Dog owner angry because i walked away from his dog

[Mooo111]

I admit I'm a little nervous of certain dogs, I just think 'never say never'.
Anyway just before I was walking in the street and a pitbull type dog was off its lead walking past me. I moved to the other side of the pavement to let them past.
The owner (a young man) took great offence at this snapping, 'He's friendly, he wouldn't be off the lead if he wasn't, Jesus Christ!" Then walked off muttering obscenities.

I didn't respond just carried on walking. Has anyone else met this sort of situation? I'm within my rights to move out of the way of the dog if I want to. Of course owners will always say he/she is friendly but it can be intimidating when a dog you don't know runs up to you.

YANBU. I am phobic of dogs and always avoid them if they are not on a lead.

If you are talking about allregognised bully breeds, you're including Bull Terriers, Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Great Danes, French Bulldogs, Bull Mastifs, Pugs etc as well as Staffys. So where do you draw the line - ban Bull Terriers, but keep Frenchies & pugs etc? Ban Boston Terriers but keep Great Danes?

Great Danes and Pugs are not bull breeds. Great Danes were developed originally from molosser/mastiff type dogs for hunting bears and wild boar. Pugs originated in China as companion dogs, akin to the Pekingese. They were brought to Europe via Holland but the 'Dutch Bulldog' moniker is a misnomer, see the screenshot from the American Kennel Club website.

@Porthia

YADNBU - I had a similar albeit more polite version when I was heavily pregnant and walking with my 2 year old to nursery.

Now, I am scared of dogs. I used to be properly phobic but I have worked hard to overcome it and now I would say I am cautious around dogs but no longer fully terrified. The reasons behind my phobia are likely many but it was fuelled by 2 dog related incidents when I was a child, one involving a Doberman when I was about 5 and one involving 2 German Shepherds when I was about 10. In the latter incident I ended up being bitten on the leg.

ANYHOO, my point is that no one just walking along with their dog knows any of this. So when a young off lead German Shepherd was running towards me down the pavement and I was encumbered by a very pregnant belly and a toddler I found it absolutely terrifying. This was on the pavement by the side of a relatively busy road - not off in the woods.

The dog was, it turns out, very well trained and the owner just whistled and he turned without breaking stride and returned to him. But I did ask the owner why he doesn’t please use a lead and he said - much like the bloke you spoke to - “if I needed a lead I would use one”

I have since seen them walking around quite a lot, never with a lead and, to be fair, the dog is always under control, but to someone like me it literally feels like seeing an enormous man eating tiger wandering down the road next to me and my toddler. And I’m trusting in the training of a stranger and the unpredictable nature of a dog I don’t know that nothing bad will happen.

Is that irrational? Yes, probably my fear is still irrational and I get that the man has probably put in lots of time and effort training his dog. But, I still think people should come first and that means dogs should be on the lead when on a road!

Sorry for the essay - but I think it’s important for people to understand how it can feel to see a dog off lead (and obviously it’s different in a field or dog park or something).

My dog is usually off the lead unless we’re on a busy road with pavements. However I’ve got very good at reading people’s reactions when they see us approaching. A few times I’ve seen people react with utter terror, it’s heart-breaking. I instantly put the dog on a lead abd cross over if I can.

Some men love to tell me how to manage my dog. These are non-phobic busybodies who think they can use her being off the lead as a justification to boss a woman around. They get very short shrift indeed from me.

@Allergictoironing

Yes that is true, if that dog was of a breed that was classed as illegal then that child wouldn't have died. Unless the parents had bought a different large adult dog, of a different breed, that wasn't yet on the banned list e.g. a German Shepherd, or a Husky/Mamlute, or a Chow cross, or a standard English Bulldog, which may or may not have attacked the child.

I wasn't trying to suppress you at all - I asked a simple question about what breeds YOU considered dangerous and should be banned.

The problem is, any large & most medium breeds of dog have the potential to cause death if they attack. There have even been cases of babies & small children being killed by small terrier breeds in the UK.

Though I can find no records of any deaths caused by Bull Terriers - the breed owned by @SamphiretheStickerist, the dog you state is "bound to cause a serious or fatal injury ".

There are none, as far as I can tell. I don't think I found any serious injuries either (unless it was from a dog stolen and used for fighting). Other smaller terriers, including a Lakeland have killed, though.

Most people who own bull terriers spend inordinate amounts of time learning their dog's levels of 'bounciness' and refocusing it. They aren't aggressive dogs but their immense capacity for over exuberance can be an issue for people who don't know the breed or judge them on their head shape. No Bullie owner is ignorant of that fact.

Trying to get noticed in the Daily Fail how pathetic 🙄

Stop posting multiple threads and trying to create drama when there isn’t any.

@Porthia

YADNBU - I had a similar albeit more polite version when I was heavily pregnant and walking with my 2 year old to nursery.

Now, I am scared of dogs. I used to be properly phobic but I have worked hard to overcome it and now I would say I am cautious around dogs but no longer fully terrified. The reasons behind my phobia are likely many but it was fuelled by 2 dog related incidents when I was a child, one involving a Doberman when I was about 5 and one involving 2 German Shepherds when I was about 10. In the latter incident I ended up being bitten on the leg.

ANYHOO, my point is that no one just walking along with their dog knows any of this. So when a young off lead German Shepherd was running towards me down the pavement and I was encumbered by a very pregnant belly and a toddler I found it absolutely terrifying. This was on the pavement by the side of a relatively busy road - not off in the woods.

The dog was, it turns out, very well trained and the owner just whistled and he turned without breaking stride and returned to him. But I did ask the owner why he doesn’t please use a lead and he said - much like the bloke you spoke to - “if I needed a lead I would use one”

I have since seen them walking around quite a lot, never with a lead and, to be fair, the dog is always under control, but to someone like me it literally feels like seeing an enormous man eating tiger wandering down the road next to me and my toddler. And I’m trusting in the training of a stranger and the unpredictable nature of a dog I don’t know that nothing bad will happen.

Is that irrational? Yes, probably my fear is still irrational and I get that the man has probably put in lots of time and effort training his dog. But, I still think people should come first and that means dogs should be on the lead when on a road!

Sorry for the essay - but I think it’s important for people to understand how it can feel to see a dog off lead (and obviously it’s different in a field or dog park or something).

I agree with you. You never know the dog owner and the dog are like. Not all of them are well managed like this. It would be great that these blokes realized world doesnt run just by his standards. as in not all dogs are well trained as his and not all people are fine having a dog running towards them even if the dog is later called back.

Most people who have these scary looking breeds are lacking elsewhere in their lives.

Yes. What was lacking in mine was this daft sod!

@SamphiretheStickerist I did look it up before posting . I only know 2 Bull Terriers well. One is my bosses dog, who videobombs our team meetings so she can cuddle up to her owner. The other one is an elderly boy at one of the parks I go to for work, all HE wants to do is be fussed

@VetOnCall apologies, I used a website called Dogtime to get a list from, which did include pugs; there were a number of other websites including This one that included pugs. Not really excusable I know, though some pug owners I sometimes see have theirs mistaken for French Bulldogs all the time!

@Dontcallmebabylalala

Moderation is needed. There is nothing wrong with being wary or not going near them if you don't want too. But being an aggressive breed doesn't mean that every individual is a demonic monster fresh out of hell. Being an aggressive breed means that more individuals than average are aggressive, but the actual number of vicious dogs are still a lot lower than some people on mumsnet think.

Statistically, you are far more likely yo be hurt or killed by a fellow human.

What is a delusion is the people on here thinking that reading about a couple of dog attacks means that they know everything about dogs and the people who've owned them for decades in some cases know nothing.

"Just being friendly" Yeah so. This actually boils my piss. A man fawning all over you in a pub would argue he was 'just being friendly'. If attentions are unwelcome, it doesn't fecking matter whether they be from a human, a dog, a budgie, whatever. Just get to fuck! To dog owners of that ilk, how would you like it if I took off my shoes and rubbed the mucky soles on your clean clothes then transferred my saliva to your skin. Because having your friendly dog slobber all over me amounts to the same thing.

I like dogs but I’m not particularly interested in interacting with ones I don’t know. I always tell the kids not to approach or touch strange dogs. They probably aren’t aggressive but they don’t always want strangers touching them. If a dog off a lead approaches me, I generally ignore it.

The owner needs to have their dog on a lead and keep it away from other pedestrians. He was rude.

@Mooo111

I've had it where i went to friend's houses and their large dogs jumped all over me, covering me in hairs etc and scratching my legs. I do like dogs but I just think that there definitely are some people who choose not to control their dogs

It's so important to have control of your dog particularly big dogs. But also there's a period where dogs are being trained and that can take a couple of years depending on breed but during that time they should be on a lead around others. It sounds like the guy was a dick but the dog didn't do anything?

There are a lot of stupid people around, some of them are dog owners, some aren't.

Some time ago I was in the park with my dog. A large dog came bounding over to us and started leaping up at my front. When I turned my back on him he jumped at my back. When I tried to walk away from him he followed me still jumping.

Given that the owner was some distance away I had to shout to tell him to get his dog off me.

Owner eventually toddles up complaining that he's 'coming as fast as he can' and that he'd would have thought I liked dogs as I have one of my own.

When I told him I do like dogs but I don't like them jumping all over me with their muddy paws he called me a 'miserable old cow' several times.

@SamphiretheStickerist

Most people who have these scary looking breeds are lacking elsewhere in their lives.

Yes. What was lacking in mine was this daft sod!

We don't all like scary looking dogs, if owners accepted this instead of forcing the love of their lives on everyone else, we'd all muddle along just fine. Not saying your like this btw, i'm sure your dog is lovely as are you!

I've now got a German short haired pointer, she stays on a lead, under close control, same when DD takes her for 7 or 8 mile runs, i don't expect other people out enjoying the lovely weather to adapt their behavior because i have a dog... she's a largish dog, her bounding up to people could give them a coronary!
its just respecting others space isn't it? we all have different ideas and views - luckily i ve also got access to a private 5 acre field & woodland for off the lead work n play or i wouldn't have her.

Unfortunately most people work, not enough space, dog left alone, recipe for disaster.

YANBU at all. I'm a lifelong dog person and I would have done the same, because I have experienced first-hand what aggressive dogs can do to me and my dogs.

If the dog's on the street it should be on a leash, for its own protection as well as other people/dogs/cats/etc.

I think you missed my sarcasm @Alexandra2001

I agree with you. I waited for over 30 years to be in the right situation to have a dog. He wasn't an impulse buy or a fashion choice.

I dislike the slack behaviour of inattentive owners as much as anyone else. But, at the same time, I also dislike the kneejerk reactions to some breeds of dog, I am a tad protective about my toad!

Ooh, sorry @Alexandra2001 I seem to have deleted a bit

... missed my sarcasm, my fault, I should have added an emoji 😋 maybe 🙂

I'm not keen on dogs in general, regardless of breed. The main reason is the number of times I'm jumped at by random dogs while the owner gaily laughs "oh he's so friendly". I won't walk through nearby woods without DH as guaranteed at least one dog will jump at me. I'm only 5ft and don't want a dog's face in mine and muddy paws all up my clothes.
My neighbour has a border collie who is brilliantly trained and never even seems to bark, so I don't know why other dog owners aren't as responsible.

YANBU.
When I was a teen, I walked our German Shepherd every day after school. Once, I saw a group of friends and crossed the street to chat.
We were laughing & talking & I tapped (I mean tapped) one of the boys on his arm — my dog (on the leash) lunged at him out of the blue & grabbed a mouthful of his shirt and I had to pull him off. I hadn’t been paying any attention to my dog at all.
It was terrifying for each of us.
You just never know what a dog is going to do. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if my dog hadn’t been on the leash.

@SamphiretheStickerist Ha ha sarcasm usually misses my radar by many miles!

I would cross the road for any dog off a lead. And I wouldn't care a jot what anyone else has to say about that. Why are you even thinking about it?

@CurbsideProphet

I'm not keen on dogs in general, regardless of breed. The main reason is the number of times I'm jumped at by random dogs while the owner gaily laughs "oh he's so friendly". I won't walk through nearby woods without DH as guaranteed at least one dog will jump at me. I'm only 5ft and don't want a dog's face in mine and muddy paws all up my clothes. My neighbour has a border collie who is brilliantly trained and never even seems to bark, so I don't know why other dog owners aren't as responsible.

Not all dogs are border collies?

He just sounds like a dickhead, best ignored. Who cares whether someone else’s dog is friendly or not?

I was walking along a path in a pedestrianised retail park two days ago when a man and woman walked towards me with a Staffordshire bull terrier on a long lead. I'm slightly apprehensive of dogs (dog bite in childhood), so was aware of the dog we passed, but didn't stare at it or step aside, just continued past. I'm on crutches at the moment, so couldn't have moved quickly if it had just jumped up, so I couldn't afford to be oblivious to it.

As we passed, the woman turned and shouted "he's not going to eat you" at me. This made other passers by turn and stare. I suddenly felt very awkward and quite vulnerable, but I don't know what I could have done differently.