to think an out of control dog should be always on the lead?

[hibbledibble]

I was going for a walk in the park today with dds, both under 5, and my dh and dog. Our dog is a small mixed breed, with a very gentle nature, and is impeccably behaved.

I saw 2 dogs which I knew to be aggressive (they have attacked/tried to attack our dog numerous times before). I immediately picked up our dog to protect her. One of the dogs, a powerful breed, then comes up to me, growling, scratching and trying to climb up my leg to reach my dog. I'm pretty scared at this point, and so is older dd.

Dog owner makes no effort to remove dog, other than meekly calling her over, which the dog ignores of course. Dh comes and removes aggressive dog from me by grapping her harness. Only at this point does the dog owner want to take control of his dog 'give me my dog'.

There was no apology, and in fact the owner was verbally aggressive, saying I knew nothing about dogs! No idea what this is meant to mean..

I was pretty schook up, and spoke to a bystander who said he has seen said dog be aggressive many times.

Aibu to think dogs like this should always be on the lead? It is always off the lead. I have tried previously to tell the owner that his dog is out of control and should be on the lead, but he said it would never hurt anyone!!

Wwyd?

I'm worried about walking my poor dog in our local park.

[Teabagbeforemilk]

I thought if your dog was not on a lead and causes damage to people or property you were liable. Therefore the rule is if you can't control you doc with verbal commands its should be off the lead. So yanbu

[MandyCC]

Call local dog warden. A dog was aggressive to my dog, requiring vet treatment. The police contacted owners and said this dog must remain on lead or face prosecution under dangerous dogs act. I haven't seen the bastard thing since but if your dog wasn't attacked not sure what you can do.

[hibbledibble]

Mandy I actually have injuries from the dog grappling my leg trying to get at my dog. I hope this would be taken seriously.

[TipseyKisses]

I have been through this quite recently op , it is so frightening especially when you have dc with you !

Our dogs were repeatedly attacked by the same dog who we found out by chance lived in our street .

I rang our local dog warden for advice & he visited the owner a few times , gave warnings to muzzle /leash the dog in public at all times , he also kept in touch with us to inform us etc.

We had to keep note of incidents , dates , area ,times etc to help him with his investigation & followed it through until the owner listened , recently we've had no further problems with this dog .

I'm not sure of how they work if you don't know the owners address but I would want everything logged from now on .

Our dog warden is contactable through the local pound .

[MandyCC]

Definetly contact police then but finding them might be tricky but worth a go. I had the number of owners of bastard dog (i insisted!!).

[TipseyKisses]

Just saw you have injuries - ring the police !!

[hibbledibble]

I have called police non emergency number and I will be going to the station to make a statement.

The bastard owner is there every day in the park, so not hard to find. I don't have details though, I doubt he would have given them!

[scarlets]

I'm glad you're reporting it. Dogs like that need to be controlled
. I hope you're ok.

[YolandiFuckinVisser]

Don't pick your dog up! My bitch is big & powerful, people with small dogs often pick them up when they see her coming. she has never been in a fight & easily intimidated (i've seen her chased by a cat in the park) but she gets terribly interested at the sight of a small dog held above her head hight. That said, your fellow dog walker should have his dog under control, and that means on a lead if you can't control by command.

[hibbledibble]

yoland the reason I picked her up is because this dog had attacked her previously multiple times.

I normally let her socialise with other dogs. She is very sociable and gets on with dogs/people/children. One of her favourite dogs to play with is a Rhodesian ridgeback cross (aka a giant!). I'm not overprotective in the slightest, but I know this dog to be aggressive, and my dog is so docile that she didn't even try to defend herself when she was previously attacked by this dog. She just rolls over.

[hibbledibble]

yoland what else do you suggest I do when a dog I know to be aggressive come charging up to me and my dog?

[ComfySensibleShoes]

YANBU, and personally I think dogs should always be on a lead when out in public. And not one of those long extending leads which allow the dog to wander ahead of the owner, so the dog can come and wrap itself around your legs if it decides to 'say hello'.

I can't stand having a dog come over 'to say hello' to me. I'm not interested in dogs, I don't want a dog near me, or near my children. So yeah, I'd be happy if they were all kept on a lead.

[FaffingtonBear]

YANBU

[MandyCC]

I pick mine up when an issue arises a small dog can't defend itself against a powerful dog. Why even risk it.

[Silverdaisy]

Yoland your theory really only stands when talking about your dog. Other owners cannot have confidence that All aggressive dogs will not attack.

[Silverdaisy]

I have a large dog, I wish I could pick her up when small ones are snapping at her.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

Same here, Silverdaisy. I can't lift my lurcher up when a snappy little terrier comes yapping round him. Or bigger dogs that owners yank round town rather than walk.
Unfortunately he's now afraid of them and has learned to growl at approaching dogs, which makes him look worse than he is.
But he is on lead at all times in public places. The only times he comes off is in fields, as disinterested owners seem to not like taking their dogs away from parks and pavements, so he's ok with the better socialised dogs he meets out there.

[BehindEveryCloud]

As far as I'm concerned it should be law that all dogs are on a lead in public places.

Agree with this.

Last week 2 large dogs charged towards my 14 month in the park. The owner tried to call them but they ignored. They didn't attack and I'm sure are very pleasant etc, but I was left a little shaken having a split second to quickly pick up my DS before they were nose to nose.

[MartyrStewart]

I'd agree that dogs should be on lead in public places if we could adopt the US style dog parks. I have two dogs, one who is the dreaded MN bouncy Lab, so he is generally walked on a lead. If he sees another dog, his recall goes to pot.

The other is a GSD who will ignore everything if he is told to sit and wait, so others can pass. He is nervous on the lead if another off lead dog approaches him. The amount of times I have asked people to call off their (usually small, snappy) dogs and heard a 'Oh it's OK, he's friendly'. I usually reply 'that's great, but my dog is not'. And then I am the one with the uncontrollable dog.

[TiggeryBear]

Completely agree that all dogs should be on a lead regardless of whether the owner believes the dog to be friendly or aggressive. We have a dim Border Terrier & whilst he's usually pretty good with other people and other dogs I know that there are a couple of dogs that he will respond negatively towards. I would never entertain the idea that I would let him off the lead. One sniff of a cat, rabbit, whatever & he'd be gone (not very good at recall - even in the confines of the house / garden) I'd have no control over him at all! Also, there's a particular dog that has a mutual dislike of my BT, so much so that I have been known to pick up our dim dog & march swiftly past dog & owner to avoid confrontation.
ComfyShoes I take on board your comment about dogs on extending leads & vow to keep my dog closer to me when walking towards/near other people.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

"Public places" is a bit of a woolly definition: there is a big difference between a park that's full of children and a right of way across open fields that's rarely used. Both are technically public places and I regularly use the fields, yet I would never in a million years let the Hound of the Schulenbergs run amok in a park. Also, an empty "public place", i.e. a park or beach at night, is very different to when it is full during the day.
Common sense and consideration for others is what's needed, but is exactly what is lacking.

[Battleshiphips]

My dog is always on lead and unless you have perfect recall and your dog knows not to approach people then they should be kept on lead. I also hate when dogs off lead come bounding up to my on lead little rescue dog. He is terrified. And please always ask the owner before petting a dog. I hate it when parents allow their children to run up to dogs and pet them without asking. Glad you reported it!

[Silverdaisy]

Harriet , thankfully my one hasn't been affected by the aggressive ones (yet). I will stand I between the dogs if i can as I am responsible for her care. Love the owners who let their dogs run around and bare their teeth and then say it's my fault because their dog doesn't like big dogs. Yes, but mine was on a lead minding her own business.

[Lurkedforever1]

Op yanbu, dogs should be kept on a lead if they can't be kept under control.
All those saying dogs should always be on a lead regardless yabvvu. Yes a minority of dog owners are morons who allow their harmless dogs to spoil others enjoyment. But the same can be said of some parents, and yet nobody wants kids kept on reins in public because a minority of parents are morons. And yes a very tiny minority of dogs are dangerous (or to be precise belong to dangerous idiots) but that doesn't mean the rest of us and our pets should be punished for it.