Who was unreasonable? Dog walking.

[Bearlover16]

Walking my dog up the field. Let him off lead for a run. He approaches another dog to say hello who was on lead. Other dog attacks my dog, bites him quite nasty on the leg. My dog retaliates. Owner rants at me that my dog should be on a lead and she's sick of people like me as her dog gets the blame being a bull terrier. I respond that surely my dog should be allowed to have a run off lead?
Who was being unreasonable? Should her dog be muzzled if it's viscous even on lead?

Yabu.
Don't let your dog go running up to ones on leads.

There's probably training issues on both sides, yours with recall and theirs with aggression. But they have been responsible and have the dog on a lead.
Albeit I agree that dogs should be off leads. It really irks when I talk to other dog owners who never let their dog off the leads, seems cruel and unnatural to me, but it's not my dog so each to their own.

I think you were

Yes, your dog should be allowed to have a run off lead, but he shouldn’t be allowed to approach other dogs, especially when they’re on lead

My dog isn’t keen on other dogs - he ignores them mostly, is happy to have a quick sniff and be on his way, but when other dogs repeatedly hassle him he gets shirty.

I get fed up with other dogs being allowed to hassle him, despite him being on a lead, then their owner getting shitty when he barks or snaps.

Dog is brilliant off lead, he walks to heel unless I throw his ball, his recall is spot on and he never hassles other dogs. As soon as I spot another dog in the field, I have to put the poor bugger back on his lead or other owners seem to take him being off lead as a green light to let their dogs bounce all over him.

He’s getting older and not in great health - the highlight of his day is half an hour with his tennis ball, let no one can leave him alone.

YABU. If a dog is on a lead always assume there is a reason. My dog would have done the same. You just don't let your dog approach onlead dogs. If you can't control your dog then don't let it off lead in an area there may be other dogs.

This type of incident makes life much harder for owners who are trying to deal with their dogs other-dog issues and it really sucks

Don't know why so many posters are being so apologetic when telling you YWBU - I'm not at all sorry or afraid to tell you YWDBU. Get your dog on a lead until he is properly trained to come back to you and not approach leashed dogs to "say hello" and you're trained to be a more responsible dog owner. Totally your fault.

You are entirely in the wrong for letting your dog approach an on-lead dog.

Have to agree with everyone else on this. I have a staffy shes 13 now and is always on a lead when walking. Other owners allow there dogs to run up to her and jump on her and think it's acceptable as "don't worry he's friendly he just wants to say hello" etc.
My old girl doesn't like other dogs especially when small and jumping up at her if she snapped and bit the dog how is that my dogs fault if she's on a lead? But guarantee the staffy bull terrier would have the finger pointed at her. YABU put your dog on a lead!

Do you really not realise OP?

I cannot believe there are people out there who think it's OK to do this. By all means have your dog off the lead. But if you see another dog on the lead, you have a few options, depending on your dog's temperament:

● if you know your dog will stay away from the other dog, carry on as you were.

● if you know your dog will try to approach the other dog but will stop and go back to you if told to, recall your dog to keep it away from other dog and keep to heel until passed

● if you doubt your dog's ability to immediately recall, put your dog on the lead until past.

I'm not a dog owner and I know that you're in the wrong. It concerns me that you don't see it yourself.

You were at fault, I always assume a dog is on a lead for a reason and call mine back and put him on the lead when you come across one.

BTW OP if the other dog was viscous, I would have told the owner to take it to a vet immediately! That is definitely a cause for concern!

Yes sorry I agree with others, you shouldn't allow your off lead dog to approach on lead dogs.

I agree, but I also think if I knew my dog would bite others if they approached him I’d put a muzzle on him. Purely because so many dogs do approach him where owners don’t have great recall so I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Luckily he’s a soft thing so I don’t have to worry.

YWBU. I have a 'new' dog, we've only had her a week. She's a rescue, her recall is pretty good but if some other dog came bounding up to her while she was on the lead and she took exception I'm pretty sure she'd growl. Most people have their dogs on leads for their own reasons and it's up to you to respect that,.
bruegel viscous

I used to muzzle mine. Until he got attacked three times in four days by off lead dogs. Then i stopped muzzling so he had chance to defend himself if i couldn't.

You WBU allowing your dog to go up to another dog on the lead. A dog on a lead in a safe open space if a very clear sign that that dog may not be friendly.

You were being extremely unreasonable and don’t know much about dog behaviour/psychology. Yes, let your dog off lead if you are 100% sure it won’t go up to other dogs or people and has perfect recall.

I let my dog off lead but she won’t approach anyone and comes back when called.

She’s also scared of other dogs so the times she is in lead it’s more than annoying if other dogs approach. It gets her really stressed and spoils walks for us. The more it happens, the more fearful she gets and is at the point where she is constantly scanning looking for other dogs in the distance.

Many dogs which are normally perfectly pleasant will feel threatened if they’re on a lead and the other dog isn’t. They’re much more likely to be aggressive as a form of defence.

YWBU

This really annoys me. You were being totally unreasonable. If a dog is on a lead it's for a reason, and is probably not good with other dogs. You should have called your dog back and put it on the lead as soon as you saw them.

YABU. The number of dog owners who say 'It's ok, he only wants to play/say Hello' when I've asked them to call their dog back makes walking mine incredibly stressful.

Mine is old, with numerous health issues.

HE DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY OR SAY HELLO TO YOURS

@heckypeck I probably would too to be fair. My dog is on lead because he has zero recall (retired greyhound) but loves other dogs and likes to say hello. Which is good because so many owners are like OP and let their bouncy dogs run up to mine and jump all over him. I dread to think what would happen if he was reactive! Doesn't excuse OP though, she's putting her own dog in danger.

You, I’m afraid.

YABU

My dog is friendly and great off lead, but as soon as he sees a dog on a lead, he's leashed.

You never know other dogs reaction, you've got some harsh responses here but hopefully you've learned your lesson and your poor dog is ok.

As a sidenote, my dog has made some great pooch mates once we've got to know the owners, and runs around with a few off lead. But you must be carefuo at first.

A dog on a lead can’t escape the unwanted attention of your dog. It’s effectively backed into a corner. Hence the response.

I used to muzzle mine. Until he got attacked three times in four days by off lead dogs.

😧 poor dog.

This sums my feelings about your post....