I can always put my dog on lead when I see the other dogs first if they are on lead, and do so as a courtesy, however I wish when the other dogs are off lead as mine may be that the owners WOULDN'T put them suddenly on lead - especially as it is usually after my dog has seen theirs and just wants to say hello! why do they do that! My dog always gets the blame but realy when you think about it THEY should have left theirs off if they saw mine off!
If you put yours on regardless WHY do you do this? is it to show off that you have a better recall? its not easy when your pup prefers to go to other dogs first!

It's to show that MY dog is not good with other dogs, especially dogs that invade THEIR space.  It annoys me that the other person then, still doesn't bother calling their dog and getting it under control and then I have to stand their for ages, until that dog either gets bored as it has no reaction or eventually the owner takes it away.

Maybe their dog does not like other dogs and might rip your dog's face off.
Maybe their dog is friendly but as they do not know your dog, they put their dog on the lead rather than risk their dog having it's face ripped off.

It is common courtesy to leash your dog when another unknown dog is around.

We walk a regular route most days where we know 90% of the dogs walked there and know which it is safe for our dogs to be off lead with and which aren't. Our dogs will always be put on their lead if unknown dogs are in the vicinity. They will only be let off to play once we have established with the other dogs owner that it is safe to do so.

My pup's recall is good but not 100% yet and we are continuing to work on it. I therefore do not allow her to get into a position that she will be too far from me for me to get her under control if another dog is around. I try to keep her focused on me at all times so that I see potential hazards before she does. I also understand that even the friendliest of dogs does not always want to be bounced all over by six stones of enthusiastic pup. My other dogs recall is not great either but he is sufficiently well trained in other ways that he will bypass and ignore another dog if I tell him to.

I'd hate for one of my dogs to get injured simply because I didn't have them under control.

niceone

You are only seeing what happened from your own perspective.  It just happens I was in exactly the opposite situation this morning.  I saw a lab trotting towards us and so I put my dog on the lead.  I did this because the last 4 times we have encountered labs my dog has 'gone' for them.  This time was no exception as the lab without hesitation came straight up to us but at least I felt I was not in the wrong.  As it happend the guy apologised and said that he saw my dog off the lead and didn't see my dog put on the lead.  So no one was at fault here.  Walking back through the park a bearded collie started running to my dog, I called my dog and she responded at first but the bearded collie kept ignoring his owner and ran to my dog whereby she turned and chased and 'caught' him making him yelp.  Luckily no damage done and the silly little dog still tried to persist in making friends.  While I was holding her still another dog approached us and my dog was perfectly alright with him

You can't judge other people's actions by what you think is right because you don't know their dogs or experiences.

One of my girls doesnt show the slightest interest in other dogs she is  very sociable and friendly (beardies) but prefers to keep her eye on her ball it holds her full attention obsessed we say!
The pup now 11m now... she will go off to see any dog that she spots at quite a distance she has no interest in balls etc: but her recall is very good.
I still will put on thier leads if another dog is approaching for the reason other posters have stated ..for her own safety because I dont know the dogs in question are friendly etc:
Cannot understand why this upsets you so much.

Roni

Also there's the fact no-one knows the temprement of YOUR dog.  You might have the most sociable dog in the world, then again you might not!  If my dogs are on lead I have the control to keep them away from another dog.

Please try to understand when people put there dogs on lead it's for either their dog's safty or your dogs safty.  Not because they want to show off because we like to think EVERYONE has a perfect recall.

Just something for you to think about... What if it wasn't another dog but your dog had seen a flock of sheep, Could you call her back?  Or would she go running to the sheep, disturbing livestock which, I think, is an offence and the dog can be shot?

Or what if it was a horse your saw on the walk that your dog went running upto?  This could friegten the horse, have the rider chucked off and the dog stomped on by the horse.

Personally I would like my dog to come back when told!!!! :D

Hi, I think out of courtesy it is polite to put you dogs on the lead in any case.  It is always wise to check as some dogs dont like others or may just might not like yours.  I always try to get face recognition from the owner and if they indicate that they are not bothered I'll let mine back off.  Lets face it better to be safe than sorry!!!

if im out & i approach a person with a off lead dog,which when they see mine put it on a lead,i automatically call mine to heel & if it is a narrow path will pull to the side & put the dogs in a sit stay or down,so the other dog & handler can pass.
sometimes the owner may stop to chat & if decided then the dogs can say hello.

i keep my dogs off the lead genrally unless i see an known aggressive dog that is off lead,in which case i get them all back close to me first.

if we are going up a path & i see a strange dog that is off the lead i generally call flynn back for a few seconds & let tara go & do the hellos,as theres not many dogs (even nasty ones) that dont like tara,
i dont let them all charge up & scare the dog to death,

sometimes i think its better to let the dogs sort themselves out,but im always on the lookout for body language etc,if all dogs are off the lead.

some people put their dogs on a lead because they dont have a ghood recall with other dogs around,but aFTER DISSCUSSING ARE HAPPY FOR THEIR DOGS TO SPEAK TO MINE.

Today we met a collie we've met several times before without any problems, so I let my Yankee run up to him, and they had a bit of a growl at each other, which is unusual for him, so when we met him again round the other side I put him on the lead and said to the other dog's owner 'if he's a twit he's going on the lead!' and he laughed. I think it's important to be careful, but also not to get in too much of a panic about a few growls, just be careful generally.

I myself am very greatful if people control their dogs around other dogs. i DO not trust strange dogs untill I'm perfectly sure they're okay. Even then I preffer to see dogs on the leash as my Chihuahua is only 1.5kg and even a happy friendly Labrador can accidentelly kill him in an instant. Or if not that he can scare my Billy to death. I have worked too hard on him, so he's not afraid of other dogs..... one "friendly" big dog that jumps all over him can ruin months of work.

Common Courtesy.
If I have my two off the lead and see other dogs approaching. I will put my dogs on the lead. I have every faith in my two but If I don't know the dog approaching, I will put them on the lead as courtesy and quite frankly expect the other owner to do the same.
If when, the other dog approachs, my two want to say hello and the other dog does too, then and only then will I let them off after the initial hello.

this subjects been touched on many times, do look back in search Niceone, as it'll give you a good perspective. :)

many people have previously commented and I think its pertinent for you to consider... that aside from the 'anti social' issues already disscussed there could also be health issues such as dog or owner recouvering from Vet/Hospital treatment.
:)