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?!

[HyacinthBouvier]

Yep - agree re the muzzle strengthening their arguments!

Amazes me that her solution to her out of control dog was to put mine in a muzzle - so she wants to keep allowing her dog to charge about off-lead but not get attacked if it scares any other dogs. Presumably all little kids at that park should stay indoors if they would get scared of s big bouncy dog!! Idiots!

[Cguk81]

YANBU at all! The basic common sense rule that all dog walkers should follow is that if a dog is on a lead then you don't let your dog go up to it. Very simple.

[HyacinthBouvier]

Katy07 I mentioned the breeds because I think it's very relevant - people like the stupid woman I encountered this morning are the reason that a lot of people are afraid of Staffies.

I believe owners of breeds with a bad reputation have a responsibility to make sure there dog is whiter than white in these situations.

My friend has a border terrier - he's gorgeous and once broke out via the cat flap to tour the neighbourhood BBQs - generally caused a ruckus, jumped fences, chased after people's food etc before we could round him up. Neighbours thought it was adorable but we all know a Staffie owner could never allow that to happen as the breed would be blamed.

[Autumnsweater]

YANBU. Off lead dog should never be allowed to bound up to an on-lead dog for many reasons not just reactivity (old arthritic dogs, service dogs, in-season bitches.. etc etc). Dangerous dogs act would put her dog in the wrong not yours as yours on lead.

[Sipperskipper]

People are idiots. My lovely, gentle, silly border terrier was attatcked by 2 big dogs (akitas I think) a few months ago. They were off lead and out of control, came racing up out of nowhere. He ended up with a ruptured knee and needed stitches to his back.

Since then, he's been nervous around other dogs he doesn't know - can be defensive and snappy. I therefore always keep him on a short lead whenever there is a chance of bumping into other dogs, and give people plenty of space, just in case.

Yesterday, I was walking him on lead, and a woman walked towards me with her off lead, muzzled dog. She could see I was trying to avoid her but did nothing - her dog came racing over and attacked mine (it was about 4 x size of mine!). She struggled to pull it off and my poor dog was traumatised. She could not understand what the problem was, as her dog had a muzzle. Why have your dog off lead if you have no control over it?! Makes my blood boil!!

[amammabear]

Yanbu, her dog was out of control, friendly or not, and that's illegal.

[fourquenelles]

There is no argueing with stupid I am afraid. One of my boys stomps down on dogs when they approach too close and at 30 kgs plus he could do some damage to smaller dogs. I have him on a lead and he is muzzled as he is an ex hunting dog trained to chase small furries.
One stupid dog owner allowed their bouncy spaniel to come bounding over so I said words to the effect of "Be careful my boy punches!" Her response was "Good job he is wearing a muzzle then!" Yeah because a muzzle will stop him crashing his front feet down? Boxing gloves maybe, muzzle no.

[HyacinthBouvier]

Sipper your poor dog! That's just horrible!

[ShesGottaTicket2Ride]

Am so glad you posted Hyacinth - I have had similar problems! & no - I don't think your dog needs a muzzle - you sound like a really responsible thoughtful owner!

our vet said to carry a walking stick (her dog was attacked) ... we also carry a whistle (when we remember) and sometimes pepper spray (which we've been told is illegal - you can get it on amazon).

Our dog was attacked by an Akita a few years ago (off its lead) and had bites (punctures) all down his back.

[OrlandaFuriosa]

I expect I'll get flamed by Akita lovers here, but I don't understand why they are not kept on the lead if there are likely to be other dogs in the area. They're great with people, met some nice ones, but were bred to be aggressive with other dogs, so of course they will be, not their fault. We've had so many near misses with them even on the lead, perhaps they just think that stupid furioso jrt is encumbering the earth or a juicy morsel..

[OrlandaFuriosa]

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

[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

[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!

[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

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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!

[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!"

[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.

[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

[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!

[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.

[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.

[Wonderflonium]

Holy mackerel, Exit !