Off lead dogs approaching on lead dogs

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I have a 7 month old pup who is very boisterous and loves playing with other dogs, but he doesn't pick up on others dogs cues that he's being too rough, and since hitting the teenage phase his recall has completely gone to pot.

Due to these things I am trying to a responsible owner and keeping him on a lead, or in a large open place on a training line while we practice recall.

I'm getting really annoyed by the number of owners who just let their off lead dogs approach making absolutely no attempt to recall their dogs, usually small dogs so the owners seem to think because their dogs are small they're ok to approach who the hell they want.

It's so frustrating as I'm really trying my best to train him and it makes it really difficult when these dogs wander over and then my dog gets all over excited. I'm trying to teach him to ignore other dogs which is hard with unwelcome visitors!

I'm a first time dog owner and I just assumed there was an etiquette about on lead and off lead dogs... am I being too precious or are there just a lot of self absorbed knobhead owners where I live?!!

Rant over!!

I walk in a very busy urban park where, to be frank, you'd have to be mental to take a seriously unfriendly dog.

I tend to look at other signals too - but if they are walking straight towards me and DDog and make no attempt to avoid us, I assume the dog has shit recall but they're not worried about the dogs meeting.

I'm a lot more wary if we're somewhere quiet - somewhere you might take a reactive dog because you're trying to avoid others!

Could something similar be happening with you?

Mine is on lead cos his recall is crap, and he is scared and would run away if another dog came running towards him.
As a result when they do come running towards him he is scared and can't get away, so growls and barks.
It does my head in when other owners let their dogs run up to him "oh they just want to play", then seem surprised when mine (on lead and therefore under control) reacts badly.

I think it depends where you walk.

If I walk in my local park in the early morning and at weekends about 50% have no recall and the owners don't care. It's a bit better mid morning.

If I walk in the countryside then the majority of dogs have better recall or their owners care and are clearly trying to keep them close.

I therefore walk in the countryside because my dog isn't one to want to play with strange dogs especially those that don't have nice manners e.g. bounce on top of him.

Welcome to my world ! My dog is getting on a bit now and has arthritis. If she overdoes it she often pays for it later and because she thinks she is still a puppy she has no concept of overdoing it so I have to regulate her bouncing.

I’m usually let her off to start with then when I can see she has had enough she goes back on the lead. Massively hate it when people then let their dogs run over with a ‘don’t worry, he’s friendly ‘ shout. My dog then forgets she is tired and starts bouncing about at the end of the lead, I sometimes her barged into by 2 excited dogs, one that I am clinging onto whilst trying to explain to smiling owner who had that ‘oh isn’t it sweet, they are playing so nicely together look’ that yes myndog is perfectly friendly but is nearly 12 and now thanks to their off lead dog approaching my on lead dog , mine is quite possibly going to be in some considerable pain in a few hours time.

To say it pisses me off is an understatement.

My dog can be fear aggressive, she hates strange dogs running up to her sniffing her, she’s scared of them and will often bark and show her teeth as a back off warning. She wouldn’t bite, she’s most likely wrapped around my legs at this point. She’s a large breed so I can’t pick her up (I’m sure she wishes I could). I keep her on lead, I’ve got the Give me Space lead etc but strange dogs still come bounding up, some owners are ok and say serves you right, others look at me. My dog has very good recall and she’s getting on now she just prefers to plod along at my side without all these youngsters sniffing at her.

I have a fear reactive dog too... And we do training etc to help him. One thing is he goes on lead as soon as I see another dog. We move away and he sits focusing on me... Or at least the treats I am holding. Other people let their dogs run up to us off lead... I used to politely say my dog might go for yours... Got the "oh don't worry they are friendly" or "it'll serve em right" replies... But that's not helping my dog... Why should he get triggered and then be aggressive cus people can't recall train their dogs?
Now I just shout loudly "please don't let your dog near us, my dog is reactive, he doesn't want to play. If he accidentally hurts yours I have warned you"
If the ignore that, I shout again "get your dog under control and away from us please"
If tgat doesn't work I stand between my dog and offending dog and will firmly say get or go and will point with my arm and will if need put my knee out as barrier, I'd never kick or knee a dog but I will lift my knee if they arw running at me

I agree with pp, it totally depends where you walk.
Taking dog down the beach mid day for example were 99% of dogs are off lead is a bit unrealistic (if you don't want your dog approach) but taking dog on a quiet park/pavement walk I absolutely would expect dogs to be on a lead.

Snap! We have a long haired dachshund, she is such a beautiful thing but scared of her shadow and petrified of dogs she doesn't know. Extreme barking, pulling at least, growling...people are shocked as she's such a beautiful little thing! She's good as good otherwise but she's scared and it makes walks incredibly hard and stressful. She is always on lead but dogs always approach her and I find myself apologising for her and then think why, you should be apologising to me! But then I get embarrassed! Urgh!

How are you going to teach him if you never allow other dogs to get close? It's normal for him to still react enthusiastically at 7 months. A lot of it will calm down naturally.

Other dogs coming to him is the perfect time to teach him to welcome over dogs but in a gentle way, especially if the dog is small.

Do the owners complain? Because that would be unacceptable when they let their dog come close to yours.

I always put my dog back on the lead if I see another dog approaching on the lead, most people do the same where I live.

My dog tends to be fine off lead and will approach other off lead dogs without issue but he does take issue with on lead dogs for some reason.

I get frustrated with people with on lead dogs allowing their dog to come over to my on lead dog. That's happened a few times recently and it really stresses my dog out, I've started saying quite loudly 'my dog is grumpy on lead, please don't let your dog approach him.'

It's really annoying. Especially when you are clearly trying to train your dog!

I always put my dog on his lead when I see a dog approaching on a lead. Even though he doesn't really like other dogs and will go out of his way to avoid them. It's just manners. And in seconds he will be back off lead anyway.

However when I have mine on lead and other people allow their dogs to approach his is more scared because he is stuck on his lead.

So I then have started to say loudly to the dog to go away and I get in between them and start walking away.

If that doesn't work I shout to the owners to get their dog. But I don't stop walking away. So usually then the owner has to start walking after me which makes them actually do something as their dog is walking away from them too.

My dog has never gone for another but I know he is scared of them. I also know he will run if I let him off his lead at that point and then the other dog is likely to chase him.

He has had so many dogs jumping all over him or snapping at him that he's just given up on dogs completely. Which I was sad about. But as the dog trainer said to me, we are his family and friends. He plays with us. He doesn't need other dogs anyway.

Pisses me right off. My dog is fine off the lead but hates dogs in his face when he is on the lead.

Fortunately as he is a bit of a far roaming beast he has no interest in other dogs so is not likely to run up to them.

We’ve discovered pure dog pate. It makes my not-particularly-fussed-about-food ignore all other dogs and people. I put it a small price in my hand facing backwards so the treat is right in front of my dog’s nose and walk on briskly past the other dog and then reward with treat once past. Any “my dog wants to be friendly” is met with brisk, smiley “well, we’re training”. You might ask find upping the “reward value” of your reward will improve recall too. It is a pain. I never let me dog go up to another dog on a leash but plenty of people do so you need a strategy for the situation.

*my

So many typos! Hope the gist makes sense!

In our park people who are doing recall training don't go in the area where there are always free running dogs playing. They go to other areas.
Or they go when it's very quiet.
Most dogs in our park play freely together and sometimes it can look quite rough but owners keep a close eye on it. The dogs are pack animals so sort out their pecking order.
I try and keep my dog away from lead dogs but sometimes he'll run over to say hello to a lead dog if the lead walkers comes near

What I don't understand is why so many people don't seem to train their dogs to walk off lead / recall at all. Then walk round the field where there are dogs of all shapes and sizes and ages playing freely etc. The poor dogs are often straining to get off the lead.
There are some people in our park who literally drag their lead dog away from others and won't let them interact. That feels cruel really

We purposely go places where it's quiet and away from other dogs to do training, but there will always be at least one or two over an hour that come bounding across the field toward my dog who is clearly on a training line.

@dontdisturbmenow he does go near other dogs, he always sniff is with other on lead dogs when we're walking on paths and pass other dogs, and he has a few friendly dogs that he plays with that are used to his rough play. This doesn't excuse owners not recalling their dogs when it's plainly obvious that I'm at the far end of the field out of the way clearly attempting to do training. It's bad manners.

icegarden, presumably you have trained your dog to recall away from the on lead dog, if not, what i don't understand is why don't you train your dog to do so?

Dogs don't need to interact with every other dog they see, mine is trained to be happy just passing by because in some circumstances a greeting is not appropriate. Dogs that need to interact with every other dog they see are often rude and badly trained in circumstances where interaction is inappropriate (other dog is ill/scared/does not want to interact/owners do not want strange dogs jumping all over them)

@icegarden that's the point though, I'm trying to train my dog to ignore other dogs and walk off lead, he's 7 months and (which I believe is typical at this age) his recall has gone to pot, so I'm using a training line to train these things.
It's difficult to do that when owners don't recall their dogs. I would assume their dogs are off lead because they have already mastered this training... but clearly not, or these owners just don't give a shit! If you see dogs on lead they're on lead for a reason! If their off lead then fair enough if it's clear they want to play.

I agree, off lead dogs should never be allowed to approach on lead dogs for any reason, unless the owners are within talking distance and both agree that it's okay. If owners cannot rely on their dog's recall, they should put their dog straight on the lead as soon as they see an on lead dog within range.

However, there are lots of %&$s about who don't do this and gleefully yell 'oh it's fine, my dog's really friendly'. They aren't so happy when your on lead dog feels threatened and starts a fight. Absolutely the off lead dog owner's fault, even if their dog is actually the one that gets hurt. Dogs on leads are always more nervous because they feel constrained. They are more likely to growl/snarl/bite.

My old girl was sweet as a daisy, but often pushed around by other dogs when she had a bad back. I used to yell 'go away' really threateningly in the dog's face when it came near, and that did the trick - the owner always scuttled over guiltily and retrieved their disobedient dog.

Should add that an incident happened to my friend, who was walking her nervy collie. Another dog approached and she put her collie on a lead, and called to the other owner politely, asking them not to let their dog approach. The other people said 'oh he's very friendly'. My friend said 'my dog is not friendly and very nervous'. They said 'oh he'll be fine' and let their dog approach.

There was a scrap and their dog needed a few stitches. They tried to blame my friend and get her to pay the vet bill. She refused. They reported her to the vet and said my friend should pay. The vet laughed in their face and told them the entire incident was completely their fault, and they should be the ones apologising because their actions had caused my friend's dog to do it's first ever bite, which is not something anybody wants their dog to do.

Why are you training your dog to ignore other dogs? It's natural for them to be social and interact and could cause issues later.

Dogs should interact when owners have said it's ok, not dogs with no recall which I hate (I notice owners of small dogs think it's more acceptable than owners of large dogs).

Mine loves playing with other dogs and I can't think why you would want to purposefully train a dog to not want to be sociable.

@Stellaris22 There a difference between not wanting your dog to interact ever with other dogs and training your dog not to go running over to every dog it sees! That's what I'm trying to do, like I said in the OP, my dog is very boisterous. If I allowed him to be off lead and run over to every dog it saw it would be completely irresponsible of me!

I don't let mine go to onlead dogs but if it happens to my puppy on a lead and a dog runs up it's a great opportunity to let her sniff quick then see if I can get her attention back to me with treats or by getting her to run away with me.