Advice on aggressive off lead dog

[Duvetflower]

Hi, I'm not very knowledgeable about dogs and could do with some advice on a dog I encountered (and am likely to meet again) out walking.

I was walking along when a dog came running at me barking aggressively. I stood still and waited for the owners to (eventually) come and claim it. All the time it was barking at me and its body language was aggressive, it was completely ignoring the owners calling it back.

Dog owners minimised the whole thing and said I should've just kept on walking and ignored her. They didn't impress me as the best dog owners, no recall, 'oh, she's always barking at people', so I'm looking for a second opinion.

Is the dog likely to be dangerous? If it's just barky that's fine, but I don't want it going for my kids. Also, is walking away the right thing to do? I didn't as I wasn't sure how that would be seen in dog body language.

I'm not sure if the breed matters, and as I said my dog knowledge is rubbish. It was on the larger side of average, slim athletic build, short hair, fairly pointy head. I thought maybe some kind of hunting/working dog?

Thanks

For dogs, most aggression is motivated by fear, so they're actually screaming "fuck off I'm scared of you, leave me alone". A bite is a very last resort for all but the most traumatised dogs, only to be used when their other options (like barking at it to make it go away) have been ignored. You'd be very unwise to try and stroke this dog; on the other hand if you turn your back and walk calmly away, then you will diffuse the situation in the best way open to you. Don't scream or run, as the dog may chase.

It's worth noting that dogs bark at things for all sorts of reasons - excitement, for instance, or demand barking (e.g. I want you to throw the ball and I'll shout about it until you do), as an alert (e.g. when the doorbell goes) and a load of other reasons. I wouldn't like to guess which it was with this dog without seeing it for myself.

If it was hackles up, tail up, bouncing up and down a bit as it barked, lip drawn back, and possibly rushing in a bit and then retreating, I'd be a bit worried: usually the dog is just posturing, but... We have a couple of dogs like that around here and one of them tried nipping my ankle once, not hard and I was wearing wellies, so if I see him I just head away with my dogs and the owner calls him away.

In that situation I'd be cautious, and I'd probably give that dog and the owners a bit of a wide berth.

Some dogs though just stand and bark at strangers in a 'stay back!' sort of way. One of mine used to do this, and he'd have run if you'd walked towards him. That behaviour is annoying and can be disconcerting (I used to apologise, but most people saw it for what it was), but it's not a problem.

I personally would advise just continuing on, ignoring the dog (absolutely no eye contact). Slow, calm movements. That's based on your description, if they are jumping up etc I would stand still as they can sometimes see you moving away as a game/chase target.

My dog is never off lead as she loves people/other dogs/squirrels/life just a bit too much and is overenthusiastic, but this is made worse if someone stands and stares at her, she then thinks they DO want to say hello. If they ignore and just carry on then she'll ignore too.

That said, owners shouldn't allow their dog to run up and/or bark at a person without (1) apologies and (2) attempting to bring they dogs attention back to them (with more than a failed recall attempt). I'm guessing these are the same type of owners that would also consider me crual for not giving my girl off lead time as i don't trust her not to bother others.

Just carry on walking calmly past, just standing there the dog may feel you are entering into a stand off with it.
The recall is a funny one. Sometimes I feel you are expected to behave in a certain way to prove you are trying to do the right thing-rather than doing the most effective thing. Lots of shouting if even if you know it won’t work, or a cross voice (as if any person or animal would run towards someone who’s angry with them)

If they recognise that their dog is a bit overwhelmed they might know that their dog is going to ignore them- in which case the best thing to do is to go and catch your dog, rather than calling it when you know it’s going to ignore you. Equally if you call your dog back and it comes you should always praise it- I’ve seen dog owners have members of the public have a right go when they have been praising their dog for the recall, when the member of the public is saying that the dog ran up to them etc.
It’s difficult because yes your dog shouldn’t be off the lead unless it’s recall is strong, but you do have to be able to go somewhere and practice, and everyone gets caught out from time to time.
Those who say that they never let their dogs off until the recall was 100% or that their dog has alway been excellent is looking back with rose tinted specs I’m afraid.

Thanks for the advice, I feel a bit happier now, I think the fact that the owners were miles away and utterly useless had me more worried. But if it's just telling me to fuck off, then I'll just fuck off next time I see it

What was it's body language like? Barking in itself is not an aggressive behaviour, so it would depend on what the rest of is behaviour was saying.

Barking combined with growling, snarling, hackles up, stiff/erect tail is concerning, but barking that comes along with otherwise happy/friendly body language is very different.

Some breeds are also more vocal than others - terriers and scent hounds are especially known for being gobby (!), for example.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

What was it's body language like? Barking in itself is not an aggressive behaviour, so it would depend on what the rest of is behaviour was saying.

Barking combined with growling, snarling, hackles up, stiff/erect tail is concerning, but barking that comes along with otherwise happy/friendly body language is very different.

Some breeds are also more vocal than others - terriers and scent hounds are especially known for being gobby (!), for example.

Definitely not friendly! I often see dog when I'm out and about, who want to come over for a sniff/putting muddy paws on my coat but I've never had one make me worried like this one before. No growling or snarling, can't remember what its tail was doing. It felt like it wanted to back me into a corner and keep me there?

Some dogs have very loud deep barks which can be very alarming but are harmless if they go up to the person.

They’re scared of you or trying to get your attention and play with you.

Most breeds I’d not be nervous with in this scenario but there’s a few breeds that would make me very nervous if they ran up barking.