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.

She should have called her dog back (and it’s my pet peeve when owners don’t do this so I do sympathise).

But for your dogs safety you shouldn’t have them off the lead if they run when dogs approach them. Ideally owners would call their dogs back but you know this doesn’t always happen.

My dog likes saying hello to others but sometimes gets a little spooked (especially if big dogs hump him 🤨) so I have taught him to run between my feet when he’s uncomfortable. Could you try something like that?

What rule? Has the op said she was in a place where dogs were required to be kept on a lead?

Yes as others were walking their dogs there and further up she has said her dog needs walking off lead. So she should hire a field like others do. It’s not all about her dog.

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

This was incredibly rude.

Her dogs shouldn't be off lead if she wont call them away from strangers. But your dogs absolutely should not be off lead if they bolt like that. Seriously dangerous that, if you can't call them back to you then they need to be on lead.

You were both in the wrong. But you were VERY rude and her dogs behaviour is more "normal" and accepted.

It’s not about your dog not bothering others, it’s about the others that could feel threatened by yours offlead. Simple

Unless the OP has telescopic arms, her hand wasn't in anyone's face. However the rest I agree on. It's an unwritten rule that if dogs are offlead, other dog owners assume they're safe to be approach by their dog/s. Your dogs shouldn't be off lead unless you're happy for them to interact. You aren't. You should have put yours on a lead as soon as you caught sight of the retrievers. Risky even with that, as you never know if a dog is going to suddenly appear around a corner etc.

If your dogs don't have perfect recall then don't allow them to be off lead. You were rude.

Your dogs were off the lead - what is you think is wrong about other dogs off the lead?

You are precious about yours, so keep them on a lead. Lots of dogs are much bigger than yours. Your dogs are not the only ones allowed out for walks and off the lead.

Is this aimed at me?

My dog goes no where near anyone. Simple

OP.

If you were to make a post asking 'was I rude to walk past a fellow dog-walker and say "Morning! Nice day isn't it?"', MN would chime in with (mainly) one voice:

'Learn some manners! Your attitude is atrocious! How rude! I hope your parents are proud'. Not forgetting the time-honoured 'Give your head a wobble!'

If you're after an objective balance here, you're unlikely to get one. The word 'rude' in any thread title seems to trigger something primeval on AIBU ...

So you have two puppies off lead who bolt when confronted with other dogs and the other dog is the problem?

You were also completely unnecessarily rude to the woman- she prob couldnt understand what you were having an issue with. Dogs shouldn't be off lead if they arent good around other dogs and yours arent

Yes you are rude OP and an argumentative nightmare.

You were rude, OP.

The other woman should have called her dog without you having to ask her.

You should have your dogs on leads if you can't yet guarantee their recall/their behaviour around other dogs.

Definitely think you were both bu.

If your dogs run off when approached by other dogs you should put them on a lead when you see other dogs approaching as if another dog continued to chase them they might run out of the park.

The other owner should have shouted whether it was ok for her dog to say hello and have called her dog back when you asked her to.

There's no universal code of conduct for dogs and owners. Everyone has their own set of rules that clash, so we need to do what we must to protect our own dogs and to protect people. We all need to be proactive.

Fwiw I keep my 1 year old dog on led all the time as I can't guarantee his recall. Jack Russell. Easily distracted.

I don’t think you were any ruder than the other lady but you need to socialise your dogs more if they are going to run off. Start by putting them back on the lead when you encounter other dogs so you’re in control of them.

I think your dogs should have been put on leads when you realised that the other dogs were mithering, if they wern't reachable from this point, they should have been on the leads in the first place regardless.
If I enconutered your reaction I would think that you were quite highly strung.
I also think that's there's no harm in dogs checking each other out, but you never 100% know how a dog is going to react.
If I see a dog/dogs in the distance that I've never seen before or they look like trouble, I'll put mine on the lead in plenty of time.

I think the other woman was rude to not immediately come get her dog. She had to see what was happening, and you asked her to help get her own dog away from you, so that your dogs wouldn’t be scared to come to you. She ignored you on purpose. Then, the woman went and told her version to another person there to pit against you too. Textbook manipulative and abuse tactics.

You did nothing wrong.

Train your dogs properly or put them on a lead.

See you say that but I always have my dog on a lead and folk who don’t don’t seem to care when their dog runs up. Always the same ‘oh he’s friendly’ bull, that’s great but my rescue dog is terrified so keep yours away.

Your dogs are NOT well trained if they bolt when another dog approaches. You need to keep up the training, use long lines (not flexi leads) for training. They need to be better socialised so a good, reward based, training class, will help. If dogs are on lead then other dog owners know to keep their dogs away, dogs off lead in parks and fields will generally say hi to each other, occasionally make friends, more often just do a mutual bottom sniff and move on. Areas where dogs walk off lead are areas where dogs interact.

Yes you were rude. It's like choosing to go to a party and then getting annoyed when someone tries to talk to you.

I’ve not read the whole thread but as a seasoned Chihuahua owner YABU. They are too small to have off lead, 7 months is far too young. Chihuahuas will go for a much bigger dog when they feel threatened, they don’t know that they’re little.

You’re all in the wrong IMO.

Woman shouldn’t let her dog offlead if it runs up to random dogs and barks. That is not how well socialised and trained dogs should socialise.
You should leash your dogs when you see another dog as you know they’re prone to bolting around other dogs.
Yea, other woman should have recalled her dog / been more aware of her surrounding shut but you couldn’t recall yours in that situation either so no one is coming off well here.

Leash your dogs when you see others, get a trainer / behaviourist to work with the bolting.

I'm not sure why you've bothered asking when you're arguing with everyone.

You should have handled it differently.

"Excuse me, could you call your dog as it's spoked mine, thank you" would have been more polite and probably yielded a quicker result also.

You don't get to walk your dogs off lead, and moan about others doing the same. It's literally not the way dog walking works. But you continue to argue with everyone if it makes you feel like less of an arsehole.

YABU - your dogs should not have been off their leads. Simple as that.

adding that I have a reactive rescue that is on lead permanently on walks - he's my responsibility to manage, no one else's. If I choose to take him into an area with off lead dogs then I have to be able to deal with any situation that arises. He's small, I can pick him up and tuck him under my arm, but if I wasn't able to do that then I wouldn't walk him where there are off lead dogs. It would be just daft. It's inevitable some random dog will wander over at some point.... it's what they do.

you are responsible for your own dogs, no one else.