Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Who was unreasonable? Dog walking.

292 replies

Bearlover16 · 24/10/2018 15:08

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?

OP posts:
Gigglebrain · 24/10/2018 17:29

And by release him, I mean giving him the command to go and say hello, not releasing his lead.

chicken75 · 24/10/2018 17:30

Op you are very wrong. And the 2 agreeing, dog walker I hope you are insured then. Peony you have never met a properly trained dog Confused

poppy196 · 24/10/2018 17:32

Anyone else wishing other dog owner was a mumsnetter ?
AIBU Dog owner allowing her dog to come rushing up to my dog when I had it on lead and was trying to keep distance between dogs .

BewareOfDragons · 24/10/2018 17:35

Your dog approached another dog. The other dog was perfectly happy before that point ... it was defensive, not aggressive.

Theonewiththecat · 24/10/2018 17:36

YABVVVU
that is all

universe00 · 24/10/2018 17:37

You. My dog is wild and runs at other dogs but whenever I see a dog on a lead I put her straight on a lead. It's not the other dogs fault that you dog cake towards him and made it feel threatened

Thenewdoctor · 24/10/2018 17:42

You were Totally in the wrong.

That is all.

DorisDances · 24/10/2018 17:42

Yes, agree with other posters. Protocol is to put your dog on a lead and keep away from leaded dog when passing. We get frequent reminders of this etiquette in local newsletter.

SureIusedtobetaller · 24/10/2018 17:44

Reactive/ defensive is NOT the same as aggressive.
If I was pushed into a situation that really scared me I’d get upset and possibly aggressive if pushed far enough.
Muzzling my dog makes him more scared as he has (in his head) no defence at all. What helps is passing other dogs at a reasonable distance so he feels comfortable. Then he gets praise for being calm and a treat. He’s better than he was but he’ll never be entirely happy. Every single time he gets pushed out of his depth by a “ just being friendly” dog he gets set back a little.
And he wouldn’t bite a child. He’s not scared of children.

universe00 · 24/10/2018 17:45

I can't believe you would think that you weren't wrong Op you seem very silly ! My dog is so over friendly and wants to say hello to every dog but i no if she ever ran towards a dog on a lead it would be 100% my fault hence why I look out for them and put her straight on the led until we pass them. How could you not know this ?

universe00 · 24/10/2018 17:46

The dog doesn't need to be muzzled. Dogs shouldn't run towards it !
Muzzling a dog will make them worse

RtHonLady · 24/10/2018 17:47

OP, so my dog who is happily trotting along on-lead should have to wear a muzzle because you can't control yours? Why does your dog's rights to say hello trump mine who wants to be left alone?

bershetmelon · 24/10/2018 17:49

Op saying the other dog should have been muzzled makes no difference. Your dog should have been on a lead under your control, had it been that way it would never have been close enough to get itself bitten.

An unknown dog running/bounding over can be incredibly intimidating to another dog. @Biancadelriosback makes an excellent point imagine a stranger came running up to you, getting in your personal space id be willing to bet you'd be on the defensive as well!

Lovewineandchocolate · 24/10/2018 17:52

Still blaming the other dog then...?

Can't you even think why another dog might be on a lead?

I have a rescue that was beaten, starved and burnt. She's on a lead for her own protection as her recall is quite poor due to fear. I don't want any dog going up to her - why do you think you have special rights?

Kittykat93 · 24/10/2018 18:28

I give up with this thread. Op you've had literally hundreds of people telling you you were in the wrong and explaining exactly why, and you're still not seeing it! Hmm

poppy196 · 24/10/2018 18:38

Please op just come back on to say ok I'm wrong !
At least we all know your poor dog is in the hands of a responsible owner .
The fact that you turn it from dog aggression to child aggression is so very worrying .
You have know idea on dogs thinking at all .

Chocolatedeficitdisorder · 24/10/2018 18:48

I actually completely disagree. I have never met a dog in my life that stays away from another dog if it's on lead regardless of recall. A dog's natural instinct is to approach another dog.

I'm another who has a (rescue) dog who won't go near an leashed dog unless I tell him that he can. I can stop my dog from chasing anything, from sheep to cats and squirrels. I also have a lovely little girl dog who goes entirely deaf when she sees something she fancies and takes off after it, including dogs on leads. She spends most of her time on a lead, other than in open spaces or when the other dogs are also offlead.

It's called responsible dog-ownership.

CallMeRachel · 24/10/2018 19:07

This is absolute bollocks. If OP had control of her own dog none of this would have happened.

Yes the blame is 50/50 but ultimately there is blame on the aggressor if the dog has attacked before and the owner failed to prevent him from being able to attack again. That makes him liable.

There was a case I know of in court where this exact scenario happened and the owner of the dog who got bitten was awarded damages from the aggressive dogs owner. The dog had previous history of attacking dogs who came near and and after an appeal on social media, several witnesses were gathered. This man refused to muzzle his dog.

To fully control an aggressive/reactive dog means muzzling because as much as it shouldn't happen, dogs do occasionally want to greet on lead dogs and it's not fair to do that to an innocent dog.

People must take responsibility for their dogs when they're out in public, both on-lead and off.

I genuinely have no idea why people are so averse to using a muzzle. The mind boggles.

KarrisWhiteOak · 24/10/2018 19:09

It aggravates me that people who have no idea about animal behaviour are allowed to owm one.

The dog in lead will must likely felt threatened by you dog and is defending its self.

I’m being to be of the opinion all dogs should be in a lead at times.

Ginger1982 · 24/10/2018 19:10

If it had been a child...🙄*
*
You sound like the kind of person who would let their kid run up to a dog...

poppy196 · 24/10/2018 19:12

@CallMeRachel
Don't agree that it's 50 /50 , We only have the ops word that that dog has attacked before , and to be fair if that's true and op knew that why did she allow her dog to bother it .
No dog owner would allow their dog to hassle a dog with a track record of aggression, think it's all a load of bollocks .

Honeyroar · 24/10/2018 19:14

Flip the "if it had been a child" round and imagine if your out of control dog had hurtled up to a nervous toddler...

jammydodger5 · 24/10/2018 19:15

Your dog ran up to say hello and the other dog may have been fearful, or may have saw your dog as a threat and the dog attacked the owner had the dog under control with a lead you however didn't have control over your dog

Shampoo0 · 24/10/2018 19:21

Poor dog, hope she is ok. I guess lesson learned, you need to put her on the lead if you can not control her to stay away from other dogs on lead. I can totally understand why the other owner got upset, totally not their fault.

ShinyMe · 24/10/2018 19:22

I walk a dog on a lead at all times, because she isn't my dog and I daren't risk losing her. She really dislikes other dogs who are off lead approaching her. Dogs on a lead can't escape, and can feel threatened when approached by bouncy off lead dogs. My dog is friendly most of the time, and she's fine with on lead dogs, but occasionally a bouncy dog will run over, off lead, and get right in her face - my dog hates it and will back off most of the time, but sometimes has snapped and tried to bit to defend herself.

Like many of you, I am VERY grumpy about off lead dogs barrelling into my dog, with their owners happily shouting over "OH HE'S FINE, HE'S JUST PLAYING" before getting cross with me when my dog snaps at theirs.