I hardly take my dogs for walks anymore.

[MaryOnACrossss]

Because I'm so sick of dealing with idiots.

I've honestly lost count of the amount of times my dog (a pug who is scared of bigger dogs or any dogs really!) has been run at/bitten/snarled at/pinned of just plain intimidated by other dogs.

First we stopped going to the playing field.
. Then we stopped going to the park.

This morning we went round the circle we live on. Just round the cirle and some guy come round the corner with 2 putty on steroid looking things. One on lead, one off. This is walking round avenues, not a park or anything. And of course the one on lead start dragging him over and the one off lead runs right across the road. I tell him my dog doesn't like dogs, please keep him away.

So he grabs the off lead dog by his back leg???!! Whilst trying to grapple the one on lead away from her too.

He drags the dog by the leg until they're back on opposite side of the road and I pick my dog up and hurry away whilst looking for a gate I can get into if the off lead dog manages to escape.

I'm so fucking sick of it.

Why wasn't it on a fucking lead?

I was shaking. I have anxiety and so does my bloody dog.

It feels like every time I take her out something like this happens.

So we play in the garden alot rather than go on walks.

I never experience any of this personally, and I've been a dog owner for 13 years. I've had maybe 2 altercations with other dogs in all of that time, and our little dog is roaming about off-lead (in appropriate dog walking areas) every day.

Two things:

• I'm not a nervous dog owner, so bring calm energy to all interactions with other dogs, which can help
• I live in a pretty naaaiiice town which, for better or worse, seems to make all the difference to the breeds of dog that people own

However, OP, with a pug and their low exercise requirements, if it's all become too worrying and stressful for you to walk your dog, I think playing in the garden is good enough.

One of mine was petrified of other dogs, she was a 40kg rescue German shepherd.

People used to say to me “oh you should socialise her, let her go and be a dog like they would in the wild” 🤦‍♀️

Firstly, are you volunteering your dog as a guinea pig when you’ve just been told my dog may eat yours and secondly your pug/frenchie/chihuahua is very far from an ancestral dog…I’m not sure they can be classed in the same category any more.

Socialisation needs to be positive. A random dog shoving it’s nose in mines face is not socialising it and usually makes the problem worse or escalate. Not that the oblivious care because it’s not their problem, until theirs gets bitten or becomes reactive of course.

No doubt if I had allowed my dog to ‘socialise itself’ with theirs my dog would be been vilified on social media with some woman’s sad face saying her dog had been attacked by a savage beast. In reality the dog is on a lead minding its own business trying to walk in peace when another dog rudely shoved its face in theirs despite being told by owner and most likely dog.

A well socialised dog can spot a nervous/aggressive dog a mile
away, the body language usually screams fuck off so if your dog is running up to it in the first place it is not as well socialised a dog as you think…

And this is why I’ll probably never own another dog. Too many idiots around and therefore too much potential for things to go wrong. YANBU OP.

The places I walk my dog have been dramatically decreased because of this. We no longer go on the field, we no longer go down a certain pedestrianised path and we no longer go to the park. All because of fucking morons with their off lead out of control dogs.

I know it is very fashionable to bash pug owners. Well I have two pugs, one is eight and one is six. They are happy and healthy and the only time they have been to the vet is for jabs, regular check ups and once one of them had a tummy ache. They have a long life expectancy of 12-15 years.

And my pugs have never been attacked, threatened or treated strangely by other dogs. My pugs were well socialised from a young age, something OP seems to have forgotten to do. Mine love meeting other dogs and I let them, because dogs are sociable creatures and do not need to be kept from other dogs. I can assure you no dog has ever looked at them and felt disturbed, you are making that up.

They like a good run too and can run fast, I am sure they need that too. OP cannot expect all dogs to spend the or whole lives on leads because she has failed to socialise her own dog or seek help for its behaviour.

My local park is thronged with dogs these days. I would totally recommend early morning walks. The park is much much quieter and the dog walkers there at that time seem to be the more informed and considerate ones.

You know nothing about me or my dog.

I got her at 20 months old and she was super anxious at adoption.

I had a trainer for 3 months when she arrived who agreed she didn't need to be off lead as it made controlling the situation when other dogs approach her almost impossible and because of her history she never goes further than a lead length away from me anyways.

We worked hard with him for 3 months and after that she was attacked twice in a short amount of time. One requiring stitches.

Both times she was happily interacting with the dogs, tail wagging and they just switched.

One pinned her and was growling. His owner and friend had to physically drag him of her.

And the 2nd just grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and ragged her like a doll. She had around 20 stitches.

So don't you dare tell me this is MY fault.

And yes it's hard to be calm with massive dogs running over to her when this has happened multiple times and I watch one of my other dogs die because off an off lead dog with no recall.

OP your dog can be happy in different ways. I have had loads of rescues and worked with some of the best specialists (properly good and experienced and qualified not some of the dominance dicks around) and several of mine were never safe around other dogs. I am very calm but my zen never overcame their trauma. They were vastly improved but not all dogs can be cured and your trauma needs respecting too. I am sorry you lost a dog so traumatically. A friend lost hers I a similar way - horrific.
Mine stayed on lead around other dogs and one was muzzled so they didn’t cause problems - the oh relax brigade were soon running the other way if they saw my boy triggered.
Current dog is well trained and would never run up to an on lead dog, He also approaches other dogs calmly but doesn’t really care- just wants to sniff and play ball. I avoid dogs that aren’t similar - not worth the upset.

Exactly. She IS happy. We do go to an enclosed field once a week (we pay £10) so she loves that, still stays right by my side though but at least I know for that hour she can run about.

She's actually very social with dogs we know! Several friends have lovely dogs she loves to visit and play with.

We play really fun games in our large garden every day.

And she does get outside walks bit like I said the frequency is waining because there always seems to be an incident.

But she is a super happy, healthy girl who I feel has a very fulfilling life and we live each other to pieces.

All dogs are so very different and have such different needs and personalities so for someone to day that because she doesn't go on mountainous walks and run off lead through rivers she is sad is simply untrue.

I hate it when other people let their dog run up saying ‘he/she just wants to say hello’. Well my dog doesn’t want to say hello so control your dog.

It's not just dogs off leads.

I have a large greyhound who has zero interest in other dogs.

Yet she has been bitten and attacked by so many little ratty shitbag dogs who have never been socialised or allowed be dogs, ON LEADS. Who owners think its hilarious because their dog has little man syndrome

My poor dog, hides behind me, tail tucked between her legs, bum tucked in trying to run away quickly

Love it!!! So funny. Horses look big and tough. But are just one trigger away from a dump rider and bolt situation. The reality is - they re scared of birds in bushes never to mind dogs.

I don’t know if I’d ever do this…. It sounds totally extreme! But the old school horsey man I was with at the time told me to always face the horse to the dog, and to trot at the dog if necessary. He said 9/10 the dog will hightail it straight away. And it shows the horse there’s nothing to fear. But does sound like it could equally end badly for all concerned!

It’s horrible though… I now hear a dog barking on a hack and tense up, which clearly doesn’t help the situation.

This makes no sense.

If they're on leads why don't you just walk around them.

Absolutely THIS.

We've only had rescue dogs and they have all had issues with off-lead dogs. We take dogs that nobody else wants and walk them on leads because it's the responsible thing to do.
People should not have their dog off-lead UNLESS it has perfect recall - there are enough examples on this thread to show why.

I'll end by telling the story of how an off-lead dog on the other side of a relatively quiet cul de sac leading to the park saw my on-lead dog, charged across the road and got hit by a car right in front of us. The owner didn't even have a lead with her. The car occupants were distraught - as were we.

We luckily don't have that problem round here, but I'd suggest getting up and going for an early morning and/or later evening. We do 7 and 9.30/10pm and we don't even have an anxious dog. It's just nicer and peaceful. I do think personally that it is a must that dogs are walked at least once a day (I've never not done twice in all the years I've owned) but I'm sure others will disagree and say their dogs are perfectly happy without this so that's a personal choice.

This.

My dog is a working breed and I have spent hours and £s on training and recall because he really needs a good, off lead run for about 2 hours a day. Occasionally he has approached an on lead dog when younger and I have got him away and apologized to the owner immediately feeling very embarrassed so I am not a fan of marauding off lead dogs however not all dog breeds can be constantly on lead. The kind of breeds that need a good run and sniff to maintain their mental health do exist. Owners that have big strong dogs and do not train and socialize them are indeed a problem and a dangerous one. However there are ppl I know personally with little squashed face dogs who have admitted that they do not really like dogs and wanted a cute low effort pet for their children and I think there are a lot of anxious pug/ Frenchie owners about who fit that category. DHs friend’s gf came on a walk with us once with her pug and hardly put it down the whole time because she’s “scared of dogs”. I was speechless. So I think there are a lot of reactive owners as well as reactive dogs out there.

Dogs on leads lunge.
Extendable leads - which should be banned
Owners not paying attention to their rats

Get up as early as possible and drive somewhere to walk, if possible. The irresponsible owners with unsocialized and aggressive dogs are not rising at dawn to walk.
Walking in residential streets and going to dog parks is asking for trouble, unfortunately. Basically, go to places that require a bit of effort to get to, where people are actually walking with their dogs and not just hanging out while their dogs run around.
Avoid paths where you cannot see what's around the next bend.
Avoid beaches on weekend afternoons and don't bother going out at 6-7. That's the time when frustrated dogs who've been stuck indoors for at least 24hrs or maybe even all week, are going out.
Having said all of that, small dogs can do reasonably well if there is plenty of active, engaged play at home.

Rats? Do people walk rats?
I mena I had leads for mine but didn't take them outside of my garden.

Or are you just being horrible about small breed dogs?

@CarolDunne why call them rats? My small dog who was super friendly was attacked by an off lead greyhound which has made him reactive.

I don't go around calling greyhounds shitty names. It was the owners fault. Not the dogs.

I don't believe there are a lot of reactive owners. I'm more than confident with dogs but my staffy was attacked by an off lead wolf hound while we were walking along minding our own business. Luckily my dog had been extremely well socialised from a pup and didn't become dog aggressive.

I'll say it again for the hard of hearing. No one likes an unknown, off lead dog running up to them. Keep your dogs under control. I've got two smaller (10 kg range) dogs now and the wolf hound would have killed them. I value MY dogs too highly to tolerate an of lead mongrel putting them at risk.

For the record my dogs, staffy included, are super friendly and very well socialised. I will not let your dog endanger them. My dogs go to designated off lead areas where we can leave if I don't like the dogs that are there. Outside of designated off lead areas, they're on lead. Lordy help me if the westie spotted a kanga off lead, he'd be gone after it in a flash.

I think it comes down to pure entitlement and arrogance and I also think in a lot of cases the person with the big dog thinks nothing will harm their dog so they don't care about altercations

I went a walk with a family member recently. They took their dog, it's a Rottweiler and around 8 years old. It's the first time I've been a walk with them and the dog. We were in an area where other walkers and dogs go but it's rare.

Lots of long grass, hedges and corners and a river so sometimes people fishing. The dog has awful recall and she was off the lead the whole time. A lot of the time she wasn't in sight and when she was called back it took a number of attempts.

Luckily we didn't meet anybody else. I decided almost straightaway that I wouldn't be going on another walk with them ever again.

Can you imagine how scared people would be if a fully grown Rottweiler comes round the corner off the lead and no owner anywhere to be seen? I despair.

I said something at the start and the family member got v defensive.

My latest idiot fecking dog people are the irresponsible parents who have presumably bought their son a boxer dog. He's a hugely excited, unneutered puppy and I'm sure a lovely dog in the right hands. But the idiot parents let the boy, who can't be more than 11 or 12, walk him off lead on his own. Mine, who is almost always on a lead, can't read his communications because of his flat face and has reacted to him while the boy runs after him or shouts at him to come back doing nothing but adding to the excitement of the situation. Despite the name, mine is not a boxer. She is not a highly reactive dog at all but she needs monitoring and every dog interaction assessed, like all dogs do but most dogs are not.

No judgement for rehoming a pug who also is flat faced of course, @MaryOnACrossss but this boxer was almost certainly bought as a pup and I do have a problem with people who breed flat faced dogs as well as in truth any other dogs.
If you're taking her to a secure field and giving her mental and physical stimulation in the home and garden, I think you're right not to walk her. I used to be a all dogs need walks type but if I could go back in time, I'd not walk my little reactive dog. I think it would have been far better for her. Sadly I learnt that lesson too late.

I think it comes down to pure entitlement and arrogance and I also think in a lot of cases the person with the big dog thinks nothing will harm their dog so they don't care about altercations

100% this.