Why let dogs off the lead in busy parks if they are aggressive??!!

[lucydaniels4658]

In the last three days I have had three incidents two with the same dog one seperate. I walk my puppy on the lead as walking is fairly new to her these dogs have come charging over growling and teeth baring . I picked pup up and one tried to jump up and snap. Then owner strolls over "oh sorry he hates other dogs he is so grumpy" .The other owner didn't even bother to speak . Am i naive as a new puppy owner surely if you know your dogs aggressive you keep it on a lead??!! Puppy is not confident with dogs so its not a case of her pestering them she tries to ignore them. She likes playing once they've introduced and they aren't to all over her!

Some people are twats. And some of those twats own dogs.

Some dog owners are absolute bloody idiots, unfortunately. Our dog has been attacked while on-lead three times in the past month: once we had 'Oh, he's never done that before...', and then the owner walked off a few yards and belted his dog with the massive stick he just happened to be carrying, and another dog walker came over and told us that that dog was the reason hers had to be muzzled, because it had attacked him repeatedly. The second and worst incident, when a huge staffy ran at him and had him pinned on his back by the throat, we had 'It's not my dog - it's my mate's', and the third time, 'Yeah, he's not very good with other dogs...'. Our dog is lead aggressive now thanks to one too many encounters with idiots like these and every time we get close to resolving it, some other dickhead lets their dog come at him and we're back to square one.

I'm afraid, as a dog owner lucy you're going to come across a lot of these types.

One such owner I came across on the beach, in reply to my telling her to control her dog or put it on a lead, after it had rushed at my small dog growling and leaping all over her, told me in a very impatient tone of voice that she's there every day. Obviously I should have known that and steered clear; makes perfect sense.

I seemed to be a magnate for leaping dogs at the moment. On a recent walk, of the 4 dogs and their owners we passed one of the dogs leaped all over my dog causing her to cower and squeal, while the owner repeatedly called the dog's name and told it it was scaring my dog - don't think her dog cared really. Two of the other dogs leaped up at me, one of them leaving my clothes covered in mud. None of the owners said anything to me or apologised even in reply to my comments about the mud.

Unfortunately, as in the rest of life there's an awful lot of inconsiderate dog owners out there.

There are also lots of lovely ones as well:).

I have this

Its quite scary one of the dogs was huge my teeny pup wouldnt stand a chance.A woman who witnessed today said you could purchase some air pressure thing that would scare them off but i shouldn't have to people should not walk aggressive dogs in busy parks off the lead or attempt to control them rather than casually walking over being defensive. Puts me off park walking which is a shame roads seem a safer bet but no fun for puppy!

Yes Lucy - see my link below!

I agree with you completely about aggressive dogs but I have to admit that our 6mth old vizsla is very friendly and always runs to see if other dogs want to play. She's still a puppy but nearly full sized so it can be daunting. She is in no way aggressive, but can get carried away and jump up at the owners sometimes. We do always apologise and will pull her away if she's upsetting other dogs or their owners.

One of the main difficulties we've had in training her not to jump up is other people encouraging it. We ask them not to but they more often than not ignore us. I had one woman storm off in a strop when I politely tried to explain we were trying to train her not to do that, our reasons for which I would have thought were obvious, especially given I had 14mth old dd strapped to me at the time...

Yeah its tricky isn't it ! My puppy gets picked up by everyone that walks past i feel a bit snotty saying "can you not" I don't want her turning into a diva on me!
That stuff looks good its nearly £60 though does it last long? Im hoping i won't need to use it though ! There are alot of "status dogs" in my area one tried to bite me a few months ago sad really what lives they lead.

Ah, didn't spot that Lucy. When I purchased it in September from a different seller it was a fraction of the price. I have used it on a Jack Russell which is permitted by its owners to wander freely around a local Common where I walk my dogs. The JR backed off immediately

Have you ever used the spray @Hmc? Don't think you would get a good reaction from any dog owners.

I have a slightly opposite problem- my dog can sometimes snap at other dogs so I always keep her on a lead in parks (unless I can't see any others dogs and its a massive open space with plenty of notice for me to see them- I also keep her within feet of me at all times when she's off the lead). My problem is the dog owners who let their dogs come careering up to us and when I shout at them that my dog can be aggressive just limply call to them or say "oh mine will only want a play". What part of aggressive do they not understand?! I'm firmly of the opinion that if your dog won't come back to you immediately on being called, then it shouldn't be allowed off the lead, not just if its aggressive.

Marco - other dog owners do not concern me. I am not easily intimidated. I have used the spray on an unsupervised dog (see my post) and I would use it again if the occasion arises i.e. if the owner was (a) ineffectual or (b) not present and (c) my dog was in danger

Obviously wouldn't use it where the other dog is simply being a nuisance (rather than a threat) and the owner is in control of the situation.

Yes i see the other side i see many dogs out of control only yesterday a rather large breed pinned mine to the floor playing mine was terrified (wimp) and was making an awful screamy noise it kept coming back!! The owner said "awwww he wants to play" mine did not . My pup is so scared of other dogs ive tried socialising she likes dogs in our house but when out she likes older dogs she can have a mini chase game with but hates contact bouncy dogs she freezes and her eyes look like they are going to pop out !