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

We have a very similar situation with our dog, she's not quite two and is ball obsessed and there's this poor woman with the bounciest young dog, it's bigger than ours and according to the really apologetic owner, he won't play with his own ball just goes for others dogs balls. He's a lovely dog, not a bad bone, but my heart sinks a little if we are walking at the same time. My dog is very intimidated by his boisterousness and she gets very upset when he takes her ball. I don't have any answers but I can sympathize.

If you exercise your dog off lead in a public place, you should expect other dogs to want to interact. If that's a problem stay.at.home.

If you exercise your dog off lead in a public place, you should expect other dogs to want to interact. If that's a problem stay.at.home
🤦🏻‍♀️
I don’t mind dogs wanting to interact, I would prefer dogs didn’t approach but I don’t get cross when they do.
When I get cross is when it’s crystal clear my dog doesnt want to interact, she tells them so and they ignore and carry on.

Those dogs need to leave or be recalled if they don’t leave of their own accord.
Not stay and continue harassing my dog...

A dog that runs over and is growled at and doesn’t then leave but continues trying to interact isn’t ‘well socialised’ or ‘playful’.
Far from it.
Well socialised dogs don’t insist on interaction when the dog has communicated clearly they don’t want it.

@savvy7

If you exercise your dog off lead in a public place, you should expect other dogs to want to interact. If that's a problem stay.at.home.

You are the type of dog owner that I absolutely despair of , the my dogs friendly and can do as he/ she pleases and the rest of the world can just live with it . Fortunately most people have a brain cell and realise that the world doesn’t revolve around them and their dog .

If you exercise your dog off lead in a public place, you should expect other dogs to want to interact. If that's a problem stay.at.home

Correction, if you exercise your dog off lead in a public place then people might assume that this is an invitation for off lead play as in many circumstances it is, however responsible dog owners with their dogs under appropriate control will ask if your dog is happy to be played with or not. Responsible dog owners have enough common sense to know that a dog enjoying playing off lead with their owner does not automatically equal a dog who wants every dog in the field charging over to say hello.

Similar issues here. Ddog is reactive and we choose some football pitches on the middle of an industrial estate for our walks. There are 3 absolutely lovely big parks closer but we avoid those due to them being full of 'friendly' dogs, many of whom have zero manners.

Pretty much everyone who uses the football pitches keeps themselves to themselves, its such a big space there's plenty of room for everyone to play / walk without going near each other. I suspect most of the people who use it regularly have dogs with issues as we all go out of our way to avoid each other!

But every now and again you get one of the idiots who get there, take their dog off the lead and let it harass every dog in sight whilst they stand there looking at their phone....a woman with a big Boxer and a husky is the worst for it, and she never picks up their shit either. I've seen people physically pick up their dogs and leave whilst her dogs jump up at them, people arguing with her, she just does not care.

I totally agree if you go to a busy park where its a 'thing' for dogs to play together and be sociable then you can't expect to be left alone necessarily, but in a big open space it shouldn't be an issue. I have no problem at all with people who head over to get their dog if its bothering mine and apologise, it happens. But people who just stand there and do nothing usually get a strip torn off them if I get close enough.

One of my dogs would (has in the past) chase(d) after and steal (stolen) another dogs ball. He's a retriever (the clue being in the name). Balls are like crack cocaine for him. When he sees a ball there is literally nothing else in the world. I avoid most issues by carrying my own ball and whipping it out when we see a dog owner with one of those stupid flingers approaching, or we change direction whilst I distract him with treats. It boils my piss though when we are approaching a car park where we can't avoid the dog, dog owner and ball and they insist on playing ball right there where people are loading and unloading their dogs

I was also pissed off to buggery the other day when my dog approached an off lead dog and wouldn't leave her alone - and the owner was most put out, because her bitch was in heat!!! For heaven sake don't walk her off lead in an countryside area where others are walking off lead then you stupid person!

Thing is other dogs and their owners are irritating - I am sure that me and my dogs are occasionally irritating to others sometimes. Certainly people seem to like looking disapprovingly at my leashed rescue dog when she barks aggressively as their dogs walk by. I find it easier to reflect on '"there but for the grace of God go I", because all of our dogs have let us down on the odd occasion...so whilst I might inwardly seethe at others I try to have a word with myself and talk myself down

I get them to sit, restrain mine and shout Whose is this dog? Can you move him away please, mine isn't friendly.

@savvy7

OP are you seriously suggesting you might use spray on someone else's dog? If so you are crazy.

Also I do find it odd that you refer to this dog as a bastard???

@savvy7 pet corrector is just a can that emits a hiss- or it is in the U.K. About as useful as a chocolate tea pot (with my lab anyway). I agree with you, about the neurotic dogs whose owners don’t help their behaviour. It can quickly escalate if left unmanaged. An unstable dog should not be off lead. End of.

Yes I think it's very useful to have these two separate boxes of dogs: good dogs who should have freedom to do what they like and bad dogs who must be restricted.

After all, animal behaviour is such a simple subject. No complexity at all.

@LolaSmiles

If you exercise your dog off lead in a public place, you should expect other dogs to want to interact. If that's a problem stay.at.home

Correction, if you exercise your dog off lead in a public place then people might assume that this is an invitation for off lead play as in many circumstances it is, however responsible dog owners with their dogs under appropriate control will ask if your dog is happy to be played with or not. Responsible dog owners have enough common sense to know that a dog enjoying playing off lead with their owner does not automatically equal a dog who wants every dog in the field charging over to say hello.

Totally agree with you Lola. Why is it the fault of the person playing with their dog quite happily, and away from other dogs, that another persons dog feels it's ok, or rather the owner as the dog has no idea, to come and be a nuisance? You really are not doing the wrong thing op. Is it possible to speak to the owner (I'm guessing this has happened several times) just to reiterate that your dog doesn't appreciate it coming over and if they see you can they be an owner and distract/clip the lead on their dog?

In my experience, ill-mannered people have ill-mannered dogs. I think that's borne out by this thread.

SirDidymus
It's not a case of good dogs and bad dogs.
It's a case of responsible owners and irresponsible owners.

There's probably a substantial overlap between irresponsible owners and people who seem to think the problem lies with owners who want their dogs to be left alone.

@Clymene

In my experience, ill-mannered people have ill-mannered dogs. I think that's borne out by this thread.

Yup. Isn’t it just.

@savvy7

The problem is the neurotic dogs not the nice friendly dogs ...

I have a dog who can be dog aggressive and hear this kind of thing sometimes-“nice/friendly/good” dogs vs “bad/mean aggressive dogs” which I think is unfair and anthropomorphism is not helpful. Dogs are not people and don’t follow our laws or social customs-a dog that wants to make friends is seen by some people as cute and acceptable even if out of control so this is not seen as a problem behaviour whereas aggression is not cute so is seen as a problem when it is a perfectly natural dog behaviour. A dog that doesn’t want to interact with others (often for good reason due to previous attacks) is not “broken” and doesn’t need to be forced/trained to interact with other dogs against its will just to please other dogs and their owners. Training/counter conditioning can help manage aggression around dogs and aggressive dogs can sometimes be socialised to enjoy the company of others, but many aggressive dogs will never be happy around others and I think that’s ok-dogs can get enough enrichment/company from their owners. Sorry if that doesn’t fit the image of the ideal friendly to everything pet. These dogs aren’t dangerous provided the owners manage and control them appropriately (on lead around dogs, walk in quiet places, muzzle if necessary).

Snapping and growling isn’t dangerous, it’s just the dog communicating it isn’t happy. The danger occurs when the other dog can’t read these signals and doesn’t back away. Showing aggression when a strange member of your species comes bounding into your face/personal space is perfectly natural animal behaviour. Wolves do not tolerate strangers outside their pack approaching them and they only play with known animals. Humans would probably slap a stranger that came running up trying to hug them.
I think dogs that get so over aroused when they see another dog that they charge up to them and try and play (ignoring/unable to read body language) are the ones with the problem. They are poorly socialised and not really behaving in a natural way and are putting themselves in potential danger. It’s not fair on them and so important as owners that dogs are taught to remain calm around others and not play with every dog to protect them in case they try and play with a dog that doesn’t want to play and acts defensively to a stranger attempting to play (which is natural for them to do). Yes the other owner should control/muzzle their dog if it may bite but I wouldn’t rely on it and I take responsibility for my own dog by making sure I can call it away from others.

@savvy7

I will keep my lovely well-behaved dog on a lead at all times ...in case a sausage roll appears. Sausage rolls have rights too

A sausage roll would probably be ok but what if your dog found some cooked chicken bones or something with raisins and died painfully? What if a family eating a picnic of sausage rolls didn’t want your dog (and therefore you by proxy) stealing their food from them? In many places where dogs are walked such as busy parks you absolutely should be able to recall your dog (if it’s prone to scavenging)from food and have a solid leave it command before you let them off lead without a muzzle for their own safety. Obviously this is up to you to weigh up the risks and if you don’t walk in busy areas/where there is likely to be food on the floor then you can decide whether to risk it.

The danger occurs when the other dog can’t read these signals and doesn’t back away.

Absolutely. We have a recently adopted rescue (staffy cross) who is completely useless at reading other dogs. She is non-reactive but over-exuberant in greeting other dogs and we have seen that her style of play is rough and tumble. She needs to be carefully matched with other dogs for off lead play for that reason. She was completely oblivious when a (thankfully muzzled) other dog went for her recently, and did not read the aggression at all. She is on lead in public all the time, while we continuously reinforce ignoring other dogs. Not for their protection but for hers because she cannot “read the room” for whatever reason and if allowed would be likely to approach the wrong dog, and come off worse (or more likely, because of her breed, be labelled the aggressor). We book secure fields regularly, with another dog when appropriate, do long lead walks so she can run off her energy and practice her recall safely, and do side-by-side walks with other dogs so she can learn polite interactions. She’s not missing out on anything by not running around busy fields with other dogs. Ball-thievery seems like a great way to induce resource guarding in other dogs too.

(And we’re by no means perfect - it can take a split second’s loss of attention for her to attempt to bound over to another dog to say hello - we’d love to get to a position like OP’s dog where she just ignores them all!)

My dog is extremely well mannered with other dogs actually. He is not all boisterous, he sometimes takes the cue from others and has a play. I don't have to worry about my dog with wildlife, cats,, horses or children. He wags his tail.at the postman. He's actually perfect apart from liking food a little too much.

If that makes me a bad dog owner with a bad dog owner, then bring it on ...

I thought the general rule was if a dogs on lead, leave it alone. If its off lead then it's OK to let your dog approach.

Dogs are social animals with well developed communication. If a dog doesn't want to play, they're more than capable of communicating it themselves. They should also be allowed to meet great and play with other dogs. I'm not sure why so many human owners are so precious about their dog meeting other dogs.

If a dog is playing ball with its owner it rarely appreciates another dog joining the game. My (now 3 year old) was a bit unpredictable as a puppy and would sometimes get excited and try and join other peoples games. If I didn’t manage to prevent him rushing in in the first instance I always galloped after him and removed him with an apology. The OP is quite reasonable to expect an owner to fetch their own dog if it comes and tries to get in the middle of hers and her dogs game.

It does take puppies time to develop rock solid recall but if things do get away from you and your dog bothers other people you should make immediate steps to stop it and say sorry.

He’s 3 now and would ignore your dog if it didn’t want to play. He has learned!

“If its off lead then it's OK to let your dog approach.”

Nope, it means it might be...

If your dog isn’t able to tell when a dog doesn’t want to play with them, you should intervene.

I thought the general rule was if a dogs on lead, leave it alone. If its off lead then it's OK to let your dog approach
Most of the time an owner with an off lead dog will be fine with play, but just because a dog is off lead doesn't make it an invitation. A quick "are they OK to play" is generally polite with new dogs, especially if they are engaged in 1-1 play with their owner and clearly not interested. If a group of dogs and owners are already engaged in play then that's different.

If an owner knows their dog doesn't respond well to random dogs bounding over they aren't being precious. The owner knows substantially more about their dog's temperament and history than a stranger.

Why should the responsibility to manage an unwanted interaction rest with a reactive dog being subjected to a stressful situation rather than another dog owner to have their dog under appropriate control?

I'm not sure why a minority of dog owners are so precious about their dogs being able to charge up to others. If their dog is well-trained, and it should be if it is off lead, then surely there's zero inconvenience to check before approaching. 🤷‍♀️

I would say that a good rule is if a dog is playing fetch with its owner on its own it should be treated the same as an on lead dog and others should keep their dogs away . @savvy7 , no you are a bad owner with a nice dog as it’s never the dogs fault .

I couldn't care less if another dog comes up when we're playing ball. In fact I would stop the ball game so the dogs can have a social interaction.

I'm sorry but if you're dog is aggressive, then it's your responsibility to put it on a lead if another dog is around. It's not the responsibility of every other normal dog that just wants to socialise, to keep away from all dogs just incase it's aggressive. You chose to have an aggressive dog you alter your behaviour not expect the world to alter to accommodate you.

But as I said before, dogs have well developed communication, they are more than capable of saying go away to another dog. If my dog approaches another off lead dog, it's up to the dog to tell my dog to go away if he doesn't want to play. At which time my dog would leave it alone.

Dogs need to socalises and I feel alot of this, don't let dogs approach other dogs, comes from antisocial humans projecting onto their dogs.