Scuffle with another dog

[OnikokoMum]

Hello, hoping for some advice. Today, my husband took our dog to the same park we go to with the dog most days. Dog was off lead and another dog entered the park. Our dog is rarely interested in interacting at all with other dogs and if he does it's a quick sniff and he's off. This time, very unusually, he ran straight up to this other dog (unknown to us) while ny husband was putting ball away, so he didn't see it quickly enough to call him back. My husband said it all happened very quickly but the two dogs got into a little scuffle lasting less than 5 seconds then our dog ran back to my husband who put him on the lead straight away. The other dog was on a long lead. The other owner immediately checked his dog over. The issue was that the owner (far bigger and taller than my husband) then became excessively aggressive to my husband, shouting and swearing at him, threatening to punch him and telling my husband to bring a younger family member to the park so he could beat them up, and told my husband he should never to return to the park again. He filmed my husband and dog on his phone while my husband was trying to de-escalate and leave the park. My husband, obviously apologised and tried to stay calm and was able to get away safely. For someone pretty streetwise he's quite shaken up by it all.

Two things:
Firstly, it's a definite reminder to us to have eyes on our dog at ALL times. Our dog absolutely should not have run straight up to the dog, who was on a long lead. My husband should have recalled him immediately. It's never happened before so we just need to be extra vigilant in future and keep our dog on lead until we're sure it won't happen again etc etc.

Secondly, our dog is fine and the owner checked his dog over but didn't say anything about any injuries. The scuffle was extremely brief. However the other owner's behaviour was hugely threatening and we're now not able to take our dog to any local parks in case he's there. Should we report his behaviour to the police? Just mainly worried in case the other owner tries to falsify claims that the scuffle was more than it was.

Sorry this is so long but welcome any advice from experienced dog owners. Thank you.

Good wake up call for you. And though the other person overreacted it’s a scary thing so I’d give them grace and move on.

Understand your shaken up but your husband did the necessary

I wouldn’t worry…this person must be behaving like this with others..it’s on them. Just walk your dog and avoid them

However the other owner's behaviour was hugely threatening and we're now not able to take our dog to any local parks in case he's there. Should we report his behaviour to the police?

Yes, I can see it now.

“Officer, we’ve been threatened.”
”Why?! What happened.”
”Our dog was off the lead and out of control and attacked another dog and the other dogs owner was verbally aggressive.”
“Oh.”

it’s very much he said, he said. I’ve seen people recording people with out of control dogs before. Why? Because very often it is a repeating pattern and you see those aggressive dogs again and again, so I’m a bit more sympathetic to why he recorded your husband.

Keep your dog on a lead (and not until ‘I’m sure it won’t happen again.’). Be more vigilant.

I’m surprised by the responses so far - two dogs got into a very minor scuffle and apparently that means it’s okay for OP’s husband to be threatened like he was? Really? 🤔

OP - I would actually go to the police and report what happened. They likely won’t do anything about it but it’s something useful for them to have on file in case things escalate with this man in the future. Obviously you know it wasn’t okay for your dog to run off like it did but there’s no such thing as a perfect dog owner and your DH did everything he could to rectify things afterwards.

I work with dogs and have lost count of the number of dogs who have bolted up to mine - as long as the owners apologise and get their dogs, it’s nothing to get stressed about, though it is annoying.

Is your dog big and scary looking?

I would be terrified and very angry if my dog was on the lead and a big off lead dog rushed up and had a fight.

However, what the other man said was unhinged. He's a nutcase. Avoid.

Thank you for your understanding reply, really appreciate it. We're always learning!

Our dog is a medium sized breed and the other dog was a very large breed. Neither breed are particularly scary looking!!!

Yes, and that's what's so tricky. We now don't feel able to go to any of our three lovely local parks for fear of him seeing us.

Your dog sounds incredibly rude and lacking in manners. Running over to all dogs, straight into a scuffle.

Not all dogs want to greet other dogs, not all dogs appreciate full on greetings, not all dogs want to play. The owner had his dog on a lead. I can almost guarantee the other dog gave off plenty of 'don't approach me' signals which your dog ignored, hence the scuffle.

Also, there may be some kind of territorial behaviour going on if this park is their everyday walk. Your dog may see it as their park, and the other dog, especially if same sex, was encroaching it. Give the park a few days rest and mix up the walks.

Ultimately this is on your husband. The dog needs to be supervised and eyes on at all times and on a lead if it approaches other dogs like that. No dog should approach any other dog they don't know, especially if on a lead.

Yes the other owner overreacted. He was scared. It is incredibly scary to see an unknown dog barrelling over to your dog and you have no idea what's about to happen.

Absolutely agree, it was my husband's error, as I hopefully made clear in my post (cpuld easily have been my error too). It was highly unusual behaviour for our dog - he's around other dogs all the time in that park and almost never approaches them at all - and we will be far more careful in future. Good point about somekind of territorial issue and thanks for the suggestion about mixing up the parks for a while - we'll do that.

The man shouldn’t have been aggressive and threatening but your dog shouldn’t have been off lead and allowed to approach another dog. Honestly it could have been a lot, lot worse.
I wouldn’t worry about seeing the chap again, I’m sure he’ll have calmed down. But do take this as a lesson to keep your dog on lead unless you are somewhere where you’re not going to see another dog or you can be certain of their recall (risky).

Thanks all for your messages. As I said in the original post, my husband and I know the error was on us and it's been a good reminder to be extra viligant of our dog. We've also been at the receiving end of this, and yes, it's very scary. But I didn't verbally abuse the other dog owner or threaten to punch them up if I ever see them in the park again.

I’ve always put mine on the lead when other dogs are approaching, I generally walk on fairly quiet woodland type paths though. One of my late dogs was super friendly but could be overbearingly so to nervous dogs, plus sometimes the fluffiest least harmful dog can be the most aggressive. So yes being more aware of this is a good thing.

However the man threatening to punch/harm your husband or family is unnecessary and shocking. He sounds like a thug. I’d just avoid him for a while and if you do see him and he continues his threats, then yes, you might have to report him but it could get messy and the Police often don’t do anything. Sadly incidents like this do happen, where we use to live some woman with a pushchair use to walk around a local green space with her vicious German Shepherd called Rocky who use to attack other people’s dogs. He attacked mine once, even though we were all on leads and luckily my husband managed to free our elderly dog from under this monster. I use to avoid her like the plague and speaking to other dog walkers so did they as they’d had it too, however I didn’t threaten to punch or attack her and her family. I just worried that a young child lived with that animal.

That sounds like a similarly really difficult situation. Thanks ror the advice.