AIBU : Dog recall

[Alicewond]

I walk my dog on a lead, his recall isn’t there yet, and he’s only a pup. I’ve had a few dog owners have issues (not with me, but with their dog) when they’ve refused to come back after playing with my pup, we’ve laughed about it, dogs being over excited. Not much I can do, my dog is on a lead but yes wants to play if approached. Yesterday one got annoyed and said I needed to control him (my dog on a lead?) They were chasing each other none aggressive but his dog refused to return off lead to him. Is this somehow mine or my dogs fault? What else can I do?? He was a bit intimidating and has made walking a bit less enjoyable

Again, going back to my point... how are you supposed to train a dog not to approach other dogs?

You put your dog on a long-line so you still have control over him/her. That way if you recall him and he ignores you, you can still stop him from being a pain and greeting another dog.

Would have thought they went without saying hmm

Obviously not, seeing as my dog still gets approached with them on, and owners still fail to recall.

Nice idea, hardly practical though is it? Isn't there an argument that if your dog isn't comfortable around other dogs you shouldn't be walking it in an area where there are many dogs off the lead? If my dog was scared of other dogs I'd walk in very remote places, or pick times of day where there are least likely to be other dogs around.

I do walk early morning or late at night, but my dog is under control, she's got great recall and will come back, even if there's another dog, and gets put on the lead, and then another dog runs over to her. It's just wrong, and frustrating, and why the hell should I go further afield, or bumble about in the dark? My dog is under control! She doesn't attack anyone until they refuse to leave her alone, I try to warn the owners, she wears a yellow lead and coat, she's straight back to me and put on the lead, yet I should be going way out of my way so no one has to control their dog? Sounds fair! 🤨
And you make sure you have recall, without strange dogs about, and then you do it with dogs they're socialised with, and then yes, you take that risk and see if they have call back from strange dog, but you're ready and close enough to your dog intervene, especially if the other dog is on a lead - not so far away it takes you 5 minutes to get there.

It's basic training to teach recall and to call to 'heel' when you're passing another dog.

The only breed I don't even bother with recall training is a greyhound, absolutely no point even trying, their instincts will win every time!

My dog always comes back to me when I call him away, I just don't think it's that terrible to let him say Hello to other dogs

As I said before, he doesn't go over to them running and jumping. He'll take a few quick steps, stop, take a few more steps, stop, then likely go down to the ground.

Touch wood, we've encountered a nasty dog. Yes, we've met some that aren't interesting in interacting, in which my dog just comes back to me and we carry on our walk.

Just don't really see the big deal. It seems like a small minority of dogs that don't want to be approached (perhaps old or not well socialised?), the rest are excited to say Hello and have a sniff!

Typo in my last post, was meant to say:
Touch wood, we've encountered not a nasty dog.

I just don't think it's that terrible to let him say Hello to other dogs

It's not, just make sure you get the owners' permission first. My dog has appalling recall (beagle!) which is why he's on a lead everywhere except the beach or enclosed dog fields. He's very friendly and loves to make friends but not all leashed dogs are. Some are anxious and will snarl or snap out of fear. Some are aggressive and on leash for safety reasons. Some are old or have been injured and need gentle leashed walks to recuperate.

Not all dogs want to say hello - I think you've been very lucky so far I have to say.

how are you supposed to train a dog not to approach other dogs? There is going to be a significant period of the dog doing it, and being corrected by the owner.

You’ve got this completely arse backwards. You don’t let your dog do the undesirable behaviour and then try to correct. Especially with something like recall where you have no control once your dog has run off anyway and it is not possible to apply any kind of correction.

You train the recall by rewarding the dog when it returns. You start in an environment with no distractions, then introduced controlled distractions like during a dog class and then progress to more demands situations. The aim is to have good behaviour, so you can reward good behaviour, so that you can reinforce good behaviour. Of course there will be the odd mistake but that is quite different form your approach.

A yellow lead signifies a dog reactive dog. You are creating problems and possibly risking harm to your dog by allowing him to go up to dogs on leads, especially yellow leads.

@Booboostwo Wow, aggressive much? Chill out - it's Friday!

You’ve got this completely arse backwards. You don’t let your dog do the undesirable behaviour and then try to correct. Especially with something like recall where you have no control once your dog has run off anyway and it is not possible to apply any kind of correction. Thanks. I have no issue with my dog's recall. He has a fantastic recall from doing 2 different training courses, plus a huge investment of time and energy in training him ourselves. Do you expect to take a dog from an enclosed environment, such as a garden, perfecting his recall then taking him to an open space with other dogs, such as a park, and expect him to behave the exact same way, even with added distractions??

A yellow lead signifies a dog reactive dog. You are creating problems and possibly risking harm to your dog by allowing him to go up to dogs on leads, especially yellow leads. I am aware of what yellow leads are, thanks again. And I don't let my dog approach dogs with yellow leads, 'nervous dog' leads or muzzles, as already articulated in my previous posts.

Yabu for not providing a cute puppy photo.

No, seriously yanbu. If his dog has no recall it shouldn’t be off lead in a public space.

In all walks of life, some people are just wankers

HamCheeseHamnCheese I am quite chilled thank you and also aware of the day of the week. You allow your dog to go up to dogs on lead, just don’t. To train this, you progressively expose your dog to distractions, I did mention that in my post. Perhaps a third dog training course is in order.

Thank you for all your reassurances

In this instance though to make it clear I was not scared of the dog. The dog was happily playing with my pup and they were running around in circles (with me getting dizzy holding an extendible and ever getting shorter lead)

It was the owner that got annoyed because his dog wouldn’t come back to him on the other side of a field. I did bring my pup into as short as extendable lead would allow and try to calm them. But they were happy and playful

He then got annoyed when he reached me and was able to put his lead on his dog to make him follow. This is a large field and used by a lot of dogs so doubtful the first he’s encountered

It may have worried me due to the negative human reaction but my dog loved it!

My dog is a rescue and a yellow lead dog.
I get annoyed when people let their dogs approach as our lead clearly states ‘no dogs’.
We always change our direction if we notice other dogs coming in our direction.
If we do meet another dog, we have to pick ours up to avoid contact.

Luckily, no one has ever seemed offended when my little dog has approached theirs to say Hello. Sometimes they'll say "oh, he is old and grumpy" in which case I'll say "no problem" and call mine away. What's the big deal?

Just don't really see the big deal. It seems like a small minority of dogs that don't want to be approached (perhaps old or not well socialised?),

I have an reactive dog, he is nether old or was unsocialised, he was attacked 4 times by 3 different dogs in a short amount of times, we were very unlucky and everytime he was on the lead, so that has meant we have had to do a large amount of work just to get him on a lead.

The problem you are going to face is, if your dog walks up to the wrong dog and gets attacked then you are going to face having to do months worth of training to get them back to the way they were and there is no guarantee that will happen. So you are potentially creating a problem for yourself.

Also keep in mind that if your dog approaches another dog on lead and gets too close, you are trigger stacking that dog and potentially making it go over its threshold, doing god knows how many months of training for the other owner

During the day, my dog wears a big fuck off yellow coat, a muzzle and is walked on a short lead and I still get owners, like yourself, with off lead dogs coming up to him and then its my fault for him reacting. We have also been known to walk him at 5am and at 2am, just to avoid all people,

I have 2 boxers; a bitch and a dog. They are great dogs however recall is non existent around other dogs as they just want to play with every they meet. Boxer play is fast and very full on and unsurprisingly other dogs / owners don’t like it. The bitch is 11 so don’t think she is going to get it sorted somehow! Lol.

Anyway... we live in the country so they do come off leads as we can see who is coming from quite a distance.

At the first sight of another dog they both go on lead.

Very often the passing dog will growl/bark and snarl at my 2 yet it’s always my 2 that get the dirty looks. Not quite sure why given they are clearly well controlled and we walk them together so H has 1 and I have the other dog.

Not every dog owner knows that a yellow lead is significant, I didn't and Ive dogs all my life, however I don't consult the internet about them, one of my leads is fluorescent yellow for visibility, perhaps I shouldn't use it anymore if its giving off the wrong signals