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.

I am not sure why pp above is talking about 'dangerously out of control'. In the countryside the law states that a dog must be under 'close control'.

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

Overview

It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:

in a public place
in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden
in the owner’s home
The law applies to all dogs.

@Plantstrees

@JeniferAllisonPhillipaSue Thanks. I guess it depends where the dog was being walked and what the rules are in that area. In the countryside it is obviously much stricter than in urban areas.

@Plantstrees what you quote is a code not the law. It is a code and it's clear what it is designed to prevent (worrying of lifestock or wildlife - ie chasing stuff etc). I think a farmer shooting a nervous chihuahua for not wanting to meet an enthusiastic retriever would be utterly ridiculous and no way could be justified. The code is there to stop sheep worrying/chasing etc. You have to look at what the rules are designed for. They are designed to stop dangerous dogs being out of control in public or normal dogs chasing and lifestock worrying. I think the idea that a dog must be "forced" to meet another dog its frightened of otherwise it's "out of control" is frankly ridiculous. Her dogs were not out of control running after things, disturbing others or sheep worrying. They were standing a little away because they were frightened of the big dog and didn't want to meet it. Forcing small frightened dogs to meet big dogs is not what the law is designed for. It's not reasonable. The chihuahuas were causing no harm, no concern to others or livestock.

This is not about rules and laws, it's about decency and common sense. The other owner should have seen her dog was causing a problem, however inadvertantly, and just called him back. If she couldn't call him back (bad recall), she should have come over and fetched him and said sorry about that. It's not rocket science. Whether the OP overreacted to the first approach I've no idea. It could be that by doing the whole "stop" thing she made her own dogs think the retriever was frightening when he wasn't. But on the description above where she did call for him to be called back several times and the woman ignored her (or didn't hear), it seems to me that the other owner was the one in error. Whether this had to be a big deal is quite another matter of course. Dogs are not robots and as there was no real harm done, perhaps it's the humans who have more problems than the dogs. But people have to have awareness that people and dogs can be nervous, and that's fair too.

No not rude at all

@winkywonky

obviously it’s easier to train a dog from puppy. Why on earth would an owner allow a rescue dog, who displays aggressive behaviour off lead to run over to another off lead dog?

Fact is posters here keep stating off lead dogs are game for other off lead dogs to socialise with (jump over, sniff and generally harass). Most off lead dogs don’t want the intrusion of another dog. Neither does it owner.

If you allow your dog to harass other dogs and haven’t yet faced the wrath of its owner, you soon will!

Everything that @Hadtocomment said. Exactly.