Aggressive dog should be muzzled?

[OdiesMum]

Where I live we have a long pedestrianised walkway down the side of the house, big grass verges on either side, a lovely walk for dogs as no roads and no danger. Lots of people let their dogs off lead around here to play with each other, myself included. My dog is a friendly little thing who just loves to play. The locals have used this area to exercise dogs for years.
Recently a woman has been on the grass verge with a Dobermann. She has it on a long line and throws balls for him etc on the grass. Last week my dog ran over to hers to play and her dog went ballistic and almost pulled her over. I was terrified it would get away from her!! I ran to get my dog and she shouted at me that mine should be on a lead. I politely explained that people use this area to let their dogs play and she said hers was dog aggressive which is why it’s on a long line and so should everyone else’s dog be on lines. I didn’t get into an argument with her, just got my dog and walked away. This morning I was talking to another dog Walker who said to watch out for the Dobermann on a long line as it had attacked her dog!!! If I see her again I’m going to tell her to muzzle the bloody thing. Why take your aggressive dog to an area where there are off lead dogs?? AIbU?

@2bazookas

Her responsibility is to keep it under control.

A powerful aggressive dog can't be controlled on a long line, or an extending lead. She needs to use a short lead so the dog stays close to her; and a muzzle if it's liable to bite.

Her dog was on a lead. Extendable leads and long lines are none comparable. Dogs don't need to be muzzled. The op needs to control HER dog

Another vote for YABU. I had a fear reactive dog (rescue greyhound) and, through months/years of consistent training, taught him to look at me when he saw another dog. He was always on lead and became perfectly happy to ignore the other dogs he saw whilst out on walks. But other owners still would persist in letting their 'friendly' dogs run up to him, and it set him back each time.

Must say, it bugs me when it's assumed that a dog is aggressive because it reacts to other dogs invading their space. It's incredibly lazy of the other dog owners to spout the label 'aggressive' rather than accepting responsibility for putting in more work on their own pet's recall.

To follow up - my dog was usually muzzled, simply as he had a high prey drive and it was a sensible precaution. I thank my lucky stars that the night he met my neighbour's known-to-be-aggressive dog (ie, had previously bitten people and dogs alike) when approaching our house that I'd taken his muzzle off. Otherwise, his skinny greyhound ass would have been ripped to shreds.

I don’t like people who let other dogs just run up to other dogs.

My dog is fine, would happily walk past any dog without showing any interest... until a dog comes running up to her, then she’s reactive. She was attacked by a dog as a puppy and gets fear reactive when dogs come running up to her. I always have to be conscious of where other dogs are/if they look like they might run over because of this.

The worst is when people tell me it’s ok because their dog is friendly. Well mine isn’t, but we wouldn’t have any problems if other owners didn’t let their dogs approach.

My dog is a friendly little thing who just loves to play.

You and the rest of the 'my lovely little doggie just wants to play' brigade are the ones at fault.

This annoys me. I have a young dog, she's not aggressive atall and she just submits to dogs who rush up to us but she is scared of big black dogs because of people like you who let their off lead dogs run up to ones on a lead. When she was a puppy and I had her out to socialise her the amount of people who let their dogs just run up to us with no recall was unbelievable. It's a lot of work to undo that fear. Long line or not she had more control over her dog than you seem to have..

Just placemarking to see if Op comes back

The doberman was under control. Dangerous or not it was not running loose or annoying anyone
You seem to be making up scenarios too. The dog attacked another dog. How can you possibly know that the dog was under control then?

Many (most?) reactive dogs could not cope with proximity of closer than 10m (the standard length of a long line) and most socially adept dogs can easily read they are not welcome at distances much greater than that
Ha, funny how when I mentioned that my dog could read others dog behaviour and know when not to approach, and therefore didn’t need to be on a lead, I was challenged by most posters.

Does your dog have a perfect recall or is she simply allowed to run around freely without control?
As above, my dog is very careful approaching other dogs and senses if she’s not welcome. She will then happily forget about them and move on. Occasionally, I’ll feel uncertain about a dog before she gets anywhere close and she’ll come to me as soon as I call her.

Ha, funny how when I mentioned that my dog could read others dog behaviour and know when not to approach, and therefore didn’t need to be on a lead, I was challenged by most posters.

But not by me [shrug]

if your own dog IS a socially adept dog who can clearly read when wanted and not (and repsond accordingly) then no harm, imo. But that does not appear to be the case for the OP's dog who - for whatever reason - was not able to correctly read the doberman.

vivainsomnia
Again, surely if your dog is well trained, and you're a responsible owner, then even if your dognrrally does have a meticulous ability to read other dogs, you'd still not allow your dog to be approaching others dogs?

I don't see your point, other than trying to argue that the whole world should revolve around the fact you don't think your dog should have to be on a lead.

As a dog owner who likes to exervise my dogs off lead, it's your sort of attitude that is frustrating.

@vivainsomnia - you seem to be making up scenarios. The dog that was leashed reacted to a dog running to him/her.
Not even the OP says anything about an attack and/or an injury. She's giving out that an awful leashed dog reacted badly to her sweet little unleashed doggie who apparently has the habit of running to other dogs looking for friends.
Once again, the allegedly aggressive dog was leashed. It was OP's dog that wasn't and it approached a leashed dog. This is a very wrong thing to do and the owner was right to give out to OP.

My dog is reactive with other dogs not people he isn’t muzzled but is under control and always on a lead sick of dog owners thinking it’s ok for theirs to just run over it’s not it’s rude

As others have said you shouldn't be allowing your dog run up to dogs on lead. Even non aggressive dogs can get jumpy when a strange dog runs up to them when they're on a lead (they know they can't escape so go into 'attack' mode).
If we see our dog show an interest in a dog on lead / runner / cyclist or whatever we call him back and give him a treat before he approaches. He now mainly ignores everyone except people that greet him or dogs who clearly want to play.

@vivainsomnia

The doberman was under control. Dangerous or not it was not running loose or annoying anyone You seem to be making up scenarios too. The dog attacked another dog. How can you possibly know that the dog was under control then?

Many (most?) reactive dogs could not cope with proximity of closer than 10m (the standard length of a long line) and most socially adept dogs can easily read they are not welcome at distances much greater than that
Ha, funny how when I mentioned that my dog could read others dog behaviour and know when not to approach, and therefore didn’t need to be on a lead, I was challenged by most posters.

Does your dog have a perfect recall or is she simply allowed to run around freely without control?
As above, my dog is very careful approaching other dogs and senses if she’s not welcome. She will then happily forget about them and move on. Occasionally, I’ll feel uncertain about a dog before she gets anywhere close and she’ll come to me as soon as I call her.

Who attacked anything?

It is very frustrating when owners with reactive dogs choose to walk their dogs in areas well- known for off lead dogs to have a run around with other off lead, friendly dogs, and then demand that everybody put their dogs on a leash because theirs doesn’t like other dogs.

However, it is your responsibility to ensure your dogs safety. Don’t let him approach an on lead dog OP. They are on lead for a reason.

@FinnegansWhiskers

It is very frustrating when owners with reactive dogs choose to walk their dogs in areas well- known for off lead dogs to have a run around with other off lead, friendly dogs, and then demand that everybody put their dogs on a leash because theirs doesn’t like other dogs.

However, it is your responsibility to ensure your dogs safety. Don’t let him approach an on lead dog OP. They are on lead for a reason.

So how do dogs ever get socialised?

ALL dogs start off with some reactivity, no recall and little idea of how to play nicely, or why do we bother training them?

Or do people forget how they started off with their dogs?

@CuriousaboutSamphire puppy classes, enclosed fields, areas with no distraction

@LST what about rescues dogs who have had the luxury of puppy classes? They need to be introduced to other dogs very slowly and at a distance

You cant just let your dog approach other dogs to play. Its really really not OK.
Dogs who dont know each other, playing, is incredibly risky anyway because of predatory drift amongst other things, but you allowing your dog to approach an on-lead doberman - what on earth were you thinking?? Is this your first dog?

[quote LST]@CuriousaboutSamphire puppy classes, enclosed fields, areas with no distraction [/quote]
Most of which have other dogs in them at some point!

Unless you keep you dog away from every other dog from the moment you bring it home, it lives a dog free existence, at some point everyone takes steps to allow their dog more freedom. And sometimes it doesn't work! Other times it takes a while longer than you expect.

And training only in areas with no distractions doesn't actually socialise a dog or familiarise it with real life. So...

If I ran up to you and started jumping all over you would you stand there calmly and let me do it?

That is the position you chose to put the dog in.

My dog has crap recall, as a result he remains on a lead unless we are in an enclosed area without strange dogs.

YABVU. Her dog was on lead, your dog was off lead and should not have been running up to random dogs. There are lots of rescue dogs, dogs with trauma or history of being attacked themselves etc who are not comfortable with other dogs running up to them. It's very rude behaviour.

Where did I say you needed to keep them away from dogs?

[quote AppleAppleAppleApple]@LST what about rescues dogs who have had the luxury of puppy classes? They need to be introduced to other dogs very slowly and at a distance[/quote]
The training class i took my pup had older dog classes afterwards. You don't just use a field that has dogs in it, that you don't know, to let your un-recallable dog off

So how do dogs ever get socialised

“Socialised” does not mean throwing your puppy in amongst a load of other dogs.

Puppies start off with only knowing other dogs - their mother and litter mates. Once it’s left the litter you become their family. You feed it, walk it, respect it, train it and socialise it - by firstly interaction with the pup, then introducing other people to interact with your pup. Once he has been fully innoculated you take him out to smell the different smells, hear children playing, traffic roaring past, walking on tarmac, gravel, grass, watch a stream running, watch leaves blowing, see other people walking, cyclists, joggers, kids playing and shrieking, allowing him to meet strangers other dogs - in a calm, safe manner. Ideally this will be dogs you know are friendly. You allow puppy to sniff the dog and vice versa and swiftly move on.

A puppy should learn the basics of recall before it goes outside of the home. You call him by name. Every time he responds you give him praise and a treat. This continues when he goes out. You take him to a large, safe area where there are no distractions and ideally, one person will hold puppy, you will walk a few steps, turn around and call him. He Will run to you. He will not run away. He only knows you. You mean everything to him. You are his world. Once he runs to you you praise him and treat him. EVERY TiME.

Socialising a dog is an ongoing process. As is training.

Find a good puppy class. They will give you the basics.

The biggest mistake new dog owners make when taking puppy out is to pick them up whenever they see a dog approaching. Puppy begins to believe other dogs are something to be scared of. Hence you end up with a dog who doesn’t like other dogs and is confined to a lifetime on lead.

Something should be done about these entitled f**ks, maybe they should understand the law and read a copy of the CONTROL OF DOGS ACT. If you cannot 100% recall your dog out of a situation it should be on a leash in a public place.
Had idiot dog owners today allowing their dog uncontrollably to run up to my anxious on lead dog. I ask them to recall, they cannot and i get a mouthful of how I can’t control my dog who is on lead and going bonkers after this thing is running up to us. FFS, soooo sick of it!!!