Off lead dog running up to onlead dog in street

[Doggingfedup]

name changed as very identifiable.

Aibu to think the ‘rule’ is :

‘if a dog is on the lead - you don’t let your off lead dog run up to them.’

I ask as an assistance dog owner.

Walking today with my dog who literally saves and enables my life (medical alert and mobility dog) today. My Dog is wearing a high vis vest that states ‘assistance dog’ and has a lead slip saying the same. Very clearly identifiable as a working assistance dog.

We are walking together - my dog on lead at heel position. An off lead dog approaches - on a quiet street in a large town. This offlead dog is way ahead of owner.

I immediately move as far over as I can as I don’t want to interact with an unknown offlead dog - which is getting closer and closer.

I call out to the owner politely asking them to recall their dog . Nothing - no acknowledgement at all - I continue trying to walk away and again call out to them pointing out that my dog is a working assistance dog . Dog still trying to sniff and interact with my dog as we are trying to walk away.

owner on my 3rd ‘please recall your dog - mine is working’ says ‘I didn’t realise’

I really don’t think the issue here is that my dog is a working dog . But the fact was my dog was clearly vested and did ignore the other dog as they are very highly trained - but my dog could have been an old or grumpy pet dog that didn’t appreciate being rushed at in the street whilst calmly walking to heel with me.

had my dog not been so calm - it could have been a major issue.

My issue is that I don’t think anyone should allow an off lead dog to approach and bother an on lead dog in the street.

AIBU ? To expect owners to not allow their offlead dogs to approach on lead dogs.

YANBU but the majority of "pet" dog owners in the UK, i.e. not working or sporting dog owners, are fucking useless.

And I've no idea what we can actually do about it.

No dog should be off lead on a street. It massively annoys me. I keep my nervous dog away from all those lovely parks so he doesn’t cause problems for anyone, I should at least be able to walk him down the street without other dogs rushing up to him (and then their owners giving me a mouthful because he’s reactive). Also, it’s just dangerous, no dog is bombproof, an offload dog on the street could so easily cause issues to pedestrians and drivers if it decides to leg it

I am really struggling with what happened today.

before I was disabled and needed an assistance dog - I had pet dogs and an unknown dog running up to me off lead would have stressed me out - but now even more when my dog is literally my lifeline - I just struggle so much to understand how it is ‘ok’ to do this.

at the park offlead - it’s playtime and I love my dogs having a good play - but how is it acceptable to let dogs offlead in the street approach other dogs - let alone clearly marked assistance dogs?

I am lucky that I am sighted - my assistance dog is not my eyes… he is for medical and other disabilities - but would people do this to a guide dog?

if my dog was attacked by an offlead dog and scared by it and unable to work anymore - I totally lose my independence.

Why oh why are dogs aliwed to be off lead on the street when not under complete control.

assistsnce dogs are So highly trained - but we work them on lead as no matter how well trained - they are dogs - sentient beings that could react to things… I just don’t understand why people feel the need to walk their dogs off lead in the street and why they think it’s ok to let them approach other people.

I can't stand dog owners doing this. My dog got attacked by an off lead dog and I got bit so we were both very nervous then a few days later I had another dog off lead approach but despite me asking them to recall their dog they kept saying hes friendly, he wants to play. Well, to say the dog owner got a bollocking from me was an understatement. Fairness to them once they knew the full story they apologised and conceded they shouldn't let this happen again.

Absolutely not unreasonable. I hate it too. I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to call out to someone to get their dog because they've allowed it to come over and bother mine. Inevitably they'll tell me it's OK as their dog is super friendly. And that may be the case, but one of mine does not like other dogs in her space and will snap at it (as in tell off, not attack, but another dog could attack). They're completely idiotic.

No in no situation, they should be in control of the dog at all times.

No dog should be off lead by a road. It’s not ok. (Or even legal on designated roads.)

My dog does not like to be approached when he he in on the lead and the other dog isn’t so I chose to walk my dog the majority of the time on roads and streets as I know we won’t come across dogs off lead. If we did I would be majorly annoyed and make it know to the owners.

Where I live the vast majority of dogs that are left off lead are the ones that ignore other dogs and people, that's fine I don't mind that. My dogs is terrified of terriers after being attacked by one that was roaming the street unaccompanied a few years ago. If she sees one straight away her hackles go up, just today an off lead terrier started to approach mine and I called out that my dog isn't friendly, I was ignored. Only because my dog is small enough that I can scoop her up was I able to avoid her going for the terrier. The dog owner had headphones in, hadn't heard me and stopped and smiled at me and said 'don't worry, he is friendly' It genuinely doesn't seem to occur to some people that other people's dogs might not be.

Look, what do you expect nowadays? There's been an explosion in dog ownership, any numpty can own one and 4 out of five owners are numpties.

You acted calmly and appropriately, the numpty owner was clueless.

But - and I don't want to sound harsh so please imagine me saying this gently... Nothing happened. Don't stew about what might have happened. It didn't. You'll get into a negative spiral.

It was a minor moment in your day - move on.

This, exactly. It’s getting worse.

We would never allow our dog to approach a dog on a lead and ask other off-lead owners beforehand too on walks. Dogs on pavements should be on a lead.

Nothing happened this time - but sadly I know other disabled assistance dog handlers that have lost their freedom because of dog attacks.

hence my fear.

some people I know have been ‘lucky’ the offlead dog has ‘only’ injured their dog and so they couldn’t go out for the whole time their dog recovered (as no responsible handler works a hurt or injured dog) but this caused massive anxiety and expense on vets bills etc .

others I know - the dog after an unprovoked attack has had to be ‘washed’ as it is known - I.e. retired from working.

I guess that’s why unfamiliar dogs approaching absolutely terrifies me - without my dog I am unable to go out . My dog isn’t just my ‘medical equipment’ but also my independence and my best friend. I am totally reliant on my dog and so an incident like this is a massive deal to me.

sorry - the realities of being a disabled dog handler are probably not widely known and maybe people don’t understand the dependency and intensity of the relationship.

Before I had my dog I was totally housebound and reliant on my family to do everything for me. Now I can do things and go out as my dog is there. I am so liberated by having my dog keeping me safe and helping me to do the things I can’t do.

you can’t easily get another assistance dog - they are a massive investment in time and money as they are individually trained to mitigate an individuals needs and disability.

so having an unknown dog bounding up is scary - as the implications of it are enormous and especially when due to my disability I cannot move quickly away.

sorry if you think I was overreacting but given my disabilities, all I have experienced and being part of a wider assistance dog community - it really didn’t feel minor and it really caused me massive anxiety.

Gently, OP, if you’re this stressed about ‘what ifs’ then maybe you should see someone? You can’t live a life like that.

Yes it’s irritating when dogs come up off lead but the dog didn’t actually do anything.

I don't think fear of a total loss of independence as a wholly possible reaction to someone else's thoughtlessness is readily fixable by counselling.

Hopefully the op's post will make a few more people think and realise that dogs should be on leads when walking on pavements.

The sort of people who have dogs out of control or dogs they don’t pay proper attention to on walks (because they are texting or on a call or listening to music) won’t care if someone else is impacted. Sadly!

Op it is something that drives me mad too. I walk three and my two boys were attacked in the woods as 1 year olds by an off lead dog and are now reactive on walks to all dogs.
We only go off lead at paid for dog parks so I can be sure of total enclosure for them,
Like your experience this dogs owner was well away from them and took forever to come and put it back in its lead.
I don't understand people these days , if your dog has no recall or reactivity to anything you should keep it on a lead , even in a public place I feel you should walk on a lead.
Hope your walks remain unscathed op x

Of course she should be stressed about the "what ifs" - her dog is literally her lifeline and the reason she can have the freedoms she does.

People whose assistance dogs get attacked or frightened can lose that freedom overnight.

There is a family in my street who have a very large “hound” and they walk it off lead up the street. The other day it chased my cat into our front lounge ( I had the door open as was getting stuff out of car) I was v pissed off as cat then had no way out. Luckily I shooed dog out and no damage done but I was really angry. They apologised but it is really numpty behaviour - their dog could see a cat and run across the street and either get run over or cause an accident. Not everyone likes dogs ( I do) but some people obvs have a real fear and it’s just prattish numpty behaviour.

I have one if my dogs in a lead. He's 15 and while actually he is pretty blind and certainly quite deaf. He had a tendency to jump up on people too. So unless I'm completely on my own on the lead he stays. Most dog owners then either put their dog on a lead when approaching or call their dogs back - they don't know that my dog is friendly. Some do let their dogs run up (which is fine because he is friendly, but might not be). I have a female who is off lead but is not really interested in other dogs and has 100% recall.
But I once had to tell a woman three times (she was just standing there five feet away looking benignly at the dogs) that her dog was irritating my off lead dog by constantly sniffing her - my dog was standing still but gave a warning bark. I told the woman 'she doesn't like it can you call your dog away'. I mean it was obvious! It took three requests from me and finally a growl and another bark from my dog for her to finally do something!
You are right - unless excellent recall and walking by their owner a dog should be on lead on the street. In the park no dog should approach another if on lead. While the majority (in my experience) are responsible some owners are oblivious. But, same could be said for car drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, shoppers...

Ps I saw a dog with a brilliant hi vis jacket the other day which said “I need space” written on it
I though that was great and I wish I’d had one when I had my rescue dog

The trouble is alot of dog owners just get a dog and that's it, they don't take proper responsibility for it and bother to train the dog to respond to them or to walk off lead sensibly. I have a dog myself and it massively annoys me when other people's untrained off lead dogs follow my dog and jump up at me/my children, then completely ignore it's owner but 'its ok, they're friendly' 🙄 well maybe, but I'm not! As others have said a dog shouldn't be off lead on a street but unfortunately that's the irresponsible dog owner mentality nowadays.

It’s not right at all. I’m pleased you and your dog are both ok. No dog should be off the lead on the street, it’s dangerous for a number of reasons. There’s a man near me who walks his rottie off lead and a while ago the dog ran across the road to me when I had dm dog, luckily there were no cars. I often walk my dm dog and always put him back on the lead if I see another dog on a lead and this is in places where dogs are frequently off lead like woodland areas. I’d never have him off the lead when walking around the streets.

Thank you to the people who understood how much this impacted me.

I do have severe anxiety and I do have therapy and take medication. - it is part and parcel of my disability.

am totally reliant on my amazing dog and am as fiercely protective of them - as many would be of their toddler.

I have a small nervous rescue dog. Since I have had her she has been bounced on, bowled over and chased by "friendly" labradors. She now hates them all and thinks attack is the best form of defence. It's so frustrating when I get dirty looks from labrador owners because she's barking at them.

She also hates being approached by random dogs and people. People normally do back off when I tell them she doesn't like it, but dog owners are often too far away from their off lead dog and are oblivious to her very clear body language showing she isn't happy. I was once surrounded by a group of 3 large "friendly" dogs. Mine was terrified so I scooped her up. I got lecture from the other dog owner telling me I made it worse ( I didn't). Unfortunately, I tend to lose my voice in stressful situations so didn't have a go back as I wish I had.

Please, don't let your off lead dog approach on lead dogs. They will be on lead for a reason. It causes so much stress.

10+ years ago, with my old dog, it wasn't an issue. Dogs either went on leads around other on lead dogs, or were under enough control to be told to stay away. It seems to have got a lot worse with the increase in the number of dogs around.