Dogs not on lead

[Devastatedyetagain]

I need some perspective on this! Just returned from a walk with my puppy and I am still shaking a hour later.

I live in a lovely village with a large open park. You take your life in your hands walking across it due to the amount of dog poo that is left, but the issue today was a big retriever type dog racing up to me and my puppy. Owner nowhere to be seen. Said dog had been running up and down drives before bounding over to me. I noticed the owner through the hedge on the path that runs adjacent to the park. I shouted "put your dog on a lead" which met with some feeble calling but at this point her two other dogs appear. I was told I was being silly because they aren't dangerous - at no time did she remove them or put them on a lead. We had words but as a person who is apparently a solicitor and has had dogs for 12 years she does not need to have them on a lead or close to her.
So AIBU?

I don't think dogs should be on a lead all the time but do think they should be put on lead when faced with another dog on a lead or are likely to bother people. She sounds a bit rude.

What did the dog do that made you shake for an hour?

Hmmm I think its a bit unusual to be shaking an hour later because a dog approached you while out walking. Would you be a bit nervous of dogs in general? Other dogs often approach me when I'm out walking my dog, 99% of them just want to say hi.

Dog owners should have their dogs closely supervised but your reaction is very extreme.

Dogs don't need to be on a lead in a park unless signs say otherwise

But any good dog owner knows you absolutely don't let your off lead dog approach an on lead dog. And if that is likely to happen then you leash your dog straight away.

I'm not sure I would be shaking but she was unreasonable to let that happen. But dogs can be off lead in parks (apart from as above)

I am so sorry OP,that's completely irresponsible and YANBU.
Saying her dogs are not dangerous is complete tosh,they may turn dangerous at any time,especially when unsupervised and in the pack.
If anything else fails,would you consider speaking to a local council?

What actually happened?

Why were you shaking for an hour? Was the dog particularly fierce?

She should have been in better control of her dogs obviously but that doesn't mean that all dogs must be on leads in all open spaces. Most are just playful.

Are you nervous of dogs?

Her dogs should be under control but that doesn't mean all dogs need to be on leads at all times.

You sounds extremely nervous of dogs for someone who has a puppy OP.

It's a bit of unwritten etiquette to put your dog on a lead if you see someone approaching with their dog on a lead, but it sounds like they were on a different path and were unaware you were there.

It's not normal for dogs to be on a lead at all times, despite what you may have read on mumsnet

In my opinion - as the owner of dogs that are nervous of other dogs (they're rescues and came pre-loaded with this), I believe people should only allow their dogs off lead if they have perfect recall.

If not - they're taking all kinds of risks with their dog's safety, for one thing. You only have to watch Supervet to see how many cases he gets of dogs which were off-lead and suddenly ran off and into the road in front of a car.

Perspective: you're gonna need to get used to this and not be so disturbed by nothing really happening

People should keep control of their dogs though

You do realise that your reaction will affect your pup, yes you should’ve asked for the dog to be put on lead and kept away if you didn’t want it near your pup. But a big friendly retriever most likely wanted to say hello and isn’t a bad thing for a pup to meet a nice friendly dog. Different if it’s barking and aggressive but didn’t sound like the dog was aggressive? Dogs pick up so much from our body language so you ‘shaking’ for an hour seems a bit extreme? What is that telling your puppy? To be scared of any dog who approaches you? When you have a dog other dogs will approach you, whether you like it or not sometimes and learning to deal with that calmly is a good idea so you don’t teach your own dog fear.

I think you just need to be a more confident handler and I would walk elsewhere if dogs are off lead in a park - that is kind of the point? My retriever had 100% recall though so I knew he wasn’t going to approach other dogs etc my pup no chance but I let other dogs say hello as it’s good for him to meet dogs and say hello.

Dogs have to be under control. If you can control your dog without a lead, go for it. But that involves recall. If you call your dog and it ignores you, you dog is out of control. Her dog wasn't under control, quite simply she was in the wrong.

But you need to get used to it and deal with it better because it is very much normal for people to just let their dogs run riot.

Next time say “please recall your dog” rather than telling them to put the dog on a lead.

Leads aren’t necessary in a park but good recall is. (Obviously if their dog doesn’t have any recall then it doesn’t help but it will reduce the chance of you getting any ‘My dog doesn’t need to be on a lead’ backlash from owners.)

I would also suggest getting a yellow lead/harness/tab for your dog so other dog owners know that your dog needs space.

In my opinion - as the owner of dogs that are nervous of other dogs (they're rescues and came pre-loaded with this), I believe people should only allow their dogs off lead if they have perfect recall.

👍

Was in a lead only park when someone's extremely tiny puppy Italian greyhound came bounding over to my on lead and nervous of other dogs ex puppy farm rescue staffy and proceeded to jump all over her. I was trying to keep my dog held by her collar and trying to push the other one away from mines bitey end and the owner of the puppy just walked over laughing and joking about my one being scared of her tiny puppy. Mine wasn't scared and she actually behaved impeccably but I could have seen it going horribly wrong in one bite. I said to the owner that she had a beautiful little dog and if she wanted to ensure it stayed beautiful she needed to keep it away from unknown dogs on leads and she said i was being rude and overreacting

Said dog had been running up and down drives before bounding over to me.

YANBU. If this dog is running up and down people’s drives and coming up to people, it should be on a lead. All it takes is for the dog to attack someone, attack someone else’s dog or be hit by someone coming home. Doubt the owner would be happy in either situation. Dogs should be on lead in residential and public areas.

My dog is mostly off lead and people who have no control of their dogs but still let them off gives everyone a bad name.

Thank you for all of your replies. To clarify I was still shaking an hour later because of the altercation with the owner.

By way of clarification both myself and previous dog were attacked which left her very reactive. I do not want my new puppy to be the same. I understand my reaction probably wasn't the best but surely I shouldn't have to put up with other people's dogs bounding round me just because I have a dog. She wasn't even in the park at the time.

"Was in a lead only park when someone's extremely tiny puppy Italian greyhound came bounding over to my on lead and nervous of other dogs ex puppy farm rescue staffy and proceeded to jump all over her. I was trying to keep my dog held by her collar and trying to push the other one away from mines bitey end and the owner of the puppy just walked over laughing and joking about my one being scared of her tiny puppy. Mine wasn't scared and she actually behaved impeccably but I could have seen it going horribly wrong in one bite. I said to the owner that she had a beautiful little dog and if she wanted to ensure it stayed beautiful she needed to keep it away from unknown dogs on leads and she said i was being rude and overreacting"

See also: "He's fine, he's ever so friendly" - my terrified rescue dog doesn't understand that much English, I'm afraid.

The woman with two huge off-lead German Shepherds (which came racing towards my dog when I'd had him home from rescue for precisely 3 days - this was NOT in a park...) similarly made it my fault for "over-reacting".

From the Blue Cross website:
“Dogs on leads

There is no blanket law requiring dogs to be kept on a lead in all public spaces. However, there are a series of orders that mean you have to leash your dog in certain places in your local area, for example children’s play areas, sports pitches, roads, parks and beaches.

Many local authorities have introduced Public Spaces Protection Orders over the last couple of years to restrict dogs to being walked on lead (or excluded from the area entirely) in certain public spaces. Look out for signage detailing restrictions. We also recommend checking your local council’s website for details of any restricted areas.

What can happen if I break this law?

Local authorities have the power to introduce these orders under a number of different laws, and can issue fines or fixed penalty notices for those who don’t comply.

Law: Road Traffic Act 1988, section 27; Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014”

I’d recommend learning that last bit off by heart ready to quote back at the solicitor...
Might be worth checking your local gov. Website, too - the local laws regarding dogs on leads will clarify if your park is allowed to have dogs off lead, and regulations can change over time - so the solicitor might not be up to date with the current ones.

Our local park has a "all dogs on leads" rule. The field on the other side of the road is a known dog field for off lead dogs (not officially, but that's what everyone uses it for and the farmer is fine with that). Not every dog in the dog field has perfect recall (including my own) but that's accepted by everyone who uses it. I wouldn't let my dog off lead anywhere except in the dog field or in a very remote area. I'm fully aware that it's not fair on other dogs, and not every dog wants to play with a bouncy puppy.

YANBU, but some dog owners are very much of the "but my dogs friendly" attitude

I had a similar situation my small friendly dog was off the lead and ran over to another on a lead, the dog on the lead wasn’t feeling itself and became unnerved.
Changed my perspective- sometimes it’s not about just your dog but the other dog also which may not like other dogs.
I have now trained my dog to always come when I call no matter what so that if I see a dog on a lead I keep my dog away just incase and respect the dog on the leads space.

A dog has to be under control in public. If the owner is nowhere to be seen then of course it’s not under control. The law says a dog that isn’t under control IS a dangerous dog.
Off lead dogs shouldn’t come bounding over to you. That’s just rude.

YANBU but won't get much sympathy on MN OP... MN is one of the few places where dog owners seem to think it's perfectly acceptable for dogs to be off lead and approach whoever they want, be it people or other on lead dogs , because their off lead dog is friendly so screw the fact that some people don't like dogs approaching them, or the other on lead dog is nervous or reactive... it's bonkers! I completely agree that the owner was totally in the wrong and her dogs should not have been roaming freely like that. Dogs should only be off lead if they have excellent recall or are in an area where no one is around. And yes I am a dog owner myself!

I understand my reaction probably wasn't the best but surely I shouldn't have to put up with other people's dogs bounding round me just because I have a dog.

Unfortunately it will happen, dogs love to approach other dogs. You're going to have a very difficult time with this level of anxiety over it. Maybe as your puppy gets bigger you'll feel more relaxed.