Did this dog walker expect me to leave the area?

[BrownBogie]

Was walking my dog this morning - she’s reactive and on lead at all times. Another woman with a little dog in front of me bends down to take her dog off lead - thankfully she sees me and stops before asking “is your dog friendly?” So I said “no sorry” so she looked disappointed and then said “oh - it’s just that my dog likes to play….”
ok … she continues staring at me as if waiting for something so I just carried on walking. She then looked pissed off and kept her dog on lead and stormed off! What did she expect me to do?? Leave the area so she could let her fog off lead??

I’m increasingly struck by the number of dogs who clearly do not wish for contact with other dogs but whose walkers are unable to recognise that.

Another thing is when people have what is loosely called a reactive dog, but do not know how to manage this. So often when a dog is leashed and reacting, they feebly say “no” or “stop it” but stop walking! effectively ceding control to the dog. If only they would turn away, or walk smartly on, the problem would be over in seconds. But they stop and dither. Exasperating.

Honestly a woman with a small child walked her tiny in less dog right up to my on lead dog while we actively swerved them and said to the small child ‘there we go just let her sniff, that’s what we do’ then the dog yapped aggressively in my dog’s face.

No, that’s not ‘what we do’ we give space to passing dogs. Idiot.

Well if you have a reactive dog that wouldn’t happen as they react mostly to other dogs?! Why would a reactive dog be off lead amongst other dogs?!

That’s BS. MANY factors can make a dog reactive. It’s far safer to actually recognise u have a reactive dog n handle the issue than assume you have trained it out of them and take a risk. My dog only became reactive after being neutered and having to wear a muzzle, prior to that he was great.

Find these threads so sad. So many miserable confused dogs through uneducated owners. I live remote and for 40 years have walked miles without incident. Meeting many other dogs and watching them play. Got to last 10 years and we are suddenly bombarded with out of control dogs, owners hanging onto leads for dear life, panicking, yelling ‘reactive’ not realising it’s them that’s making the dog reactive most of the time! Then blaming us for ruining their walk!! It used to be that anyone with any common sense would not take an untrained dog into busy areas until training and socialisation was established. I know only too well what having a reactive dog is like as I rescued one and it was always on my mind to remove myself from situations if I saw other walkers so I didn’t spoil their enjoyment with my problem dog. Eventually after a serious amount of training to build her confidence we were able to join the fun. A reactive dog is often a frightened dog why are so many dogs these days living in fear?.

OP you are not in the wrong here at all!
My dog is 15 years old, has barely any teeth, has cataracts and is deaf. When she was young she was attacked by an off lead dog on two separate occasions and now she is reactive.
She wouldn’t attack another dog but she barks and lunges. So she’s on her lead at all times and if I see another dog I take her to one side or out of the way. She wears a yellow tabard with “I need space” on it.
What pisses me off is that I do all this and will shout that my dog isn’t friendly but there are always twats whose dog is off lead and comes bounding up, dogs with no recall training, people who just stand staring and hoping for doggy drama when they let their dog on an extendable lead come near mine and exactly like you OP, twats who do mock sad face and say “ohhh but he only wants to play!”
My dog doesn’t want to play, she wants to be left alone. I once got abuse by a dog owner who had 5 beagles running around in a field when he was at the far side. I picked my dog up to keep her out of the way, the other dogs were jumping up me trying to get at my dog so I was pushing (not kicking) them away with my leg to stop them leaping at me. He had a go at me and said my dog shouldn’t be allowed out. It was a huge park and we were going along by a hedge trying to stay out of the way.
There are fantastic dog owners who see my dog and quickly put their dog back on its lead and give me space but it is the core group of ignorant bellends that cause issues.

Agree with this after decades of dog ownership and training. This link is pretty good and so is the trainer https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ8qPTZDHAT/?igsh=bjV3a2h5djM5M3R0

She was wrong but so are you to take an in-season dog out. To say nothing of why you've not had your dog spayed. Do you breed from her?

Are you saying that in season dogs shouldn’t be walked for 2-3 weeks??

I think it's irresponsible to keep any entire dog and if you're breeding, well, then...

Well, there's mine. She reacts to some dogs coming close enough to put their face on to hers and will tell them off for it. I can never tell which, so I ask all owners not to llt theirs approach her. She will happily stand near to one, as long as it doesn't shove its face into hers or attempt to sniff her arse.

She ADORES all humans and is zero threat to any, young or old.

I keep her on a lead at all times, unless we are alone in a fully enclosed space (garden or rented dog field).

Sounds like she wanted to let her dog off lead but knew he would probably be all over your dog who wouldn’t take it well, therefore she couldn’t let him off lead. But you continued on your walk, so surely all she had to do was wait a few minutes until you had moved further away? Weird reaction. You did nothing wrong.

The advice is to allow at least one season before spaying.

Plenty of vets would disagree with this.

But not all, @Ebok1990, so it isn’t completely unreasonable for someone to rely on their vet’s advice.

Only if they're not listening to their professional bodies/doing no CPD.

"Depending on the breed and expected age at maturity, female dogs should be spayed between twelve and twenty-three months of age unless they are intended for breeding."

https://www.bsava.com/article/bva-and-bsava-update-neutering-guidance-for-dogs-and-cats/

For every organisation saying one thing, you'll find another saying the opposite about when to spay.

Op, do you breed from your dog?

How does one "storm off"?
Is it speed or something else?

I’ve never walked my in season dog near any other dogs!

Secure field or very early in the morning before the world wakes.

YABU

Absolutely not but it wasn’t my dog that was in season, it was a PP

My dog wasn’t in season!! That was a PP!

Al8son kayla mandi

Hi sounds really cute.