Dogs not on lead

I cannot believe the response to these woman's experience asking if there is something wrong with HER?! She asked the owner to put it on a lead and the owner ignored her. That is NOT ok ! Its irresespoonsible and dangerous.. if you look at the Blue cross website about dogs in public places its illegal.
It is perfectly sane, reasonable and ok to feel fear and be shaking after being out with a puppy and having uncontrolled dogs around . Stop blaming her wow!

It isn't the lack of lead which is the problem, its the lack of control. My dogs can be happily off lead and walk to heel. Any sign of them getting overly boisterous and they go back on the lead. They're trained not to approach other dogs or humans without invite.

What annoys me is that if I see other dogs I put mine back on the lead until we pass, and yet the amount of times an owner has seen me do that, but then let's their dog come bounding over to mine anyway! And when I ask them to recall I get the whole just being friendly nonsense.

And that's quite fine, but one of my dogs is a baby and one of the others is very protective of her so she may well snap.

@Pinchoftums have you read the thread? Op was shaking after the confrontation with the owner, not because of the dog. A natural reaction due to adrenaline if you're not used to confrontation. And the dog won't end up being yappy just because irresponsible lazy owners have no control over their dogs.

You are being dramatic here...

Someone asked what I think could have happened if it were a toddler - at best it could knock them over. At worst a bite and a scratch leading to a lifelong fear of dogs!

At best...absolutely nothing would have happened. At best the dog runs over, bounces around a bit and fucks off. Why does the best scenario involve a toddler being knocked over. Dramatic!

As PP said no this isn't ideal but you cannot control other people's actions. You need to try and relax a bit

Why on earth where you shaking? What are you teaching your puppy? Of course she shouldn't let her dog run up but dogs will run up to them, joggers will startle your dog, and she needs to not be bother by it. Not taught that this non- event is in anyway traumatic. Your dog is going to end up being a yappy arsehole dog unless you socialise it and let it not be scared of dogs approaching.

@minniemomo but that's the point, off lead dogs shouldn't be approaching on lead dogs... on lead dogs are usually on lead for a reason. Responsible owners put their on off lead dogs onto a lead when passing on lead dogs if the off lead dog is the type that won't just walk past the on lead without approaching.
If your dog is off lead and you allow it to approach on lead dogs, quite frankly you're an irresponsible and lazy owner.

YANBU. Dogs that are not trained to not approach other dogs or people uninvited should be on a lead. I’m sick of shitty lazy owners who can’t be bothered to train their dogs with reliable heel and / or recall acting as if the people who don’t like their dogs bounding over are the ones with a problem.

If you can’t recall your dog, you run the risk of it doing something that gets it kicked / attacked / bitten / stolen.

Over the past year all usual dog walking etiquette seems to have gone out of the window.

It used to be friendly dogs off lead could approach other friendly off leads, if one dog appears on a lead, yours goes back onto theirs until passed. And if they don't recall you don't let them off.

My elderly spaniel was house bound for a few months, then we were dog less for several after she passed. We're now out with out new lab and shocked at the new normal. Today we met a man with a young dog with bells all round her collar so when she runs off he can hear where abouts she is in the woods. He then can just follow the bells as she won't recall. Getting back into the car the lady parked next to me was surprised she still had a dog as hers usually ignored her and got lost whenever let off. And I was jumped on several times by random dogs who zoom out of nowhere then dissappear with no owner in sight.

Dogs don't need to be on a lead but they do need to be under control. She was obviously in the wrong but you need to get used to dogs coming over to socialise with your pup.

Dogs should be on a lead where appropriate. I get tired of people telling my terrified child that "it's ok, the dog is just being friendly" as it jumps up at him. I wouldn't let my children jump up on strangers so why do some people think it's ok to let their dog do it?

@Bigtruth.....your post is ridiculous.

I will highlight how unacceptable it is either in discussion or when I have to face it in real life. I will not just accept it because you deem it out of my control. The more people who actively show their refusal to accept this behaviour and report loose, roaming dogs the better,then maybe ignorant dog owners will get the message.

I politely explain to dog owners ahead that my dog does not like random dog s coming up to him. On the whole most people do the right thing....dog owners out of sight of their dogs need reporting it is not ok.

I will happily have an arguement with a dog owner in this instance, they have made my trip out a bloody nightmare, I therefore will make their trip out a nightmare, it is called natural justice.....they may also get the message.

The suffragettes were just moaning were they?
Climate change activists are just moaning apparently...
Marcus Rashford was just moaning about child poverty..?

In the hope I can effect change, I will highlight the issue, I expect you will be calling it moaning, which says more about you than me or the Op.

@Bearnecessity - I think it's you missing the point actually, spectacularly so. Kentuki is not defending the dog owner who applies it's dog off lead, merely suggesting that you cannot control other people and how they look after their dogs.

Moaning about it changes nothing. My dog also gets scared of certain big dogs approaching him, rather than start a fight that leaves me shaking for hours I remain calm and try to keep my dog calm. Letting him know I'm stressed will add to his stress. I'll also protect him if I'm concerned myself.

Apart from reporting to the police or starting a physical fight with the dog or its owner, you're left with dealing with your own dog to sort this out, there's no point wasting energy in an argument that is counter productive.

And I suppose the sea lion mauled to death by a dog on the Thames needs to be fine with it.... only on MN....

@Kentuki.....you miss the point the dogs and owners don't like it and they will not get to like it by enduring this behaviour and they shouldn't have to. The poor pug last week mauled to death,, my dog that had to be put down after being attacked, the notion we should all suck this up is beyond ignorant.

Real world socialisation does not happen in classes. This is what happens in the real world, there are loads of dog owners out there who don’t bother with the basics. This is what your dog needs to be fine with, even as it irritates and annoys you!

It doesn’t sound at all as if this dog was under control, but it also doesn’t sound aggressive or unfriendly. It’s not ideal and she should have had her dog closer, but from your POV your puppy must absolutely meet and greet as many possible friendly dogs as you can find in as many possible situations and approaches as you come across. Otherwise you will have another reactive dog. And they sense your fear and agitation. In the scheme of things this is a big friendly dog wandering around and shouldn’t have elicited this reaction from you when you are trying to teach a puppy to be confident and relaxed. She sounds annoying and irresponsible but if the dog is friendly to your dog it’s not really your problem.

I really hate the attitude that I will have to get used to it! No, people need to keep their dogs under control - if not on a lead it must have excellent recall and be in your sight. I hate to think what would have happened if it has been a toddler that her dog decided to say hello to!

But you will have to get used to it unless you think you're going to change the world somehow. Honestly OP, I'm not being harsh but I think it sounds exhausting to be you! What do you think would have happened if it had been a toddler?

I have 2 thoughts 1) they might have still been training the dog and didn't expect it to run off to say hi, I think you have to be a bit understanding of dogs that are still learning - I'm sure you will have the occasional failure with yours, 2) whether you like it or not, not all dog owners are responsible and you are better off teaching your dog the behaviours you want than expecting all other people in the world to control their dog in the way you think they should. There are a lot of dreadful dog owners where we live and I just keep an eye out and call my dog away if I'm worried - I won't be able to change someone who doesn't think they are doing anything wrong. I also think the best thing to do, if you're worried, is to keep your dog on a lead and shout out a polite request to the owner to put their dog on a lead. How else will they know?

Chill out OP.

You do kind of have to get used to it a bit though because there will always be idiots. Same way I have to get used to the fact that Londoners drive like lunatics. I shouldn't have to but I have learnt to predict what crazy stunts people will pill to get 2 cars ahead.