Who is in the wrong here? It's a dog one

[lindter]

There's a large park near my home, it has a kid's area, skatepark etc. but also a very big field next to it.

I was out with my 5 year old and Cavapoo, she has faultless recall and knows not to approach other dogs or people, so I let her off the lead. I would let her off if I couldn't completely trust her.

We were the only people on the field anyway. If there were other dogs then I would have kept them confined to a smaller space.

Her and DC were running around together like mad men, as they do, and a couple with a staffie (I think) on a lead approached the edge of the field. They weren't actually on the field, and there's a small bank/slope dividing the path and field.

My dog continued to run around and at one point ran semi in their direction, but remained at least a good 30 feet away from them, she didn't show any interest in them.

The woman shouted "put your dog on a fucking lead" and "get control of your dog, it's out of control".

She said she was going to report me?

I said "you're going to report an owner for their dog NOT approaching you?"

There was a lot of back and forth and she was adamant I was at fault. She swore at me and called me a cow. I am so cross!

AIBU here? Have I broken dog etiquette?

From your description of the scenario, you were definitely not at fault. Your dog was a good distance from them and showing no interest in approaching their dog and was not out of your control. I assume her dog was reactive to other dogs, so she was panicking (perhaps on another occasion their dog had been approached by a loose dog).

Isn't that what dogs do in fields? She sounds unhinged

30 feet isn’t that far really, if you were in a massive field you could have kept further away from them. There’s so many idiots with nasty, untrained dogs about that you don’t know who to trust. I’d have called my dogs to me and walked further away from them if mine were loose and theirs was on a lead. They’ve probably seen your cockerpoo running round with you not attempting to call it away from them, and assumed you’d lost control of it

From your description it sounds like you didn't do anything wrong, but maybe she panicked as she didn't want an unknown dog approaching hers for some reason.

I suspect that she wanted to let her dog on the field too and didn't approach because your dog wasn't on a lead.

She was prob waiting for you to realise and then lost her temper.

But I know nothing about dogs and dog etiquette cos I can't bloody stand them

Did you call the dog back when it ran on their direction? I would have

Thank you. The park is quite literally huge, you could have 20+ dogs on it at once all with their own space, there was an abundance of open space that she could have gone to.

It's also a field where dogs are allowed off the lead.

Yes I did, but my dog was already on my way back to me anyway.

My dog was unpredictable around other dogs (he'd been attacked a few times) and was always on lead. I used to get very nervous if there was a loose dog running about and I would definitely have called out to ask you to recall yours. I wouldn't have sworn or got arsey unless you didn't and/or the dog started to bother us. 30ft would have made me nervous.

I was always on high alert for other dogs when walking mine so that I could avoid them.

I don't think you did anything wrong though.

She'd probably had a bad experience with a dog approaching hers and was worried your dog was making a beeline for them.

I don't think that excuses her behaviour but I think when you've had lots of bad experiences with off-lead dogs you can get a bit panicky.

I would bet she’s probably hassled by so many off lead dogs she thought it was going to go that way. Shes unreasonable to expect you to have your dog on a lead in an off lead dog area, but I expect she wanted you to keep yours away and thought it was going to approach hence being so angry.

I have a dog who hates other dogs in her face thanks to so many feckless owners with ‘friendly’ dogs allowing them to frighten her, she’s also been bitten multiple times. My dog is bigger than most so if anything it’s their dogs at risk yet they still don’t care. If I see an off lead dog running towards me I automatically think ‘here we go again’ and go on the defensive.

I used to have a reactive dog. And i hated free running dogs when mine was on a lead, because more often than not the other dog would eventually come to is and ignore the recalls and that would be a huge problem for me and very stressful for my dog.
For this reason now my current dog goes on a lead when another dog is on the lead or she walks right next to me. Its to make the other person and dog feel safe.
She doesnt know that your dog will stay away and that you have it under control.

You didnt do anything wrong btw. Im just letting you know how the other person might feel.

I think dog etiquette is putting your dog on a lead if you see another dog on a lead, because it might be either reactive or nervous. Then you let your dog off again once the other leashed dog has gone past. This means that people have a bit more control over their dogs interactions.

She could have been politer about it though, but it's so frustrating since the lockdown puppy boom.