Whilst walking Spice today we had a little behaviour problem,I always walk her off-lead where I consider it safe to do so,we have done this since she was old enough to go walkies,she is now 6months old.
We have always done recall and put her on and off her lead so we know how she will respond and until today that has worked really well.

We started our walk and every dog she met she either went up to and said hello or she would wait and sit for the other dog to come to her if she had any doubts,no problem there,each time she then continued her walk with me as before,except for the black lab.

The lady with the lab was approaching us from the opposite direction and it was off-lead,however when she saw Spice she immediately put her dog on it's lead and continued toward us. Spice saw this as some kind of challenge,I don't know why,she bounced straight up to this poor lab.and ran circles around it and wouldn't come back to me at all.If I tried to approach her she ran,when I called to her to come or sit she ran off and everytime she just bounded back to the lab.ran circles around it and the lady as if she was trying to get it to play.

There was no apparent reason for the lab to be on it's lead,no post-op care and it was 13months old so I would have thought it would have been o.k. to play for a bit? The lady was very calm about it all and just took it in her stride,but I was so annoyed with myself for seeming to have lost total control of my dog :o

Of course I apologised to her explaining it hadn't happened before and I couldn't fathom why Spice reacted in such a way,normally she is so well behaved and up to that moment had been brilliant.

Eventually she gave up her little game and came to me,sat and allowed me to put on her lead,we said goodbyes and off we went.

Any idea why Spice should have behaved in such a fashion? Should I have put her lead on as soon as the lab.owner did so? I wasn't expecting the run around Spice gave me!

Luckily all ended well and hopefully if we meet again it won't happen next time :D

Jacqueline

Hi Jacquie
link
there are some views here as to whether a dog should be put on a lead or not when meeting others. Dont know whether youve seen it or not. Although this post originally started out as one regarding aggression etc - it may give you something  to think about with regard to putting on the lead
:)

( its quite long though ... so get a cuppa tea ready while you read )

Thanks lel that took two cups of strong black coffee :D but it certainly gave me 'food for thought!'

Just because Spice is such a lovable with everyone and everything dog,I really should give a bit more thought to the 'other dog',although in this case I found out she was a very friendly lab.both toward myself and to Spice (despite Spices teasing to play :D ) if there is a next time I will put Spice onto her lead,until we pass the other dog! just in case.

Thanks :) Jacqueline.

p.s. glad you got your insurance sorted!!

I think being honest most people have been in the same position - where you want your pup to meet others and pup is friendly and well behaved - recall is coming together etc and then this happens.
I'll hold my hand up and say yes its happened with us and Gus  when he was younger

Stuff happens and no harm was done, but yes, I think you probably should have put Spice on the lead when you saw the other owner do the same.  My view with my two is that if we see dogs with leads on we get ours under control - either by holding their collar or by putting their leads on.  And the girls, for the most part, are really good at coming back and sitting while we hold their collars to let on lead dogs go past. We feel that if someone has their dog on a lead they have done so for a reason, either it's not good wtih other dogs or people, or they're at the end/beginning of their walk and wanting to keep it under control.  The reason doesn't matter, they have their dog under control, and I believe they have every right to expect that I should do the same with mine.

At the end of a walk we put leads on our dogs so that they calm down and cool down.  The number of people who's loose dogs run up to ours amazes me.  Now in our case there's no 'aggressive' reason that our dogs are on lead, but how would those owners know that until it was too late?  So I think best to be safe and respectful and then everyone has a good time.

BTW - by no means are my girls perfect - so I'm not preaching or judging.  It took us almost 2 years to get Chelsea to recall when she was desperate to play with another dog, and I know for a fact there were several dog owners who cursed us out for not having proper control.  So we all live and learn:)

Wendy

Hi,
    I must say I do put Sal on the lead when we approach an unknown dog. Just because my dog is happy healthy and YOUNG not every bodies else dogs always are, however I do this mostly because my previous Stafford was not pleased to be jumped upon by whipper-snappers. So I don't see why now I have a whipper-snapper myself I should bother others.  I know accidents happen and sometimes dogs appear out of nowhere, but that is one of the joys of dog ownership isn't it? ;)
Karen

I only let my dog off lead when I know that other dogs are not going to be put off by her.  She lives to play.  I find that big dogs (she's a Cairn terrier) are most unnerved by a low-to-the-ground, small speeding bullet circling around them before she makes her landing.  :-)  I think they cannot figure out of she is canine or prey.  Small dogs do not seem to mind.   So she is always on lead unless I know the dog to be friendly.  To be honest, a warning nip would do her the world of good in terms of how to approach other dogs.  Canine-to-canine communications is very effective when the teacher is older, wiser and in control. 

There is one young, playful dog who I really am fed up with - fed up with the owner.   I think it is a staffy mix, a lovely, lively, very friendly dog.  However, when I am walking Abby on lead this dog runs up and grabs the lead near Abby's collar, pinning Abby down and pulling.  She will not let go, if I manage to get her off she is back gripping the lead in less than a second. Abby always looks scared, so I end up having to let her off lead to free her from this dog's hold.   At which point the two dogs start racing around-- but the other one is a bit rough and I am never sure if it is going to end up as friendly as it starts.   So far the owner manages to show up about this time and get his dog back somehow, but I am at the point of getting very angry about it.

Stacey

Wendy, thank you for cheering me up with Chelseas 2 year recall training as I am really SICK of our nonsense which involves hunting rabbits rather than playing with other dogs now. Last night had to call OH to come and get him as he sped round the field like a black n white comet focused on only 1 thing - rabbits. Then elderly couple appear with similarly deaf mini Yorkie and I was praying Morse didnt see it or it didnt run.. Byt he time OH arrived I had Morse back but was never so close to going home without him.

I feel your frustration!!  We had a really hard time with Chelsea, mostly because she was BADLY car-sick and the places we could safely take her off lead involved a car ride.  Well you can imagine how well treats will bribe a dog who's feeling yukky! NOT!!  We tried every kind of toy imagineable to try to get her to recall.  One day around the age of two I grabbed the frisbee out of the boot to try again.  Well all of a sudden it all went CLICK for her and man that frisbee was the be-all and end-all of our walks.  She LOVED to either fetch it or to chase it in between Nick and myself.  So we decided to make it a game that WE started and WE ended so she would never know when it would happen.  And if she went running toward another dog (or was in the middle of approved play with another dog) all we had to do was yell FRISBEE and she would stop dead and come back for the game.  The game was more important than anything to her.  But it took us ages to get to that point.  I know we had a few owners mad at us, and we ourselves spent almost an hour one day trying to round her up when we had to leave becuase the parking area was closing.  I ended up staying to catch her while Nick took the car 1/2 mile down the road and walked back.  THAT was the day I lost it!

Anyway, there IS hope!  She is now really good.  Would I trust her 100%, no - we still take the frisbee with us, but she is 98% (she's 6 1/2 now).  And when we call both dogs back when we see people on lead or bikes they both come happily, wait with hand in collar, and once the people/dogs/bikes have passed they both continue on.

Wendy

Thanks for all your replies,as I previously mentioned if I see another dog owner put their dog onto it's lead then I shall follow suit in future.However when other dogs are off lead Spice's behaviour is impeccable,no problem so far anyhow :D

I still feel that if this lovely lab.had not been put on it's lead,then Spice's reaction would have been as with all the other dogs we met on that particular walk no problem.But I'm sure the owner had her reasons,in hindsight I wish I had asked her why she put the lead onto her dog,maybe it was her usual procedure on meeting any other dog,maybe it was because Spice is a border collie,maybe because she realised Spice is still quite young,I doubt I will ever find out.

Spice has never shown any aggression at all toward either dogs or humans and I truely hope that continues.I agree with Stacey that a playful dog especially one that 'hooks itself to your dog' is totally unacceptable,luckily Spice is not like that she has never actually come into physical contact with any other dog or owner.But on this one occasion she wanted to play and was running around expecting the poor lab. to chase her and for her to chase it in return,the usual play that many dogs do,except on this occasion the lab.was attached to it's owner via the lead

It was an experience where a lesson was learnt and I'm sure it won't be our last :D

We are off to try swimming now,not something Spice has been tempted by yet :D although she no longer avoids the puddles but wades straight through them.

Jacqueline :)