Just a question, I walk my dog in a local park. He runs off the lead and happily retrieves his ball and brings it back to me. I get really annoyed when other people come onto the field and insist on walking directly towards me, the field is huge and there are plenty of ways to walk around it whilst avoiding other walkers. I do not stay in one place, I circuit the field and stay away from other walkers wherever possible. My 3 year old boxer does not like other dogs, he will not approach them unless they come close and will wait when I shout to him not to go towards the dog. The other day I was running him and a lady with 2 jack russels came onto the firld. She let them off their leads and walked directly towards me. I put my dog on his lead, sensing there might be a prpblem and being cautious, she let her dogs run straight up to my dog and I shouted to her to call them back. My dog was desperately trying to get to them and she did nothing to call them back. I got really annoyed, he dogs were staying put about a foot from my dog, who, remember is on a lead. They were taunting him and she did nothing to call them back. I ended up getting really cross and shouting to her that I'd let my dog off his lead (I would never actually have done this!) if she didn't get some control over her dogs and call them back. I pointed out he'd have her dogs for breakfast. She responded and said my dog should be better socialised with other dogs. My point is that I know he doesn't like other dogs so if there is a potentially risky situation I put him on a lead and she should keep better control of her dogs. I must point out that I have never had an incident where he has attacked another dog, he is well trained enough to listen to me and behave so my argument is that other people should be aware not all dogs get on with other dogs and should either keep their dogs on a lead or make sure they will come back to them.
Any opinions? I've got dog walking rage!!!!

I can understand your frustration
some people just dont have any consideration for others at the end of the day

Oh god, I'd be mad like you!!!!

It sounds like that woman was STUPID!!!!!! 

It sounds like she actually was telling you to let your dog off the lead so it could 'be better socialised'!!!!!

DUH!

I always avoid other dogs and other dog owners everywhere I walk, and I walk in some pretty out of the way places to avoid them.  There are some 'friends' my dogs have, who I know they will play nicely with - so they do get off lead play with other dogs.  I just don't see a need to risk anything by approaching another dog.

That's my argument exactly. I've had boxers for years growing up and they've never liked other dogs (except eachother). Henry loves my parent's 2 boxers but no other dogs. I get so irritated with other people being so inconsiderate when they walk their dogs, I'm sure that woman would be the first to moan if Henry did eat her dogs.
It's a big field, he is perfectly fine with other dogs on it, as long as they don't come too close, surely it's not that hard to walk the other way. I know people have their dog walking routine and route but it's not a major trauma to vary it a bit (ie take a different route around the field), the dogs would probably like a variation anyway.
Grrrr

Boxernutter - you are not alone!!  I read your original post and thought that I could have written it myself about me and my 3 year old boxer!!  :-)

I have exactly the same problem - infact I'd go as far as to say that sometimes I feel that I'm the only responsible and sensible dog walker in my area and I suffer from dog-walking rage too sometimes!!

Glazby is not great with other dogs (wants to play but is just a bit too boisterous from other owner's points of view) and so I respect others and keep him on his lead when I see other dogs.

Its the "its okay my dogs friendly" attitude that annoys me - Yes, your dog might be but mine's not which is why I've got him on his lead!!! 

I have had words one or two times now with various people but I'm afraid we're fighting a losing battle - some people will never learn!!

Yes exactly! She said that, 'my dog's friendly' sent me into rage I'm afraid! Not a mature reaction but justifiable I think. Bit silly when her dogs are jack russells and mine's a boxer to take the chance. She had previously seen me just as I was leaving, putting Henry into the car and approached me asking if he was friendly, he was on the lead but started going mad when she came near, I said no, he isn't with other dogs, you'd have thought she'd learn. Cow. Luckily I only see her 2 days a week on the days I don't work from home and have to walk him at 4 instead of earlier in the day. Might start taking him somewhere else on those days which would be a shame since it's a nice place to walk dogs.
It's amazing that, like driving, dog walking can turn normal, calm, responsible and even tempered people into maniacs (I'm talking about myself here!!)

Surely there has to be a bit of give and take on either side. Most people would assume that if a dog was off the lead then it was OK. All credit to you that you have a well trained dog who obeys you. I would agree that if you had made it clear to the owner (and she was near enough to hear exactly what you were shouting ) that you didnt want her dogs near yours she should have respected that. Your comment that dogs should be on lead or only off the lead if they obey their owners is a bit cut and dried. I have a puppy and am training him in recall. Done lots of practice in the garden until he is perfect but can only advance his training by taking him to the park where there are distractions. I dont march up to dog owners but Rory being a puppy thinks every dog is friendly at the moment. I call him back and keep him near until I know how the other owner feels but he is not perfect by any means and sometimes it will take a while to get him back by which time he is already up to the dog. My dog can only get better at recall by putting him in situations where there are other dogs and people and it isnt always going to go perfectly. That needs to be respected too.

That is the situation where a long line is brought into play - that way Rory could have freedom but you can control him until his recall is decent enough to go off-lead.

yes I've done that, but that doesnt mean he is going to be 100% perfect when you do let him off, parks have lots of distractions and he is still restrained on a long lead and not restrained off the lead. But like human kids you have to let them go sometime.

Hi JuneH

Kids and dogs are not the same, you can reason with children you can't reason with dogs.  My dog is not 100% perfect on recall either but she is pretty good.  I can call her away from areas that I don't want her venturing into even if there is a distraction. If I couldn't do that I would have to keep her on a long line because what if she followed someone or something into a dangerzone?

Do you take your dog to a training club?  Our club does off lead activities in an outside fenced field which shows you how to control your dog with distraction of other dogs.  We start by training them on a long line and only when you can trust that you have your dog's full attention on a long line do you then venture into the same activities without a line or lead. ;)

Agreed. I know puppies need to be in these situations and be tested, I understand that. However, these 2 were grown dogs and their owner was paying no attention to my requests. She was only about 5 metres away!

Boxernutter

Oh No! Are we talking Dog Rage? :D

Idiot woman, would have served her right if her dogs had been bitten. I admit I can't always stop my friendly idiots going up to someone, but if they put their dogs on the lead I immediately call them back and go and fetch them if necessary - it's just irresponsible to let them annoy another dog!

Yes indeed! I think I need valium!

My dogs are v friendly to other dogs, but I still walk away from other people.  Just don't want to risk it!

I don't think you should have to walk away from other dog walkers, part of our enjoyment is meeting other dog walkers and there dogs so the dogs can socialise and also us, i realise it may not be the same for everybody but to say all dog walkers should avoid you when walking is a little harsh i feel. I know there are many owners who are unresponsible as we have been on the recieving end a few times, ending up with tyles being nipped, but as we still approach other walkers on our route, on lead of course, when we get up close we ask the owner if it's ok to let hte dogs socialise, if they can't for what ever reason then off we go.

When I have had Saxon out, we only have had him 4 months, he is very obedient and comes back when told.
On occassion I have seen others with their dogs off lead, behaving themselves, I still put Sax on his lead as this alleviates any possibility of a confrontation. If the other owner asks to introduce their dog then I agree and if the dogs get along then and only then are they let off together.
I must admit once Saxon has a friend his recall takes a bit longer but he does listen eventually. If the other dog stops playing Sax listens a lot better.
I have had one old lady, who's terrier cross was attached to Saxon's neck, tell me that big dogs shouldn't be allowed to walk on the field as they frighten peole. Saxon was on the lead at the time but he just jumped around like Tigger 'cos he thought the terrier was playing.

Funnily enough we met a border terrier about a month ago and it was doing the same to my dog hanging off his neck, Tyler thought it was a great game, and apparantley the owner was told by the vet this is how they play with dogs and horses. Wether it's true or not i have no idea but it was great fun to watch and both dogs enjoyed themselves. The dogs was well trained and let go when told.

i had this problem a few months back this man would insist on letting his dog rush up to my border collie and let it snap and snarl etc at my boy, who i would just clip his leader on  when i saw the idiot in the park, and i would walk in the other direction, his dog would follow me so one day i intentionaly started to head to the gate of the park and the main road with the dog following all the time having a go at my collie, the guy realised i was going out of the park and his dog was going near a busy road, i knew it was a wicked thing to do but i was sick of him doing this, i had even changed the times i walked  but he still turned up, he was hurling abuse at me telling me to stop walking so he could catch his dog, and how stupid i was walking towards the gates his dog could of been run over, buy this time i was seething because my collie i a large male, and he was wanting to have a go back at this dog, so i stupidly thought oh he will of learnt his lesson next time guess what he did the same thing, there was two of us walking the dogs this time mine and a border terrier that was hanging off my collies neck and the noise comming from them both as they where roaring at each other and grabbing each others legs and generally rough housing about,the lady i was walking with suddnely called her dog to her and clipped on his leader she said quick grab  your dog, and i did as his dog came flying across the park he went straight in for my collie took a chunk of hair and then went to get the border who the lady picked up above her head,i went to lash out at it, but out of the corner of my eye i saw my hubby come around this bush with my rottie he just let my rottie have some extending lead well the rottie just stood over the dog that was attacking and let out one huge bark and growl, he looked menacing, the guy came flying across and i just said, next time i will let my boys off and you will not have a dog left, you think this is funny harrassing every ones dogs well see how you bl**dy well like it.
to this day we have never seen him walking the dog in the park.
carol

Hmmmm not sure what side of the fence I stand on with all this, I agree that the woman should have been more responsible when you called out but it can be hard from the other point of view.

My Scottie will never be a perfect recaller.  In fact she'll never be any kind of recaller when there's a dog around, its vary rare that she will leave a dog and come back to me unless the dog is VERY far away in a big park and I do the 'walking off in the other direction' thing.

So this means she has to permanently be on a lead.  There are parks I go to occasionally when I can let her off as these are 'friendly dog parks' where all dogs are sociable and off lead and all are friendly however the local park where I visit most days is a 'general exercise' park for all dog types, and this includes angry dogs.  Therefore because Millie will go up to other dogs, she has to stay on the lead all the time and never gets a 'run' about, or opportunity for recall practice and has to stroll with me the whole time.  I don't drive so its rare that I can take her to the 'sociable' parks which are 6-8 miles away each and so she doesn't get as much exercise as she could.

I admit it is her recall that is the problem however a) i'm not an experienced dog trainer, b) dog training is 16 miles away across boroughs c) I can't practice with her because i can't let her off the lead and d) she just LOVES dogs, more so than normal apparently according to doggy people and I will NEVER make myself interesting enough, no matter what I do/have.  She will stay with me when walking in an empty park, she will come when called and will choose to stick by me but if she sees another dog, all she wants is to be near that dog, you know the concentration of a dog hunting prey, its that kind of complete focus.

Long lines aren't always an option with little terriers - I tried this approx. twice and spent ten minutes constantly unravelling mine and her feet from the lead dragging around on the floor and wrapping myself up in metres and metres of red webbing looking a complete plonker and gave up.

So anyway, the point of all this!  Basically because there are unfriendly dogs out there, I can't give my dog the proper exercise I would like to because I have to always bear in mind that someone could be walking their unfriendly dog who doesn't like being approached.  But unfriendly dog walkers have the right to take their dog to the park too so that's the way it has to be, but what I don't like is the fact that they should assume that all friendly dog owners should keep their dogs on leads at all times so as not to disturb their angry one.

I can take Millie to a 'friendly' dog-walking park and she has an absolute ball, lots of space to run off lead, lots of dogs to meet and play with, but in the town park she has to be restricted, watching other dogs bounding around on the grass while she has to stay 'tied' to me and only because of possible unfriendly dogs that she might approach.

So its all swings and roundabouts at the end of the day, while some people wished all friendly dogs were kept away from theirs on a lead, friendly dog owners will wish that angry dog owners didn't visit local parks so that their dogs could have fun for a change and weren't always kept on a lead.

There's no 'right' answer, only a perfect world ideal where all dogs are recall-able and stayed away from each other unless otherwise instructed.  I do keep my dog on a lead because I am aware of her 'faults' and that not all dogs are friendly however she only gets a proper run around about once a fortnight or less and so it would be just as easy for me to say that its the 'unfriendly' dogs fault that she is being penalised for being so friendly!  But I don't, I put the blame on myself for being unable to control her in a way that ensures she only does what I tell her and so therefore the unsociable dog wins every time, she stays on a lead unhappy and without proper exercise and the unfriendly dog owner stays happy that their dog is unpestered.

IMO no one should have a dog off lead who is not willing to accept being approached by another dog in a non-threatening manner.  Dogs that have "issues" with other dogs should only be taken off lead only in areas where an encounter with another dog is very unlikely.

IMO, no one should walk a dog who is not comfortable with other dogs on lead in an area where there are likely to be dogs off lead.  

It is not responsible to do otherwise.

Stacey

Hi Jess,

Your dog needs a companion :-)  My Abby (a Cairn) sounds exactly like your Scottie.  I eventually decided the only solution was another dog, because Abby obviously craved the companionship of one of her own species.  So, along came Rudi (another Cairn).  The interesting thing is that now that Abby has her own buddy, she's become much less interested in other dogs.   In fact, most of the time not interested at all. 

Stacey

Stacey, I soooooooooooooooooo agree with you!  I think it would make such a difference (if we walk with my sister's dog, she stays with us, if we meet another dog that she knows and the owner forces me to let her off the lead, as sometimes happens, she stays with that dog/us as she has a dog for company right there and has no need to investigate every other dog in the park).

However I have so far been unable to convice OH of this!  I keep trying though, I shall show him your post later ;-)

(although so as to show I am sensible, I should of course consider that eventually the second dog could become boring to Millie, or second dog could pick up bad habits from Millie and I would have double the trouble etc. etc., and that having a second dog to cure the bad habits of a first dog is not right etc. etc. but I do have other sensible reasons for wanting a second dog and would of course make an informed decision etc. etc.)

i admit to being an owner that has two dogs who love to bound up to others for a romp. Don't get me wrong, if i see a dog in the distance who's being kept close to the owner, or on a lead etc, i will make the effort to get my two back and on the lead, or i just walk in another direction. I say effort, because sometimes if they catch eye before i do, they're already off and have nothing but 'ooo dog!' in mind (i assume), but i'll go and get them, apologise etc.

i'm quite lucky in that 99% of dog walkers where i go don't mind doggy romps, and quite often we'll walk back together and let the dogs play. You do get the odd one who's a bit funny about it, to which i'm happy to apologise if need be.

i personally don't mind dogs bounding up to mine, although i might change my mind if it was a blatantly nasty one..... I think the whole keep the distance and walking away thing is all fine and well, but why should it be the responsibility of the off lead walker to do that? Surely, if you know your dog isn't good with others, you're not sure about whats going to happen and you have it on a lead-afterall, its on for a reason, you could turn and walk, also? I know its not always do-able if its a small area. I just think its a bit harsh to put the responsibility onto the other person. There are two walkers afterall.

nicola

Hi Nicola, I know just what you mean - my dogs do sometimes disappear to say hello, but I always go after them and call them back and drag them away if they are being a nuisance! :-)

I could have written this post myself as I have to put up with this every day of my life.  My dog hates dogs - that's the way he is.  I always walk him on the lead wherever I go but everywhere I go there are dogs off the lead and understandably they run up.  I ask the owner to call their dogs and they say "oh he just wants to play".  Yes, that's fine, but mine doesn't and sometimes it ends up in a huge fight.  I've been bitten a few times because of this.

I agree that owners follow me round the park/beach/street wherever I happen to be and when I'm obviously avoiding them, they still follow me.  The streets are public and everyone has a right to use them and its no one else's problem if my dog is difficult but it would be helpful if other owners didn't allow their dogs to get too close.  How many times have I heard people say "my dog's under control" while the dog is happily ignoring them.

CG

I want to tackle this debate from a slightly different angle.  Today I took the 'gruesome twosome' out for a walk across the marshes.  As we headed up towards the public park area where we play with balls etc, a woman was heading towards us with a small dog (it might have been a little Westie).  My two started running towards the little dog and unfortunately, my little bitch has no canine body language skills at all and tends to approach barking and with hackles raised.  I called them back but having become adolescents they are trying to push boundaries and although they didn't continue towards the dog, they wouldn't recall either.  The woman with the other dog began to walk away...this enticed my dogs to follow her.  I countered this by calling them and heading off in the opposite direction...This worked a treat and they came so I could put them on their leads...
Unfortunately, they ended up being put back on their leads but the other dog was nowhere in sight because the owner had gone off in another direction...So now my dogs think if they bark at another dog and ignore my commands for them to return to me...the other dog runs away!!!
Surely it would have been better for the woman to allow me to get my dogs under control with a lead and continue in our intended directions?
I would also add that the gruesome twosome didn't actually go anywhere near the other dog and owner...they just wouldn't return immediately to my side to go back on their leads when they were so close to going into the park to play.

My dog raises her hackles when she sees other dogs and I think why you daft dog? :rolleyes:

If I had a small dog and saw two larger dogs approaching off lead with hackles raised on top of which the owner wasn't in 100% control like you described, I would walk the other way as well.

You've got to view it from the other person's perspective

I understand that from the other owner's perspective my two didn't respond immediately and she was intent on protecting her little dog but I am also mindful that BCs have a very high chase instinct and will try to keep everyone together in a herd...so I guess if the boot was on the other foot I wouldn't turn and go in the opposite direction but I would stand still...and I'd do this because I am aware of the chase instinct in some breeds.  Still no harm done because, despite being adolescent and pushing boundaries ie recall not an immediate response...They would both rather do as commanded than disobey outrightly...and the confrontation took place at such a distance that the other dog and owner were about 50 yards away so perhaps they won't believe they chased them away in the other direction!

I see your  point and understand what you mean.  What you think is the right way to react makes perfect sense .......to you.  You know that BCs herd and chase but the woman had a little Westie and might not know anything about any other breeds.  What she sees is a potential confrontation and probably took steps to avoid it. Besides which she might have changed direction for a number of reasons, not just because of what you perceived situation to be.

I'm always changing my direction, mind, clothes, eratic? probably, loopy? definitely! :D :D :D

The following is not aimed a particular posting/poster please substitute the word "one" or "ones" for "you" or "your"

Responsibility - The only person responsible for your own dogs, is you, the owner. 

Control - The only dogs and people that you have control over (hopefully) are those that belong to you and yourself/family.

Training -The only dogs which for which you are accountable for training are again your own.

A dog may be sick, post operative, shy, phobic, unsociable, being rehabilitated etc etc etc

An owner may be sick, post operative, shy, phobic, unsociable etc etc etc

It is not unreasonable to expect to be left alone/unmolested if one is minding one's own business, whether or not you are accompanied by dogs or not.

It is reasonable, IMHO, to extend to others the same courtesy we would expect for ourselves.

Accidents do happen, dogs do disappear, get loose, etc etc etc occasionally from the most observant and responsible owner.

However, quite often incidents are not "one offs" but repeated instances from those who can not or will not train/control their dogs etc etc.

If your dog was belting over the park to cross a road, who would be responsible for its death, the car driver or you, the owner?

So perhaps everyone who allows their dogs to interfere with others, unbidden and uninvited, should imagine that "the others" are a car/train etc etc and therefore to contemplate the possible consequences to their dogs, both acute and chronic if the owners/dogs are offended by this rude behaviour and lack of control.

If you are not prepared to accept the possible consequences of your own actions and those of your dogs, then perhaps you should not own them.

It is human nature to blame something or somebody else for one's own accidents/oversights/problems etc; however when we remove the emotion from the equation, and focus on not getting defensive/protective about our dogs but rather on the source of the difficulty, we can see the relationship between cause and effect and hence take preventive measures.

Personally I do not care about the size/breed/sex/temperament of anyone else's dog, it is none of my business, as long as their behaviour does not impact on mine.

I can and do recall my dogs from others and never allow them to molest/annoy/approach etc others except by invitation only and/or mutual consent; I fail to see why this is not reciprocated.

At the end of the day, a lot of behaviour is about perception, what is acceptable etc from a certain size or breed of dog, (especially when it is our own) becomes unacceptable from others. ;)

It is a bit like speeding, if you are driving at 60 mph in a 40 mph area it is often justified by the driver saying:

It is x o'clock, there is never anyone around.
I am a very good driver
My car is regularly serviced etc etc etc

therefore, I am not really speeding.

If you are crossing the road with your two small children, a dog and granny and another driver approaches at the same speed your perspective is somewhat different I would suggest...........

Also, I am not sure how logical the argument is re a dog only improving in his recall if he is allowed off and then to not come back and to go up to other dogs.  The more a dog practices NOT coming back/ignoring you and approaching other dogs, the better he is going to be at it. 

If you do not WANT this behaviour do not allow the dog to rehearse it; if, in the process your dog gets bitten, I am sure your attitude will be somewhat different.  Again you have put your dog at risk by allowing it to behave in this way.

Human nature, you can't odds it.

As always, I love reading your replies tohme as they are always full of good advice, and I just wanted to say that I expect a lot of it applies to me and hopefully I can be 'understood' for the fact that because my dog will rush another dog, I keep her on the lead in areas where this can be problematic because I am aware of her behaviour.  So although I don't think its always fair on my dog, I do 'do' the right thing and prevent her from interfering with dogs minding their own business.

To give her her credit, 9 times out of 10, when she does meet a dog ,she actually stops about 3-5 metres away and lays flat as flat can be to the ground, border collie stylee and lets that dog approach her, but once she did 'rush' an unfriendly german shepherd who was pulled flat against his owners legs, and she started running round and underneath him, but fortunately as this dog was male, he was just interested in sniffing her and probably was more friendly than the owner gave him credit for and seemed fascinated at the dog that had come this close to meet him.  But because of that event, that's when I made the decision to keep her leaded in that park.

However, you do seem to insinuate that only experienced dog trainers who are able to have complete control of their dogs who always do what their owners say should be allowed to be dog owners.  That ain't gonna happen in the real world, most of the dog owners where I live who have well-behaved dogs is due to good luck on the owners part at picking that dog, I have yet to meet a single person in the park I visit regularly who knows anything about training dogs, as I have tried picking their brains for advice.  They are all just run-of-the-mill pet owners.  So we have to do the best with what we have. 

I have tried recalling Millie, in fact at her puppy school, the trainers remarked on the fabulous recall I had with her.  As soon as I called her name she was there in front of me instantly.  However we were the only ones who turned up that week and without any dogs around, in a square room with four walls she will come to me every time, it wasn't really that impressive.  I have read advice you have given before in the past for training recalls, gradually building up the changes in situation, i.e. in the house with distractions, outside with no distractions, outside with distractions etc. however now I am confused by your comments above about letting the dog off to practice recall, will in fact just teach it to not come back to you when it sees another dog.  That means I am stuck in a vicious circle, if I don't let her off I'm not able to test/teach/practice recall, if I do let her off I'm just teaching her not to come back to me...

...I think the solution here is me getting up the courage to drive so that I can take her to the parks where its not an issue instead!

I hope I did not insinuate that only experienced dog owners/trainers could own dogs, as that would mean none of us would ever become experienced....... :D

What I DO think is important is dog owners consider all the possibilities and consequences of their and their dogs actions to prevent misunderstandings and possible disastrous consequences.

Of course you MUST let your dogs off the lead, but it is important to look at the environment and, as you have rightly said, make sure that ADEQUATE foundation training is put in before "testing" the dog in a very "testing" environment ie practice in house, garden, enclosed area, larger areas GRADUALLY building up the distraction levels so that the dog can cope.

For example, I might find it hard to concentrate on a maths test if say, Pierce Brosnan was in the room, I might find I got rather "distracted" by his presence........ :D

Most people IME set up their dogs to fail because they do not put in sufficient groundwork to minimise failure and want to rush, again, human nature.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, however the consequences of failure in this context ie failure to recall, could possibly be life threatening; so why take unecessary risks.  Do a "risk assessment", evaluate your dog clinically and be honest about its strengths and weaknesses and always work to the dogs strengths.

I think you're probably right in that I rushed into teaching her so that as a puppy, I was always letting her off and calling her back, thinking I was putting in lots of effort on recall training, and in fact I was probably just boring her silly and when she stopped taking notice, frustrating myself and eventually losing all interest in teaching her.  I need to start again!

I'm thinking of getting a whistle and trying with that.  I think for me, I know she will 'recall' - she will come back whenever I say, she will follow wherever I call her to and if she ever wanted to meet another dog and I was to run full pelt in the opposite direction, she would leave that dog to follow me (although I don't do this for fear of looking stupid obviously!).  So I think what's really needed here is for her to learn control when dog's are near, and to wait to be told its okay to approach.  I can do this with her when the dog she has set her sights on is far away but its a kind of test where she'll 'wait' and then run off again and then 'wait' and so on...she really wants to obey me and yet her urges are telling her to act differently.  So I need to focus her training on that.  Stopping when I say and waiting until she's allowed to approach and not approaching if I tell her she can't. 

Don't expect much progress for a few years though! :-D

Tohme,

"Of course you MUST let your dogs off the lead,". 

Not necessarily, some dog owners MUST NOT let their dogs off lead.  I believe there are many posts here about some of the Northern Breeds which cannot, ever be let off lead.   That does not mean that these dogs are not entitled to exercise and stimulation.

Anyone with an aggressive, potentially dangerous dog (to people or other dogs) must NOT let their dogs off lead - in any situation where they are likely to end up in a situation which triggers their aggression. 

Stacey

I have a WSD that doesn't like other dogs and yet I let him off his lead when he is exercised and I am 100% in control of him, he will never run up to another dog, he always responds first time when called. If I see another dog I call him and put him on his lead, but this doesn't stop other dogs approaching ignoring his body language and wanting to sniff him, and the owners that I meet then get upset when his teeth are hanging out at their previous babies that have their noses up his you know what, and they then have the cheek to tell me to control my dog, when in fact it is their own dogs that lack control. I get really annoyed at people that say aggressive dogs can't be let of lead they can as long as the owner has control, why should the dog suffer for others. I am so confident of my control that I do obedience and agility with him - and have never has an incident that he has started - the only problems are dogs that approach him, invade his space and ignore his body language (which says go away)