Petting an off lead dog

[refreshingseahorse]

Walking Ddog on a lead in the local park earlier. An off lead dog wandered up to us. He was friendly and exchanged sniffs with our dog. I gave him an ear scratch. Huffy owner then shows up and tells me off for not asking permission first. Maybe I'm wrong but if you don't want people petting your dog maybe don't let it wander up to people off the lead, or at the very least put one of those warning vests on it.
Here endeth my vent. Thank you for listening.

I find this interesting.

I would never pet anyones dog without asking for permission - whether it was off-lead or not. I've had dogs literally jab their faces into my stomach or side and I ignore them. Occasionally I will ask an owner if I can say hi, but I do always ask first - and usually only ask if I can say hi if it's a dog that I see regularly and my dogs are friendly with. But, I have seen just how quickly dogs can turn so I am incredibly cautious in how I interact with dogs.

That being said, off-lead dogs shouldn't be randomly wandering up to other dogs, particularly those on the lead, or people. It's the most basic rule of walking your dog - don't let it wander up to dogs that are on the lead if yours is off leash.

I always pet dogs around here if they're off lead. If anything the owner should have asked you if it was alright for their dog to come up and greet your on lead dog! If a dog is off lead i assume it's friendly otherwise it shouldn't be off lead.

But some people are assholes OP and it seems like you met one today.

I always ask permission. I wouldn't be happy about an off lead dog approaching mine on lead though. I would have asked owner to recall their dog. If it had no recall, it shouldn't be off leash.

It came up to you, so it’s fair game IMO!

If a dog comes to me, there's not a chance I let them go without an ear scratch.
Is it a new thing to not pet a dog that is coming to you and acting obviously friendly? Like a new rule I never heard of?

Thanks people, interesting to see it's a bit split but glad I'm not alone in thinking friendly off lead dogs are ok to interact with.

If there's an issue with it being interacted with then it should be on a lead.
If it's off lead then the owner should be asking if it's OK for the dog to come and say hello, and if not then recalling it.

He was completely unreasonable letting it come over in the first place, your dog could have spooked with being on the lead still.

I’d pet a dog if it came up to me off lead. The owner is being a knob.

A dog shouldn’t be off lead if it’s not friendly. If the owner is close I’ll quickly ask first, but if not I wouldn’t be able to resist petting it.

If the owner is worried about the dog being reactive they should be closer to the dog instead of letting it wander up to people.

I will always interact with a dog that comes up to me, on lead or off.
The owner saying what they did shows them as being a prat.

Even without his stupid comment he's obviously a crappy owner. I really hate when people let their off lead dogs come up to those who are on lead it's a sign he doesn't actually have all that much control over his dog.

Although to your original question yes I'd fuss a dog who came up to me without asking. If the owner doesn't want you fussing him he needs to keep him closer and train him to come back.

If a dog is off lead then I’d deem them safe. I usually look for the owner to nod but if a dog comes to me and owner isn’t recalling then I’d assume safe to pet. (Disclaimer: I walk my lovely, well behaved, spaniel off lead but wouldn’t let him approach others without their permission. The dog owner you met was clearly an idiot.)

The owner was unreasonable. People pet my dog all the time because he is obviously friendly and wants attention. I don't mind. I wouldn't pet a dog that was on a lead but one that approached me and was being friendly then of course would say hi.
People who know dogs know if they're friendly or not.

I wouldn’t ask permission to stroke a dog that had approached me, no! Same as I wouldn’t mind someone stroking mine if he approached them (he doesn’t do it often, mind!)

The only thing I would expect someone to ask me about first is giving him a treat.

I don't touch other people's dogs and I don't really like off-lead dogs wandering up to us these days, too many are unpredictable.

This

If a dog isn't friendly then it shouldn't be off the lead in the first place.

If you choose to let your dog off lead and choose to let it interact with other dogs and people, then you can't complain when it gets fussed IMO.

The issue is, dog walks up to person and gets the desired ear cratch.

Next time dog walks up to a person and gets another ear cratch- dog thinks oh, that's lovely! Humans are there for ear cratch all the time!
So dog walks up to person, no ear scratch. So dog gives a gentle push for encouragement gets ear scratch.

.... and so on!
Until dog meets jet another person and thinks great ear scratch! Exept no ear scratch, so gentle push, still no ear scratch! More forceful push, still no ear scratch... maybe a little jump or a bit of mouthing will have the desired effect?
(Can you see the next dog hate thread on MN?)

Now it's up to the owner to try and teach their dog that not everyone likes dogs. When really this could have been avoided if people ask and respect the owners wishes.

Yeah - a dog comes up to me voluntarily for a sniff then it's getting an ear scratch. At that stage, the owner's permission has been over ridden by the dog soliciting fuss.

@Ylvamoon Er, no, it's the dog owners responsibility to keep their dog away from unknown people and unknown on lead dogs. An end result like this is down to the owner, not random strangers.

This.

Depends on the context. At my local dog park, absolutely, ear scratch, maybe bum scratch, ask owner if they are allowed treatos. At common, say hello to dog and owner, put mine back on lead until I know more (e.g. if they are genuinely friendly and allowed to interact) - it's a big place with copses that block sight lines so I can see a circumstance where a nervous dog might be off lead and come across me and my idiot unexpectedly. Most other public places that aren't fenced in, dog shouldn't be off lead, but if they are, I'll assume they're friendly and well-trained and give them an ear scratch.

TL:DR - owner was a cock. Poor dog.

@shaniatwainfan my post is about how it starts not removing responsibility from the owners.
Many dogs are chancers and opportunists they probably didn't set out to get fuss & attention... but people are trying to interact with the dogs anyway. And then there is the irresistibly cute puppy, people want to interact with it, most puppy owners are happy for puppy to meet strangers. Puppy learns, strangers give fuss and attention! It's not unlearned the moment puppy is an exuberant adolescent dog, so is still trying to interact with said strangers.

I've seen people walk past my beautiful dog, they smile and look at ihim and are disappointed because he just ignores them! (Taught by going to a busy place when he was a puppy. Heel walking exercise, "no don't touch my puppy, he's learning to walk to heel!... and give the tastiest treats to my pup while walking past the people!)
Because let's face it, dogs are designed to seek out friendly, loving humans!

My rule of thumb is if on-lead DDog is ok with the off-lead dog then I’m ok with it. He’s a very good judge of character so if his body language tells me he’s not happy or he tells the other dog to back the f away then we’ll move on immediately. I’ve never seen the point of shouting at the other owner if the off lead dog is just having a sniff and yours is patently ok with that - if I immediately start shouting at the other owner that raises the tension levels and DDog is more likely to react.

The other owner should not have had theirs off lead and approaching other people if they didn’t want people interacting with it.

It's still not the fault of anyone but the owner @Ylvamoon - if you don't want your dog to learn that random strangers = fuss or treats, then it's on you to keep them on a lead until they have a solid enough recall to be called away without issue.

If you choose to let your dog off the lead without a solid recall, you don't (imo) get to complain when people then fuss your dog, or worse.