What would you do if an off lead dog approached?

[DriveVerySlowlyPastNumber23IWantThemToSeeMyHat]

If you're on a dog walk and an off lead dog approaches with no owner in sight, what would you do?

I'm terrified of off lead dogs which is why my husband walks our dog. However, I'm trying to get my steps in and dog walks would be perfect. The idea of an off lead coming over though is 😫

(I know I need to get a grip 🙈)

If it’s a gun dog breed call it over and give a fuss, breeds such as collie or terrier I’d just talk to it. If no owner appeared I would ring the number on its tag after 5-10 mins. If it wasn’t wearing a collar I would presume it was working and its owner wasn’t far away.

I do live in a rural area where almost all dogs are gun dog breeds, sheep dogs or terriers.

Carry a small can of compressed air or an umbrella if you are worried. Most dogs are just curious and will have a quick sniff and be on their way.

Walk away, don’t make eye contact with the dog. They soon lose interest.

This happened to me today funnily enough. Big dog, mixed breed, appeared to be on its own and rather lost and confused.

I tried to grab her collar so I could read name and number on tag but she was too wary to allow that, but was sticking by my side. Not remotely aggressive and my retriever is very friendly so no problem there.

I was just thinking about trying to go for the collar again when her owner turned up. She had another dog with her who had run off and big dog got left behind.

I'd give it a fuss/treat and try and grab their collar to find a contact number.

It happens around here a lot - most of them I recognise and they've just come to me for a fuss, others have wandered off from their owners.

I have a very reactive rescue collie cross who is not a fan of lead walks. So we mainly only walk on the lead the 2 minutes it takes to get from front door to park gate. If I am holding his ball, he will ignore any other dog on or off lead for that short distance and once he is free, he is happy to meet other dogs if they approach but his ball is his focus. If we can’t do an off lead walk, then we have a head collar (figure of eight) and I get between him and any other dogs on the pavement / cross the road - but we have never met an off lead dog other than in a beach/park type setting, it would be really odd for a dog to approach on suburban streets unleashed.

What is it you’re concerned about? Are you worried the off/lead dog will attack you, or your dog? Is your dog always on a lead or do they have good recall and are walked off-lead? Are you going to be going with your DH on the dog walks or walking the dog by yourself?

One of mine is ‘dog reactive’, he doesn’t like off-lead dogs in his personal space and this can make some walks difficult if we are in a rural area where people let their dogs off and don’t keep them within sight. If we do get an off-lead dog approaching us and there’s either no owner in sight or the owner isn’t effective at calling their dog away, I put myself between my dog and the off-lead dog and tell it ‘No’ firmly. For this to work you have to be calm and assertive, if you are anxious and panicky both yours and the off-lead dog will sense it and be more likely to react badly. Carrying a walking stick can help as you can use the stick as an extra barrier to keep the off-lead dog away, but don’t swing at it or try to hit it, that’s going to provoke a defensive response.

I'd try and see if it was friendly and if so I'd try and keep hold of it till I could locate the owner.
If it didn't seem friendly or didn't come when it was called, I would have a look out for owner to tell them where I had seen the dog.

Depends how busy I was too

Would depend on the dog’s demeanour, and also what I knew about how my own dog was likely to respond.
After several years of dog ownership I am fairly good at reading the body language of dogs we meet, and also have a fair idea of what might upset my own dog ( very little, she’s a calm lab)

So, how is your own dog likely to respond to an approach?

I would suggest you try to enrol in some training classes with your dog. It’s as much about training the owner , as it is about the dog.

In your situation, there's no way you're going to want to try and catch it or help reunite it.So I would therefore just walk along and completely ignore it.
Your dog will see this as the thing to do too.
If the a dog were interrupting, I would say in a very playful friendly voice."hello, good dog" letting them both know that I wasn't concerned at all about this.They also will read this as a positive thing and much more likely to behave positively.

I'm always worried they'll attack me or my dog (labrador).
My dog is always on lead. He's friendly but I don't trust his recall.
I'd love to take him by myself eventually. Just need to get over the worrying first.

I just say hello and once they've greeted me they wander off anyway.

Can you not go out with your DH and build up your confidence?

I would keep still and hope it left me alone.

I understand this. It sounds like a confidence issue for you. Start going with DH on the dog walks, the vast majority of dogs you’ll meet will be friendly, possibly over friendly and enthusiastic, but very few will be aggressive. Walk with a hiking stick, so you feel able to ward off any dogs that try to approach if they don’t listen to you telling them ‘no’. You can also call out to ask the owner to call their dog away, they might be within earshot even if you can’t see them. Work on your anxiety, remind yourself that it’s actually unlikely that you’ll meet an aggressive dog, and any off-lead dogs you meet are more likely to just want to sniff or play, and get comfortable giving them clear calm commands, sometimes ‘no’ is enough, or telling them to ‘sit’.

I usually give a firm command of 'away!', turn my dog around. Had one this morning, my dogs nemesis breed, I shouted loudly 'recall your dog please!' Woman strolled around the bend saw the size of my dog and suddenly was encouraged to recall her rat dog!

Ignore and hope it buggers off.

Dogs are social animals and like to greet and sniff each other. My dog met about a dozen dogs this morning, mostly off lead. They all had a sniff and then trotted off. If dogs aren't socialised this way and are kept away from other dogs they are more likely to become defensive and aggressive when they can't avoid another dog.

I love dogs so I'd very likely make a fuss of them. I've never had an unfriendly dog approach me. A couple of years ago I'd taken myself out for a walk as I was grieving the sudden death of a friend. I sat on a bench in the park and a cute fluffy puppy ran up to say hello. Perfect timing! I gave it a quick pat before it turned and ran back to its owners.

I had to put my dog to sleep earlier this year so I'm always happy to say hello to any dogs that come up to me.

I'd be concerned the poor thing was lost. We live near huge open parkland and over the years I've reunited several owners with their dogs. I'd make a fuss of it and then read its tag. If it was nervous, I'd talk to it and try to keep it near me. Usually the owner turns up after a while. You can almost always tell if a dog is nasty or aggressive but very few of them are. They're more likely to be nervous. Dogs generally love to meet other dogs and socialise and it's very important that they do from a young age.

My dog grew up in a pack, a large group of various breed farm dogs and is well socialised, as in she recognises and understands other dogs body language and gives her own cues to other dogs, it doesn't blow her mind to see other dogs because they're simply not exciting enough.
Unfortunately she had zero recall when we got her, and it's taken a lot of training and long lines to get there, but she can be reactive now because of the dogs who didn't seem to understand or heed her signals and had their minds blown by the sight of another dog and tried to leap all over her and hurt her while she was on the longline with the owner predictably shouting "He's friendly, he just wants to play" from 3 fields away, great, she'd love to take your dog off hunting for the rest of the day, and would if I didn't have the longline on, but somehow I don't think that's the sort of 'play' they had in mind! Or get shitty when she re-enforces her body language by being a bit more forceful with her 'stay out of my space' signals because the other dog isn't listening or respecting her boundaries, usually because that dog is poorly socialised and usually has zero recall as well. I am absolutely not going to let my dog get jumped all over and hurt by another dog because their owner can't be arsed to train them properly. She'll pretty much ignore any other dog we meet in favour of crashing through the undergrowth and they can join her if they like, she's find but she's not up for rough play or chasing.

I trained mine to sit and stay behind me and I get between my dog and the other dog and tell it away, sit, no and 9 times out of 10 it's not worth the hassle to the other dog to get around me and it buggers off again.

You don't need to get a grip.The owners need to get their dogs under control.

I'm terrified of dogs as I was bitten when I was a teenager. About 14 year old. Dog ran at me and sank its teeth into my ankle and i've been terrified ever since.

On a recent country walk, as I walked past a couple sitting having a picnic, their massive dog ran at me and started barking really loudly. The two of them sat there, watched and did nothing. I lost my mind as I was terrified and I shouted out of shock for them to recall their dog and explained I'm very frightened of them. They sat there, didn't make any attempt at all to recall their dog and told me not to shout at them.

Fucking sick of disrespectful dog owners thinking their animal can do no wrong. You aren't the problem. The dogs and their owners are.

I can always tell a responsible dog, owner and a well trained dog. They don't rage and bark at people and as soon as they are recalled, they immediately return to their owners side.

Labradors are powerful dogs and can generally hold their own in a scuffle.

I have a very elderly small dog and a massive wimp of a greyhound. I live in a not great area so have encountered big, powerful dogs and rubbish owners that don't bother to control them so I understand feeling vulnerable. The best way to build up your confidence is to have a clear plan of what to do if the worst happens. Carry an extra slip lead with you in case you need to restrain an aggressive dog and always drop your dog's lead if it is being attacked. Google 'what to do in a dog attack' as there are lots of dog trainers that give tips on how to avoid dog fights and also how to safely break them up.

Ignore it. I might say ‘hello doggie’ in a friendly voice but I wouldn’t stop and engage with it.