Was I rude/wrong in this situation?

[clankist]

Was out walking my two seven month chihuahuas today. I have treated them like dogs from day one and they are very well trained. They walk off lead absolutely fine and don't bother other dogs at all, however if a dog comes running over to them they will bolt.

Today I was walking them off lead and there were two big golden retriever with two women who were chatting. We were quite a distance away but one of the retrievers started barking and running towards me/my dogs. I put my hand out in a 'stop' motion as it got closer. I said, 'stop' and when that didn't work I said 'no'. That didn't work either and my dogs started to run away.

I moved away from the dogs and began to call for my dogs but the retriever kept following me so my dogs were standing watching at a distance but wouldn't come over due to the dog being next to me. I shouted across to the woman, 'can you please get your dog?' No reply and she continued talking.

I moved away again, calling my dogs and the dog followed me again. I looked at the lady and shouted, 'can you get your dog?' She didn't move.

I moved away again and the dog followed once again, at this point I was exasperated and said a little sternly, 'will You move your dog!?'

She came over and said, 'my dog isn't anywhere near your dogs' rudely.

I said, 'yeah because they ran away terrified due to your dog coming up to them. If your dog is off lead it shouldn't be running up to my dogs'

She went to say something but I just held up my hand and said, 'thank you'.

I then continued my walk with my dogs and the lady met another dog walker who then started pointing to me and shaking their head.

Did I do the right thing to deal with this situation or was I too sensitive? I just think you shouldn't have your dog off the lead unless you know they will not approach any other dogs without permission.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other though, she should definitely have called her dog back.

I think in this instance, as it was your dogs that wouldn't come back, your dogs should be on a lead.

I was throwing the ball for our dog and another dog was running around with her, the owner came over shouting something about I should have stopped throwing the ball for my dog as she couldn't get her dog back !! Absolutely crazy, her dog shouldn't be off the lead of it won't come back, ours is fine.

It sounds like the other ladies dog had fine recall once she called them. If you have skittish dog keep them on leads.

You’re so self centred in your thinking, that again you are missing the point. There is a reason the law is for dogs to be leashed in public places. If you don’t understand why, then you are unfortunately one of the problem dog owners us other law abiding ones have the misfortune to come across. What part of now your unleashed dog could make the law abiding leashed Ines feel being untethered?

It would just be safer to keep your timid dogs on their leads. Then the onus is not put on the owners of other dogs who, won't know that your dogs are a bolt risk. They are your responsibility .

I don't think it is too much theoretically, but the reality is you cannot trust that other dog owners will be paying attention/ bothered about it. The responsibility for your dogs is yours, so yes, yabu. If you are not sure they won't run off, they should be on leads.

What I do when people don't call their dogs away from mine (who I walk on lead) is just keep walking. I don't bother to engage. If they were going to respond reasonably to being asked to call their dog off mine favourably, they wouldn't be the type to let it do that in the first place.

One too many run ins with yummy mummies and their coffee chats or Very Important People on "business calls" who simply never call their dogs back has me at the end of my rope. So i continue my walk and lead their dog as far away as they are willing to let it go before they realise they are about to lose it due to their inattention. Not my dog, not my responsibility.

Your wrong. There is no such law. It is under control not leashed.

But your own recall is just as important in preventing your dogs running away, regardless if you agree or not. They wouldn't have been able to run away if they were on leads. I also think the woman should have had her own dog on a lead if she couldn't be bothered to supervise it.

*you're

I can understand why you were exasperated- you politely asked the other dog owner to call her dog away. I agree with you OP. What are your dogs like when bigger dogs approach them when they are on leads?

Do you think going to more socialisation classes might help - build up their confidence

@AllThingsServeTheBeam start your own thread about your perfectly behaved dogs, instead of hijacking this one. You've completely missed the point the OP was making.

No I haven't in the slightest. I've answered the op. I have also answered other posters. There is no need for me to start yet another thread. Plus people are starting to make their own rules up now and they need correcting 👍😉

I also disagree. I have one on lead mostly but the other is impeccable recall and has no problem off lead. I go to places where she is allowed so I don’t se the problem.

You are in the wrong for using you're incorrectly!

I apologize profusely for not noticing an autofill error.

Was your reaction a little of proportion for the situation? . Its a bit scary you allow your dogs off lead when they dont recall under stress. They are still very young, and small dogs are known for a little anxiety to say the least. You have mentioned they " don't go far" as a justification for that, but if that's the case then what was the issue in the first place? Couldn't you have smiled and walked up to the lady and asked " would you mind grabbing your dog because I'm afraid mine are being idiots" 😂

If your dogs are off lead, and you see ones on lead coming into the area, then you recall them and ask them to stay ( I will go as far as popping a lead back on mine until the others pass. I don't want her bitten by a reactive dog trying to enjoy their walk )

Other off lead dogs are fair game. They have been judged by their owners as safe to be around and interact with other dogs. And dogs will run and bark?! That said, I always treat each situation as a new one and would supervise until I was comfortable. It's a shame the other lady didn't, but tbf she probably didn't expect two 7 month old, off lead chihuahuas with a bolting issue to come breezing past.......

You're forgiven 😁

YANBU - I personally think the other dog owner was the rude one. Leaving aside the above debate on on leash/off leash, if my dog was pestering someone and that person didn't want to be pestered, I would instantly recall my dog. That's just basic manners. To obviously ignore your request twice was rude so I think you had every right to change your tone and cut her off.

Do people not have any sense of how tedious it is for other posters to have to read their corrections of someone else's SPAG?

It's a total waste of column inches, aside from being incredibly ill-mannered. Also, if you're labouring under the misapprehension that it somehow makes your intelligence (hence your position in the argument) seem superior, it doesn't. It has precisely the opposite effect of showing that this is the best argument you can muster.

Plus no one's in the least bit interested.

I don't understand why posters are mentioning off lead dogs coming over to their on lead dogs, that's a totally different scenario and all dog owners should know that's wrong but its not relevant to this thread. My two are happy if dogs come over when they are on lead but I can totally understand why many wouldn't.

I have to say not all dog owners are aware of that fact, though I wish they were. I have had mine on her lead when injured or after an op and the amount of people who just let their dogs come into her was unbelievable. I have taught my dog to stay close to me when off her lead if there are dogs approaching and she will only go and say hello if I notice the other dogs are friendly and say to her say hello.

I suspect the retrievers owner wouldn't have even been aware of your dogs if they were on a lead. It sounds like the owners was too busy with their chat to even notice what theirs dogs were doing.

I am also not aware of the 'rule' mentioned by a pp that a dog off lead is open to other dogs coming to play with it. Quite a lot of dogs are reactive when on the lead and feel safer when off it, to be able to get away if they feel threatened.
My dog does not like big dogs like huskies and dogs that look similar. We were walking one of our regular walks and a lady was walking her two dogs off lead, one a husky type. I started walking in a different direction but her dogs decided they wanted to come and say hello. I asked her to recall her dogs but she did nothing, I then had to shout at her to call her dogs which she eventually did very quietly. This isn't a one off incident, we have had it happen many times in her 10 years.

You sounded a bit short with the other dog owner op, and I would say you were being rude if you put your hand up in her face.

@MarieIVanArkleStinks If you weren’t at least a little bit interested you wouldn’t have wasted a whole post moaning about it 😉

Sounds like all the dogs acted like dogs!

Yes, you were rude.

Putting your hand up to stop a conversation is rude, so yes, you were rude.

Also if your dogs are likely to run away if approached by other dogs that is also your responsibility and your problem. I have a similar issue with my dog. If I see a dog that is approaching that she is likely to respond to, I put her on the lead for her safety. I do not expect others, who have friendly, but possibly boisterous dogs to take responsibility for my fearful one.

if your dogs won’t respond to recall you need to be aware and take responsibility yourself.

YABU.

The dogs were just doing what all dogs do. If your dogs can't run around and play with other dogs when they run up to them then they should be on a lead. Small dogs are particularly vulnerable to being attacked by much bigger dogs so that puts them at a disadvantage straight away.