How do you react to other dogs off lead?

[kid]

I am quite nervous when walking my 13 week old puppy as I dread bumping in to other dogs that are off the lead. There seems to be loads of them about.

One girl in particular appeared to go in and get her dog when she saw us out with my puppy. She boasts that her dog is a 'full pit' and she has no control of him on the lead.

I am fine if the dog is on the lead. I saw a dog off the lead recently. The owner was there with a young child so I sent DD closer to check her dog would be okay with my dog. Turned out to be fine, but its so scary.

So how do you deal with them and what should I do? My dog isn't scared of other dogs at the moment, but he will soon pick up on my anxiousness.

I learned the hard way to be very calm. We got our dog at 16 weeks and she"d been on a farm so hadn't really dealt with much traffic . Got her round the corner after a few goes to the woods. She was pretty nervous and we were taking a moment before entering the woods and a car pulled up and big dog off lead appeared . I said to owner that it was her first time out and she was nervous but he let off lead dog approach. My dog was worried, started to bark, I pulled back on lead and she could sense my anxiety and the other dog kicked off, at which point he wax removed.

A lovely lady who saw what had happened came over with ploddy dig but my pup was so nervous she started growling. We then went home and she immediately growled at every dog she sawvand I was so upset.

Went back the next day and bumped into a lovely lady with an older dog who held an informal puppy socialization class in the middle of the woods and she soon learned to be fine around other dogs and now is too flipping friendly for her own good.

In a very long winded way I'm saying I know how nerve racking it can be but try to be very calm when another dog approaches and let them approach and both dogs sniff. If your puppy seems frightened don't make a big fuss or they will feel they were right to be worried in the first place and reinforce fear. I think at this point I might go off in another direction if I saw a dog that potentially looked like trouble as I am a wuss.

Hopefully most owners know their dogs and will keep away from a pup if there is likely to be an issue. I kept mine away from one the other day as he looked a bit nervous and I felt a 7 month bouncy over enthusiastic dog was't what he needed at that moment. We were also with friend's 18 month springer who is calmer so the pup
played with him.

Hopefully experienced dog people will come along soon and give their voices of experience and tell you to ignore my advice if it is rubbish !

I appreciate any advice tbh. My pevious dog was attacked by an off lead dog. The owner said he was fine but within seconds, my dog was in his mouth having his head slammed against a concrete floor. Dh and other dogs owner eventually stopped it by hitting the dog with leads and bags.
My dog survived after 2 or 3 ops on his ear. I was scarred forever. This happened 10 years ago.

Blimey Kid, what a nightmare, how awful. I can see how hard it must be with a puppy having gone through that. Is there anywhere you can go that is nice to walk but where dogs have to stay on lead to get you both to build your confidence ? If you could do that maybe and get to puppy classes so he can mix with other puppies (our trainer used to bring in an older ploddy dog to practice on) then hopefully it would be a more gentle introduction.

I'm sure the experienced lot will be along shortly.

I was out with the puppy tonight and there was a staff running around off lead. It was playing with a tyre, ripping it to pieces . So, rather than risk it, I waited until it had gone before walking that direction.

We walked around the park and then as we were getting back to our starting point, ready to head back home, a Weimaraner came along off lead. I love those dogs, but they are pretty big in comparison to my puppy so we cut the walk a little bit short and came home. Puppy didn't mind though, he loves the run down my road!

I find a swift boot up the arse does the trick, Nah seriously i feel for you and sadly your dog will sense it, how about getting a pet corrector it let's of a hissing sound, don't know if it would work but worth a try.

why are you scared of other dogs?

I'm not scared of other dogs for myself, I am just scared of them attacking my puppy. Or even when he gets older, I will still be scared then.

Even though its been 10 years, I can still remember the image of my dog being smashed against the floor whilst in the other dogs mouth. He was so lucky to survive. He did lose the hearing in one ear as it resulted in a burst cyst on his ear drum which had to be removed.

He lived to a ripe old age, but I was never able to walk him after that attack. I let DH hold the lead and I would run off if another dog came in to sight (only if it was off lead)

Puppy socialisation classes are a good idea so your pup can learn to mix with other dogs in a safe and unthreatening environment. Avoiding other dogs is not the answer. I used to take my youngster on walks where I would be bound to meet other dogs and ask if i could walk around with the first woman I saw whose dog seemed particularly calm and non threatening on the basis it would teach mine how to behave. No one ever said no and I made some good friends and my dog is good with other dogs

when the dogs are on lead, I am fine. Its just when they are running around loose.
My puppy loves all dogs he sees, he wags his tail and wants to play with them.
I am just not convinced they won't attack him

I am sure we were just unlucky with my previous dog. We had him for 13 years and he was only ever attacked once. It only took that once to terrify me though.

I must be getting braver though as I have taken my dog out 3 times a day for the past 4 weeks. Only 2 or 3 times have I cut our walk short or changed route due to dogs being off lead.