Other dog walkers...frustration

[Babana123]

Sorry, this is a bit of a moan. On the whole all other dog walkers I have met have been pleasant and friendly.

However I get so frustrated when some (many) allow their off lead dogs to approach us when I am clearly trying to train my on lead puppy not to react by jumping on other dogs.

What am doing is allowing her to calmly approach and reward reward reward, let her sniff other dogs etc but as soon as she jumps I walk her away. This is great when other dogs are on lead.

But it’s the owners of the off lead dogs who frustrate me. They can see me trying to walk my (now very hyper) puppy away. Most don’t call them away either and just shout to me ‘awwww let them play’. There is then absolute chaos and I cannot physically walk her away from another dog that is all over us.

I try to avoid dogs who are off lead but some dogs leg it across the park and there’s nothing you can do. Unfortunately my puppy absolutely loves it and becomes an excited kangaroo and there have been s few times I’ve almost been toppled by the lead.

I’m quite stressed about training anyway and this is making me really not enjoy walking her in a park with other dogs.

What can I do?

Why not just walk her somewhere other than the park if you are not letting her off then you will be less likely to meet lots of offlead dogs .

This is the most frustrating thing about dog ownership I find, and it's really escalated our dogs need to stay hello to every single dog she meets (and so subsequently she can't go off lead).

We also find as our dog is on lead (recall is not great because she's so dog focused) she can get frustrated she can't play if the other dog is trying to.

Unfortunately you're just going to have to get used to it. It will happen throughout the entire life of your dog!

I walk dogs who are reactive and I can have them on lead barking and snarling and people still think it's a good idea to allow their "friendly" off-lead dogs to approach them

that is the rule of dog ownership,
if a dog is on the lead, you put your dog on the lead, or at least make sure your dog doesn't go close by

How many people actually obey this rule? I would say at a guess maybe 5 or 10% of other dog owners we meet out their dog on a lead when I have my puppy on a lead. Just this morning I took puppy for a walk and she was on a lead. Other dog off lead came over and sniffed her. My dog was very polite but the other dog growled and snapped at her. And the owner told me “he won’t hurt her it’s just his way of playing” 🙁

My old dog a rottie/lab cross was quite reactive due to being attacked. We always walked her on lead. What annoyed me the most was when dog owners who had their dog/s off lead would say 'it's ok it's friendly'. I ended up retorting 'mines not'. Some got quite offended.

It's as important for your puppy to learn to socialise with other dogs off lead, assuming you are hoping they will be at times. Go places where dogs are not free to run to teach her about recall etc... and allow her to find her marks, confidence and weariness, to suss other dogs around off lead dogs.

My puppy does go off lead. The majority of her walks are off lead. It’s just occasionally she is on lead - walking back to car, getting near to road etc

i think if my dog is on the lead the majority of people put their dogs on a lead and follow suit, or they have faith their dog wont show any interest in mine

It drives me mad, I'm working eking really hard with my dog who is reactive to around 50% of the dogs he meets (mostly other boys.) This morning I was walking him on lead and saw another lady with her off lead dog approaching. I got my dogs attention but the other dog approached anyway so I shouted at owner 'he's grumpy with dogs he doesn't know.'

Her reply was 'oh let him tell her off then' 🤬

Ffs.

It's so frustrating.

So agree with all these comments! I am finding a lot of 'new' dog owners don't know it is the done thing to put their dog on a lead if going to be walking past/near your on lead dog. Some make you feel you are ruining their dog's fun off lead walk!!

Also can't stand people who want to pat my dog, who is v reactive, and when I say no, they go ahead and do it anyway as 'all dogs love me!' They then get personally offended when my dog gets unhappy - I did say no for a reason!!

Yes when I try to politely ask them to call there dogs away as she is obviously overwhelmed. They tel me it’s good to socialise them though- like they need to educate me

Thank you for all the replies. I am so glad I am not alone in my frustrations.

Most dog owners I have met are well meaning, but not always helpful. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it and keep persevering with training.