Bloody off lead dogs.

[Sexnotgender]

2 days running fucking off lead dogs harassing my 2.

If your dog has zero or unreliable recall then don’t let it off lead.

Sorry was busy with real life, my humblest apologies 🙄

Exactly. I have zero issues with off lead dogs IF they don’t harass my on lead dogs. I regularly come across off lead dogs who are happily doing their own thing. Don’t give a hoot. It’s the ones that nip and jump all over my 2 and don’t listen to their useless sack of an owner calling feebly for their return.

This thread is like a collection of lazy/entitled dog owners' greatest hits. 🤦‍♀️

I love to let my dogs off lead where appropriate. I don't have a reactive dog now, though I have in the past. But I still don't want random dogs running up to mine. It isn't up to my dogs to tell yours off or teach them manners. It isn't up to my dogs to interact with or play with yours at all. Dogs should only approach other dogs if the owner explicitly says it's O.K. If your dog can be recalled right away and won't approach other dogs without permission, brilliant. But if your dog doesn't have a reliable recall, it shouldn't be off lead in public places. Full stop.

Far, far too many irresponsible dog owners fail to put in the time and effort to teach recall. But they think it's fine to let their dogs run free, bother other dogs and annoy people. While they feebly call, "Charlie, come here. Come here, Charlie. Charlie, come here now. Charlie! Charlie! I said come here." And Charlie ignores every word.

We often have problems with French Bulldogs, they run up and don't seem able to pick up on my dogs' polite 'please go away' cues. One actually nipped my big boy a few weeks ago. The owner walked off and said nothing. Disgusting.

People are not the same as dogs.

Exactly. Too many people treat their dogs like little babies/ snowflakes. My dog is very friendly. I put him on the lead, however, when I see someone with their dog on the lead, as I see lots of people instantly "scoop up" their dog ( precious little baby) when another one is spotted on the horizon. Which is clearly creating a problem as it encourages anxiety about other dogs in their dogs.

I agree ( obviously) that aggressive dogs should be kept on a lead. But what's the worst that can happen if my friendly dog runs up to yours? Most dogs will pick up on hostile body language. They can generally sort themselves out. My dog gets snapped at, snarled at and he leaves it alone. They need these experiences to learn how to relate to other dogs.

I agree with this to an extent, most dogs are able to sort out quibbles and minor disagreements themselves, assuming they are able to pick up on social cues. However, having worked really hard with my little Cyprus rescue girl, an unpleasant encounter can undo weeks of good solid training work. The science behind it is cortisol stacking, meaning it can take days in dogs for their cortisol levels to return to normal after an 'incident'. This makes it more likely to happen again and it's a vicious circle as the cortisol continues to rise and 'stack up'.

The worst that can happen is what happened to an owner near me a month ago.

Four off-lead lurchers approached her and her two small, elderly on-lead terriers. Both of the on-lead dogs were attacked and she had to carry one home, dead, in her arms.

Even if the elderly terriers were off-lead, there is still no way they could have out-run four young lurchers. That poor woman went out to walk her dogs, like she did everyday, and had to come home without one because a selfish idiot refused to call his dogs and put them back on their leads. Instead, he thought it was acceptable to let his dogs run up to two on-lead dogs, who were doing nothing but minding their own business.

He's now facing court action and all his dogs have been taken off him and destroyed.

@NeverDropYourMooncup I don't think anyone would hate you or have an issue with this because you weren't bothering them.

I couldn't care less what other peoples dogs do as long as they don't bother me and my on-lead dog. Why should my walk be made more stressful because your dog is out of control and running up to us? It's not fair. I don't begrudge dogs being off lead at all, it's good for them. Ours are let off in spaces where we can be sure there's nobody else around. Because I don't want to be 'that' dickhead owner who is running frantically after a dog approaching a frightened looking person shouting 'don't worry he's friendly'.

I’m terrified of an off lead dog chasing up to my smallest (who stays on her lead). She is a tiny 2.5kg chihuahua. Your dog doesn’t even need to bite, just be too enthusiastic with her and she will be hurt.

Your friendly dog, is a potential death trap to mine. I don’t want to pick her up every time we see another dog, because she’s a dog and it reinforces fear. So far I’ve gotten away with it. However, someone nearly lost control of their 3 large breed dogs on Friday. Even though they were on a lead, he was being pulled. Next time I see them, I will be picking her up

Having a reactive dog is sad, but I don’t see why well socialised and friendly dogs should all stop this interaction. If you have a reactive dog then it’s your responsibility to avoid these areas

No-one's saying that those dogs shouldn't be playing and hanging out together

But those owners have a responsibility to keep their lovely, obedient, well-behaved dogs away from on-lead dogs, toddlers, picnickers, frail people who need assistance walking, other people generally etc.

Unless you actually own the space of course, then you can do what you like. But if it's a public space then everyone needs to play nicely. Including by recalling off-lead dogs before they are a nuisance

What on earth are you talking about?

This thread is about owners of off lead dogs who do not or can not recall them. That's it.

romanticnight it's really flipping annoying though when you're trying to enjoy a family walk and you've got a random dog sniffing your dogs arse, following you, tripping you all up, ignoring my dog when it growls/snaps at it and the feckless owner is no where to be seen.

I like this idea. I'd be happy to pay a tax like this.

Yorkshiregas yes I totally get that, and as I said I put my dog on a lead if the other person does. But it means my dog misses out on a lot of socialisation. Of course there are dogs such as rescues ( I have a Bosnian rescue so totally understand) that need confidence building etc and the last thing they need is a dog bounding up to it, even if they're friendly. But I refuse to believe that all the dogs are in that position, and I suspect many are just ridiculously over protective.

And while I'm on a roll.... joe public is generally very ignorant about dog body language and what constitutes aggressive behaviour..

Mine are not social able.

They find big dogs intimidating now matter how much I try.

So far I have them comfortable with one dog. One.

You letting your friendly dog run up to mine would destroy that

I agree romantic

A lot of normal play can be misinterpreted as aggressive or unruly, classic ‘bitey face’ looks scary but is a lot more controlled than it looks.

I find the refusal to allow dogs to greet and sniff each other weird and definitely not the norm where I am. Over protecting dogs is damaging to their confidence and I’m not surprised so many people deem their dogs reactive and unable to meet other dogs.

This thread is so dumb - pretty much everyone is in agreement! Most people are saying that dogs should be allowed off lead unless they're reactive or unless they don't have recall. So if you have an unreactive good recall dog, they can be off the lead. If you can't control your dog, keep them on.
I don't think people are being entitled? I don't even think people are actually disagreeing apart from the fanatics who think all dogs should be on a lead all the time (which is ridiculous)

That's up to the owner to decide though. My dog is on lead because he has an incredibly high prey drive and we live in the countryside with squirrels, sheep and pheasants everywhere. Training is on going but until we get there he has to stay on lead. It's not right that he gets harassed by off lead dogs on every walk.

My dog absolutely can greet other dogs but it should be a quick sniff and we're on our way. It's different when the 2 dogs are off lead.

My anxious dog needs off lead time to exercise and calm down otherwise he gets fully neurotic. He usually doesn’t bother with on lead dogs but sometimes takes a fancy to one and will go over for a sniff, never barking or jumping on them or anything. If I see him in time I will call him away and his re-call is good but sometimes I miss it on the very dog heavy beach near our house. My dog doesn’t understand he is supposed to leave dogs on the lead alone. I think the understanding could go both ways.

I would certainly be understanding of a one-off mistake. But if it's happening repeatedly, then it's up to you to change things and supervise your dog more closely. Other dog owners can only be responsible for their dogs, not for yours.

But it's really hard to be understanding when you're the owner of an on-lead reactive dog who is minding their own business until they're approached by yet another off-lead dog "going over for a sniff".

I walk several dogs who are absolutely fine until other dogs come up into their space. I always have them on lead around other dogs - I call out that they're not friendly, and other owners still allow their dogs to approach - it's so frustrating as it just upsets the dog and causes me a load of unnecessary stress.

I had it the other week. My terrier was on a lead as he has no recall and is very reactive (he's a rescue) - a huge German Shepherd approached, my dog was on a short lead and snarling, snapping and lunging - clearly unhappy - but the owner STILL couldn't recall his dog.

This isn't a one-off, it happens at least once a day and it's just incredibly frustrating. I have no issue with off-lead dogs who ignore others and go back to their owners when called, but if your dog can't recall to you, please use a lead or a longline so you can stop them approaching.

So let’s hope then one day your dog doesn’t approach an on lead dog who attacks your dog… as you’ve said it works both ways so you wouldn’t be upset so that’s ok. it’s allowed because it works both ways right,

so imagine after that your dog becomes reactive because it got attacked and then you see what’s it’s like when people let there dogs off without considering the consequences of having poor recall but that’s ok it works both ways right

My dog is on lead. He’s a tiny little thing and quite frankly he doesn’t need to be off lead. He’s quite partial to a sniff and hello to other dogs but there’s nothing worse than an off lead dog following us constantly and the owner doing nothing about it.

Mine is a rescue and I can't really walk him now because of too many encounters. To a nervous dog it can ruin their lives . We just go to a quiet carpark a few days a week and have a sniff. I'm hoping to retry lead on places in the winter (when apparently lots of dogs don't get walked as it's so much quieter!). We walk winter and in summer it's mainly just time in the (small) garden plus secure fields once or twice a week. I just think it's so unfair and I don't even take him to busy areas. I can't take the risk of an off lead dog - he will then freeze and refuse to move at all. The worst experience was with a puppy.

He bolted once when he was jumped on and thank god he did stop and wait for me. We've seen a behaviourist who has advised just not to walk him because of the risk of off lead dogs in so many places .

I didn't know he would be like this , the rescue didn't know. I think he was nervous and it's just been created by all the off lead dogs he's met . I hope it will improve as our bond gets stronger - he's been with me a year now .

So let’s hope then one day your dog doesn’t approach an on lead dog who attacks your dog… as you’ve said it works both ways so you wouldn’t be upset so that’s ok. it’s allowed because it works both ways right,

Exactly. My lad is 35kg and is friendly except with bouncy yappy in his face dogs. Not my fault if he takes a chunk out of one.