Who was unreasonable? Dog walking issue..

[WillGymForPizza]

I'm currently looking after my parents dog while they are away for the weekend, took him out for a nice long walk this morning, bumped into lots of other dogs had a sniff, all fine.

Only the way back we found ourselves approaching an elderly lady with a Jack Russell, I put dog on very short lead told him to 'stay' as we passed them but he still sort of moved forward to sniff the other dog, as dogs do. It's nature. Now I should say, and I know everyone says this, but parents is as soft as a brush and just want to be everyone's friend. The lady started shouting at me ' get that bloody dog away, I apologised told him off and said he wasn't nasty. Then I move to cross the road and she started shouting at me that 'the bloody thing needs locking up'. Ffs he's lab not a pit bull, he didn't bark, he didn't growl, he didn't jump at her, he just moved to sniff her dog! Like they all do!

It was unnecessarily aggressive and rude and really spoiled what was a lovely walk. I had to resist the urge not to give her a mouthful back, but thought against it. Sounds stupid but it puts me off taking him out again! And now I'm wondering if maybe I did do something wrong?

Can any seasoned dog people tell me what the hell it was all about?

Here’s my take.

Lunging forward to sniff is bad training and bad manners.
Sorry but it is.

Walk nicely by my side means walk nicely by my side, it doesn’t mean walk nicely until you see another dog then lunge forward to sniff.

Dogs with good social skills don’t lunge forward at other dogs.
Dogs with good social skills approach relatively slowly and calmly if the other dog looks open to interaction.

You say he is a Labrador not a pit bull.
I had a Labrador lunge snarling and growling at me just the other day.
I have had one run the entire length of a field to aggress at my dog also.
Generally speaking I find them as a breed exceptionally boisterous, rude, jump all over you and won’t take no for an answer.

I am not a Labrador fan and if I was walking with my dog and one ‘lunges forward to sniff’ I would not be happy at all.

Firstly because they are big and strong and I would be worried about being knocked over and second because my dog is in a work in progress with other dogs and something like that would likely really upset her and set me back in training her.

I will go against the grain here. It really annoys me when people let their dogs come up to my dog when she is on the lead without asking. Most people round here will always ask if their dogs can say hello, because you never know how the other dogs are.

My dog is a very excitable older puppy. If she is tired after a long walk and gets excited again she loses all her manners and leaps all over the place while on the lead and she won't stop, and she will be too tired and wound up to listen to me to focus. I normally have my toddler with me so this can turn into a nightmare very quickly. So if another dog comes up to her and sniffs when she is too tired to listen, she goes into automatic play mode and won't stop until I can get her a good distance from the other dog.

The lady's reaction of course was totally unreasonable, but I also think it's unreasonable to let your dog (even on a lead) to approach other dogs without checking with the owner first. Just a quick 'can my dog say hello' usually suffices, still friendly and sociable while being able to avoid dogs that get nervous or whatever in that situation.

Juat reread and see you state ‘moved forward’, not sure where I got lunge from..

Anyway, I still stand by what I said.

Your dog was rude and not obeying command as he should have been.

Seems to me, if you want to avoid other people's dogs then you avoid other people's dogs. Take responsibility for it. You don't walk your own dog within even lunging range (never mind 'surging forward' range). If you see a dog that might get that close, then you choose a diversion route well away from them.

Makes other lady mad as a box of...

Sometimes you have to walk your dog within lunging range..

And depending on how loose the lead is/what sort of lead it is lunging range can actually be quite a distance!

OP said she crossed the road to get distance. Sounds like other lady could have crossed the road, ahead of any potential doggie encounter. Other lady chose not to. Preferred to verbally harangue as her other-dog avoidance strategy. Daft.

I walk rescue dogs, some of whom are very reactive to other dogs. I would be very unimpressed if you let your dog come over to mine and sniff, no matter how short a lead he was on or how friendly you think he is.

No, the post says she says the op saw the lady and dog, her lab moved forward to sniff and the woman verbally abused her, the op apologised and went to cross the road and the woman continued verbally abusing her.

Forget her OP, she was just a cow walking a dog.

If it was as you said then I would hazard a guess that she has mental health issues.

Some people are just arses.

Like the idiot couple the other week where I went with my neighbour and our dogs the other week. It's an enclosed grassy area so dog owners often come to let their dogs run around and chase balls.

These two were complaining about the dogs running around and saying it shouldn't be allowed. My neighbour is more confident than me so gave them a really dirty look.

As long as it's obvious you're trying your best then people should be kind.

Im afraid of dogs and really appreciate owners who put their dogs on a lead when approaching walkers without dogs.

What really upsets me is when the dog comes bounding up to me and starts slobbering over my coat. I'm often told they are only being friendly, they wont hurt etc etc. I don't care I just dont want dog spit on my coat!
Having said that if you have a dog with you, you should expect others to come over and show interest.

Most dog walkers are lovely. Don't worry, you had your dog under control and on a lead. My rescue dog is a little reactive, but I encourage her to meet other dogs so that she has more confidence. She is rapidly becoming calmer.

From what you say, it was her and not the Jack Russell. Maybe she is just unpleasant and likes spoiling other people's days.

She sounds extremely strange, OP. Even if your dog did approach hers and sniff* her response is still OTT.

I have a one year old golden lab.. he isn’t particularly big but he is super-strong. If need to keep him near, I brace myself and hold his lead or harness firmly and distract with treats. He would never be be able to get away to sniff or approach another dog unless I allowed it, so maybe be a bit more ‘prepared’ next time - I find that helps me feel more in control.

The other woman's reaction does sound way over the top and she does sound a bit bonkers but you have no idea what sort of previous experiences she's had.

Walking my dog the other day we were on a bit of field beside the road. Across the other side of the road on the pavement was a man walking in the opposite direction with two of the hugest rottweilers I've ever seen - nothing against rotties a member of the family has one and it's the sweetest dog imaginable.

They saw my dog and were pulling and twisting on the ends of their leads to look in her direction. It pretty disconcerting to watch a fairly small man really struggling to control two huge muscular animals that looked as if they were hell bent on getting at my small inoffensive dog.

It wasn't a pleasant experience tbh but it was clear they were just curious, were not being aggressive and were not about to attack my dog; if they had been there would have been no way he could have held them back.

The whole situation was fine but for someone very old and/or very nervous something like that could leave them very wary of every other dog they encounter.

As I say she could well have just been a bit bonkers or she could have had a really unpleasant experience with an untrained or out of control dog.

aw shame this put a dampener on your walk. try to forget about it, you did nothing wrong.

Even if your lab didnt obey your stay command, you were responsible enough to have it on the lead and minimise any chance of incident. its a dog at the end of the day, no dog will behave impeccably 24/7.

i have 3 dogs, 2 of which are large breeds that get bad press so i totally understand the stress of meeting other dog owners etc.

I have form for overreacting on dog walks since my dog was bitten. I suspect that’s what happened to this lady - she misread the situation informed by her own experiences.

Some dog walkers are just strange. I was in the park one day walking along the path with my dog on a lead. A lady comes through the gates with 2 dogs, looks at me and runs away screaming that my dog is aggressive and I never saw her again.

Some dog walkers are just strange. I was in the park one day walking along the path with my dog on a lead. A lady comes through the gates with 2 dogs, looks at me and runs away screaming that my dog is aggressive and I never saw her again

Last week I took my dog to the beach. Lots of dogs running around, all friendly and having a great time socialising, running around with each other.

Any on lead dogs were given a wide berth and not approached.

One lady with an on lead dog - who was chomping at the bit to play with the other dogs (the dog not the owner 😉) said her dog loves other dogs but she couldn't let her dog off the lead as "He won't come back". I asked if her dog has run away from her previously. She replied, "No. I've never let him off the lead in case he won't come back". Poor dog! 😢

Further on we met a bloke walking his dog, off lead. Ok a dog off lead means dog is friendly and I dont need to leash mine, or call him to heel, right? Wrong! As we got near dog it was wearing a coat, with small writing, "Nervous dog. Give me space". Dog owner had a hissy fit as we approached telling me to get my dog on a lead and keep him away from his dog. By this time both dogs were happily playing.

I enquired why his off lead dog was wearing a coat which suggested the dog wasn't friendly and suggested if his dog was reactive he should be walked on lead, around other dogs. Owner replied, "There's nothing wrong with my dog. He needs to run around. I don't like other dogs running up to him as you don't know what will happen. My dog is friendly enough".

For the first time in my life I was lost for words! There's nowt as queer as folk - as the saying goes 🤷‍♀️

She was being ridiculous.

My Ddog is nearly blind and is nervous. I can get a bit shitty when people let their dogs come bounding over at him (it's always labs sorry OP 😂) but what you describe wouldn't bother me - I know what you mean the kind of 'lean' as they go past each other.

Don't worry about it. If you see her again just move as far away as you can and don't look at her.

Blimey. My dog is an absolute vicious arsehole, she has to stay on a lead and has a scarlet lead cover that says "Stay away" - but if your dog was on a lead and you had no choice but to pass, and it leaned over to have a sniff (as all normal dogs will) I wouldn't be in the least bit bothered, I'd be busy apologising for her being a noisy twat probably.

I only get arsey if off-lead dogs are allowed to approach with no effort on the part of the owner to stop them.

Sorry I am with the old lady this could have been me. I have a jack Russell and he doesn't like random large dogs coming up around him.He doesn't want to be sniffed or to sniff he just wants to carry on his merry way. It doesn't matter if your dog is lovely, if you are lovely the point is the jacks don't like it. I am sick to the back teeth of dog owners blaming other people when all they have to do is keep their dogs under control and away from other people's dogs; show some respect your dog does not have some divine right to roam in the face of others and their space. Frequently, this type of person has had a bad experience in the past.For me I had to have a much loved golden retriever put down after a vicious attack by a random dog. My jack was left with a dislocated hip after an attack by another supposed harmless dog.Should I and this old lady just passively allow any and every dog to come up and accept every attack?

Katterinaballerina the only theory i have is they are all from the same breeder. They're spread across a couple of suburbs but same general area. The first one used to try to cross a football field to get us. Hated it, but thought it was the exception. Turned out every time we moved we came across others. Their owners could barely hold on to them - no idea why they took them out as they were an attack waiting to happen.

I have 2 newfies, and very often find jack russells on attack against us. On several occasions off lead jack Russell’s have chased us down the street. My dogs don’t bat an eye lid, but it’s not nice worrying what may happen to us. Jack Russell owners,in my experience, seem unable to hold their dogs and appear stressed walking them.

That’s scary K1233. It must make walks really difficult if you’re having to veer off every time you see a lab up ahead in case it’s one of those.