Am I the c#%t??

[cantthinkofausername26]

Walking my cavapoo today in a big open and empty field. He trots along happily off the lead, if he comes across another dog he will go and give them a sniff and be on his way.

usually if I see another dog on a lead I will put him on a lead too. I didn’t see this woman soon enough as she appeared from behind a bush. Big gnarly dog on a lead XL bully type dog. My dogs starts trotting in her direction, she goes mental shouting “go away, this is a dangerous dog, get your fucking dig away” etc. I called Doggo over and put him on a lead, no drama. She is still mouthing off at me, to which I replied “all right calm down!” This set the mad woman off shouting that I’m a fucking idiot and her dog would rip mine to bits and I shouldn’t let him off the lead. To which I replied “you’re the one with the aggressive dog you can’t control, who is the real idiot here?” I then got called a butch and a c£&t!

Now is it me that is a c£&t? Or the person with a massive aggressive dog that was literally pulling her along??

Take out the word big and I might agree. The most aggressive, antisocial and feared dog in my neighbourhood is a dachshund.

not read the full thread but how did you train? Please?

She is vile but you downright unreasonable, stop letting your dog wander around off it's lead and stop allowing it to trot over to other dogs and people to say hello. Not everyone loves your dog.

My younger dog was attacked by an off lead dog a couple of years ago and since then is very reactive, he either freezes completely when he sees another dog or will bark (never bitten and isn’t aggressive in any other way apart from the barking). That tends to set my older dog off barking if the younger one starts. If I’m walking them together they’re never off lead and I dread off lead dogs coming near us (I tend to stick to the streets rather than parks for this reason).

So I can understand her frustration if an off lead dog was coming towards her reactive dog completely, I wouldn’t have told her to calm down (it’s the worst thing you can say to someone who is annoyed, angry etc) but I think you were both being unreasonable to be honest.

Lesson learned, next time hopefully you’d both react differently.

A dog that appears to be intimidating, by its very size and breed, is massively antisocial, not sure that, how ever aggressive your neighbour daschund is, it falls into the same category

Legally its you. As much as I agree aggressive dogs should be put to sleep and people shouldn't keep dogs they cannot physically control if they are aggressive, her dog was on a lead so legally defined as under control. Yours wasn't and yours approached hers. You shouldn't let your dog off if you can't immediately call it back.

I've had perfect dogs and dogs that just could not be trusted not to bomb off and 'make friends.' You have to respect other people and dogs personal space, even if that means keeping your dog on a long line.

So other people should stop their dogs freedom of being off the lead, and change how they walk their animal because you own an aggressive dog? Your dog is the one with behavioral issues.

People with aggressive dogs are the bane of lots of others lives

I think c*nt is extreme but off lead dogs do irritate the hell out of me.

I have an 8 month old cocker spaniel, he is as friendly as anything, has never shown any sign of aggression. Is pretty good off lead, occasionally takes a couple of calls to come back if he's engrossed in a particularly good sniff. However he is very 'enthusiastic' when greeting other dogs. Any time I see another dog coming (on or off lead), he goes straight on his. I never let him off where I haven't got good vision in front and cannot stand it when another dog comes bowling round the corner and over to him when he is on lead. It's hard to keep him calm and sitting nicely while another dog is off lead with the owner eventually ambling behind and saying "oh he's friendly don't worry". I'm not bothered if he's friendly, mine's on a lead and its rude to assume we want an interaction, particularly while he's young and learning.

You are acting illegally if you cannot control your dog. Allowing your dog to run over to an on lead dog without permission is a dog out of control.

my dog is off lead 99% of the time, because he is trained to be under control off the lead too

People with out of control dogs are the bane of every horse riders lives and sensible dog owners who practice within the law and control their dog.

Nah you weren’t the cunt here OP. I’d probably work on some extra training with yours to make sure he comes back to you when he sees another dog - just in case and to protect your dog from others. It’s a shame, if we lived in a world with no aggressive dogs then they could all trot around merrily

You do realise that dogs would still get into a fight even if they are all happy friendly dogs. Because just like humans over step boundaries so do dogs

They should if they don't have complete control of their off lead dog, which includes them not approaching other dogs unless invited to do so. My dog has long off lead walks every day, we know where to go where I'm likely not to bump into others/have good vision as he just isn't at the stage of training where I can guarantee he won't approach someone else if off lead. There are dog parks and private dog fields in lots of places you can book if your dog needs off lead exercise and you don't have full control of them.

I started with a 1:1 trainer who taught me to recognise some of the anxiety behaviours and the behaviours that he does to 'relieve' the anxiety. So when my dog sees another dog, he generally "clocks it" (i.e. looks at it) - if he's not going to react then he'll likely look away - reward this (i.e. treat or favourite toy, or do clicker training).

If he's feeling anxious about it, he might cock his leg after seeing the dog. Reward this if he looks away from the dog. He might 'shake it off' when the dog is gone (like he's shaking off water) - reward this.

If he's going to react, he'll keep staring. If the dog comes closer, depending on how he feels about the dog (black spaniel = enemy #1) he will react. I can generally judge if he's going to react from a distance and I will move away.

Don't punish 'bad' behaviour in the sense of scaring him, but I have found a firm 'no' can snap him out of it if he's reacting to a dog - if it's not a black spaniel 😅

The most effective thing is to just keep distance and reward as soon as your dog looks away from a dog, any dog, even those you know your dog wouldn't react to. Over time, you can maximise positive interactions with dogs you know they won't react to (so my dog LOVES small dogs for example, so we have very controlled fun interactions with small dogs we know and like). And always minimise any negative reactions, so walk away from any dog you think will cause a reaction, and reward when your dog drops their attention from that dog.

Of course minimising negative reactions with dogs is difficult when dogs run over without being recalled!

This has taken about a year of training to get to a half-decent point by the way (where he doesn't have to be muzzled). And you have bad days and good days. Remember a dog has such heightened senses that things you won't be noticing will make them more alert e.g. my dog is more reactive if smells are stronger in an area, when snow changes how things smell and sound etc. If he's achy after visiting the dog park (the secure, enclosed one you hire out before anyone tells me off haha). My trainer taught me that training is not linear - it goes all over the place but there is a net gain at the end. It's SLOW. But my boy is worth it ❤

Those posters with dogs that would rip others to shreds - please get your dog pts as soon as possible. Jesus Christ.

so four legs and a head then?

Well, it's the same reason you teach a child to ask an owner before stroking their dog. Rescue dogs in particular can be nervous. Some dogs simply prefer their own space, or are protective of their owners, or haven't been socialised for various reasons. Your dog (or child!) might be perfectly friendly, but you cannot assume that someone else's dog will appreciate the interaction.

Op, you've learned an important lesson. Owners of aggressive dogs have a tendency to be quite reactionary and aggressive themselves. It's why they're drawn to them and revel in explicitly telling you that their dog will rip yours to shreds. Keep your dog on a lead at all times unless you can see who is coming from miles around.

But she is the cunt. That kind of overreaction isn't normal.

Unfortunately my dog has been on the recieving end of dogs who are unwilling to take no for an answer and get in her face, bounce all over her or are trying to be dominant. It's made her suspicious of any dogs that approach.

She won't just stand there and take it, she tells them no if they get in her face, or up her arse, but unfortunately an awful lot of people have no clue about dog socialisation or body language and think if the tails wagging they're just friendly and my dog is the aggressive one.

She grew up in a pack, she's probably one of the best socialised dogs around, she just won't stand for any nonsense from rude dogs. And being well exercised, socialised and her breed needs met, it doesn't blow her mind when she sees another dog. She'll happily greet and play with another dog a long as they're not boisterous or trying to dominate her.

Unfortunately there's so many around that aren't well socialised, don't understand pack communication, are being dominant or have their minds blown by the sight of another dog, that it's easier just to keep her away from all other dogs.

She plays with a couple of dogs we meet, gets really excited and they chase and play, but she'd be on edge with an unknown dog approaching her and I'd ask you to recall your dog in that situation too. I mean I wouldn't call you a cunt, but I'd not be impressed to be the one blamed for anything that went wrong when mines the one under control on a lead and yours is the one that isn't. These things do happen but you can usually tell the people who have been caught by surprise Vs those who just think your dog is there to entertain theirs because they can't be arsed to.

My mum has a rescue dog and he is the most gorgeously loving dog indoors. Outside he is on permanent alert and very highly strung. I have no reason at all to think he'd ever hurt another dog, but he will definitely give a good bark if one approaches. My mum will very firmly (and loudly if necessary) tell people approaching that he is not friendly. She is a 65 year old grandma and is the furthest thing from aggressive you could imagine, but she wants to give her dog the space to exercise happily without being approached by endless off lead 'friendly' dogs without putting him on edge.

These highly strung aggressive dogs seem like such hard work

So, are you saying that my 50kg giant is, purely by virtue of her size, intimidating and antisocial, even though you are statistically far more likely to be harmed by my neighbour's dachshund? That's pretty blatant sizeism.

Any dog can be dangerous, just as any human can. Would you accuse your friend of having an antisocial husband just because he's a 6ft 4inch and hefty and your husband is 5ft 6inch and wiry? I think not.

FWIW, a Bully XL is not a gigantic dog by any stretch of the imagination anyway. It's about the height of a small Labrador. Immensely strong, yes, but to continually refer to size is unfair to those of us with larger, more benign dog breeds.

Ah my bad - strong scary looking dogs then, the ones i would cross the road to avoid, i dont have such a reaction to smaller dogs - but an aggressive looking man, i might also avoid.

I think the highly strung owners who think it’s ok to let their dogs run out of control are far more hard work 😂😂

But yes, even your 50kg wouldn't hurt a fly fluff ball will scare some - we're not all dog people