It’s been done to death...

[DiddlyWiddly]

But when faced with a dog that won’t piss off, what do you do?

For the third time now I’ve had the same young, boisterous, enormous dog with piss poor recall harass my dog when I’m trying to play ball with her.

I always stay well, well away from other dogs so there is zero need to approach us but alas, it runs miles away from its owner to reach us.

It was constantly blocking my dog from returning to me today and in the end I got so cross I went to leash the bastard and return it to its ineffectual owner but it ran back as soon as I went to clip it.

It’s a big dog and of a strong guarding breed so frankly, although it is clearly a friendly, exuberant adolescent I am nervous about trying to restrain it or discourage it in any way because if it bit me it could do some damage.

I see it’s owner regularly and intend to talk to them the next time I see them and insist they keep their dog away from mine, I imagine that will go well

@lovelylurcher

That’s what long lines are for... so they can be looseish, but under control until their recall is reliable enough.

OP - tbh I’d have shouted at them to get their dog after the first time it happened

I'm hazarding a guess that it may be a bouncy Doberman? I have had exactly the same and my dog just hates them now for that particular reason, no owner in site, nice enough teenagery dog but just wouldn't leave mine alone, even afte clear signs of "I don't want to play, piss off" Now we have to avoid all Dobies, which is a breed that seems to have become very popular around here.

My response wasn't good, I put mine on lead and tried to walk away while this one was bouncing around him, so mine started snapping and growling

Chuck treats on the floor and walk away

@lovelylurcher

You sound really angry - and like I said, I'm sorry your dog has bad experiences in the past...

I was genuinely asking because my young, friendly, usually calm dog will occasionally go after another dog's ball, in quite a small field where a small number of dogs might be off lead - dogs who are generally also friendly and well behaved. It's not a 'field full of dogs with bad manners'. I was asking because I don't want to be the owner with a dog that annoys people! What happened to you sounds extreme - but I think you have to make allowances. One could argue that if you have a dog that snaps and growls at other dogs it should be on the lead, just as you could argue that a dog without perfect recall should also be on the lead. We all need to be tolerant, right?

For what it's worth, my dog doesn't 'run and play with every dog it sees', her recall is good, and I don't allow her to approach on lead dogs because they might be nervous. We're going around in circles here so let's leave it there...

I think we are all making allowances and I do know that young dogs need to learn but if it happens multiple times during a walk, it's highly annoying. You sound like a great owner who is obviously training your dog which I spent lots of time doing but that includes in my opinion, knowing when a young dog is too annoying to another dog

I’m shocked by the attitude of some dog owners tbh. If your dog is so untrained that it doesn’t recall and steals other dogs toys then it should be off lead, puppy or not. It’s a recipe for fucking disaster.

And ‘socialisation’ does not mean letting every dog run at and play with every single dog they meet.
100% this. A properly socialised dog doesn’t run at other dogs and demand interaction, it’s exactly the opposite.

I really wish dog ownership was more regulated.

Talk to the owner OP but not under the guise of “my dog is nervous please keep your dog away” but tell them it’s not acceptable to allow their dog to run up and get in the face of your dog. It’s rude and if that dog did it to the wrong dog or owner it could end up seriously injured.

You sound really angry - and like I said, I'm sorry your dog has bad experiences in the past...
I am!
I’m feeling so tense and enraged just writing on this thread.
I’m sorry, I probably am coming across a tad aggressive to you without never even meeting you.
It just upsets me so much.
I think I am tolerant and I do everything in my power to stop any potential conflicts eg staying well away from others!

I'm hazarding a guess that it may be a bouncy Doberman?
It is!
Looks around the 6 - 7 month mark.
I don’t think it has any aggressive intention at all, it wants to play but it won’t take no for an answer and being considerably bigger and stronger than my dog, if it takes offence to my dog telling it off, it’ll be my dog that comes off worse!
And if it takes offence to me leashing it or discouraging it away, again, I imagine the damage would be a lot worse than if it was a Jack

@DiddlyWiddly - totally fine and no need to apologise! Dog ownership can be really stressful. I'm constantly navigating the best ways to manage certain behaviours and trying to ensure my dog is well behaved...it's a steep learning curve!

I don’t understand the comments on this thread. Dogs shouldn’t be off lead if they approach anyone or anything without permission or if they don’t come back when you call them. They shouldn’t be approaching other dogs regardless of whether they are on lead or not. If you can’t recall your dog from an off lead dog then you can’t recall it from an on lead dog or horses or a family having a picnic etc. If your dog doesn’t have 100% recall it needs to be on a long line and you need to practice regularly, you don’t just let it off the lead to run riot - it’s illegal not to have your dog under control in a public place. Yes dogs aren’t robots and sometimes accidents will happen but you can usually tell when it’s an accident as the dog will be swiftly followed by an apologetic owner. Dog owners don’t get to just decide that they are taking over a field or a pitch as a place for their dogs to be out of control.

OP in future I would try and body block the dog from approaching my own dog and say NO very firmly and loudly or if it doesn’t seem aggressive get a hold of it’s collar and take it back to the owner. Usually with my own dog I just clip him back on lead and walk away if we’re being approached by unknown off lead dogs. I have also heard of people conditioning their dogs to pet corrector sprays and using them to scare away unknown dogs. Sorry you are having to put up with this, I have a young, energetic large breed dog and I would be mortified if he had acted like that.

I have a foot in both camps here.

I have a dog who is the local ball thief, and I have to scan the field regularly and keep her close or on the lead. I usually carry a spare tennis ball.

I also get interrupted when training. The problem is that it is hard to be polite and logical to some clueless numpty, but if you just get shouty, they think you're being an arse and use that to justify ignoring you.

An awful lot of dogs have no recall at all, not even patchy recall - they go back to their owners when they feel like it.

@DiddlyWiddly

I'm hazarding a guess that it may be a bouncy Doberman? It is! Looks around the 6 - 7 month mark. I don’t think it has any aggressive intention at all, it wants to play but it won’t take no for an answer and being considerably bigger and stronger than my dog, if it takes offence to my dog telling it off, it’ll be my dog that comes off worse! And if it takes offence to me leashing it or discouraging it away, again, I imagine the damage would be a lot worse than if it was a Jack

That is exactly my fears! if mine reacts and that angers the dobie, mine wouldn't stand a chance!! Mine is spaniel sized so considerably smaller

@Wolfie11 - I'm not talking about 'dogs running riot' or 'being out of control' whatsoever, I'm talking about young dogs or puppies who might occasionally, for all the training in the world, chase another dog's ball. My dog has learned not to approach other dogs and she comes back to me when I call her the vast majority of the time....but she can be a ball thief and I was wondering how to manage this. She's also part retriever, so it is in her instinct somewhat - not that I'm trying to excuse it!

When my dog steals a ball, I've swiftly apologised to the owner, and returned it - but do I agree that she should be on a long line at all times, just in case? I don't - she's young, she's learning - she's in a place where people let dogs off leads, and they are (for the most part) all tolerant owners and well behaved dogs. Of course I wouldn't let her interrupt a picnic or let her loose around horses or livestock...

That is exactly my fears! if mine reacts and that angers the dobie, mine wouldn't stand a chance!! Mine is spaniel sized so considerably smaller
Mine too, is only slighter taller than most spaniels and probably lighter at only 15kg or so.

You need to teach her impulse control, there are lots of good YouTube videos etc out there that will help. Having her on a long line, throwing a ball and not letting her chase it unless you say so, rewarding for ignoring the ball etc. I do completely understand how difficult it is, I have a 14 month old Alaskan Malamute. They are an incredibly difficult breed to teach recall.

You say that she wouldn’t bother horses or livestock but if a horse was to appear on your walk and your dog saw it first, are you sure you could recall her? That’s the problem with letting dogs off with partial recall, eventually an unexpected distraction will appear and it will just be pure luck whether or not the dog can be recalled. If your dog won’t recall consistently on a 10/15/20ft long line it’s certainly not going to do so without one which is why the long line should be used until you are confident that your dog can be trusted to be off lead, come back and not annoy anyone else.

I’m not saying that your dog sound awful or you are one of the feckless owners, not at all but I do have fairly strong views when it comes to this.

I have sympathies OP.

My dog wants to play with me and we hunt for balls in the undergrowth. I scan the area, move away and I mean far away from paths out in the countryside and still occasionally get a wayward dog 'wanting to play'. I am even more nervous at the moment as mine has a back problem so big bouncy dogs could really hurt him.

I have just come to accept that some owners really don't care and never will. I just quickly walk off and either their dog goes back or the owner realises that they may actually lose them and does something about it.

Dogs need to be well socialised. The vast majority of dogs I encounter off leads in open areas are well socialised and the vast majority of dogs I encounter on leads in open areas are poorly socialised (or are young dogs being kept on leads by overprotective owners).

If you don't want a dog interrupting your play, then maybe play in your private garden?

If you don't want a dog interrupting your play, then maybe play in your private garden?
Do you think most people live on spacious country estates?!
I couldn’t give even a chihuahua adequate daily exercise in my little urban garden!

Well I guess you're going to have rub along with everyone else.

@savvy7

Dogs need to be well socialised. The vast majority of dogs I encounter off leads in open areas are well socialised and the vast majority of dogs I encounter on leads in open areas are poorly socialised (or are young dogs being kept on leads by overprotective owners).

If you don't want a dog interrupting your play, then maybe play in your private garden?

The dog in the OP is not well socialised by any definition, nor is it under the owner's control.

There are a hundred reasons a dog might be kept on a lead and you have absolutely no idea which apply to any given dog or any right to judge the validity of it.

“Dogs need to be well socialised. The vast majority of dogs I encounter off leads in open areas are well socialised and the vast majority of dogs I encounter on leads in open areas are poorly socialised (or are young dogs being kept on leads by overprotective owners).“

And? Letting a dog offlead won’t cure any issues.

My current puppy’s recall is amazing - it causes me no disruption to my walk at all to recall him if a dog is on lead or either the dog or owner is showing signs of not wanting to interact with him.

When/if it gets worse as he matures that’s my training issue to resolve, I wouldn’t expect other people to suffer because of it.

Meeting every dog is terrible for socialisation - that’s exactly how you create either of the issues the dogs in the OP have.

lovelylurcher
It sounds to me like your dog is lovely, but still at the point in training where they need to be on long line unless the space doesn't have anyone using a ball.

I love walking my dogs in areas like you describe, but I would say that there's sometimes owners who think their dog being young and it only happens sometimes means other owners should deal with it. Where I walk mine, if there is a pup in training then their owners have generally asked me if I'm OK with their puppy being off because they're training them to come back when there's other dogs/distractions/whatever it is they're doing. That's much more polite than the owner assuming my dogs would be happy having their toys taken as whilst it wouldn't bother them, there's a regular on the field with a lovely off lead dog who will play nicely with other dogs, but gets very defensive about his ball. It wouldn't be fair on that dog or the puppy for another owner to assume that nobody minds the ball being taken now and then. By the time an owner had called their dog, got the toy, and returned the toy, the negative situation has already happened.

I honestly think there is a world of difference between:

• a young dog being actively trained on a walk, going astray and being closely followed by an owner getting them quickly back under control and apologising to anyone disturbed by the action

• a young dog being allowed to run around under the pretence of socialisation, with an owner only keeping half an eye on what they are doing, only noticing after they have disturbed someone else after some time, walking leisurely over and getting the dog back without a backward glance

Most dog owners will recognise the effort made in the first example and accept the apology gratiously. It's the second that irritates.

SirDidymus exactly!! we have all been there and know how difficult recall training with an adolescence dog can be but I have a few owners like you describe in the second example in the park and it's really annoying as my dog now at 4 just want to sniff about and don't usually want to be jumped at or play fight

Yes sirdidymus!
A gang of adolescent dogs careering round in a field together isn't socialisation.
It shouldn't be hard for somebody to keep their dog away from other dogs & their toys until there's a mutual agreement between owners that the dogs are able to have a muck around.
If you can't have that control by voice, then you need a leash.

We adopted our dog from Rescue Remedies, if you adopt from them you undertake not to exercise off lead anywhere there are other dogs - i.e. only in your own garden or a rented dog exercise field. It is too much of a risk to let a reactive dog off the lead anywhere there might be anoher dog. I read a report last week of a destruction order being made for a whippet which had a go at another dog and bit it's owner on te hand as she tried to get them apart. I wouldn't risk this.