Does your dog have a particular dog in the neighbourhood that it hates?

[SirChenjins]

If so, how do you manage their barking and lunging when it meets the other one? And how do you manage off lead dog walks if it’s fine with every other dog it meets but you’re always worried it will meet this one other one?

Im just waiting to hear back from a behaviourist I messaged earlier after an incident that’s shaken me this morning.

Mine does and it’s embarrassing as she loves playing with other dogs.

I just keep the lead on and stay away, I don’t let her off lead because it’s not fair on the dog she dislikes.

Ours hates all collies and huskies. We give them a wide berth or cross the road. I hold her close so she’s not encroaching on their space and vaguely apologise. Don’t walk her off lead anyway as she’s not allowed.

Edited to add that she has got better since seeing a behaviourist who said to give her a treat every time we see any dog, as she was nervous of them all.

Yes - I just keep him on the lead and walk the other way if possible.

Oh, and if my dog couldn't be reliably recalled then it would just stay on a lead.

Is yours a sighthound @Cheeesus ? Mine absolutely hates collies too.

I’ve got a pretty friendly cocker spaniel but he absolutely loathes the Belgian sheepdogs that live around the corner. Unfortunately the guy has four of them which he walks separately several times a day. I always know when mine has picked up their scent as he’s off like a shot. It’s a bloody nightmare timing our walks around them.

Mine is a combination of on and off lead, depending on where we’re walking, and he usually recalls very well. We had been out with another friend and her dog who’s and the two dogs had been walking well beside us when it was appropriate to be off lead. Lots of other dogs on the way round, no issues whatsoever. We were almost at the end of our walk (I could see our house) and coming to the point I was going to clip him back on when the other dog appeared round the corner on-lead. It did not go well. I’m mortified and at a loss - I can go days/weeks without seeing this other dog. Also - I know where the dog lives, would you go to their door or put a note through it? I apologised profusely to the man the last time mine reacted (both on lead at that time) and he was very chilled ‘“dogs will be dogs, don’t worry”, but today it was his wife/partner and she was understandably not happy.

Yes! We've had to change our route to school to avoid it.

Thing is, my dog's so submissive he wouldn't actually do anything if he could get to the other dog, but it doesn't stop him pulling and barking and generally being a right nuisance.

I would make sure your dog is on a lead if he can't be trusted, even if it is just the 1 dog he doesn't seem to like. Unless he has amazing recall, in that he will ignore any dog regardless, then you should use a lead.
As a dog owner I appreciate this may not be ideal, but it is the safest option for everyone at the minute, especially as you can't be 100% sure you won't meet this other dog. I am sure the behaviourist will offer some help and guidance and I would work on recall using high value treats or a favourite toy.

I’m not sure if I haven’t explained properly but this isn’t just an on lead/off lead thing - he will react to the particular dog regardless. I will continue to have off lead time on the field when it’s quiet as he recall is otherwise great and I’m not going to keep him on lead on our three daily walks (esp our 6.30 am one) on the (very) off chance I’ll see this one dog out of 100s locally that he doesn’t react to - I’ll just need to be far more cautious and put him on-lead if it’s a busier walk. Even on-lead, if we do happen to meet this other dog, then he’ll react badly. I can’t understand it - it’s the same mix as him and he absolutely adores every other one of this mix he meets. It moved to the neighbourhood a few months ago so I don’t know if it’s a territorial thing but omg.

If your dog can't be trusted not to how this dog then it needs to stay on a lead. I know that's frustrating but you can't have him off if he's causing problems, even if it's only very occasionally.

My dog has a few dog enemies. I normally just avoid them if possible - one I will go the other way to avoid (he is actually scared), and the others just try not to get too close. They all hate each other, so it's not that embarrassing as the other owners are dealing with it too, and I'm sure their dogs don't do it to every other dog either...

Anyway: most of my dogs' enemies are local and they see each other on lead in the local streets. If that happens, I might put my dog the other side of me, and hold his lead quite near the collar, which he finds reassuring. If off-lead, he's normally a lot more relaxed and wouldn't do anything. In your scenario, the issue might just have been that the other dog was on-lead (so tense body language) and yours wasn't, so the solution might be as simple as just put him back on a bit earlier in future?

If you're going to keep letting your dog off regardless, you may find yourself a
In a situation where you're reported for having an out of control dog, in which case you'll have no choice but to keep it leashed and muzzled at all times out of the house.

If my under control dog was approached by an off-lead one and a fight broke out as a result, I would be really, really pissed off, especially if I found out it had happened before.

It depends where you walk (as in, the kind of landscape) but I would limit off lead walks to walks where you have good all round vision and so cannot be 'surprised' by another dog.

If corners are an issue, then clip back on for the corner and off again when you have clear sight.

Use the O/S map to find out of the way public RoW where the dog can be walked peacefully and that give you the line of sight you need to know you are alone.

In the street etc, be prepared to walk the long way, double back on yourself, use side streets and generally do whatever it takes so there is enough distance between you both that your dog does not react. If that's 100m, then that's what it takes.

If there are two of you walking, send the other on a few paces ahead at corners to check the way is clear. Or cross over so you take the wide line around corners and cannot be surprised.

Ultimately, the pertinent point is not whether or not the other owners are pissed off but how their dog felt. If their dog is repeatedly being scared by yours, it is being set up for a lifetime of behavioural issues itself and that's not fair.

Yes a poor little Welsh Terrier and an absolutely massive German Shepherd. The owners know now and we avoid each other.

I would only do the note thing if you have a practical solution to avoid a similar incident again i.e. “I will be keeping my dog on his lead in the area in future if I can’t see if there are any other dogs round the corner, so rest assured this will not happen again”. For this to happen once I think I would be pretty forgiving but if if it kept happening I would be less and less pleased.
I think that’s all you can do, really. A careful balance of allowing your dog the offlead exercise he needs and being extra cautious where you can’t see who might be round the next corner.
I sympathise, there is a side road/alley down our road where an aggressive dog zoomed out and tried to attack my dog (thankfully it was on a lead and the owner just about managed to hold onto it) and now she’s hyper alert as we approach and exploded at an entirely different dog that came out of there when she was with DH the other evening. So we are extra vigilant and try to keep to the other side of the road when possible.

If their dog is repeatedly being scared by yours, it is being set up for a lifetime of behavioural issues itself and that's not fair.

Exactly. Unfortunately too many people seem to think it's okay because there's no physical injury that it doesn't really matter what their dog does.

Yes!

This - our dog has a couple of others she really doesn't like and we make sure she is only off lead where we have complete line of sight. It's inconvenient and means she can be a real pain at the start of walks when she just wants off to run, but we have had a couple of really horrible encounters and I'm just not willing to risk it any more. If we meet one of them on lead she will howl and pull, but that is just embarrassing - and we do try to keep a look out and change direction etc.

We have had a conversation with the owners of one as they live nearby - explained that with most dogs she is fine. They were fine about it - but said they appreciated us keeping her on lead in the way we do.

When you say ‘it didn’t go well’, what happened exactly?

@PenhillDarkMonarch we do all of that - mostly on-lead walks locally, occasionally off lead if we’re on one of the trails and I can see ahead, or if we’re on a field (I would hope the other dog owner would turn around if they could see mine off lead on the field or give me a chance to clip him on rather than continuing towards us), or on a remote hill walk. I always turn around or go down a side street if we do see them locally - although we have got caught out before (on lead) and haven’t had an ‘out’ so have just had to tuck him in to my side and given him the walk on command as we walked by briskly.

I do want to emphasise our previous encounters have all been on-lead on the local streets. I’m not taking this lightly, I’m really shaken by it. No biting or physical contact - he ran at the other dog and was circling it, barking very loudly. I initially hadn’t clocked it was ‘the’ dog as previously it’s been with its male owner.

There is a terrier nearby and my male lab and he really dislike each other. To be fair to my boy, he really wanted to be friends, but the grumpy little fucker kept snarling at him, so he decided snarling back might put him in his place.

Other dog is rarely on lead. However as they are both old boys now , it no longer gets beyond a lip curl as they pass each other , on opposite sides of the street. And my boy likes to pee on the lamppost opposite the terriers home.

The owner and I call greet each other in passing, but we have spent years distracting them , crossing roads , and generally getting them to a place where they can stay calm if they meet on a walk.

Other dog is rarely on lead.

I hate this - there are several dogs near where I live that walk off-lead all the time, even near roads, and it stresses my dog out because he feels at a disadvantage. He has no problem with any of those dogs if he's off-lead too. I also reckon those dog-owners are disproportionately responsible for dogshit on the pavements - so much easier to not notice your dog has done a poo if you're not at the other end of the lead!

My dog can't stand two that are walked by their owner. It stemmed from them barking at the dog opposite our house and that set him off at the window.
If I see him coming while I am out I head off in the other direction. I've even hid behind cars as they've passed on the opposite side.
I know if they've walked past the house because he has a completely different tone of bark for them. Ever so odd.

Then you've been unlucky, OP. If you do all that diligently, the chances of a repeat are almost zero. Particularly, while you work with a behaviourist to help you.

(though I will add, there is always an 'out' which is to immediately u-turn and go back the way you came).