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?

Who knows why it barked? Your dog can't talk and you weren't watching. You say it barks at unusual hats which doesn't give much of a clue as to other possible reasons for barking. We don't know and neither do you.

My dog didn't run at, jump on or bite the person. He barked at him 4 or 5 times.

And this is unacceptable. So let it off a lead in a dog exercise field/ on your own property to ensure that nobody is subjected to an uncontrolled dog off-lead that has now been proven to have the propensity to behave aggressively to random strangers by barking at them.

You can post as many images of cute little Fido as you like, nobody is impressed. Keep the bloody thing under control and use dog exercise fields if you want it off lead/out of control.

Lol

I think if you are in a public place then your dog should be under control. Barking at someone is not under control.

Pretty fed up of dogs barking, growling threateningly and jumping up with muddy paws. Even more so with the "Don't worry he's friendly response".

I'm often out doing photography and wouldn't be happy to have any of my expensive lenses scratched. I don't particularly want to be bitten either!

Right, got the frothers piling on now.

I know how to handle this situation in future.
I don't yet know how to stop a dog barking when it's inappropriate, but keep the option of barking when there is a real danger, but obviously not going to get the answer to that particular question on here.

I'm out now, thanks.

Yabu. Keep your dog on the lead.

Sorry op but clearly you are very offended at the people saying you are unreasonable and your dog should be on a lead. There are definitely some reasonable dog owners but I must say the majority of dog owners are very disrespectful towards people and think their dog is free to run about off a lead as it pleases whether other people like them or not. Whether your dog is big or small that makes absolutely no difference to someone who does not like dogs regardless of size. Have your dog on a lead and there is no problem for anyone.

Many dogs are actually calmer off lead, as they are able to take themselves away from scary things and aren't tied down while an unwelcome stimulus is nearby, including other dogs. They can also sniff more and not be dragged away, which helps them regulate. There is a reason for off lead walking.

People can only react from personal experience, to a strange dog on its own. It can be frightening and terrifying for some people. Calling to someone to put the dog on a lead usually ends up with the comment “oh it’s okay they are very gentle it’s just being friendly whilst jumping up at a 4 year old. A adult can’t do that to a child so why is it thought acceptable a dog is allowed to do that.
A dog off lead in an area where under 5s prace around, or elderly frail people take a walk, can never be a sensible safe option, doesn’t matter if it’s legal, it’s about how much do you really care for your dog. If it knocked a person over who hit their head and died what might happen then.
There are lots of dogs where owners do have control over them, they recall them easily and leads go back on. Im not commenting on your personal behaviour as you have been concerned about this, imagine his behaviour was frightening for you too.
So many people got dogs during lockdown, and whilst working from home but how many went to obedience classes. How many are regarded as precious babies.

Sorry, just having to come back to laugh at this one. Really? Really?

Jesus Christ.

Lol

Why is it funny?

Yes it is pretty terrifying. I've had this once with an off lead Rottweiler, another time with a very bouncy Labrador and several times with small terrier type dogs.
I do love dogs but wary of them.

Barking directly at someone is a warning and the dog needs to be on a lead.

If you do ever return to this thread, some advice on this (which I got from our time with a dog trainer for my Labrador) is you have to teach the dog to bark on command, so that you can then teach them not to bark on command. It takes a lot of time and patience in training, but it really is a hugely important skill to teach both for yours and their safety.

For us this means that when out and about on walks etc, our dog knows he is not allowed to bark, this doesn’t mean he can’t feel nervous/worried of things in public, but means we have taught him that if he is worried/scared/unsure of something, he comes to us and goes into a “middle” position, so he goes between our legs. He trusts that by doing that we will keep him safe and so there is no need for him to “react” to ward off danger or anything himself, he knows that as his owner that’s my job. HOWEVER, because he knows the “speak” command, if we were to be on a walk and someone was behaving towards me in a threatening way or something, I can just give the command “speak” and he will then bark, it’s up to me as the human to tell him when there’s danger, he just has to trust my direction.

In the house he receives the “relax” command so can switch off, and if I’m unaware of somebody at the door he will bark to let me know, but again as soon as I ask him to stop he does as he knows the command.

It’s a lot of training, time and patience but it is totally worth it. You can see the attitude some people have towards dogs from posts on this thread, and so from the day I brought my dog home I have literally put in crazy hours training him to make sure nobody will ever have reason to question my dog or me as his owner. It protects both your dog and yourself from situations like the one you have encountered x

It’s a lot of training, time and patience but it is totally worth it. You can see the attitude some people have towards dogs from posts on this thread, and so from the day I brought my dog home I have literally put in crazy hours training him to make sure nobody will ever have reason to question my dog or me as his owner.

If all owners did as you describe them there would not be a (negative) attitude from other members of the public to dogs because all dogs would be under control and nobody would have had dogs run and jump at them, bark at them, knock them over, bite them etc so would not have any reason to be worried about it. Sadly, many people have had this experience because many owners are not responsible.

Until there are legal requirements in place that all dog owners must complete the training you've mentioned with their dogs in a formal setting and have an official document to prove that the dog has passed tests to show it can follow such commands and never bark or approach people without permission from the owner, and that the dog should never be off-lead in a public area until they have this document (and any dog found to be so will be confiscated) the public cannot have confidence that they are safe from random aggressive behaviour from dogs.

The fact this thread exists - that someone is continually attempting to justify an unsupervised dog she wasn't even watching barking at a random stranger and cannot even accept that this is her responsibility and she was breaking the law because the dog evidently was not under control - exemplifies the problem.

Far, far tighter controls on this are needed with confiscation for non-compliance with training standards (which should be as you set out for any dog off lead in a public area, although in many public areas it would still be inappropriate to be off-lead), and also significant financial penalities for any non-compliance, properly enforced, funded by dog owners through an annual licence fee.

Such tests need to include unfamiliar people, people being "loud" and behaving in unpredictable ways (e.g. people with mental impairments, who have a right to walk safely in public places), people "staring" (we can't all be expected to avert our eyes from a potentially aggressive dog!), people wearing "funny hats" or fancy dress or whatever. Small children. People eating picnics and the dog being capable of not approaching them, how they react when other dogs or other animals or small children who may be loud and crying or whatever are present. Etc.

Stress testing, and if they cannot cope with stressors and still obey commands they should not be in public places without a muzzle and a lead. This is basic common sense and it baffles me that any dog owner would argue against it, if they were responsible...

Honestly @Nepmarthiturn I don’t totally disagree with you. I love my dog, and I’m never going to agree with some who say all dogs should be on lead muzzled etc at all times, because that is just an extreme, however I absolutely agree there should be regulation on dog ownership and training.

It is a touch of madness that you can find a dog for sale online with a few clicks on your phone and a few hours later you can be bringing the dog home no questions asked.

The reality is there’s never going to be the rules you would like there to be, dogs and people as they have for decades do have to co-exist in public spaces and so training is really important, that’s all I was trying to express in my reply, OP wanted to know if that kind of training is possible and I was simply saying it is- and any responsible dog owner will have a well trained dog. If nothing else it makes your life as a dog owner much less stressful! X

Could have been avoided by you putting your dog on a lead while you dealt with the poo.

People are sick of dogs. And with all the press at the moment about dangerous dogs, people are more sensitive to them.

Not everybody likes dogs. A lot of people resent sharing public spaces with them so any bad behaviour escalates things if people are already anti dog

@Mrsttcno1 as someone who has had so many dogs jump up at me and run at me in the last 18 months, I actually felt myself relaxing as I read your post. I didnt realise I'd actually developed a nervousness of dogs until just this moment and he idea of dogs being trained as well as yours has actually made me feel warm. I wish all owners were like you, the world would be a better place for all people and dogs. X

Thank you @ToadOnTheHill ! It is a shame there are so many untrained dogs around at the moment because it really does make things very uncomfortable for everyone, my assumption is now always that someone I see on a walk will be nervous of my dog so we react appropriately and he walks to heel to pass anybody and only if someone asks if they can say hello to my dog do we give him permission to greet anybody! And even then he knows it’s calm, all paws on the floor, and no licking unless someone asks him for a kiss 🤣I wish more people realised how much good training improves your relationship with your dog! Hopefully over the next few years we do see more responsible dog owners taking over again and everyone will feel more comfortable! X

Wtf, this man threatened violence on your dog.. all these people on here saying “he was in fear” was he bollocks! If he was that fearful he wouldn’t be making threats to harm an animal.. he would want the dog on the lead to be able to walk past.

instead he ranted and raved at the OP and went on to shout abuse and threatened to kick an animal in the head..

no matter what anyone says! This is not a fearful man, this was a violent man, your dog probably picked up on this hence the barking!

he was being very unreasonable.