WIBU to snap at this dog walker? Next time I might poke her in the eye.

[DrawingaLine]

There's a woman down the road from me with two Westies. One is okay but the other is really quite aggressive but when the aggressive one gets aggressive she sets the other one off. So, two aggressive dogs really.

I've got a rescue border terrier who's growing in confidence but can be still quite nervous. Every time we pass this woman, her aggressive dog has a go at my dog. When they're far apart it's okay, my dog won't give a shit but when we pass close my dog gets very jumpy.

When her dog has a go at mine, this woman laughs and says 'Oh she doesn't like border terriers'. But I've seen her dog be aggressive to all breeds, not just border terriers . Plus, I don't actually see what's funny about my dog cowering against walls whilst her dogs bark and snarl without any sorts of correction. Maybe that's just my sense of humour failure though.

Last night we passed in a narrow alley way. When I saw them approaching, I stopped, blocked the path between her dogs and mine and bent down to stroke my dog until they'd gone past. This stupid fucking idiotic woman then stops right next to me and starts talking to my dog whilst her dog is going nuts at the end of it's lead. My dog is really confused, cowering and desperate to get home (we're about 10 meters from the door).

So I said to her 'We're waiting until you've moved on' or something to that effect. To which she said nothing and just carried on talking at my dog.

So I snapped at her 'Can you just walk on please, my dog's terrified'. She did move on but huffed and puffed down the road muttering at what a rude woman I was.

I'm hoping she'll avoid me now she thinks I'm rude!

Mine sending sympathy!

fearful dogs need strong leadership not soft voices.

Yes to this! I know if I saw a huge great lion snarling away at me, Id rather have a confident ranger with a gun next to me than a massage therapist.

Dartmoor He's gorgeous

I've got a lovely rescue boy who cannot pass another dog without barking his head off, not because he's aggressive but because he's so keen on other dogs he can't understand why they don't all want to play like a nutter. I know him, and know a bit about dog behaviour, but I also realise that lots of other dog owners don't and they may well be quite worried about his excitable behaviour (he's quite big so probably looks like a giant slathering beast to anyone who doesn't know him). Unless it's someone we know, and both they and their dog know he's just a big softie, I would never get close to another dog walker and their dog who may be worried/scared, it's common courtesy and being a good dog owner. This woman is either an idiot or knows nothing about dog behaviour. Sounds like one of those owners who shout 'don't worry he won't bite' after their dog's bitten you! Btw Dead is right, if you can't avoid her, briskly walk past as smoothly as you can with your dog completely ignoring her and her dogs.

YANBU, I'd have told her to fuck off.

Had a similar problem when my rescue collie was alive. I'd seen the dilly wee lassie with the snappy Westie on an xtending lead (ie, out of control). I hate extending leads, especially with wee rat dogs, but thats another thread.
I sat my collie nicely and asked her to leave (clicker-and-treat training is fab for a nervous dog). Nope, silly wee lassie's snappy Westie gets in my collie's face, she had nowhere to go, asked owner to control her dog, was ignored so I put my foot in Westies face to block it.
Cue silly wee lassie shrieking how dare I kick her dog,(I didnt) she was going to call the police, her dad, her friends, the SSPCA.
Whatever, fuckin numpty. The world is full of idiots thinking theyre dog experts and that 'oh my dogs friendly' is an excuse not to bother controlling your dog.
This wifey sounds like one of those arseholes, so you werent BU!
Try not to reward your dogs nervousness tho, clicker training is great fun and gives a dog confidence in its abilities!
Also have you heard of the Yellow Dog scheme? you can get a coat for your dog saying I Need Space. Maybe that would work?
Good luck!

Isitjustme My dog would love yours. She absolutely loves other dogs and barks back a good 'un when dogs bark at her out of excitement

I've got a labrador and for some reason jack russells hate her. She gets barked and snarled at by one every time I take her out.

Fortunately she's so old and deaf and oblivious that it doesn't upset her. If it did I'd move her away decisively and quickly.

But YANBU to be cross about the woman not dealing with her dogs' aggressive behaviour. Some owners are fecking deluded about their pets yes mum I'm looking at you I suspect she thinks their horrible behaviour is quite fetching. It's worse than parents with 'spirited' children.

Try not to reward your dogs nervousness tho

You can't reward emotion.

This is a really interesting article that explains why not. k9aggression.com/what-you-may-not-know-about-rewarding-a-dogs-fear-or-aggression/

EvilStepMum Oh you're poor Collie

Yes, I do know about the coats. They're great but my dog doesn't actually need space in general. She loves other dogs coming up to her and playing. She gets nervous when something out of the ordinary happens and when dogs get aggressive (only happened a couple of times apart from this fucking woman) she just freezes/cowers/makes herself as small as possible.

So I don't want other dogs to stay away from her in general at all IYSWIM.

mini Yeah, she thinks it's hilarious that her dog is only ever aggressive to BTs.

First of all that's not actually true. Secondly, yeah, it's hilarious unless you happen to be a BT not least a rescue BT settling into life in a home.

Poor dog. Just to let you know tho by stroking your dog when he is cowering you are actually praising his negative responses. Just swiftly walk on and leave the bullies standing is a better course of action!
Poke in the eye to the owner is def acceptable tho. Or a stick to her shin maybe?

Loving the gorgeous pics-BT's have such cute wee faces!

Perhaps a bag of fresh dog poop, swinging casually towards stoopid woman? Oh oopsy!

Loads of good advice on here, OP. I too think you were admirably polite and would have told her to control her fucking dogs.

Your dog is gorgeous. I love Border terriers. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with her.

I'm probably being less simpathetic because my borders and the ones I've known have been little terrors!! But yours looks very sweet.

Can you avoid her when you see her? That's what I do when we see a dog my dog doesn't like.
Cross the road when you see her coming, turn and walk away if she is coming towards you in an alleyway - just keep plenty of space between yours and hers.

Sapphire Thanks. She's wonderful. It's been hard work at times but she's really coming into her own. It's been so rewarding.

buckyou I know. BTs have got a really bad reputation. My dog didn't get the email about 'How to be a BT'. She loves other dogs, she's very quiet in the house, she's lazy and she doesn't give a shit about cats coming into the garden.

Alaskan Most of the time yes I do. But when we see her in the back alley it's hard because there's only one way to go (no side exits) and we're heading home and my dog absolutely wouldn't turn around because she knows she's close to her dinner.

Agree with Soupdragon I would have told her - take that bugger away or Ill kick it's head off.

(I know, I know - I'm a real charmer . . .)

Yadnbu, I have a rescue that is scared of off lead dogs racing up to him and I have literally ended up backed into a bed of nettles and brambles with a dog yapping round our ankles while the owner shouts 'it's ok he won't bite', despite me calling out whilst well ahead, to ask them to keep their dog away from mine while we pass each other. Training him not to react to other dogs running up to him is constantly set back by people who think their dog has the right to make contact with every single dog it sees. I now ask politely once, then if they don't listen or get shirty I don't bother being polite anymore and say it like it is, without being aggressive.

Fwiw, you can't reinforce fear - . So it's fine to offer comfort to your dog when she's scared. If she was being reactive and th other dog retreated that would reward the reactive/aggressive behaviour, but if she is afraid that's not something that you would being able to reinforce with comforting strokes/words or treats. I would recommend treat bombing (literally stuffing one treat after another down your dogs throat while the other dog is present) to keep her distracted until you have worked on 'watch me' sufficiently that she is able to ignore the other dog. (Kikopup has videos that will help you with that too.)

She looks like an absolute sweetie and I hope you can find a way to help her cope with seeing this dog out and about.

Hopefully she will stay away from you now, but if not, I suggest a very polite request to FUCK OFF is in order, stupid cow.

hi Op! i would have been fuming as a doberman owner i do not tolerate her barking at other dogs! if not corrected they think thats what you expect of them! barking should always be corrected.

I hope she avoids you now......................! just watch stroking your lovely border as it will make him think that its normal to be scared as you give reasurrance, instead try not to show your worry for him as hard as it is, as it will only worsen his fear. (hope this makes sense)

Good luck!

oooops my bad HER...........not him!

and again .... you cannot reinforce fear by stroking, comforting a frightened dog. Read pagestillnotfound's link and watch the video I linked to to explain how/why.

I can see both sides to this.

I have a fear aggressive dog. When she passes another dog she looks like she is possessed by satan. She is literally terrified and barks her head off to make the scary thing go away. Correcting her won't work (it's not a case of not tolerating it like another poster suggested- you can't not tolerate fear ) as she panics more. No amount of training can change personality, you can't train a nervous or reactive streak out you can only work with what you have.

It's similar to your dog being terrified of mine only mine reacts differently, they are proberbly all as upset as each other! The vast majority of dogs who bark and lunge are undersocialised and fearful not outwardly aggressive.

Literally all I can do when she does loose her shit is keep walking and sometimes make a joke or roll my eyes. I hate taking her out for fear of being judged, just because my dog is 'aggressive' does not mean I haven't trained, sometimes these things happen.

It's crap when she lunges at lovely dogs but as long as they are on lead and can't make contact it's just noise and won't hurt your dog. It's more embarrassing for me than anything!

I can't defend her for stopping and taking to you though, she does sound like she could use some training in dog behaviour herself but it's not as easy as just telling them to shut up sometimes

I would continue to reinforce positive behaviour from your dog and teach her to focus on you no matter what and hopefully her confidence will improve.

She's so sweet!

Walk straight past with her tight to your ankles - don't stop or allow her to slow down. If woman tried to force the dogs to interact again just hurry past and say 'I'm sorry she may bite as she is nervous'.

You being nervous will just make her nervous. Most dogs are bark not bite, and she will need to get used to all other dogs types eventually.