when will people learn to control their dogs when out walking.
i was walking up the local playing field with two of my dogs which were on leads and at the top by the play area was a women with a few dogs but one beagle tied to her push chair, he was barking a lot and couldn't take his eye's off my two. anyway i continued towards them but was keeping a good distance between us as he didn't look too friendly when he pulled the push chair over and charged at my dogs.
i had to use my foot to try and stop him getting to my dogs and they were running rings round me trying to get away from him. the women was busy looking after her young child and left her son to run over and try to crab her dogs lead, there was no harm done to my dogs as it was over pretty quick but myself and my dogs were well shook up.
what really annoyed me was she came over and said her dog wouldn't be aggressive to mine and i said yes but mine might be if they felt frightened. after all that all anyone was concerned about was if her dog had hurt it's self when it pulled the push chair over.
the worst thing is that her young child could of been in the push chair at the time but that didn't seem to bother her and as for my dogs they were so upset i had to take them home as they were frightened of everything after that.
just had to get this off my chest as it ruined my day and set back a lot of hard work i've been doing with one of my dogs as she gets frightened of other dogs.

I love other dog owners!!! It takes me all my time too keep my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets (and that is aimed at the owners, not the dogs).... Irresponsible owners make for irresponsible dogs.  Its a pity dog/owner training is not compulsory. An irresponsible dog owner has recently turned my girls life upside down and has changed her great character.  We have months of hard work ahead of us, because of some numpty owner in the park!  I wish you good luck

So you saw a dog only tied to a pushchair and the mother was busy with a child. the dog was barking and  staring at your dogs and yet you continued to walk towarsds it? and you are surprised that it then ran over to your dogs?

Surely it would have been more sensible to walk away from the situation? this would have protected both your dogs and hopefully prevented the otherdog pulling the pushchair over.
It doesn't sound like the other owner was particualrly at fault.

i had a similar incident. small child holding big german shepherd on a long line, dad was walking to the dog bin. dog saw mine-both off lead and lunged at them and the poor kid fell over and was dragged along the floor before he finaly let go. the dog bounded up to mine and im thinking oh no what if it attacks them and i called mine back so it turned away. once the dad got hold of it there was a bit of a hoo har and suddenly they were both on the floor--obv tripped over the long lead! the man then grabbed the poor dog shouting and yelling in its face whilst holding its neck then they left. it shook me up a bit.

Have to agree, it takes two, not all dogs are born ready trained, and I doubt the Beagle to have been aggressive just frustrated and tied up as they tend not to have the best recall.

I must admit if I had dogs that can't get on easily with others then I wouldn't walk them where I would expect dogs to be running free.

In parks where off lead is the norm I expect dogs to run up to mine and mine to do the same as you don't have eyes in the back of your head and see around every corner, the dog get on fine by and large it is often the owners that cause the issue by not allowing their dogs to associate properly.

I don't do the parks these days like I used to because of 10 year old Jozi's bin raiding.  I find it no fun to take her there on lead, so in some ways the youngest ones, especially Inka have missed out on the amount of free running mine all used to enjoy, I tend to keep more to lead walks as all 5 of mine are walked together and I wouldn't be able to concentrate on youngster with the oldster on lead.

The dogs seem as happy and well exercised as ever even with the restrictions.

So those who have socially fragile dogs may well be better sticking to road walking and training classes to brush up their social skills in controlled circumstances until they can cope with normal dog interactions such as meet and greet at the park. 

This means being run up to or running up to sniffing, posturing and even occasionally telling off or being told off by another canine.

Of course if I had a tiny tiny or sick dog I might worry more about accidental damage, but for most dogs meeting freely with others of their own kind helps them become socially well rounded and avoids issues.

This means being run up to or ruining up to sniffing, posturing and even occasionally telling off or being told off by another canine

I was taught by my trainer, NEVER let my dog approach otherdogs without my express repmission first, which we have taught Ima.  Not all owners wish to meet and greet.  I'd rather take Ima out for a walk, have fun with her, exercise her and get home.  If she see's other dogs in the park, Ima has been taught not to run over to them, but to remain with me.  I'd rather it be this way on every walk.... She is a people dog first and foremost.  Ima does however get on fine with any dog whilst out for a walk.  Unfortunately the amount of dogs with no recall that bound up to us,  to "play" and continually ignore their owners is immense at my local park.. Ima's trainer advised that if another dog is overpowering to a puppy/adolescent dog that they can feel bullied and therefore make walking a very unhappy experience indeed!  It is unfortunate that we have to avoid public walking area and parks because of such irresponsible owners....

> Not all owners wish to meet and greet. 

Then why go to areas where other dogs will be loose????

It's like going to a public beach and complaining about people talking to you or a beach ball coming your way, or taking your child to the playground and not wanting others to play with them, I don't get it.

It is this antisocial way of dog walking that causes the issues in the first place.

I have on numerous occasions in the past up met up with up to a dozen walkers with between us around 20 dogs of various sizes and ages and as we were all relaxed so where the dogs, some choosing to mooch about, younger ones seeing who wants to play, older ones ticking off an over exuberant youngster, and the people never needing to interfere.

More an more I see now new owners being afraid to let their dogs be dogs and more antisocial socially inept ones as a result.

There are so few areas where dogs are allowed off lead that those wishing not to have to interact have more choices than those who do.

I find it very sad that trainers are telling people not to let their dogs meet other dogs. One of my pleasures is going to the local park with my dog. I talk to other dog owners and my dogs play with their dogs. it is social for them and me. I always feel a bit sorry for dogs who come to the playing field and are carefully kept well away from our group of dogs.

How do these dogs learn to interact with otehr dogs if they are never allowed to meet? I am sure this type of dogwalking is a contributing factor to  the increasing problem of dog-dog agression as dogs just don't learn how to be dogs.

> There are so few areas where dogs are allowed off lead that those wishing not to have to interact have more choices than those who do

I am not saying dogs shouldn't intereact, but that owners should have more contol over their dogs.  Ima stays with me and she is great, but i still stick with this Irresponsible owners allow their dogs to gallop over, jump on said dog, intimidate a puppy an scare them whilst their owner is acroos the otherside of the field "screaming their dogs name till they are blue in the face!" all to no avail.  My adolecent/puppy is therefore stressed by this situation, a dog he does not know, dominating and intimidating her, be that through"play".  My trainer taught us that this is incorrect and will make a puppy nervous. No responsible dog owner should let another dog intimidate any other, nor should it ignore its owner. 

> Then why go to areas where other dogs will be loose????

Again why should my dog suffer?  I do try to avoid these places, but as i live in a city, most walk areas are within parks and so are most dog walkers, with said dogs off lead.  Dogs doomed to a life of lead walking???? So that people with zilch, zip, Nada idea of common sense can be happy walking freely with their dogs, pulling a child, pram/pushchair happily behind it can have the monopoly..... :-(

i have to say the dog was barking when she was stood holding the push chair and i was pretty close by then, thinking she would take control of the situation i continued slowly and didn't expect her to walk off when i was already very close. at this point i wouldn't of been able to get away quick enough if i'd tried.
so yes if i'd been far enough away i would of stayed away until i saw her go but thinking she was in control i continued. so yes i think it was partly her fault and i trusted her reaction to walk away but never again.

>It's like going to a public beach and complaining about people talking to you or a beach ball coming your way, or taking your child to the playground and not wanting others to play with them, I don't get it.

That's exactly how I feel about it too. It's like going to the Harrod's sale and then complaining that there are crowds!

>It is this antisocial way of dog walking that causes the issues in the first place.

Exactly.

I walk my girlies in a variety of places, parks fields etc. some with other dogs some with non. The girlies are very happy to do either and mix well with other dogs. They enjoy the social dog chat or potter about on thier own. At the moment due to Puppy face being on steady flat short walks we are frequenting the park more often and it has been fine. However, she is not allowed to leap about due to a sprained shoulder, the roads are too hard for her rehibilitation, she needs to buiid up muscle, she swims twice a week but she needs some socialization and the park has that, but we are having to endure the overenthustic dogs who's owners have little or no control. I say nothing as I could possible avoid the areas but feel she needs to interact still while on lead walks (Possibly for weeks) I have no problems with meeting and greeting but some dogs are just so uncontroled and leap all over her, she would play and love it if off lead but even if I try to explain these owners just shrug and say they will not hurt her. I know that but surely they could just calm the dogs down in this situation?
I do believe that when walking in public parks dogs should be under control and not pester others, by all means let then run and play but respect the fact that some times there is a good reason for wanting our dogs to be calm and not pestered.
With all due respect Barabra, if my children were to be harrased in this way by other children in a playground I would be unhappy, there is play and play. If someones dog runs up to mine and will not leave her alone I think I am justified to be annoyed. I go out to pubs and clubs where folk dance and drink but I do not want the unruly ones to spoil my time and would be justified in being cross with some drunk invading my space such as some dogs do in parks.
These is another side to this, in the last month a man has been coming to my local park with two GSD's one a white (Grey!!) that he keeps tied to his motorized wheelchair and one black and tan that runs loose. The park runs down to a river and there is a narrow (10 ft) path all along it. He is unable to get out of his chair and keeps the white tied on just calling the B&T when he meets someone. However the white is very very aggressive, it luges at all other dogs and fires up the B&T which will then rush up barking and snarling, he always says it will not bite and to be fair as of yet it has just done the "bravado" thing rushing up barking then backing off but I am terrified of the blasted thing. The two dogs obviously wind one another up and I fear that they will both get loose one day and will be a dangerous combination. Here is a man who wants to give his dogs a good walk and is handycapped, he tries to keep them under control but if the worst happened he would be unable to do anything to control them. He in my opinion should not be walking in a dog populated area, he needs to have somewhere he can take his dogs so as not to have a disaster. My girlies are excellent in company and will on the whole ignore bad behaviour from other dogs but I fear if it gets out of hand one of mine is quite "Alfa bitch" enough to turn and retaliate. If I see him coming I turn tail quick sharp and leg it in the other direction!! as do many others now.
Aileen

We will have to agree to disagree, You are obviously the people who let their dogs run around public parks an do not keep them in check, or so i can gather from you comments. Allowing your dogs to run free and do as they like to others and other peoples dogs! But its ok!!!! its called interaction......So if a group of youths come to you and stat pushing you around and scaring you its OK???? Why not isn't it the same.... they are only learning social life lessons??

I allow interaction with dogs but only on my say so.  I would also not let my dog intimidate another whilst out. I would not let my dog bark at another in the park. In my opinion its called common sense.  I was given this advise by a professional dog behaviorist.  To walk ignoring all distraction (including dogs, cyclists, cats etc etc) using treats, once this was established i could allow interaction with other dogs, which i do!  However, another dog jumping on your puppy, stressing it whilst the owner either ignores said play, or dog does not recall, will upset and make the walking experience a bad one, instead of a good one.....So what your saying to me is if i was out walking my dog, you would let your bound over to mine, jump all over her, even if you see that she is scared and intimidated!  Because its all life lessons that my pup has too learn? You would allow and not keep your dogs in check? Kepp an eye on them, because that is not the impression you have given me so far!  However maybe i was wrong .

> It is this antisocial way of dog walking that causes the issues in the first place

The antisocial part is owners not keeping control and creating a bad experience.  So in effect all dogs in the park are friendly and all dog owners whom walk their dogs in the park are responsible and right in their actions?  That would be like saying there are no "bad owners only bad dogs!"

It is this antisocial way of dog walking that causes the issues in the first place.

You're both right and wrong. It can be great to visit a place were friendly dogs are known to meet and interact (we have such a park about half an hour's drive away) but if there is any dog that is even just over the top in playing, a larger such dog could easily put a puppy off other dogs for life. It's most definitely a two edged sword.

I find it really hard to understand why dog owners would not want to see thier dogs interact and play with other dogs when out walking. For me its a great part of dog ownership, seeing my three mooching about with other dogs, and giving me the chance to talk to different owners.
I can understand if you have an aggressive dog, but surely you would take the decision to walk your dog somewhere isolated or take precaustions such as using a muzzle.
On my walks which vary, i often come into contact with people who are petrified of thier dog even sniffing another one, surely behaving like this is passed on to the dog and reinforces poor social skills. Usually resulting in fear aggression from a dog that doesnt know how to interact with others.

I will just say that i do not allow my dogs to go bounding up to others, they are very polite, and if i see an owner calling thier dog back i will usually do the same. I dont mind dogs coming up to us and seeing what were about like i say it makes walks more enjoyable.

> You're both right and wrong. It can be great to visit a place were friendly dogs are known to meet and interact (we have such a park about half an hour's drive away) but if there is any dog that is even just over the top in playing, a larger such dog could easily put a puppy off other dogs for life. It's most definitely a two edged sword.

That is exactly what i was trying to say.....thank you.  One frightening experience off one over zealous dog and you can be looking at months of hard work down the drain for your puppy...

I love Ima playing with dogs, with good socialization skills taught by responsible owners too.  I loved walking her in our local park, off lead.  She walks with me and on occasion will interact with another dog and play.. However a rather large Rottie with a Irresponsible owner has ruined that for us.  He let his large dog bounce, mount, intimidate and scare my dog, who has been left scarred. All trainig has gone out the window and i cannot go near the park with her anymore as she is frightened..... All because of a guy who said "he's only playing"..... Well yippidoo Ima wasn't she was scared.... These are the irresponsible ones. Their actions can effect a dogs for years.  Why should responsible owners have to pay the price for these idiots?

Walking dogs in comunal parks is wonderful for most owners and dogs but care and consideration is a MUST and allowing an over enthusiastic dog to become a nusance is never right anywhere. Many a dog/puppy has been traumatized by this kind of treatment and it takes a long time for them to forget. All dogs should be allowed to mingle but not to terrorise others by bad behaviour. I cannot begin to count how many times my bitches have been subject to attempted rape by out of control dogs! I am lucky in that my girls know the drill and are very good at doing thier own repremands but some are not so good. Why should someone elses wild dog put my well behaved girls into a posiision where thy feel they have to protect them selves this way. It is everyones responsibility to ensure their dog is UNDER control at all times.
Aileen

> I find it really hard to understand why dog owners would not want to see thier dogs interact and play with other dogs when out walking.

My dog stays on a long-line, we rarely meet a dog that it would be safe for him to freely interact with, he is a young, huge, male that plays like a young, huge male (loves to rough & tumble) so it simply wouldn't be fair on other dogs for him to play with them. We have met a few dogs that have been friendly and actually wanted to play with him (many dogs are intimidated by his size) and even more amazingly the owner has not been frightened of him, but it hasn't been a sensible thing to do. For example, we met a lovely older spaniel, but she had not long had a heart attack so rough-housing with a giant breed was not a good idea, or the young puppy that could easily damage it's growing bones if he got bowled over.

Dogs interacting with other dogs is a nice idea as a generalisation, but doesn't take inot account the massive difference between size of breeds and temperment of breeds (some breeds play much more full-on than others).

I have a breed that doesn't take offence when he is ambushed by other dogs, but it would be highly irresponsible of me to allow him to do the same to other dogs and could even cause problems for him (under the DDA a dog only has to frighten people to be in trouble, it doesn't have to DO anythign wrong, and my lad, off lead slobber-flying, wanting to play scares most dog owners).

I do find it very annoying when dogs are allowed to run up to mine, when they generally don't like other dogs. A few days ago I met a woman with a loose dog, I had Buster sit & wait while they passed us, and tried to calm her apparant nerves by telling her Buster was friendly, she quickly told me that I better not let my dog loose becasue hers is agressive and bites other dogs These are the sort of owners that cause other peoples dog trauma, how would a puppy be effected by trotting up to that dog to greet it, only to be bitten :( This then has the knock on effect that friendly dogs are seens as a problem by other owners :(
I have no problem with dogs running up to see Buster and accept that even a friendly dog may not like him & cause a scuffle, it's the dogs that aren't good with other dogs that should not be allowed.

>You are obviously the people who let their dogs run around public parks an do not keep them in check, or so i can gather from you comments.

You gather wrong. I don't take my dogs to public parks.

>Allowing your dogs to run free and do as they like to others and other peoples dogs! But its ok!!!! its called interaction......

My dogs, when we meet others, meet them one at a time, because obviously a number running up would be intimidating. The meetings are controlled - usually all's well, sometimes a bit of posturing, sometimes a bit of a scuffle if one misinterprets the other's body language. But that's dogs for you. Just as people chat to one another, even strangers, so do dogs.

Dogs interacting with other dogs is a nice idea as a generalisation, but doesn't take inot account the massive difference between size of breeds and temperment of breeds (some breeds play much more full-on than others).

Exactly. Back in 1984, I had a Golden pup and I was taking him to puppy class. This being Sweden, it was a bit ahead of the UK, so it was already training that was reward based only and the forerunner of clicker training. We were outdoors, always, and part of the session was always for the pups to play with each other. HOWEVER the trainers (there were two) always split them into two groups depending on size, so that nobody would get hurt by accident. My pup was small for his age and younger than some of the others, so he ended up in the group with smaller dogs. It worked great.

> It is everyones responsibility to ensure their dog is UNDER control at all times

Agreed wholeheartedly. 

Although to be honest if i wish to take my dog walking be it open field or in a public park and i wish to walk her off lead by my side, having no interaction from other dogs. Then that is rightly my choice.... It doesn't mean our actions contribute to poor socialization, poor interaction.  As long as she never physically attacks, injures or scares another dog then i say, so what!  As in all walks of life some people choose to meet and greet and chat about the weather and the prices of dog food, but i'd rather take my dog out for a long walk, enjoy her company, play games and give her lots of praise.  Ima has been to two puppy training sessions and is fantastic in every way her social skills with human and dog alike is exemplary.

Personally you all advocate puppy training classes. However i think a few of you would benefit going back and learning some more.... One of the golden rules in training, is never allow your puppy/dog to intimidate another puppy as this will lead to the puppy being bullied having a very bad experience, one that can take months to rectify.  We all want our dogs puppies to do well and live in harmony.  In an ideal world yes, unfortunately this isn't an ideal world. 

Ima is back for obedience lessons and also a qualified behaviorist to work on what took 10 mins by an out of control dog to achieve. Costly, beacuse of an owner who "thought they knew better

Agree with MarianneB and Mastifflover- whilst we need to socialise our dogs with other dogs it is difficult to exercise the degree of control one would prefer in parks. A pup or youngster that gets soundly told off by adult dogs it knows is likely to learn. A telling off by an adult it doesn't know may not have the desired effect. Breed differences in size and body language- as altered by selective breeding for specific features like very wrinkly faces (Sharpei) can also confuse the intended message.

I have also observed in the parks that I visit that those with large breeds tend to be more gungho about their dogs mixing freely and with minimum supervision- probably because they feel their dog might be less at risk in a scuffle (Mastifflover I know that there are many honorable exceptions to this, as in your case). because I live in a city we also have more than our fair share of dodgy and badly bred/treated "staff" types and other mixes. These are the least supervised and I would be completely unwilling to risk my dog interacting with many of them; thus park visits require constant vigilance and I would always give any dog on a lead a very wide berth, ditto bull breeds where I don't know the owner.

> One of the golden rules in training, is never allow your puppy/dog to intimidate another puppy as this will lead to the puppy being bullied having a very bad experience, one that can take months to rectify.

This may be true. However dog trainer local to me has two dogs which seem to terrorise any dogs they meet in our local field. With little success of control from her a 'qualified dog trainer'

Makes me wonder sometimes. I have never taken any of my dogs to training classes, and doubt i ever will.

new puppy needs to be taught self control and can be a bit enthusiastic, but will have already learnt how to play/interact with adults,a nd it is only with other pups that things need a bit of manèging to ensure things don't get too rowdy.

Many of us on this board will regularly be at doggy events with hundreds - thousands of dogs present so other dogs are no big deal to them when they are in the park, they will all have had some level of training around their own species.

It is just those peopel who actually wish their dogs not to interact with others of theri own kind at all that I fidn really strange, aftyer all they are being deprived of being dogs if their owners make them so humanised that they don't know how to be dogs.

I agree as i said, Ima has been too two Training sessions, the third is on its way once this is completed, obedience classes (all with other dogs), then we wish to train for agility etc etc.  Just because i don't want to interact in the local park, doesn't mean i don't do what is right for my pooch. I just want to walk and have fun.  I'm not a talkative person but Ima is LOL :-)

It is just those peopel who actually wish their dogs not to interact with others of theri own kind at all that I fidn really strange, aftyer all they are being deprived of being dogs if their owners make them so humanised that they don't know how to be dogs.

This statement I wholheartedly agree with. We meet many who either haul their dogs away on leads, pick them up or shout "get your dog away" even if thiers is desperate to say Hi!  Dogs that are well socialized and mingle well with other dogs are happiest, there are some who have issues with other dogs and rightly thier owners keep them away from public places as much as possible. I as previously stated have a problem with one at the moment, but for those well adjusted dogs who meet and greet calmly and sensibly, play nicely and are not too rough or BIG the park is their social life and they should be able to use it with some freedom from leads. My point was that it should be possible for them to enjoy it without the "ASBO'S of the dog world..who may only be playing, but too rough, upsetting the status quo.
Aileen

chip and merlot I am in total agreement with you both.  Other dog walkers are the bane of my life.  I love it when I see a dog walker who puts their dog on a lead or calls their dog back when they see me putting mine of the lead - mutual respect.  It drives me round the bend when people let their barking and growling dogs run at mine with those ever ready words of "mines ok s/he only wants to play" - absolute disrespect.

If we are going to discuss this in terms of human relationships and interactions as has been done, personally I feel it is perfectly valid to go for a walk, for a coffee or to sit in a park without being accosted by people running over to you posturing and giving off negative vibes or even just approaching you at all.  Is it wrong to want to exercise your own dogs in an open space without being harassed by other people and dogs?

However dog trainer local to me has two dogs which seem to terrorise any dogs they meet in our local field. With little success of control from her a 'qualified dog trainer'

Makes me wonder sometimes. I have never taken any of my dogs to training classes, and doubt i ever will.

There are plenty of good trainers out there but there are also plenty of bad ones (some of which even end up on telly!) -the one you've seen clearly isn't a good one. :)

Is it wrong to want to exercise your own dogs in an open space without being harassed by other people and dogs?

A few months ago there was a thread on here about people renting fields off local farmers to enable the to exercise their dogs. I now do the same (except "our" farmer was kind enough to give us use of a field for nothing) and I love the fact we have many acres where we are extremely unlikely to ever meet another dog. It doesn't mean they are always walked only there, but it's the safest place to us. For one thing I'd never dare to let my 3 papillons run free where there were other, bigger, dogs -it's way too dangerous. Now they have ten acres to run in.

that sounds like bliss Marianne.  My staff will happily play with my rott boy but not with other dogs so a field to chase birds, rabbits and each other would be heaven for them.  Most of the population are a bit hesitant to see an off lead rottie romping about the park so I would love a field of my own.

Marianne fantastic, i wish i had sole use of the same.  I could then let my Chihuahua run free and enjoy herself.  I would never take her to the local park. When we move into the country, i am going to make sure there is plenty of room for my dogs to run free without worrying about other irresponsible owners (its not the dogs fault after all). I will still fully socialize Ima at classes, don't worry, i agree she needs to have a perfect relationship with other dogs.

people never surprise me any more , glade your dogs were ok tho other than being shook up it could have been worse if they had all started fighting,
i was in the vets last Thursday with my Zeus he had to have stitches removed from his leg now he's a fairly Big rottie and their was this women with here staff a baby in a pram not more that 8 months old, the baby not the dog, well she sat right next to me with her growling dog i had to move as my Zeus was getting a bit jittery himself as her dog was staring at mine and deep growling , so just airing on the side of caution i moved to the empty chair on otherside of the room,
well she gets called in the vets, then comes out without the dog pushes her baby straight into my dogs face saying"oh look how big that one is britney" to her little girl in the pram whos laying their legs kicking ,
now as much as i trust my dog and could never imagine he would do anything im sorry i just am not prepared to take that risk so i moved my dog quickly away from the baby, then the women says to me "Oh its ok shes good with dogs we got a staff" !!! ?:-|,

i just smiled and said i wernt worried about what she may do to my dog , but more about what my dog could do to her babys face or body should she roll that pram on my boys stitched leg by accident ,
i mean now please i know my boys ok with kids but i still wouldnt want to risk having a kicking baby in his face, more the point is what kind of  parent pushes her babys pram into the face of a very large and totally unknown to her rottweiler ,
these things leave me puzzled as to why they think its ok to just do that ,
then she starts going on about the flu shes got and how ill shes been all while shes standing over me breathing Arrrrrrrrrr, people like this is why i have dogs and prefur their company to humans and i am happy to stay away from as many people as possibal, :-D , their a lot of very stupid people out their who do some really strange things i think most of them live round here lol,

another event today. mine were both walking calmly and this energetic young weim came running over. they have run aound each other before but this time the weim looked at my bonnie and then hurtled towards her growling and teeth showing. bonnie ran away and i caught her and held her and the weim walked off. so i shouted to the bloke- your dog just went for mine, he said did it? i said yes growling and showing teeth- oh he said and walked off. no apology, didnt ask if bonnie was ok, what an irresponsible b*****d. i dont know who needs muzzling more the dog or useless owner! some people are clueless and i have seen this dog snap at others before. now i will keep well away from it which is a pain as park not very big

All this & more was the main reason I moved to a house with land 15 years ago. The old house backed on to many acres of dog walking 'heaven' but it became a haven for idiot dog owners. One lunchtime I took 2 of my males out for a quick walk, they were both (unusually) on the lead as I couldnt go far. From nowhere a full in season Lab comes up & wouldnt leave my males alone. Harrassed owner eventually appears, BLAMES me for her bitch's disobedience & gives one of my dogs a whack with her dog lead. How I never struck her I'll never know. From then on everyone I talked to got to know of this woman & when I saw her again months later she apologised but still got a mouthful from me. Nowdays I feel so lucky that I can control who my dogs meet, & still have them remain sociable.

I actually street walk my dog, because in the park he was on lead and I would get other peoples dogs running up to him, how on earth could I expect him not to react - I would try with treats etc!  Also we would often walk in the opposite direction and peoples dogs still continued to follow him.  We do pass a couple of heaths when I walk so we walk through there, but most dogs are on leads as it is surrounded by roads.  I enjoy my walks more with him on the road, and we take different routes each day.  I would love to take him to the park and him be off lead and play - but it just doesn't work!