Off lead dogs keep running up to my dog

[crazycatgal]

I'm a fairly new dog owner and normally walk my dog on the lead at the local country park. My dog is a small/medium sized dog. Every evening random off lead dogs are running up to my dog, their owners are always trailing behind and if they call their dog back the dog ignores them.

Last night the same thing happened with a husky and the husky was stood over my dog (who is much smaller) and was pinning him against my DP. My dog then started growling so DP grabbed him and I pushed the other dog away. The owner then slowly walked over and gave the usual spiel about how their dog wants to play with everyone.

How do I deal with these situations? Another dog was killed in this park by an off lead dog 2 months ago and the situation with the husky last night freaked me out a bit. People are letting their dogs run over to us every day and I'm getting really fed up and worried because I don't know the intentions of the other dogs. I think my dog is getting fed up with this as well.

crazycatgal I am absolutely not defending those other dogs/owners but in the spirit of giving you practical advice...

Firstly, even though it is v hard you have to adjust your own reaction. Dogs are perceptive and you being afraid or worried is very likely to transfer to your dog and leave him less able to cope with the scenario. Even when you don't feel it, faking a bright, breezy and in control manner can go a long way.

For whatever lucky reason, our JRT (who was attacked many years ago) is a dog fully able to give a quiet, confident, haughty nose in the air to any over friendly dog. It works wonders to put them off persisting with play. It can be easy to think small = vulnerable but often that is not the case, so be careful not to over protect your dog because of his size. I understand that a large dog can over power a smaller dog if it really wants to, but they very rarely want to and little dogs have more in their favour than it might appear.

Picking up a smaller dog can be dangerous. For whatever reason, it can trigger a reaction in the larger dog that leaves him jumping up at you to get to the smaller one. Please only ever do so with great caution and, if possible, with one you holding the larger dog back (obs don't do this if you fear being bitten).

Teaching the smaller dog a "behind me" cue and then using your own body to block the larger dog can help in some scenarios. Body blocking is something dogs tend to understand.

Being assertive with the owners can also help. I have used "are you going to get this bloody dog under control?" before now. It earned me a mouth load in return but I've never seen that dog, off lead bounding all over the street again.

When all else fails, yelling "my dog has an infectious disease" would normally get the other owner running pretty quickly to get theirs back under control.

Finally, even though you shouldn't have to etc. etc. if your country park is filled with off lead dogs and you are not comfortable letting them approach yours then maybe try and find somewhere quieter to walk. I appreciate it is not ideal, not fair etc but you are never going to change all those others and so might enjoy quieter walks better?

Again, none of the above is meant to suggest it is your fault or that it is fair that you carry the responsibility of keeping the peace. It's meant in the spirit of trying to help so I hope it comes across like that.

You need to be firmer with them.
I used to have a reactive dog with brilliant recall, so if we saw another dog, I'd call him back and keep him with me as he was scared of other dogs due to being previously attacked.
I'd get people saying 'oh its fine, my dog is friendly/just wants to play/is only saying hello' so I'd just tell them that my dog wasn't friendly (even if yours is, you can say its not) and that mine might bite theirs. If they are too far away to talk to I just used to shout 'can you control your dog please' until they did it.

I was lucky and most people I met were considerate and if they saw a dog on a lead, they would keep there dog away.

I now have a lovely playful dog who loves everyone. But I make sure that he doesnt run up to dogs on leads, as quite often, they are on a lead for a reason.

Unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do about it as parks tend to be a 'free for all'. My dog is very submissive and will simply not 'fight back' or 'tell the other dog off' etc but instead just 'puts up with it' even though it is obvious he hates being jumped on by bigger dogs which I don't think is fair to put him through.

I therefore walk at times and in places where owners tend to have need more control over their dogs such as in forests. For interacting with dogs he gets the chance to do that with 'known' dogs at training and at daycare so I don't feel he misses out.

I have a rescue dog who gets a bit nervous if dogs get overly in her face.
She is happy with a quick sniff, she is even happy with a dog licking her face. If the dog hangs about a bit too long she gets a big anxious and tries to hide behind me and I just position myself between my dog and the other dog to keep them apart. I have been known to grab the other dog's collar if the owner is too far away.
My dog is always on a lead (for a reason) so I find it even more infuriating.

@crazycatgal
Bring a spray bottle with water in it on tour walk or a can of air that u use to clean keyboards etc. They won't hurt other dogs but will get them to leave ur dog alone. I was advised this when I got my puppy first and was anxious walking him. I gave me the confidence to walk him & shoo the other dogs away. I only used the tin of air a couple of times & other dog ran off straight away.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I have always tried to stay bright and breezy when other dogs come running over but it was different last night when the other dog was too much in my dog's face and made him growl. This is when I became agitated.

My dog isn't very feisty at all, he is an ex show dog so is easygoing and he can be quite submissive and nervous because he used to live in kennels with lots of big dogs. I really don't think he would defend himself if anything happened.

I will definitely start teaching my dog to come behind me so that he can do this in future. I also agree that I need to be assertive with other dog owners if they don't have their dog under control.

I do think we are going to have to find a new walking spot, DP and I were discussing this last night because we are getting fed up. My friend's cavalier is now quite nervous around other dogs because off lead dogs have been boisterous and backed her against walls.

I just wanted to say that I do know that not all off lead dogs are out of control. My friend walks her BMD off lead because she stays by her side and won't approach people or dogs. I think some people don't see the need to train their dogs.

sadly this problem with 'out of control' off-lead dogs is a growing menace. Some dog owners cannot be bothered to train their dogs and proceed to let them off lead anywhere they can get away with it (and sometimes where 'dogs on leads' is necessary because of nesting birds or livestock. )
Unfortunately you cannot change the mindset of entitled 'stupids' so the only advice I can offer is to walk very early in the morning and in all weathers and you will usually have the park or field to yourself.
If you get to meet some friendly dog walkers with whom your dog is familiar try to walk as a group during the summer months (when there are more off-lead dogs around)
Silently curse the irresponsible owners and avoid them

It’s rubbish, and they’re totally in the wrong letting their dogs run up... but realistically there really isn’t a huge amount you can do, yes you can have your dog behind you and yes you can be better at telling other owners to control their dogs, but - some places are just a nightmare for it.

The easiest place for me to walk my dog (he’s really dog reactive) is a nightmare for off lead dogs coming over, but if I drive him to a similar place a mile away, they’re much better - so there’s no rhyme or reason to why some places are worse than others.

It is rubbish. I get sick of hearing 'Oh my dog's friendly' so I always shout back "Well my dog isn't" and they generally come and get them. The best thing I find though is shouting over before the other dog gets close. We had a behaviorist in for ours who said to shout they have kennel cough at other owners as they tend to call them back sharpish! Be prepared for a backlash though! I always just say after it was a lie to make you move your dog away.

Our dog is very nervous and is reactive to other dogs but only when on the lead as he can't get away (off lead he will choose whether he wants to greet or he simply trots past and they might sniff briefly then ignore hi) This could be something worth considering if your dog is feeling anxious it could be not being able to get away. Obviously you may have your own reasons for not letting you dog off.

Unfortunately I can't walk my dog off lead. I've had him for 2 weeks and he previously lived in a kennel for 8 years so has 0 recall. I've started doing a bit of training with him but it's hard because he doesn't like treats because he's never had them before.

Don't walk him off lead, that's not the answer.

Nor is being bright and breezy.

I hate owners that think it's okay for their off lead dogs run up to yours. I find putting a muzzle on just one of ours tend to make people a bit more wary, but then I have 6 big dogs.

A spray bottle is a great idea or an alarm, anything that will stop a dog in its tracks without hurting them.

@crazycatgal
I feel for you as I'm in a similar situation. I have walked my dog perfectly happily and safely for the 4 years I've owned her, 2 months ago 3 off lead mastiffs came charging at us - i picked mine up because I didn't know what else to do, they were trying to bite her when she was in my arms so I dread to think what would have happened if I had left her on the floor. I'm reading with interest here so thanks for posting.

I don't think my dog with a muzzle on would make anyone think twice 😂 He's very pretty and fluffy and on the small side.

I think I'm going to get a small spray bottle and try that next time.

I am teaching my puppy to stay with me while other dogs are around. He follows my hand with a treat in it. I say look at me. It doesn’t always work but 90% of the time it’s there. I do however apologise profusely if he shoots off over to a dog on a lead but generally if there is a dog on a lead and he is in a deaf mood I just stick on his lead.

I want to train him to stay with me at all times which I can’t do on a lead. But I am certainly not blasé about it and I am sorry you get those dog owners. We see a lot of those too. We stick to close to our house when training so most of the time we meet owners and dogs we already know.

If geekdog is really having a ‘sod you!’ day he stays on the lead.

I used to have a dog aggresive golden retriever and this would drive me mad. As soon as I saw a dog I'd put him on his lead, but the owners would see him and assume he's friendly. The comment of "mines friendly" annoys me so much! If my dogs on a lead it tends to be for a reason.

My puppy can start walking from tomorrow, so it'll be a difficult balance of socialising her, training her to stay by me rather than run up to dogs and ensuring she grows up to be a friendly dog!