know and larger dogs. Getting the opportunity to roam on a 15 metre training lead "gives her the chance to open herself up" to a new environment and develop as a house pet, Murrin said.
However, on three occasions, little Lotus has been distressed as other dogs off the lead charge at her. Murrin said the other owners are "too laid back" and fears these experiences could be 'traumatising' for her rescue dog.
She said: "My little Romanian rescue dog was chased into bushes by a bigger dog, whose owner didn’t seem phased by the fact my dog was clearly terrified. The dog was on a lead but it snapped and the owner was calling it but the dog didn't look like it had any recall."
On another occasion, Murrin admitted that was terrified that Lotus was going to be attacked.
She said: "The worst experience was definitely the time, at the tennis courts when the owner did not have the dog on a lead and it charged at us barking and with threatening body language, I honestly thought Lotus was going to be attacked.
"I was panicking trying to pick her up but as she was so scared she was running in everywhere direction. When the owner got ahold of their dog I was so relieved."
Murrin went on and shared at one instance, she had to intervene herself when another big dog went for Lotus and the owner wasn't nearby leaving her no choice but to grab the dog by the harness to pull it away from Lotus.
She added: "I just think people need to be more aware of their surrounding and how reactive their dogs and other dogs are. I appreciate not everyone knows what rescue dogs are like, but there are a lot of Romanian rescue dogs around and you don't know how they are going to react.
"It's not just our problem, loads of people have told me of times when they've been out in the Links that dogs off the lead have chased their dog and even worse, been attacked."
The student appreciates that some dogs just want to play but stresses that owners can't assume that other pups out on their walks will react the same and urges fellow dog owners to intervene before the situation escalates.
Murrin's knowledge of dogs and the needs rescue dogs needs comes from a young age. She said: "My parents have a rescue dog from Romania who I was a part of welcoming to the family as I lived with them at the time.
"I would say I have a good understanding of what these dogs needs are, the experience with my parents rescue really helped with this. I also have a lot of knowledge on what they go through before they are taken to their forever home."
She added: "With these incidents, the owners have never apologised or said anything to myself or my partner. Leith Links is the closest park to us and my dog loves her walks there, however it is becoming clear it is not as safe for nervous/anxious dogs. I want to raise awareness as we are quite upset by this."
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