Slight confrontation with dog owner today

[ReecesPeaces]

DH and I do not own a dog but every couple of weeks we will take a friend's dog for a walk in the local countryside. She is a gorgeous, gentle dog and very well trained. A small cockapoo. The owners encourage us to let her off the lead when she is out and away from roads etc and most of the other local dog owners do the same.

Today we were walking through the countryside area and there were plenty of other people there, most had dogs and most dogs were off the lead. The dog we walk generally approaches other dogs her size in a friendly playful way and shies away from bigger dogs, she usually jumps up at me of a big dog comes near and I scoop her up and we carry on. Anyway we saw a woman with four dogs approaching, three small ones and one rottweiler. I was wary of the rottweiler as a family member used to have one which was very aggressive. All of this woman's dogs were off the lead.

Before I could get our dog on the lead she ran up to the smaller ones who started growling and chasing her aggressively. All four dogs then started chasing ours round and round, the Rottweiler wasn't being aggressive but two of the smaller ones were and trying to bite our dog (at this point the owner of he other dogs was going "it's fine it's fine) who ran up to me and thankfully I managed to pick her up and the other dogs then lost interest.

The owner started shouting at me and DH slightly aggressively saying "I said it was fine!" We hadn't said anything at all at this point we had just been calling our dog to us. The owner was angry we had picked ours up and kept saying "I told you it was fine! That's the worst thing you can do to pick a dog up in that situation, I'm an expert!" We walked away as I just wanted to get away from her and thought she was being confrontational.

Is this the norm for dog walking in public spaces or was this woman in the wrong? It puts me off getting a dog permanently as there was a moment when I really felt something awful could have happened.

Normal dog behaviour. Think you over reacted. As did he probably.

Not normal no, and I know the advice is often that picking up your dog is the worst thing you can do, but if I thought a dog was going for either of my two aggressively, I would pick them up without a second thought. Go with your instincts, you can't be too careful.

You say she’s well-trained but running up to unknown dogs is aggressive (even if well-intentioned) behaviour. These are the types of dogs that get other dogs into trouble because they are overly friendly and don’t check the other dog is interested before engaging.

As soon as she starts running up to another dog, you need to call her back.

My dog does not like playing and he growls at dogs that approach him too quickly. Then, of course, he gets labelled as being the aggressive one when he’s not.

If you can’t get her to come back quickly, the owner needs to teach better recall or keep her on the lead.

The other owner was probably just stressed by the situation, I’d just forget that.

I agree that you shouldn't be picking her up.

I find smaller dogs less predicable. I'm biased because I've always had German Shepherds and walked big dogs, but they aren't the dogs that cause the issues.

The last thing you want to encourage is fear. Leave her in the situation, by not picking her up and show her that there's nothing to fear. Let her behave like a dog, she isn't a frightened child.

As for "trying to bite her". Two dogs would bite if they wanted to.

It sounds like warning/dominant snapping.

I wonder if your fear of big dogs is driving this and a lack of understanding dog behaviour.

You shouldn’t be picking her up.
If the owner said it was fine either she or you misread the situation. Sounds like you were anxious because there was noise and a Rottweiler and so overreacted.

Sorry, but picking the dog up IS the worst thing to do. That's a fact, where the other dog isn't aggressive it makes the scenario volatile (because the other dog is excited and uncontrollable - so starts jumping up etc) and where it IS aggressive it puts you AND your dog at risk.

It was probably a 'professional' dog walker you ran into who was in charge of these 4 off lead dogs.

Never allow your dog to run up to a pack of dogs like that. What can start as curiosity can end in pack mentality kicking in an a fight or attack kicking off.

I walk my dogs very defensively and would change direction on seeing a group of dogs. I look way ahead constantly to make sure I know what's coming before they do so I can get leads on quickly if I need to.

I think picking the dog up was fine for you today as it stopped the frenzied chase but you shouldn't do that if it's larger dogs chasing, for obvious reasons.

Totally disagree with not picking her up too. It depends on the circumstances. My dog was surrounded by 7-8 horrible little pug things once, they were all going for him and he was petrified so yes I picked him up. He is already a nervous dog and I didn’t want him to be traumatised more. He had no way to escape and owner was nowhere to be seen. If it was one on one, I would just call him away.

Oh no. I always let my dog run off and make friends, he doesn't jump so I needn't worry about humans being bothered by him and I always watch out for owner body language and recall if the dog he is aiming for is on the lead..... but it's never occurred to me that he shouldn't be approaching other dogs. I am a new dog owner.

I feel incredibly self conscious that I've been irresponsible now.

“I walk my dogs very defensively and would change direction on seeing a group of dogs.”

I do the same. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who does this. Dogs who live together do form a pack mentality and a random dog running up is not going to go down well. One on one interactions I don’t mind but I always check first and my dog is not the running up to demand to play type at all.

Oh my god now I come to really think about it, he doesn't really stay near me.. he loves to run around and meet other dogs, but his recall is great really and he always returns every few minutes to check where I am. Shit, I trust him so well that I haven't really thought that other dogs might attack or that it was the wrong thing to do/walking etiquette

I’d never walk anywhere if I changed direction everytime I saw a group of dogs. I walk at an arboretum. Loads of dogs.
As for pack mentality? If someone is walking so many dogs that they can’t control them then they are actually breaking the law. A group of dogs won’t suddenly turn on a polite dog and savage it.

“he shouldn't be approaching other dogs”

Approaching is fine in a controlled way. I always ask the owner first. My dog is trained to come and stand between my legs if we see another dog.

Well-socialised dogs approach each other slowly, lots of circling and bum sniffing and checking the other is friendly.

It’s when dogs make a beeline for each other that it’s an issue.

It’s the same with humans, isn’t it? If you’re on the train and a random runs up to you and starts talking a mile a minute, you’d be freaked out, right? Same with dogs.

Just always check with the owner, encourage your dog to go slowly, watch out for any signs of either dog being pissed off etc.

It’s hard owning dogs! No one expects you to know everything.

Picking them up exposes their soft bellies putting them at a greater risk of serious damage from a bite.

“As for pack mentality? If someone is walking so many dogs that they can’t control them then they are actually breaking the law. A group of dogs won’t suddenly turn on a polite dog and savage it. ”

Well there’s not much I can do about each and every person who has too many dogs, is there? I have to react to the situation as is.

I don’t go to dog heavy areas. You do. If it works for you, great.

Running up is NOT polite.

And yes, some dogs will turn for no reason. It happened to my dog. And I know all dog owners say this but he really was just minding his own business. (This was in Asia where most dog owners are utterly fucking clueless and own 5 or 6 dogs despite not being able to control one.)

Interesting replies thank you. The dog we had is genuinely a very friendly little thing, and has pretty good recall so will walk slightly ahead of us (probably 6 feet) and always be turning around to check where we are, but if she sees another dog she likes the look of will approach.

If we call her back she will come but she couldn't in this case because she approached the others and then the chase was on and she was panicked trying to get away from the dog which was growling and biltong - I definitely had the sense that the other dogs (one in particular) could have grabbed her and done some damage. The presence of a Rottweiler as well was making me very nervous even that dog was behaving fine.

So would the best thing be to put her on a lead at the sign of any approaching dog? In this case she would never be off the lead. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving them to chase her like they did today as she was very scared, but is that what you would do?

I didn’t say running up. I said a polite dog.
Thankfully the areas we walk aren’t generally populated by aggressive dogs or idiot owners walking too many. But the onus isn’t on me to avoid other dogs (unless on lead)
In the U.K. it’s law to have control of your dog in a public place.

He tends to run off/toward then slow. Then he will lie down for a moment or two, or just slowly creep forward before the bum sniffing begins. Sometimes (but definitely not always) I shout out to check but I just assumed if your dog is off the lead they're safe and up for playing... I feel very stupid. I get so many large dogs bounding up to me and the children - infact today a large visla (?!) Beelined for my pup and jumped all over my new coat and the kids and I felt very irritated, I'd not let mine off if he was a jumper as I don't think it's acceptable... and all along I wasn't doing it right either!

OP I'm sorry to high Jack your thread.... I'm not sure how to fix this. I thought he was well trained because he always returns and his recall is 95%. He's 5.5 months. I feel like such a twat!

You need a longline and a harness if you can’t guarantee she won’t run up to other dogs.
Was she actually scared though or were you just anxious?

Neither of you really come out of this overly well tbh. You couldn't/didn't get your dog back on lead or under control before approaching a big group of dogs you weren't sure about/didn't know, and she was just a bit of an idiot in general. Although if a dog really wants to bite another dog, it will - what was probably happening was just air snapping or bitey face or your dog would actually have been injured.

'Friendly' dogs can be rude if they're over exuberant and get in another dog's face. I have a spaniel and she can be overly friendly and upset less confident dogs as she can be a bit tone deaf sometimes as to other dogs' body language, so she goes on lead when we see other dogs, unless it's a dog we know or we stop and judge body language/talk to the other owner and make sure it's safe to let her off again. I wouldn't let her approach a group of unknown dogs, whether they were off the lead or not.

wolfie

Yes but in this case, the OPs dog was not polite. That’s what we’re talking about.

The law is the law but I can’t magically control other dog owners because they’re doing something illegal.

You need to keep the dog on a lead if it's approaching other dogs like that. Some dogs like their space and the dog you're walking is invading that.

tractor don’t feel stupid. My dog is shy and doesn’t like playing with other dogs but that doesn’t mean he should always have to be on his lead. He loves to sniff around by himself.

I always shout out to other owners that he’s shy to get them to stay away.

No. Some of you were discussing how you would turn in a different direction if you saw a group of dogs.
There’s a lot of misunderstanding here about dog behaviour. Dominance is rubbish. Pack theory has been debunked.
Noise doesn’t necessarily mean aggression. Neither does size.
Friendly isn’t what you want in a dog. Polite is. Mine sees dogs, stops and looks back at me for permission (unless it’s a known friend). If I say “it’s on a lead” or “walk on” she knows she can’t play.
Interaction needs to be managed and controlled but not prevented.