Dog owners put them on a lead!!!

[BusyJessica]

I am a runner, Im so tired of people's dogs running and jumping on me while i'm on a run. Its always dog owners with the larger dogs, if you have a dog that is excitable and is known to chase jump and be a general nuisance to others trying to enjoy the park please put it on a lead.

I suffer severe allergies and today a dog jumped on me while i'm out running and scratched my leg. I have now got a 4 inch scratch which could scar from the knee down. The lazy owner had the dog off a lead and was very overweight so could not keep up with the dog running off ahead.

She then had the nerve to tell me i was out of order for kicking the dog off me.

Please Dog Owners put your dog on a lead.

My dog hates anyone walking or running towards her even on the lead. It invades her personal space.

So you're saying your dog hates anyone approaching her? Even just harmless walkers? If so, that should be your problem, not mine.

BTW - and I'm not being nasty - I found the sentence "it invades her personal space" kind of hilarious for some reason. This is a dog on a walk. She isn't defending her home territory or someone crammed into the corner of an elevator.

I've only read the first and last, so shoot me! I think that if a dog has no or poor recall it shouldn't be let off the lead, particularly in busy parks. In deserted country areas I don't think it's so much of a problem as long as the dog doesn't bother animals, ground nesting birds and so on. It is the owner's responsibility to ensure their dog is either suitably trained or on the lead.

Having said that I have spent a lot of time (hundreds of visits) in a large, busy park that is very popular with runners and I've never seen a runner bothered by a dog. I've also never had a dog bother me while I've had a picnic. So in my experience it's not a big problem.

I don't think that dogs should automatically be on the lead in public. Give and take is needed on both sides. Dog owners need to be responsible, but unfortunately there is roughly the same the proportion of careless, selfish dog owners as there is careless, selfish people in the general population. Equally people who aren't keen on dogs (a proportion of which will be careless and selfish) need to be flexible regarding the presence of dogs in public places.

TheClaws

Why shouldn't dogs have personal space?

Should dogs tolerate everything and anything that happens to them - dogs on a lead are trapped just as much as a dog cornered in a tight space, dogs DO have personal space and often can have personal space issues (reactivity) - it is something I work with a lot! It is THAT common I would say about 70% of my job is dealing with dogs who cannot cope with strangers in their personal space.

Now its reasonable and a vital part of behavioural modification to make sure the owner takes sensible steps to avoid people GETTING in that personal space - yes... but that means things like, turning around, creating more distance, getting off paths and out of the way.

It does not mean that its reasonable for total stranger to RUN up to an unknown dog and get inside a 6ft 'bubble' though - particularly for someone to run up from BEHIND that dog in sneaky silent running shoes.

There is only so much environmental management anyone can achieve, so given that seeing dogs outside in public is a normal thing and a perfectly reasonable thing it would make sense if folk knew not to run up behind them or head on at them, and to give them a good six foot berth when passing if the owner either can't see you coming OR makes it clear they'd like a bit of space.

Its hardly going to ruin your day, inconvenience you enormously, but it might keep you safe and it might mean someone elses day ISNT ruined (becuase yeah, its soul destroying when you have spent HOURS working with a dog and you are making progress and then someone hurtles up behind you, startles the dog who reacts and then you are back to square one again!)

You might think 'well I don't have a dog so why do I need to think about these things' but .. I don't drive a car, but knowing the basic rules of the road helps me not cause accidents or get flattened.

We all have a responsibility to be courteous and think about other people as well as our own needs - or we might as well just have total fucking anarchy!

Kicking the dog and insulting the owner is going too far although the OP may well have panicked.

Letting dogs off leads in park is not unreasonable, allowing them to scratch /rub against joggers is.

WiddlinDiddlin of course, no one should be silly enough to approach a dog from behind without warning, whether it's leashed or not. I don't think anyone is disputing that. However, if I'm out walking, it's more about dogs that approach me. They break my personal distance priorities.