AIBU re dog off lead this morning

[HyacinthBouvier]

Ddog has social issues with other larger dogs but lovely with puppies, most female dogs, cats, kids and people in general. He's perfect socially 90% of the time.

Were trying to improve his social skills by training with treats and praise etc and it's working in that he isn't interested in other dogs at all when out walking.

People I know have suggested that my keeping him on the lead around other dogs won't help him as we think his problem is fear-aggression, which I totally agree with, but I am not sure there's a safe alternative

Hes a Staffie cross and I don't want to be responsible for worsening an already bad reputation if he was to nip another dog/get into a fight.

Today a stupid woman encouraged her Staffie to bolt over to us, Ddog was on lead, happily sniffing a lamppost, DS was strapped to me in stretchy wrap.

I saw her bolt over and shouted (stupid woman was at least 20 metres away, naturally) that my dog was nervous can she call hers back.

Her dog was very sweet and stopped a metre short of us (better manners than her owner!) but Ddog was eyeballing her so I walked on, keeping him on close lead but could hear SW mouthing off that if I lived round here I'd know her dog was friendly.

I said it wasn't the point, I love dogs but had my dog on a lead as he gets scared when approached.

She clearly wanted a fight (I suspect not the first time she's been told to use a lead) and quizzed me further on whether I 'lived round here' - still don't get the relevance, because even I said I did she kept saying but not 'round HERE' - the park?! Who knows?

I explained that she shouldn't allow her dog to bound over to a dog on a lead when she's nowhere near by and her answer was that if my dog can't cope with it, he should be muzzled as he's dangerous. WTF?!

Important to note that while this exchange was happening, her dog was bouncing round us and barking - still off lead as she didn't actually have one, and Ddog was just growling at her.

AIBU to think that my on-lead dog doesn't need a muzzle if the only time he's not friendly is when an off lead dog charges at him and won't leave him alone?!

[KayTee87]

She sounds like an idiot. Try the yellow lead/vest as others have mentioned.
I saw a dog the other day wearing one from a distance, was pushing my pram (which I know scares some dogs) so crossed to the other side of the road before the dog spotted me.

[WLF46]

All dogs should be kept on leads when in a public place. It would save an awful lot of trouble. Muzzles are a good idea for most dogs, but only really necessary when the owner/walker feels that they are unable to control their dog with a lead alone.

Remember that most many dog owners are irresponsible though, and the more irresponsible they are (and the more dangerous the dog), the less likely they will be to keep their dog under proper control.

You will not be able to stop other dogs running at your dog from time to time. Usually they will just be being playful, sometimes they will be aggressive and attack. It's just the nature of dogs - they see other dogs as a threat, unless that feeling has been suppressed (it can never be entirely removed) by good training.

Remember that your first priority is your child's safety, and your second priority is your own. Your dog comes a distant third.

[MadisonAvenue]

*horse, not house

[TitaniasCloset]

Decaf that idea is genius, the usual extender leads are weak and not that long anyway. Thank you!!!

[MadisonAvenue]

I've just had two annoying instances in the space of five minutes while walking my dog.

First one was two women walking 9 dogs, I assume they were professional dog walkers. All dogs were large apart from a Springer Spaniel and were running in a pack well ahead of them. We were walking through the woods and met them head on along a winding path. They all surrounded my boy, with the exception of the Springer, and I could see his body language changing, his ears were back, his tail dropped between his legs and his rear end started to curve down towards the floor so he was obviously feeling scared. I hadn't had chance to get him on his lead so was holding his collar. I shouted over to the women that mine was worried so could they get their dogs away from them, which they did half-heartedly by calling them but there was one Boxer who refused to stop bouncing around us.

A couple of minutes later I could see a horse rider coming towards us so got my dog on his lead in good time. There was a huge German Shepherd Dog chasing her, bouncing around the house and barking A LOT! As she got level with me she said, and sounded quite worried, "It's not my dog!" No one else was in view. It continued chasing her and I kept my boy on his lead and carried on walking. He then came back to us and started circling us while barking before running of ahead in the direction he'd come from with the horse rider. There's a corner to turn at the end of the path and when we got there he was being put on his lead by a man, probably in his late 50s and with his wife both typical rambler types, so I gave him a telling off as the dog was obviously poorly trained, reactive and had no recall so should be on a lead in public spaces. This was all happening on an open piece of land and he'd run out of their sight.

[maninawomansworld01]

I was walking one of my dogs on a lead once because he had ligament surgery and I was told no free running until it had healed.

Visiting Dsis who lives in a town so we were in a park with lots of other people / dogs around which Ddog isn't used to as we live on a farm so he's used to his own private land.

Dog comes bounding up, growling . Partly playful but with an edge. My boy is injured, in pain after the op, in an unfamiliar place and restrained on a lead which he is not really used to.

I shout the owner to get her dog under control, she laughs and ignores me. Her dog comes a bit too close and Ddog takes a huge chunk out of its flank (would have required a few stitches).

Totally her fault imo, refused to give her my details and told her to do one. People need to realise that dogs may be on leads for a REASON and you shouldn't allow your dog or DC's to approach without checking first.

Felt bad for her dog but the language, well, I hope the vets bill was huge!

[DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease]

Titan I've got a homemade long line, made from a washing line attached to a normal lead to use with my big dog/puppy when I am practicing giving him freedom, without letting him loose. Perhaps something like that would be useful for you, in a big field with visibility in case another dog approaches, and to help practice recall?

[TitaniasCloset]

Oh gosh, I was one of the bad dog owners, my dog was attacked badly as a puppy and nearly died but was still very friendly with other dogs, so I used to let him off the lead for short burst and then quickly put the lead back on if I saw other dogs. Anyway, of course one day I didn't grab him in time and he saw another dog safely on its lead and bolted. The other dog was nervous and became aggressive so my dog started a big fight. He is a big dog and we think has a bit of pitbull in him. The other dog didn't seem to be hurt as my dog saw it as a big game. But it traumatized me and of course the poor man walking his dog. Much as I love my dog I would never again get a big dog like him, my son rescued him from a terrible situation and wanted a dog badly so we kept him, but I just don't think I'm the sort of person who should keep a big dog. The garden is small and I don't own a car to take him out to places he could run off lead. Some dogs are a huge responsibility, more so than the average pet. I love him dearly but I clearly have a lot to learn about dogs.

[gettingtherequickly]

I get so annoyed by this, my dogs are never off the lead in public spaces. They are 4 large dogs and could easily kill a small dog. Two are always muzzled (one because he has shown aggression to small breeds and the other because I haven't had him long enough to trust), but it still doesn't stop people letting their dogs approach us.

[StressedOuMyMind]

Yanbu.

Boils my piss. My poor dog is still terrified of other dogs after a "friendly" lab came steaming up to her and trampled her in excitement. Lab was off lead, I was shouting at the (distant) owners to call the dog back. They tried and didn't work.

My dog a year later will still go into panic mode if she sees an off lead dog she doesn't know and this includes bolting in terror if she is off lead.....otherwise she has perfect recall.

The owners didn't even come and say sorry but I bawled them out on the village FB page. They now slag me off to all and sundry saying I was very rude to them and they couldn't believe the language. Which is bollocks.

[Wonderflonium]

Holy mackerel, Exit !

[ExitPursuedBySpartacus]

I did that once wonder and had the local mad dog woman banging on my door telling me she would holdme responsible if her elderly pooch died from my fog'so 'infection'.

She slagged me off to all the local dog owners.

[slinkysaluki]

It's dog walking etiquette and being sensible to not allow your dig to run over to on lead dogs, after all they don't know why your dogs on a lead. Could be recovering from an op or elderly, nervous etc. People should be more considerate.

[Fanofjapan]

I am an Akita owner as I said above, but totally agree with keeping this particular breed on a lead when out. He's as soppy as a sack with people, but not with other dogs. I wouldn't risk him hurting another dog and that's why I sometimes end up walking him a different route than i intended, if I come across another dog on the way. It's easier to avoid confrontation. Funnily enough, almost without exception, it's the little dogs that bark and growl at him - and always first. He mostly reacts excitedly (not particularly aggressively), but even so, there is no way he would be off lead, anywhere. Some owners ask if he is friendly and I say yes but not with other dogs. Or if their dog is off lead and approaching, they say it's alright they're friendly, and then I say that he isn't. That way, people take their chances. Anyway, I don't want dogs approaching mine on the strength of aaahhh they only want to say hello. Tough. I don't care!

[crazyspaniellady]

Oh dear, poor wee thing if you've got any friends local with dogs then I'd suggest walking with them a few times a week just to build his confidence. Ddog1 has improved so much due to walking with his foster brothers and sisters and Ddog2 as he now sees that not all dogs are going to be horrible to him, I think part of his reaction was "I'm going to get you before you get me" before he even knew a dog's intentions. He's now much more sociable and will say hello to dogs rather than growl at them if they dare breathe near him.
I'm not saying it'll definitely work for you, but a little confidence building is maybe what he needs, and if you try and remain calm when another dog approaches, dogs are incredibly in touch with their owners emotions and body language and will understandably get defensive if you tense up as you're anticipating your dogs bad reaction to the other dog. I also think the lead/little jacket indicating your dogs is nervous would be useful because it will make people take notice and maybe be more understanding

[HyacinthBouvier]

Wonder that is genius!!

I need to stop politely asking too - it has never been successful yet!

We have tried socialising him and it worked really well - he had his best friend bonnie until we moved away. He's also never ever had a problem with any dog he's met off the lead. He was attacked by a big male rottie in the rescue but other than that we don't know any reason for it. The protecting his female owner thing might be it because apparently she encouraged it to the point that he was anxious if she went to the bathroom and would howl outside the door.

[Wonderflonium]

This happened to me a few months ago and I had a complete meltdown in the street because it was so unpleasant.
I resolved never to say "Can you please call your dog off?" and get "but he's so FRIENDLY" in return and then the usual defensive bollocks.

Now I have trained myself to say "MY DOG IS INFECTIOUS!"

[crazyspaniellady]

YANBU, one of my Ddogs is the same, he's fine with children, adults, female dogs etc but has some issues with entire males and male staffies, although this is improving as we've had fosters who were still entire and one of my friends now has a male staffie cross and they're best friends. It helps to introduce your dog to calm dogs to build up his confidence but obviously I understand that is much easier said than done.
Ddog's issues stem from him being attacked as a pup (twice by out of control make staffies, once by the biggest labrador i've ever seen, the lab attack was the worst) do you know why your Ddog is insecure?
I would just like to point out I'm not staffie-shaming, I know they're lovely dogs with a very undeserved bad reputation, and it comes down to so many irresponsible people buying puppies and not training them or socializing them etc. I am always very wary of staffies when i'm out and will call both of my boys back if a dog appears nervous/on its lead, but that's only due to Ddog1's inconsistent reactions to staffies, not the other dog, it's not their fault. I 100% would not allow either of my dogs bound up to any dog (unless it's one of their doggy pals) but luckily neither of them are the boundy type.
I hope you're poor Ddog is okay, stupid dog owners are the bane of my life!

[HyacinthBouvier]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Im fairly sure the woman in question has been the subject of a few posts on our community FB group - all concerning her dog.

There's a guy who walks his three dogs at the much larger park in our town - all off lead - the chihuahua/jrt has no recall whatsoever and follows us yapping at the top of its voice. The owner is nowhere to be seen, occasionally gives a half-arsed whistle, never comes to get their dog if asked, never apologises - he can't actually see his dog for most of the walk, the fool!

[Poppypoochischristmascrackered]

I always put my dogs on lead when I see another dog on a lead, just basic dog walking manners, you don't know if the other dog is nervous, recovering from surgery or boisterous. Better to be safe than sorry.

[ExitPursuedBySpartacus]

Boils my piss too.

Mine is dog on dog aggressive but the number of twats who let their dogs run up to him. Then tut loudly when he has a go at their dog.

I ain't muzzling him because other owners are stupid.

[HyacinthBouvier]

harder I don't unfortunately - I'm too nervous that he'll have a scrap and hurt someone's dog - which is so unfair on him as he's been perfect with some massive dogs we've encountered.

The only thing I can think of is that he mirrors me - he had an unhealthy attachment to his previous female owner - so gets protective if he senses me uncomfortable with a dog charging over?! His best friend was a massive lab called Bonnnie who used to try and mount him so he's not predictable at all lol

[Evilstepmum01]

Argh, this makes me mad! My old rescue collie was not great with other dogs (due to cruelty before I rescued her) but was trained to heel. She used to wear a muzzle until she was attacked by two powerful-breed dogs, after that I simply warned other dog owners to recall their dog.
I have met twats like this before and my stock answer became 'either you control your dog or my foot will'. And yes, I did boot out-of-control dogs that came at her. No choice sometimes sadly.
Google yellowdog.co.uk-they sell 'I need space' jackets and things for your dog to wear. Might help.

Meanwhile, just avoid idiots like that, you cant reason with stupid!

[harderandharder2breathe]

Yanbu

I rarely let ddog off lead but when I do, I call him back if I see another dog on their lead, and virtually all owners I've encountered do the same. Unfortunately the odd idiot gives all owners a bad name.

Do you have friends with friendly, bombproof dogs that yours could meet off lead in an enclosed garden or similar?

But what you're doing is perfectly fine. Uninterested in other dogs is probably better than wanting to play, as it means he avoids any negative experiences as long as other owners don't act like twats

[OrlandaFuriosa]

And, just to say, jrt, is kept well away from them. But they are very strong.