Dogs and joggers

[TootsAtOwls]

I'm prepared to be told IABU on this but interested to know what others think...

I have a rescue dog who is mostly fine, always friendly if he meets people in the house etc. However he does sometimes bark at people he doesn't like the look of when we pass them on the street (tall men, people wearing neon colours etc). I am actively working on this with positive reinforcement (I get the treats out before we pass people so he learns that other people are a good thing) and most days pass without incident.

However, I am having trouble with (male) runners. They come out of nowhere, running around corners and hurtling past at full speed. I often don't have time to get the treat into the dog's mouth or he's already too distracted by the runner to take it. So he barks, and lunges (I know he means it in a playful way, but they don't!) They always seem to look back and give me a dirty look as i call out "Sorry!"

But I can't help thinking, if I was running past a dog, I'd either cross the road to avoid them or if that's impossible (say on a canal path) I would bloody well slow down! I get that they don't want to keep interrupting their run with bouts of walking. Bit am I so unreasonable to think that you don't run right past a dog who's looking intently at you (as opposed to a dog showing no interest)? Surely they must see it's going to get them barked at?

YABU, cyclists and runners should give you a bit of space if they can (not cross the road, that’s crazy!) but it’s your dog, it’s your responsibility to stop it lunging and barking.

They come out of nowhere, running around corners and hurtling past at full speed

For this YANBU. Does it happen often? I am a runner, but I am sadly not blessed with vision that allows me to see around corners. It seems very unusual behaviour.

Everyone using a shared path in the right way should show respect for each other. Your timid dog on a lead should be able to enjoy the path. Runners should be able to as well. Both need to be conscious of others - short leads, slowing down, making other people aware if they are approaching someone from behind.

I don't often run on narrow shared paths because I live rurally, so my problem is dogs off lead and their oh so chipper owners telling me 'they just want to be friends'. But that's a whole other thread........

I just wanted to say thank you to the OP for keeping your dog on a lead. I’m a small, female, slow, runner and Ive been chased, barked at, jumped up at, attacked and bitten sooo many times! One was a serious bite which needed hospital treatment and weeks of recovery. I used to love dogs growing up and am so sad that every time I go out now I’m anxious the entire time scanning for dogs. I always slow down/walk for every dog which is a pain as there are dogs everywhere where I live. Dogs which aren’t on leads seriously stress me out as I know if the dog goes for me the owner won’t necessarily be able to get it under control. I once had a dog that just kept going for me and biting me even once I had stopped completely. The owner just couldn’t stop it and get it on the lead and when she finally managed to I went home with bruises all over my legs.

I never want to judge as I do get why dogs get upset by runners and always say thank you to anyone I pass whose dog is on a lead as it makes me so much more comfortable to pass safely.

Oh and on the occasion when the dog wouldn’t stop biting me the owner kept saying “my poor puppy, my baby! He gets so frightened by runners” AS THE DOG WAS STILL BITING ME!

@Cymraescwtch Exactly , I’m not a big fan of letting dogs off-lead tbh, unless you’re in a dog park or a space not used by walkers/cyclists. It’s too risky.

It’s your dog. Yours. Your dog has no rights whatsoever. It’s animal you chose to get. You. You chose to get. I will not ‘give and take’ anything due to the consequence of a decision YOU took. Jeez! The entitlement in expecting anyone to adjust our actions cause YOU decided to get a dog is absolutely off the scale!

Keep up the training and carry on OP.
As long as dog is under control and on a lead his barking and lunging should gradually lessen.
My rescue was the same. He's fine now and completely ignores runners, cyclists etc.
I avoided routes that had loads of runners at first, also if I saw one approaching would hold a treat or a toy in front of dog to get his attention and make him turn and look at me instead of the runner. Then give him his reward after.
Dogs can interpret eye contact from a stranger as a sign of aggression so I found it really helpful to get him focussed on something else.

The entitlement in expecting anyone to adjust our actions cause YOU decided to get a dog is absolutely off the scale!

There are very many people who prioritise their dog over their long term partner.

There seem to be a lot of reactive dogs around at the moment. Not being keen on dogs myself, I always try to give them a wide berth.

I'd suggest that you avoid narrow paths as far as possible, so as to give runners and other walkers a chance to avoid you. For example I always cross the road if it's safe, and I avoid places like a canal towpath if I can see there are off-lead dogs. But if someone comes round the corner with a reactive dog on a narrow path, neither of us has anywhere to go.

Completely ignoring dogs here - I think if you are out running about about to pass someone who has their back to you and hasn't acknowledged you a shout of "passing on your left side" (or right as necessary) goes a long way. This goes for cyclists too if they are using the path.

Dog walkers, particularly if you have a reactive dog (and I do not use the term reactive to mean aggressive - it also includes those likely to jump up and say hello) do have a responsibility to keen scanning their environment including behind them. You also should avoid blind corners. Appreciate it isn't always possible but in this scenario training a close heel or even your dog to walk in the middle of your legs is a better alternative than them reacting to a stranger.

As someone who has cycled regularly on shared paths, you do get lots of muttered curses from pedestrians who see your bell ringing as intrusive though. You really cannot win.

@QuertyGirl

Where did OP say yhat she didn't have the dog on a lead? It is not unreasonable to ask people to take others into consideration. It is not just joggers on the path and and it is not unreasonable to ask them to slow down or have a thought for others in the area.

@Cantseethewoodforthetree

Nothing wrong with slowing down and calling out an 'excuse me'or an 'I'm just coming up on your left'

Lots of pedestrians have headphones on too.

LOL. Bless you. Your post gave me a wry smile. Like I was saying, 'MOST' people in life are considerate and chill....😂

I think when you are using a shared space then everyone should be courteous to other users so you need to try and stop your dog lunging which it sounds like you are and the joggers need to take action to stop startling the dog. The highway code makes it clear that motorists should slow down when passing horses etc to avoid startling them and I feel that this falls into similar territory.

I’m sorry but if someone wants to run fast in a park, or have a picnic with their kids in a park, or play football with their kids in a park they should be able to without having to stress about being lunged at by some total fuckwits dog! Our enjoyment of public areas should in no way be inhibited by someone else’s decision to get a dog. It is totally and utterly unacceptable. We’re supposed to just suck it up these days, and ‘chill’ when hahaha, someone’s dog decides to bite me for having the audacity to run past, of hahaha bite my kids football so it bursts, or hahaha slobber all over our lunch, all three of which have happened to our family in the space of the past 2 years.

@Cantseethewoodforthetree

But the dogs are their babies...,,

Instead of apologising just say, 'he hated lycra!'

*hates

Typo corrections really kill the humour...

Quite. I recently had to nod along (work thing) while someone rhapsodised about how inconsiderate it is to have a picnic in a park where you know there will be dogs (to be clear, the park under discussion was not a dog park). The person's poor dog was shouted at for stealing a sandwich - but it's only natural, when he smells food he likes! They should have had their food in a closed container, obviously, rather than just out on the picnic table.

My internal eye roll was epic.

Sorry but it's your responsibility to control your dog. They have the right to go running (a perfectly normal thing to do) without being lunged at.

there's no point trying to reason with dog people, they are in love with the animal and cant see sense
imo the best solution is to make sure your picnic consists of raisons and dark chocolate

It's insane.

I have both a cat and a child.

I can tell them apart unlike some dog owners

I ended up at a standstill surrounded by 3 lively off-lead dogs ignoring their owner as the low point of this week's run.
I pass as wide as is safely viable as I don't want to be jumped, lunged or barked at. I just want to run. I don't necessarily know how much slack/ extension is on a dog lead, and a lot of owners let their dogs swing in a 1m radius around them which takes up a lot of path width. Then there's the ones with extendable trip hazard leads...

If there is space to comfortably pass a person ahead, I don't shout out. Partly sometimes being tired or out of breath, but mainly that it can often cause people to panic and create a greater obstruction. Some people also end up going into "entitled wanker runners mode" about it anyway so if I'm doomed to risk being a fit social pariah either way, I may as well go for the prioitising my convenience approach. If there isn't suitable width, then I slow down/ wait/ say "excuse me" accordingly .

I favour running in quiet places, but that also comes with a risk of dog owners being unobservant and not expecting other people.

I also thank pleasant, responsible owners who have actively managed their dogs with good control. Shortly after being surrounded, there was a lovely observant owner who got her dog to heel and interacted with it and rewarded it for its behaviour.

If someone's running up in running gear, all they want to do is get from A-B at a faster than walking pace, and are pretty predictable. Even to members of the public who can read some dog body language (and not every one can), there is always an element of unpredictability to what a random dog will do, and it's the owner's responsibility to train their dog and control it so it doesn't cause alarm. On a run, you can pass 10s of dogs all behaving differently and that's information process when you're physically and often mentally tired. The time a dog knocked me flying, it suddenly lurched off at 90⁰ to where it had been looking and bolted several meters across the path into my shins. Goodness knows where it's bloody owner was.

Ultimately owners chose to have dogs and take on the responsibility and duties of care that that entails.
On balance, I quite like dogs, but don't want to have that responsibility, so don't own one. As long as I don't act in a provocative manner (which does not include merely passing on the same path), that's where my responsibility to any dog ends and the rest of it is on their owners to manage.