To have carried on running?

[OdettySpaghetti]

Went for a run this morning. Ran past a couple of women with offlead dogs (cockapoo and a frenchie) which chased me as I passed them. They were not aggressive, more like running alongside me. The owners shouted of them but the dogs ignored them and carried on following me. I kept on running - before long we (me and dogs!) we’re quite a distance from the owners who were miles behind shouting and running (in a fashion) after us. I ran my usual route, off this path and into a wooded cut through, dogs still by my side. I’m getting pissed off at this point as I know I’m coming to a road and will need to stop so the owners can get their dogs. Sure enough I come to the road and stop. The dogs stop too and just start sniffing around but because we’re now close to a road I feel I have to take the dogs back before they dart across it so I head back the way I came, fuming that this has messed my run up. When the owners catch up one says “if you’d just stopped running we could have got them ages ago!” I replied that their dogs are not my responsibility to which they replied “no need to take them close to a main road though is there? Where is your common sense?” So livid now I say “get your fucking dogs under control, next time I don’t stop at the road”.

AIbU to have not wanted to mess my run up?

No dog has “solid recall” This is something people make up to convince themselves that their dog can be off lead, it’s other dogs which are a problem. It’s right up there with “he’s just being friendly”.

Any dog has the capacity to run off if something attracts them.

Well on Mumsnet, you have to a) be a paragon of virtue yourself and b) so does everyone else. Be in the right and that's all that matters.

In real life, people are imperfect and make mistakes or get into less than ideal situations, which may be their fault, but hey ho, it happens to us all, actually.

I'm a runner. If that happened to me, I'd probably be irritated, maybe even feel threatened by the dogs. But I wouldn't just keep running, realising that the owners couldn't recall their dogs. I'd be sympathetic to that and stop to let them retrieve them. Surely that's just a common courtesy and not that big of a deal? If their child was running towards a road or pond, would you not intervene? Or would you just say they shouldn't have let the child wander so far, and so what if it dies?

YANBU. Imagine having to stop every time a dog runs along with you and doesn't respond to it's owners calls - very frustrating!

my dog would chase a squirrel and a deer, never catches them

and a Cat, my dog would chase.

never mind op,
perhaps you have taught the dog owners that Runners are prey to be avoided at all costs!

I worked at a country park with a wild deer herd. There were strict rules about where dogs could and could not be allowed off lead and they always should be under control or recall. Many visitors simply could not grasp the idea that any dog however well behaved normally was likley to chase a deer if it saw one running.
It was incredible the number of times I heard, "my dog woudn't harm them, anyway he's not fast enough to catch one". Again they did not comprehend that the stress of the chase is enough to kill them or cause them to abort. They may have loved their dogs but they had no respect for these magnificent wild creatures.

YANBU.. their dog is their responsibility. If they know their dog is not well behaved they should be on a lead.

Yes dogs do often run near or beside me on my runs. It's only for a few seconds usually and I don't stop because I am not expecting them to follow me like the dogs did here. Sometimes I have to swerve to avoid them but its not a big deal.

In this case it was clear the dogs were running WITH OP, not next to, around, in front of me as often happens. Knowing the owners were calling to no avail, I would have stopped in this case.

So many apologists for poor dog control. I think those saying that the OP should have stopped out of kindness, helpfulness or some sort of altruistic civic duty, are maybe not realising that if you run regularly, this happens regularly. It might not be exactly this scenario, but dogs running around your ankles, jumping up at you, following you, racing towards you etc. It gets a bit wearing. And you get a lovely overall snapshot of just how many idiot dog owners there are. My SIL is one of them. We met up with her and her dogs in a park and they chased every dog and every runner. And she was rushing up apologising and making excuses. A year on and nothing's changed, except that I don't meet her in the park.

@sunflowerdaisies

I think you were being unreasonable all along. I'd have stopped as soon as I realised they were staying with me so the owners could get them back.

Are you a runner or someone who has a fitness/sports activity conducted in public?

I can say that it gets old, very fast, the dog owners don't control their dogs and can find it hilarious that 3 dogs jump into the water and then attempt to scramble onto your canoe or kayak. They seem to have no understanding of both how dangerous and disruptive this is.

I've had similar on a run - I actually stopped after a min or so....dog was put back on a lead, no big deal ( I was a bit pissed off having to stop but not so bad ) then the fucker turned up again on it's own, I thought sod this for a game...kept running, thinking it would get bored and go back eventually. Nope, I had to turn around run back the 1.5m and literally take it's collar and hand it back to the owner who quite cheerfully told me he would have run with me until I got home, not impressed. No idea what the solution but you are def nbu

Well done OP entirely reasonable response. I would have just run across the main road. If they have chosen not to restrain their animals they take all the risks of not doing so, including the risk of them coming to harm or harming someone else (the latter may result in criminal or civil liability). Why do dog owners think that society as a whole is somehow responsible for their domestic animals? It is bizarre.

I've said YANBU but, when I've been walking my dog and we get followed by another persons dog, I'll always stop as I don't want the dog getting lost. That said, I'm not a runner and appreciate that you need to keep heart rates etc up.

Whilst the dogs should have had better recall, you could at least have paused for all of 30s to give them a chance.

It’s what we do when out riding. A dog stands no chance if kicked by a horse but we stop briefly to give people a chance to get them on the lead, we all say thank you and move on with our day 🤨

However kids won’t cause an allergic reaction. Or trigger a phobia reaction. You can argue all you want but the fact is that loose dogs add an additional layer of danger
We are NOT debating whether dogs are more dangerous to others here, FGS. We are judging the people who are responsible for them, dogs and parents. Both get it very wrong at times. Both have potential bad consequences. In most cases, these are usually prevented.

Yet dog owners get completely bashed here whatever the circumstances in a way that no one would dare to voice of parents in similar circumstances. Dog owners are just an easy target.

I’d have run their dogs back to them.

Also in my experience dogs running “with” you can end up getting excited and biting you so be careful if you’re the owner OR the runner as some people don’t react well to this.

I never stop when running cos I think I won't be able to start again!

@Onelifeonly, thank God for your post, I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who doesn't jump at any occasion to prove others wrong even if it scares them to death and indeed put a living being in danger.

The only thing I'm getting from this is how self righteous our society has become, and plan nasty.

The sane people who proclaim they never do anything wrong or they do, they have zillion excuses why it was someone else fault and THEY should given slack.

Horrible! Thank God it's not the life I evolve in. I know that not one of my running, cycling, walking friends would have acted as OP did. They wouldn't be my friends any way!

Not sure the dog owner would be my kinda friend either

Unless you know your dogs have 100% recall they should be on a lead in public spaces in my view. This being one of the many reasons for that being the advice given to any dog owners that look into it. You had no obligation to stop. I might have stopped in your shoes but I’d have been really annoyed. But ultimately, they have just learned a valuable lesson.

I think yabu .I accept the dogs should have been stopped by their owners. However I think you have to realise dogs are wild animals at heart and will chase as they think it's a game .just pause a few seconds and wait for them to come back then move on . Dogs loose near a road can cause a serious accident

You're right that it's not your responsibility to control her dogs, but sometimes it's nice to just do the right thing.

Would it really have hurt you to stop for two minutes while she leashed her dogs?

I would have stopped more or less immediately, probably to clap the dogs because I like dogs way more than I like people.

If you'd stopped more or less immediately or just down the road to make a point, you could still have given the owners your self-righteous speech about keeping them on a lead (and you would have been right). But instead, by going on so long, you had to interrupt your run and double back.

Hopefully they will either train their dogs properly or keep them on a lead going forward. But they sound like dicks so then again, probably not.

I used to be a very keen runner (kids have put that on a back burner!) Anyway yes this used to drive me up the wall. I would carry on running and shout "can you control your dog please" as the dog was bounding along with me, it was a common occurance. I don't think you would have been wrong to keep going, it isn't your responsibility to return an off lead dog. To me if they will bolt off like that they have terrible recall so should be on a lead on public footpaths.

How incredibly annoying op.
And it takes quite a bit to get me annoyed!

As a runner myself, I hate the excess energy wasted on dodging or pausing for dogs or dog owners to control them.

I’m in a flow. Keeping myself to myself. And it’s bloody annoying when dogs run out and start chasing you. I just run on and let the owner sort it.