I own the softest Labrador in the world. Everyone comments on how gentle he is and how obedient. However, apparently he is a dangerous dog running out of control. Why, because he chased a cat all of 5 yards! The cat's owner had been throwing bread out of her garden into a public area of grass where I walk the dogs in the morning and Tom had noticed and sneaked over to eat some while I was "picking up" after another dog. It would appear that the cat then ran right in front of him and he chased it, just as I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Literally a 3 second chase and he then stood looking through the fence it had popped through, wagging his tail.
Apparently this makes him a dangerouse dog who was out of control. I quote the owner " that dog is obviously dangerous and out of control" " what if that had been a child". My answer was that it is rare for a child to apear from underneath a hedge and sprint under the dogs nose before popping through a 1 ft hole in a fence BUT if a child had done so, Tom would almost certainly have stood and watched or continued eating the bread she was hapazardly throwing about over her garden fence. He sees my kids and there pals running about all the time and never chases them even in looking for a game.
After shouting at me for 5 mins, during which time i was advised that she owned 5 cats (which I obviously care about and makes a big difference to how I live my life) and had previously been mauled by a dog, she said she was phoning the police. I said I was happy to await their arrival, but 5 mins later when she disappeared in her car, so i thought I better get to my work instead, as it might be a long wait.
Now, the dog did chase the cat BUT it was nowhere to be seen when i let him off, I know because I always check what is around before I let any dog off, and the woman's reaction was way OTT. Apparently because there are cats in the world dogs must be on the lead at all times JUST IN CASE A CAT DECIDES TO RUN RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT!!
The annoying thing is he is a very steady dog on rabbits, deer, pheasants etc, but apparently not cats! To be honest he has never really encountered one close up, when off his lead before, because I always check and keep an eye out. I will maybe ask the nice woman if I can borrow one of her cats to work on getting himj to drop on their appearance.
I did try to be reasonable but her attitude was very poor and unfortunately pretty typical of cat owners and the public in general who see a "devil dog" in every situation now.
The cat was never in danger, and sat calmly at the other side of the fence looking at tom as if he was daft (which he is at times). Why does everything have to be so melodramatic these days when dogs are concerned.....it does my head in
Rant over ...sorry.
Andy
Wish I was that quick with words, I usually think those things afterwards 
One of mine chased a neighbours cat down the road and three times round its own garden before listening to my fishwifing. 
Luckily the neighbour thought it was funny!
and now the same person I covered for has jollied off on a 2 week break over easter / bank hols 
and im here yes, covering for her... )
