I have a year old beagle. When I walk her at the park near our house, I usually keep her on the lead because she has terrible recall and the park is right beside a busy road. There are always dogs off lead who come up to her but we've never had a problem as there is always an owner close by to supervise their dog. My dog Is also well socialised and friendly.
However as the weather has changed, I've noticed this dog has started coming. He's not aggressive but will almost 'tease' my dog by running up close to her then running off again. Of course this drives my dog wild. It took me a while to work who was the owner. It turned out to be a woman standing in the swing park with her kids. Not once have I seen her in the actual park supervising her dog. I generally manage it by steering my dog away if I see the dog first. However if I don't do that, the dog will keep pestering us and it spoils the walk.
Today I actually had enough. I was standing with my back to the dog while mine was sniffing away so I was caught unaware. When the dog came up to mine then ran off my dog pulled so hard, I spun around (and felt like an idiot). The dog then kept coming up and running away which was winding my dog up. I could see the owner watching from the swing park but did nothing. Eventually as I pulled mine away, I said loudly 'for God's sake'.
Is this acceptable behaviour from a dog owner? Surely you can't just leave your dog to run around a park while you stand chatting to the other parents. That's not adequate supervision. Moreover when I took my dog to puppy school, the trainer said off the lead dogs should not go up to dogs on the lead. Any thoughts?