To have assumed it was common courtesy among dog walkers

[SomewhereInbetween1]

To put your dog on a lead if you see another owner do so to their dog once they've spotted you? Especially if your dog's recall is a little sketchy? I've seen a lot of owners put their dogs on the lead at the sight of other dogs because they may, for instance, not get along with other dogs. But if the other dogs are off the lead and so still able to approach the one on the lead, it entirely defeats the effort. Anyone had any experience with this?

I didn't know it was the done thing to put mine back on lead if I see someone approaching put theirs on. I will now though (first time dog owner) so thanks for this thread :)

I don't have a dog any more rip ghost :(

I hardly ever put him on a lead he used to walk next to my leg. And carry his lead in his mouth. Just used to say leave it if we saw a cat. He had no intrest in other dogs at all. But there did used to be a big German Shepherd he used to stand on his hind legs and really bark and pull his owner. He used to pull his dog of the main path best he can. and I would put my dog on lead as well and take a wide birth.

My dog is awful with other dogs and I get so angry with the "don't worry he's friendly owners". I can promise you very few dogs remain friendly when they run up to mine who is growling and snarling because he doesn't mix well. I always shout a warning which never ends well if ignored. Why would you think you know a dog better than its owner.
He once got into a fight with a lab. I asked the owner 3 times to please put him on the lead. She insisted hers was friendly. Not very friendly when he attacked my on the lead dog who I was trying to get away or when she got nipped trying to separate them. I have to walk my dog and don't know what else I can do.

Don't have a dog if you can't cope with it.

I know people feel different about if dog should be put on a lead. But if another owner asks 8
If your digital can be put on the lead then you should. And also if there is a dog that seems to be nerves or aggressive common sense should say to put dog on lead.

We have a big dog who came from rescue and is best kept on a lead near other dogs. I tried running with him a few weeks ago (doing c25k again) so he was on a lead as we were in the park. It has a football pitch and a rugby pitch so it's easy to avoid another dog, unless the idiot owner walks across the middle of the field towards you and throws their dogs ball practically under your dogs nose. This is compounded when their dog has no recall and starts dancing around you while your dog is going for their ball.
Is it too hard to keep your dog away from mine.

We spend a lot of time stood in the middle of a field throwing the ball so we can have time to put our dog on his lead if another dog enters the field, at least he can have a good run. Unfortunately we still have dogs who come over and their owners are nowhere to be seen.

I put my dog on a lead to protect him. He is big and should it get snappy he is more likely to hurt the other dog. I don't want to have to have him pts because of someone else's "it's ok he's friendly " dog.

Yanbu

What I never understand is, I'm not ok with my dog hurting others, so avoidance, warnings, on lead, muzzled...and ok, no biting is going to happen, but, I can tell you definitively 38kg of dog hitting you with hard plastic on his big hard head hurts, enough to bruise me quite badly.

Why would someone risk that hit on their dog? Even if they think dogs have some sort of right to run about out of control - why do they not try to avoid their own dog getting hurt when all they have to do is call their own dog back to them for 30 seconds when I'm willing to take that hit on behalf of a dog I don't know.

Yes I had to rescue my poor elderly labrador who looked terrified as two big young dogs leapt all over him. The woman said - they are playing. Well they might have been, but my dog was clearly terrified.

feckitt BigFatBollocks Its not just badly trained dogs; its dogs with hip dysplacia or other problems that need to be on a lead and kept quiet.

Stop acting like everyone who keeps their dog on a lead is clueless.

If I clipped my dog back on the lead every time we passed an on lead dog she'd never be off the lead. I/She have never once had a problem with an on-lead dog. I'd guess 90% of them are on-lead for recall issues. My dog, being a Setter, has an extremely wide range too. If your dog might bite another dog (or human) then they should be muzzled.

YABU, I don't put mine on a lead as a matter of course just because someone else has put their dog on. If you are concerned about your dog you need to train it to sit and wait until the other dog has passed by. My dog is well trained to pass by walking at my heel and I get fed up of owners such as OP glaring at me because he is not on the lead.

If your dog walks on by without approaching other dog on lead then they are clearly under control and don't need to be put on a lead. It's when dogs are allowed to approach anyone including dogs on leads that I think are a problem and the owner doesn't bother attempting to recall them.

OP you are NBU but these threads never end well
my views on this
Not all dogs on leads are there because they are dangerous - as a pp has said they may be old, have health problems or nervous of other dogs.
It is not right that the dog owner with a dog on a lead is blamed or vilified when said dog is besieged and troubled by a loose off-lead dog (or often more than one) which is NOT controlled by their owner.
It is fine for a dog to be off-lead if you have control over it but that is not the problem the OP is outlining.

My grandfather was a farmer and hobby / PT dog trainer. He always had large working dogs such as Ridgebacks, Alsatians and Cane Corso. All impeccably trained.

But if the other dogs are off the lead and so still able to approach the one on the lead, it entirely defeats the effort. Anyone had any experience with this?

It does defeat the effort except that you are doing the right thing. If dogs do begin to fight, let yours go. They need to be able to defend themselves and you don't want to get bitten. Don't be afraid to kick the other dog if needs be.

My grandfather's (and mine, but he trained them) had a 'keep back' command. They would stay touching your thigh, wouldn't leave it, but would growl, snarl and raise their hackles. The pain the in the arse "but they're friendly" dog owners would come racing over. We'd tell our dog to sit or lie and they promptly would, looking like the soppiest 30kg you've ever seen. The irresponsible owners usually realised they were in the wrong.

That's obviously an extreme of dog training but people do need to take responsibility for their animals. Dogs on leads, even better behaved ones, are more likely to lash out if shown aggression by one off the lead. They feel trapped and fight or flight, with the flight option removed removed, can sometimes only have one result.

"If you are concerned about your dog you need to train it to sit and wait until the other dog has passed by"

I'll gladly travel to wherever you are in the country while you train my dog to do that if you want, then I'll pas your details on to the behaviourists, trainer and vet with a behavioural specialty that we've worked with - you'd make a fortune if you know can manage that where we've all failed.

i mean it doesn't solve the issue that the dogs aren't in fact passing by...but it'd be an improvement, so feel free...

train to sit and wait okay... so we'll find something that scares you, and then you can sit still and watch it gradually come closer and closer and closer until it's in your face and see how much you like it, shall we?

Best thing to do if your dog is nervous is to train them to focus on you and to keep moving past the other dog. But that's a lot easier if the other owner has the common courtesy to control their dog in the first place. Allowing your dog to run up to others on the lead without even attempting to stop it is a dick move. End of.

It's not the "being off-lead" per se, it's the loose dog approaching the trapped dog unchecked. I have absolutely no issue with a loose dog passing us with plenty of room and without even glancing over, that's just fine...zero eye contact and a distance of at least 150 yards is perfect. She'll still plunge and scream at the proximity of another dog, which sometimes attracts them for a closer look.

For perspective, my dogs recall is excellent. She rarely goes far, she does if she gets a scent (working terrier) but always comes back when called. So poor recall is not why she's on a lead - she's on a lead because she's very aggressive and will attack other dogs unprovoked, large or small. So when a loose dog comes over, she attacks in fear, then collapses in terror and gets savaged by the retaliating dog whilst trapped on her lead. She's been attacked 7 times.

You could anthropomorphise and say it serves her right, and I can't deny that she certainly starts it - but she's frightened and that's why she's on a lead and muzzled, so if your loose dog rushes over to play, gets muzzle-punched in the face and instinctively attacks her, that becomes YOUR problem. Mine was under control before you fucked it all up by not keeping yours away.

I just walk when and where we never have to see another dog or owner, but even in places where dogs are supposed to be on a lead she's been hurt by loose dogs, because obviously other owners are mysteriously exempt from the rules. I hope her spine gives out and we have to let her go soon, it'll be a relief for both of us.

A dog up our road is always getting out, it attacked my dog through our fence and ripped her face open. I loathe other people.

YANBU, but for all the recall training done without other dogs present there has to be a first time for the dog to practice and demonstrate being recalled from approaching another dog, and before that happens no one truly can tell what effect the presence of the other dog will have.

YANBU, sadly there are a lot of dog owners that don't see it though.

My very large dog is petrified of small dogs. Big bouncy dog running over he is absolutely fine and will play, little dogs he wets himself and makes this horrible wimpering noise whilst nudging into my leg. He is a rescue. There is a local lady who has seen him react like this quite a few times but still won't keep her yappy little dog away from him when it's growling and snapping at poor Sparklydog because 'aw look at my brave baby' and 'It's not like he's big enough to do any damage' and 'your dog needs to man up a bit' What the stupid cow doesn't get is if my dog does 'man up a bit' and snap, her dog is smaller than his jaw, he would likely kill it. So now i've had to change my walking times to avoid her and muzzle Sparklydog, who has never shown any signs of aggression. Whilst I have a little scar on my finger from getting her fucking nippy dog off him and it's still running around off the lead.

The scar by the way was because it had run underneath Sparklydog and was jumping up and down biting him, so not being able to lift him I picked up her dog and gave it to her, with my hand covered in blood where it had bitten me, told her to 'get that fucking animal under control NOW' (admittedly quite aggressively, my hand hurt and I was angry and my poor dog had cuts too) and I got 'oh he's tiny he's not doing any harm!' 5 years later I still have 1cm a scar from his tiny needle like teeth, Sparklydog thankfully wasn't too hurt.

My elderly labradors recall is excellent, except when there is food on the ground he wants such as abandoned chips. Then he ignores me totally.

We always have our two on leads which doesn't seem the norm in the local parks we go to and the dogs aren't trained. On occasion we have gone to Virgina Water great park where there is a clear sign saying please keep your dogs on leads. Do you think anyone does? We have been going to Victoria park in Bath on the weekends and the owners are fabulous. The dogs off the lead are so well behaved. A lot of dogs there have obviously been to dog training and the owners are wearing whistles around their neck. It's so nice to see such standards. They really take pride in their dogs. DH and I are now moving to Bath!

I can see both sides of the argument. On the path then yes of course on a lead, one of my dogs is awful when on the lead and will jump and bark and generally make a nuisance of herself so I do appreciate it when other people cross to avoid us.

However when we are out in open country then no, I don't want to have to keep putting them on and off. They need to run and explore as that's what dogs do. So many times I've been out and seen someone put their dog on, so I call out it's OK mine are friendly, only for them to reply that so is theirs but they've been told off and don't want to take any chances. It's frustrating that two people with friendly dogs feel obliged to put them on leads because they've been bollocked.

The problem perhaps is walking the park. Ours is very dog-friendly and quite often there will be a group of about 20 dogs running around off-lead. I do think if someone has a dog with issues then they would be reckless and a bit foolish to walk there and expect every other walker to put their dog back on.

I have been the person who couldn't walk in the park because I couldn't trust her recall and knew she could spook other dogs by being big, bouncy and in their face. It's a pain but had to be done as I didn't want other dogs getting scared by her at that point in time. She's settled now and can play with the other park dogs, I love to see them running around in a pack and having fun. I have complete sympathy for people who's dogs can have that freedom but I don't think you/your dog should have priority over the rest of the walkers.