Dog owners allowing their dog to approach mine while mine is on the lead.

[Totsntantrums]

When my dog was a pup, she was attacked by a dog off lead. She is now extremely anxious and we are working on this with a behaviourist. She is much better now but I still prefer to keep our distance at the moment.

I try to walk her during quieter times and always keep her on the lead but I am so fed up of dogs bounding up to us with the owner calling “it’s ok they are fine” while half attempting to call their dog back. I usually tell them that my dog is not ok with dogs and often the owner will apologise and/or call their dog back.

My AIBU is from today. A man let his dog run up to mine. I just called “my dog is not good with other dogs” and he started shouting at me saying “well you should bloody muzzle it then”. He didn’t even attempt to call his dog back.

My dog has never been aggressive to another dog and as far as I am concerned I have my dog under control.

AIBU to think that you should not let your dog approach random dogs even if they are fine?

Tabulah I've been taught that it's not easy for dogs to display or read signals whilst on lead. So perhaps you can't expect all well socialised dogs to be able to know what another dog is trying to say when on lead.

I addition, my dog is extremely friendly. He gives off extremely friendly signals to other dogs when on lead. But I'd still prefer they didn't approach him because I'm working on keeping him below threshold and focussed on me as part of his training.

Yanbu

My dog has fucking awful recall so he stays on lead for this exact reason (and he’d probably tear across a road to play with any dog)
Until he gets to the point that he has satisfactory recall he only gets off lead time in dog runs where it’s expected for dogs to approach and play with one another.

To be honest my dog has had years of training lessons. She was hand raised since she was around a day old or so, and so her social interaction with other dogs is lacking. She doesn’t understand it. She is better as she used to try and snap at the neck and she was muzzled. Thank god she’s only a tiny little yorkie so easily controllable.

“So perhaps you can't expect all well socialised dogs to be able to know what another dog is trying to say when on lead.”

It’s the other way round, dogs on lead are more likely to be accidentally giving off stay back signals.

You are definitely not unreasonable, join reactive dogs uk Facebook group for support and understanding. For those saying stick to pavement walks, this would go against my behaviourists advice to keep my dog below threshold, after being attacked 3 times her threshold is high and sometimes even just seeing another dog across the street is too much for her) not to mention the many thst jump and bstk at their gates as we pass. Our behaviourists advice is to drive to a field or park where she can learn to observe dogs from a safe distance while we follow what is known as CARE protocol and also utilise behavioural adjustment training which needs plenty of space, neither of these methods would work on a pavement walk and forcing my dog to endure that type of walk would make her behaviour far worse whereas by following advice and using open spaces she is improving. I'll also add, each of the 3 times my dog was attacked she was on lead on the street, one was a stray and the other 2 escaped their gardens and crossed the road to get to her, so I avoid this type of walk where possible.

This absolutely does my tits in too, and I’m the owner of a friendly, passive, small dog who’s otherwise off the lead, but the second we see another dog on one, he gets put back on. His recall is 95%, but inevitably that 5% would be when he bounds over to say hello to a dog that doesn’t want to! So lead it is. If only other owners were as considerate... the fact that they aren’t has resulted in him getting attacked and bitten while on the lead twice now by his own breed, and as such he’s now wary of them! A situation totally created by laziness from other owners.

No YANBU - I always think that if someone has their dog on a lead its for a reason, just the same as I assume that if its off the lead its trustworthy/friendly etc. My dog is a little dog and often wants to run up and say hello to every other dog, but if a dog's on a lead I always call him back before he gets there. Sometimes the person says its OK for him to come and say hello and so I then let him, but not always. I also hate those people with big dogs who say "oh its ok he's friendly" while he's jumping all over you. Get your bl**dy dog off me!!! Honestly.

I’m heartily sick of people who do not control their dogs. Mine was badly bitten two weeks ago and now she’s frightened of other dogs. Please keep your dog away from mine!

To be honest it's getting to a point now where it should just be law to keep your dog on a lead at all times. Sucks for those that have well behaved dogs, but we can't trust the muppets out there who bought a dog and can't be assed training it. They bite other dogs, other animals, people etc and the dog ends up dead because it's owner was a moron. It's not the dogs fault.

I know someone who recently while out hacking her horse with a friend got attacked by a big dog and her horse bolted for home. Thankfully both were unharmed, but the friend had managed to stay and tell the dog owner to get her dog under control and got told no. If it had been my horse there, the dog would have ended up dead, my horse hates them after being chased by one.

It sucks, but the only solution is a ban on dogs off lead. Not fair like I say to those who put effort in, but not everyone has common sense.

Yanbu my dog was recently attacked by a tiny little terrier who was off lead while she was tied up. The owner didn't even come over until after I had pried the fucking thing out of my dogs jaws as my dog had 20kg on the little thing and it quite easily fit in her mouth. The little bastards tried to birth her three times butcouldnt get a grip before she retaliated, and I still have nerve damage from where my hand slipped and got impaled on one of her back teeth prying the little dog out of her mouth.

I know if was stupid to put my hand in her mouth but I wasn't about to boot her in the chest for defending herself. The other dogs owner didn't even say anything just grabbed her dog and scarpered.

I feel like I live in a parellel universe. Where I live dogs on leads are constantly stopping to sniff each other while the owners get tangled up in the leads as the dogs circle each other. It's not usually assumed that an off lead dog shouldn't approach unless the owner of the on lead dog gives very clear signals, such as standing off to one side and holding their dog close. Otherwise all the dogs tend to approach each other lead or no lead.

This is why I only walk my dog where I can see well ahead. I never know how he is going to react to other dogs but if anyone told me to muzzle him I'd tell them to do one.

YADNBU!

I know I'm going to have this today, as my parents are bringing my sisters gorgeous rescue patterdale to see me. She's such a lovely dog but partly cos she's patterdale and partly cos she's rescue she just can't do other dogs, we try and comfort her but her heart is racing, she has yellow everything, but people seem to not understand what it means. The number of times we get oh leave her alone mine just wants to play, good for your dog, however However there's two dogs in the situation.

Owners seem to think that just cos their dogs fine they take offence at us trying to keep ours away. We're not assuming your dog is nasty, and want to keep it away from ours. We know ours is nervous and likely to react badly so we're trying to protect your dog.

I keep my dog away when dogs are on lead in places where dogs are generally off lead, such as the fields and woods through which we generally walk. However sometimes it is hard to tell - we have to enter our walk through a field where there are sometimes sheep, so everyone keeps dogs on leads. Most people using it are local and our dogs sniff each other happily as we pass in the field. But last week a lady told DD2 off for our dog 'getting in her dogs face' because her dog was nervous - we had no way to know that the lead (no yellow harness) was because of nerves rather than because of the sign warning people to keep all dogs on leads. Other dog owners are not mind-readers and so if there are other reasons that dogs are on leads then owners need to call out to explain as soon as another dog comes into sight.

I think it's good 'dog' manners to ensure that you have control of your dog - which means only letting it off lead if they have good recall. I am utterly fed up with the cheerful "Oh she's friendly" as a strange dog comes hurtling towards us. It's amazing how many times these people are completely incapable of calling their dogs back, which begs the question why the dog is off lead in the first place if it has no recall.

My stock response is now "Yes, that's what the last person said, but the end result was months of vet treatment which cost over £3k" whilst pointing to the really horrendous and huge scar that one of my dogs has. They tend to back off pretty sharpish.

Definitely NBU I thought allndog owners understood the 'dog code' - if a dog is on lead I always recall my call and hold her collar until I can ask the owners of the other dog if theirs is friendly.

YADNBU

I had very similar with my old dog, who would act defensively against other dogs approaching, so we'd keep him on the lead.

One time I was walking up a hill in a big open field and a lurcher came sprinting out of nowhere and started running in close circles round us. I stopped and held my dog close until eventually a woman appeared, chatting away on her mobile. I called out in an apologetic way that my dog was not good with other dogs and she just shrugged and said, "well, my dog won't come back if I call him" so I didn't say anything, just tried to get past the dog and then she removes the phone from her ear as an after thought (probably sensing my bemusement) and snaps "If he's not good with other dogs, he should wear a muzzle!". I was pretty irritated by now so I call back, "hang on, my dog's under close control, whereas yours is totally out of control!" (still whizzing round my growling dog) and she proceeds to stick her middle finger up at me! I laugh and call her "classy" and carry on with my walk but wtf! It almost made me want to let my dog off the lead to teach her a lesson but it wasn't the lurcher's fault so of course I wouldn't, but I was bloody angry.

Fortunately I now have a very friendly lab, with great recall so it's not a problem any more, but I will always call her away from a dog on a lead, mostly from my past experience. It's true that many people who've always had friendly dogs, don't think to do this. I saw a dog wearing the yellow hi vis 'give me space' leads the other day and thought it was an excellent idea.

YANBU.
I have a large breed puppy (11 months) and although he is perfect with other dogs I don't let him off the lead when other dogs are around - just in case I can't get him back instantly and he goes bounding over or he has a bad experience with a dog. I let him off the lead and practice recall when there are no dogs around. The amount of dogs that run over to him off the lead and bark/growl at him is unbelievable. A lot of people look on anxiously due to his size, but they don't/can't call their dogs back. In this instance I usually say he's great with other dogs, but if the dog acts aggressively towards him I make a point of pulling him away. He does go to day care though and I know he spends the majority of time off the lead with a whole host of other dogs so I possibly worry too much.

We always put our dog back on the lead whenever another dog approaches. People who say "it's ok they're fine" are stupid. Nobody can predict what will start a fight off. I've noticed that a lot of people with big dogs don't care because they think their dogs will come off better in a fight. However if a dog is on the lead and gets attacked it'll have a better chance of defending itself getting released from the lead.

YANBU. I agree with a previous poster in that it's going to end up with dogs never being allowed off lead. Unfortunately, at least where I live, it's the majority of owners that are shit and useless.

I hate this!!

When my dog is walking nicely with me and other people's off lead dogs come bounding up, it's 1) annoying 2) unpredictable 3) potentially dangerous as can trip me up over the lead.

Bloody inconsiderate arses! If you see a dog on a lead, call your dog to you at the very least and preferably put a lead on them.

I have a large, ugly and excessively friendly mastiff cross rescue dog. She is always on the lead wherever anyone else might be. She pulls. A lot. If some stupid fool lets their little bundle of harmless fluff run over and jump at her, she is likely to get very frightened because, being on a lead, she can’t run away. She will also feel the need to defend me against what she feels is an attack. And frightened and defensive dogs bite. The owner of the bundle of fluff will say it is my fault! So, YANBU.

This is the thing aswell, it might not just be the dog who is nervous. The owner may also have the fear.

I know I hate it also and this is something that I am working on as it doesn’t help my dog but if a dog does end up attacking a dog on a lead, it’s the owner holding the lead who ends up in the middle of it.

YANBU per se

All dogs need to be excercised off lead. I’m well and truly pissed off with people who allow their dogs to approach my pup whilst she’s in training and at the stage where I am training her to walk past other dogs. She invarioubly gets a nose stuck in her face and is unable to pass them. More often than not she gets jumped on and bowed over by those dogs whose owners say “It’s ok. She’s friendly”. Aaarghhh!!

Dogs who run up to other dogs and stick their nose in another dogs face or rear end, without invitation, are rude!

If owners cannot keep their dogs under control verbally then keep them on a lead. Other peoples, rude, out of control dogs are a fucking nuisance! 😡