It's an off lead dog one.

[Maluki]

I walk my dog in the local park every day. There are sections where he is on lead and sections where I let him off. He is extremely used to people and dogs and generally very well behaved.

As we arrive at the park I always let him off lead and he does a poo. This is on a field area beside a path.

Today he did his poo in the field about 6 feet off the path as usual. I noticed a man in a suit approaching along the path. My dog then went back on to the path to wait for me and I leaned down to pick up the poo.

Very very unusually, my dog started to bark - he barked 4 or 5 times - and I saw he was now behind the man (who had walked past him). I was about to apologize, my dog almost never barks at people (he sometimes barks at really unusual things like a person wearing a sombrero or riding a tricycle, and this guy wasn't wearing anything unusual, except a slightly dishevelled suit on a Saturday morning). The man totally lost it at me. He started screaming that he had been bitten on the back of the leg by a dog, that my dog and dogs like him are aggressive and that it would bite my children and kill them (I didn't have my kids with me). He told me to get the dog away from him or he would kick it in the head. My dog is a bloody 10 lb cavapoo!

I appreciate that my dog should not have barked and that the man was triggered. If he had shouted to put it on a lead, before he walked past it, I would gladly have done so. My dog has excellent recall, and is completely reliable on the "wait" signal. He's actually a dream to get back on lead - but I hadn't called him over as there was no sign of what was about to happen. I do wonder if this man inadvertently spooked my dog or even kicked out at him in fear or something as it's so unusual for him to bark at people like that.

Aibu to think that the man, in his fear, may have inadvertently caused the dogs reaction? And that my dog behaved badly but it could have been avoided if the man had just called out for me to hold the dog?

He was in a big field next to the path. You can't permanently keep a dog on a lead in public. They need to be able to run and sniff about. I get it on a high street etc but they have to be able to come off lead somewhere.

This isn't true. Lots of dogs don't get off lead and are perfectly happy. Also the minute the off lead dog starts causing a problem to other people then it's right to be 'off lead' is less certain! This might be a one off, but an off lead barking dog isn't great.

Here's my question though...let's say the man had had a knife and brandished it, and that made an off lead dog bark, is that dog out of control?

If the man is running away from an attack and an off lead dog barks at him, is that out of control?

How do we teach dogs what are "real" unusual events that spook them, where a dog might be heroic, and "just" a harmless person acting a bit weird? How do we enable one and suppress the other? Genuinely ?

You are judging their reaction by the behaviour you know your own dog will display. Not all dogs are like yours.

I am a dog lover and a dog owner but I am also a runner and I have been bitten twice and jumped up at, barked at and even chased countless times and frankly been really scared on a good few occasions. I’ve had two pairs of running tights ripped and I still have a scar on the back of my thighs from being jumped up at by an apparently ‘super friendly’ dog with sharp nails.

A person walking through the park doesn’t know which dogs are off lead but disinterested in humans/under perfect owner control and which are likely to be potentially a threat or at the very least a PITA. So forgive them for behaving in fear.

It should also not be up to the human to tell you to put your dog on a lead OP not least because a lot of dog owners would react angrily or dismissively to this request.

Keep your dogs close when other humans are about and only have them off lead if they are under absolutely control and do not approach or jump up. Otherwise keep them on a lead or take them to an enclosed dog park.

He overreacted and was unreasonable - it was just a bark. Some people are unreasonable though, for lots of reasons, some of which are more understandable than others. A dog bite and a fear of dogs is fairly understandable.

Generally my experience of asking dog owners to call off or hold their dogs has been pretty negative - they often can’t recall them. Or they shout the ‘he’s friendly’ and do nothing.

Just like I have to accept that dogs should be under control but often aren’t and adjust my behaviour accordingly (limiting where I go with my children, taking routes to avoid dogs etc).

Dog owners also have to accept that some people are not dog friendly and adjust accordingly, and some places are higher risk than others. Urban parks, particularly paths, are always going to be higher risk given the space is shared with lots of people without dogs.

No one is telling you to stop your dog barking but they are saying if it does bark randomly (in fear or perceived threat or whatever) then it should always be on a lead so it won’t be seen as scary to the people it’s barking at.

your poor dogs

A dog barking at a random person is already partly out of control imho, regardless of whatever these reasons are. It might be of benefit to you if it's something scary/suspicious that the dog is barking at, because it will alert you to potential danger - an on lead dog could also alert you however, and be seen as more under control (unless it was physically stronger than you, which your dog doesn't look to be).
Others may have other thoughts on this, that's just my 'off the top of my head' slant.

Why?

He over reacted and was a nobhead.

I suggest in future though, don't have your dog out of sight, so if you're bending to pick up poo, dog in front of you in a wait/sit stay etc...

I would put money on it that nobhead gave your dog a proper hard stare as he went past or even aimed a kick at him or hissed something nasty at him.. and that is why your dog behaved the way he did.

The onus is on the dog owner to keep their dog under control and unfortunately in situations like this that does mean that arseholes who stare at, bark at, kick out at dogs who are doing nothing offensive whatsoever are not legally in the wrong and the reacting but perfectly normal dog, is.

It's not his job to tell you when to put your dog on a lead.

"Why didn't he just ask me to call my dog over?"

Because he was in the middle of a fear response, all logical reasoning goes out of the window, you really aren't in control of what you are doing. My response is to flee, even if that is into the path of an oncoming car as the only thing in my mind at the point is getting away from a dog, logically I know that the dog poses much less risk but I can't see it in the moment. His response is to fight. Dogs on leads are much less scary as it's clear that someone is taking responsibility for what a phobic person will see as their unpredictability.

Barking does not = out of control, and our court system and the DDA does specifically state that a person has to be 'reasonably apprehensive of injury'... ie, not merely scared of a barky dog. The whole situation is taken in context, a little dog startled by a weirdo and having a woof from a distance and then responding immediately to an owners cue is absolutely NOT 'out of control'.

On the other hand, a big dog outweighing its owner, hauling them down the path and ignoring verbal cues COULD be 'dangerously out of control in a public place' without being off lead OR barking - because it might well be reasonable to fear injury in that context.

keep control of your dog
it doesn't matter if your dog decides a person is weird or not, nobody deserves to be barked at or bitten by a dog

Dogs and toddlers are not the same. Dogs should be on leads, toddlers not.

You think it's ok for a dog to randomly bark at people minding their own business in a public place? If a dog comes up to me barking I have no idea what it's next plan includes, more barking, growling, jumping up, or just running away? Keeping dogs on leads in public places would make these sort of incidents much less likely. It's common sense.

Where can non dog lovers reasonably walk these days? I was walking to town yesterday - I saw a couple with a large dog (off lead), I stoped to allow them to pass but the dog came up to me and put his smelly, wet nose on my clean trousers, I appreciate that he didn't jump up at me but why should I have to accept a slobbery dogs messing up my clean clothes ?? The owner made a half hearted apology.

On another occasion a dog did jump up at my DH and when he remonstrated with the owner he was told 'this is a dog walking area ... you should expect to meet dogs here'. .. it wasn't a dog walking field ... just a general public assess beauty spot area .

I’m someone who is generally quite frightened of dogs, big ones and small ones. I do think that all dogs should be on leads in public and should only be let off when using a public, or dedicated dog walking weird path that allow off-lead dogs.. in which case if anyone has an issue with dogs they ought to avoid those areas.

That said, I wouldn’t go having a tantrum just for a barking dog. This man sounds really weird and probably a bit out of it since you said he looked a bit disheveled.

I wouldn’t worry about it OP, he’s probably someone who goes out looking for a situation.. since I have no idea why he would be walking directly at you and your dog when he’s nervous of them. More fool him!

Dog's are just like us and they get a 'sense' about a person and I think your dog got a bad feeling about that guy.

My dog reacted by barking at two people during her whole life...both turned out to be complete wrong uns.

People saying 'all dogs should be on lead all the time' have no idea the joy both owner and well behaved, under control dog both get from a dog enjoying the freedom of open space.

I often find runners plough on at me aggressively when I'm out and about....forcing me to step aside, perhaps off the pavement. They loom up behind me .....often blowing their nose onto the pavement, spitting, sweating with no shirt on......yet we still have to tolerate runners.

OP you did no wrong, the bloke was an oddball. Give it no more thought and keep enjoying your off lead dog walks. My dog died just over a month ago and I don't regret one of our wonderful off lead walks.

Honestly it feels like the world has gone mad when it comes to dogs. I think it's triggered by the. XL bully debate or perhaps it's just Mumsnet? Dogs bark. It's just not a big deal. It's a dog. It's sad that it seems like an animal that used to be so loved in the UK suddenly seems to be in everyone's bad books. I have a lovely Weimaraner and she's our third of the breed. She's a much much nicer being that most humans....😆

Exactly - someone up there said about not going to areas where dogs are walked, well in that case that's the whole of our town. Many of the dogs are not on leads, they bark at each other, they poop all over the place, and if I had a pound for every time someone said 'oh he's friendly'. I don't mind well behaved dogs or their owners, but there are far too many of the less well behaved ones nowadays.

It's just not a big deal. It's a dog.

With all due respect you have to accept that that is an opinion and not actual fact. Some people don't like dogs and shouldn't be forced to deal with them every time they leave the house. Also, ask yourself why attitudes to dogs are changing? Isn't it partly because of some of the behaviour of entitled owners, not training their dogs properly and expecting the world to love their dog as much as they do? It's ok to love dogs but it's also ok not to love them!

Having your dog off lead in public is selfish, particularly if the dog does not have perfect recall or is not next to their owner. I have a dog- he is walked on a lead. I let him off only in indoor dogparks or secure fields. A nervous dog or dog being trained is entitled to a walk in the park too without the worry of an unleashed dog approaching. Also not all people like dogs, they shouldn't feel they can't go to the park either. It is not the law, but it's the decent thing to do.

@Sehenswürdigkeiten yeah that's true you make a valid point. I think it's just that there seems to be so much dog hating on Mumsnet these days. I'm just glad it's not reflected in society in general at least not where I live.

Similar thing happened to me OP. Except my dog didn't bark. He was just trotting along a woodland path about 10 metres ahead of me. A man came round a corner and immediately started yelling that I had a dangerous dog. My dog is a golden retriever. Dog just stood there not knowing what to do until I called him and he stood safely by my side.
My dog wasn't a threat. But I felt threatened by the man!