That's how I interpreted it 123. A 'foot in the face' meant kick the dog in the head to me.

I've already highlighted what you said - it reads to me that even a friendly approach would be met with what IMO is a violent over reaction by you!  "A foot in the face" doesn't suggest "fending off with the leg" :rolleyes:

Posters are often requested/reminded to use clear terminology and give full explanations of details - most often on the behaviour board.

Not sure where the violence would be in that??  A foot in the face quite clearly means that and gives no more nor less information than that.

If anyone put their 'foot in the face' of my friendly, blind, geriatric bitch as she bumbled along I can assure you they'd live to regret it. And any dog that was so badly socialised with its own species that she was perceived as a threat then it shouldn't be allowed out in public without a muzzle.

If your friendly, blind, geriatric bitch came bumbling up to my on lead dogs, I would most definitely put my leg out to keep her away from my dogs :rolleyes:  But then, hopefully you don't let her go approaching dogs on the lead, so this situation is unlikely to happen....

If one person with dogs is going along a field track, and another person with dogs is travelling in the opposite direction, then of course they're going to approach :rolleyes: and to 'put a foot in the face' of a clearly non-aggressive animal who is also helpless to avoid it is tantamount to granny-mugging. A more civilised reaction, if a person thinks their dogs might hurt the friendly one, is to say gently "Careful now, my dogs are horrid" (not that dogs understand words, but rather the tone of voice) and, keeping your dogs behind you, use your hand to gently steer the friendly dog out of the way.

My hands would be holding the leads of my dogs, which I would have put on lead at the sight of yours.  Had you also put yours on lead, then it would not approach mine and we could easily pass by each other with no problems at all. 

However, given that you don't believe in putting your dog on a lead when approaching strange dogs - even, it looks like, if I'd put mine on lead - and even if therefore, potentially, mine could be unfriendly or have issues, then I'm not sure why holding out my foot is "granny-mugging" but holding out my hand isn't!!!  After all, as we've established, holding out my foot doesn't mean kicking or using violence, and therefore isn't going to cause any more inconvenience than holding out a hand!  :rolleyes::rolleyes:  If I'm going to hold out any part of my anatomy towards an approaching strange dog, I'd rather hold out my foot with at least a shoe on, than my hand which has no protection at all and would mean bending down and also bringing my face into close proximity with it!!  Please stop being so pedantic!

I might well have already passed you with my dog following on some distance behind - when dogs are offlead they're doing their own thing, and I've never ever seen an owner running around following where their dog goes, so that they can put it on the lead if another dog hoves into view. We must live in very different sorts of areas.

You should always know what your dog is up to - if it's behind you and out of sight, and you're allowing it to pass another person and dogs on the track, without you there.... 

No, the owner doesn't do the running - the dog does, when recalled!

>Not sure where the violence would be in that?? 

Where do I start ....

>A foot in the face quite clearly means that

Exactly :rolleyes:

>if your dog is on the lead, it shouldn't be being "stressed" by another dog

Just the sight of another dog was enough to stress my old mongrel when he was on a lead, and we had to carry a big stick in case of fights. If he was off lead there was no trouble.

>If a strange dog should approach mine, when they are on lead, even if it is friendly, it will get a foot in its face,

How disgusting. I wonder if whether a dog's character shapes that of its owner, or vice versa ...

>If a strange dog should approach mine, when they are on lead, even if it is friendly, it will get a foot in its face,<

Wow 123, I'm shocked. As someone who is studying behaviour you should know what kind of consequences this could have. I try my best to keep my very friendly youngster from saying hello using body blocks, sits etc.. But I think it would be absolutely tragic and very cruel to kick a dog who's body language was 100% non-threatening (head down, tail low and wagging..). I can also say duck, because I can tell you what my response would be.

I have a dog that is completely tolerant of babies, toddlers, old people with canes, and every type of human you can imagine. One encounter with you on a walk and he might be afraid and even violent towards people forever. Here's a thought. Try a childs' squirt gun. At least you won't be hurting a dog who isn't hurting you. Silly me, I just put myself between suspect dogs and mine and use calm, innocuous body blocking.

Er, if you read above, I didn't say "kick" :rolleyes:

A leg stuck out is just a form of body blocking. :rolleyes:

Can you just read what I say and not go twisting it and looking for arguments?  This bears little relationship to the dog off lead/on lead when meeting other dogs discussion and is another example of the sort of "point-scoring" which develops on threads, and only ends up in the thread being locked.

I wasn't trying to point score, (when have you ever seen me pick a fight on posts?) but I did interpret a foot in face as kicking not body blocking. I was surprised that you would do this and I wouldn't want anyone reading the posts to think kicking dogs who came near them was an appropriate thing to do.

Not wanting to upset anyone but have to say I also thought a foot in the face meant a kick.

Ditto :(

Daisy

Well, you can all just unthink that thought then :rolleyes:

>If you really, really don't want your dogs to get into a fight or to encounter aggressive dogs

If you really, really don't want your dogs to get into a fight or to encounter aggressive dogs, never take them out in public at all.

>Dogs might learn from all experiences, good and bad, but what are they learning?

If they trust their owner, they learn to keep close. :)

Yes, but that's not quite practical, is it JG, never to take them out in public at all?  Whereas recalling them is far more possible.  At least, I've always managed and had no problems.

No, it's not true that if dogs trust their owner they learn to keep close.  Have you never seen the distances that gundogs work at?  I can't think of a better demonstration of trust.  Trust and proximity of dog to owner are not necesssarily related.

One of the main reasons i take my dogs out for off lead walks are so they can play/socialise with other dogs,i try and make their walks as fun as possible for them,calling them back and putting them on lead every time another dog approached would turn our carefree fun walks into stressful anxious outings :rolleyes: I prefer my dogs to be dogs,not robots!
Not one of my dogs ever,has ever been in a fight! I like to think i am a carefree relaxed owner and i believe this has rubbed off on my dogs. I truly believe the theory that if i called them back and put them on lead every time another dog approached that they would think there is something to worry about every time a dog appeared,once again they are not robots,and can sense and feel alot more than some people are giving them credit for!
I've seen it a hundred times before,owner and dog walking along off lead,dog not bothered with anything,owner see's another dog,whips their dog on lead,dogs whole disposition changes and goes on guard :(

123 please dont take offence,but i just want to say maybe you should let your hair down every now and then when out on walks,let yourself and your dogs forget about work/training for an hour a day and let them be young carefree dogs without a care in the world again :) Try letting them take YOU for walk  and follow their lead for a change,let them choose the path they want to take,let them choose the dogs they want to play with,let them decide when they want to go home etc etc ;) I do this for 1,sometimes 2 of our walks every single day,when this is their time and they get to decide what they want to do or where they want to go.

Er Ktee, you feel free to let your dogs take you for walks if you like, but please don't suggest that I do.  It's nothing to do with being uptight, it's about being in control of available rewards and resources.  I don't take my dogs out to play or socialise with other dogs, as they get plenty of opportunity to do that at events and training classes.  Instead, when we go out, we go out to train.  Strangely though, my dogs actually enjoy this and, given the opportunity to go for a free walk, will actually look very sad and upset, offer me behaviours and try to get rewards from me as a result.  You seem to have a bit of a traditional attitude to training and perceive it to be work to a dog

sounds totally unreasonable :(
if she had a problem,why did she come over with her dog off the lead?
wot a wreido!!!!!

I feel for both sides here - as some of you might know I have an unfriendly dog which I keep on a lead - I am also a nervous owner - so reading all these threads just the type of person that is your nightmare on a walk!  However a lot of what makes me nervous and maybe the other lady in the park is the thought of your dogs being harmed by mine!  - Mind you  I cant think why she would have her dog off lead and walk anywhere near you common sense would say she should have kept her dog on lead and tried a different area!  And KTEE if you live anywhere near me come for a walk with me and my not very friendly nervous PULI!  As a nervous owner though it does really bother me when other peoples dogs come up to mine and the other owner doesnt - she may have known she could handle her own dog but be nervous about coping with somebody elses (just like me with my dog).
Maxine

Found all the threads in this particular post fascinating.  Our two are much less aggressive out of their own area than one they regard as 'theirs'.  Having said that, we choose to muzzle both of them when walking in a public place as they sometimes 'gang up' on a smaller dog, should we come across one.  This way they can free-run, we are relaxed in that they can't do any harm another dog, and they're both great at recall anyway.  I should mention we don't have any parks near us, and walk in woods and hills, so only very occasionally come accross another dog.  Since we have chosen to muzzle them they have picked up that we are not anxious and walks are much more relaxed.  Sure, other people think they are muzzled because they are 'human-biters', but they're not, and that's up to them.  Things happen, that's life, it's how you deal with it that matters.

If a dog is aggressive it should be kept on a lead IMHO.

We had an incident yesterday involving a Welsh Springer.

We had just let the girls go for a swim and noticed the people and the dog coming towards us from a distance. I put the soggy girls on their leads as they have a bad habit of going over to people and shaking :D

Anyway the dog got nearer and started to look a bit shifty. My two started to get a bit wound up and the owners did nothing. Next minute the dog went straight for poor Dudley. Moose in the mean time had got so het up she started to have one of her fits. So I was struggling trying to hold Moose and talk to her to calm her down and try and get Dudley away from the attacking dog. The owners finally called the dog and did I hear a sorry No :rolleyes: Luckily Duds was ok and Moose was fine :)

A couple of weeks ago I was walking the dogs with my friend from Scotland. We were in a field that has VERY high grass and a narrow path so it is difficult to see who is coming towards you. Anyway, I saw a man coming who I vaguely recognised, but couldn't see a dog. I put Tara on the lead anyway, but left Bramble until I could see if there was a dog or not. Then I saw that the man had a boxer and was the same dog that had attacked Tara a couple of months ago, in the same field. My friend put Bramble on the lead. I asked her to make sure it was a short lead. We had no alternative but to walk past this chap. As he walked past he had the boxer on a long lead and allowed it to go right up to Bramble, who was cowering, as he is very nervous of (most) other dogs when he is on the lead. The dog growled at him :( 'He's OK' said the man and walked off :( Yes, I thought - you didn't say the same when your dog attacked Tara :( :(

Daisy

There is good & bad, responsible & iresponsible owners of "friendly " and "aggressive" dogs ,  I consider myself a responsible  owner of an aggressive dog , she is only off lead when I know there is almost no chance of meeting anyone else , I go to a secluded wood where i can see for miles.......she does not wear a muzzle (as she was attacked while wearing it , (by a friendly dog) she was on lead it was off.  and as long as we walk in public places we are going to meet other dog owners from time to time!

why do we have to separate ourselves from each other , friendly verses aggressive!   we would all be a lot better owners if we worked together,  and kept our dogs under control  even friendly dogs can take a dislike to another, and the attitude of they are only doing what comes naturaly , by running up to greet each other is a nonsense  , if we want to go back to "natural  when  dogs lived in the wild as  packs, they would not allow intruders  in...... they will act first  ask questions later, so if we all can get away from the  "he only wants to play"  thinking, and start to control our dogs , on or off the lead, and get permission from other owners   to allow them to play, then the better we would all be.   i know to many people who take the attitude of he`s friendly so he can go  greet any other dog, only to frighten , chase and bully other dogs, and all the owner will say is "he`s only playing".

To the OP  , i think you where both at fault , the other owner should if she did not want her dog to play, walk another way!  you should have  acted more quickly, and called your dog back before he had a chance to approach the other dog.  we learn something new everyday, and hopefully lean by it.

Totally agree jackbox

>if we want to go back to "natural  when  dogs lived in the wild as  packs, they would not allow intruders  in...... they will act first  ask questions later<

I'm not sure I agree with that.  I recently visited a country where dogs roam freely (mostly around the city's rubbish dump :-( ) and I did not see any fights.  I saw lots of dogs ignoring each other, and also posturing and ritualised behaviour.

As you can see from my other post, I do have difficulty with dogs not being under control but I do think something has been lost in recent years in terms of the opportunities dogs have to just learn to be around others without aggression or over the top playfulness or bullying.

I love meeting calm dogs, who display all the proper body language - I just know that in today's society it isn't possible for every dog to be like this.

"I've lost count of the number of people that ask do they bite.  I doubt the same would be asked if it was a poodle or a lab."

I do agree that some people automatically think certain breeds are likely to be aggressive.
As a poodle owner for 16 years, I must say that it depends on the size and colour - our Standard is only 5 months old, never barks or growls at other people or dogs, but is already big and heavy, she doesn't have any pom-poms and is clipped with short body and woolly legs and head - many people happily come up to her with dogs, toddlers or small children in pushchairs, but just as many avoid her, often asking 'does she bite?'. She's black, and standards do have quite large mouths - coupled together, they can make people wonder. However, if she was white or apricot, far less people would ask whether she was likely to bite. 

I have read that other dogs sometimes fear black woolly dogs as they can't always see their eyes as clearly.

Anyway, I do also think that if someone has a dog that they know to be aggressive, and not to be totally trusted off lead, they should in all fairness avoid approaching other off lead dogs - especially without warning. Displaying hysteria on such an occasion can only serve to make matters worse.

Thanks for all your replies. I hope that I am a considerate owner, I learn a lot from reading the posts on this forum, it seems to me that there needs to be a dog etiquette published because a lot of people have forgotten how to be considerate to other dog owners. I am clear now that in this instance I wasnt at fault because I did not allow my dog to go up to the other dog, the other dog and owner strolled up to mine. Perhaps she had a lapse of concentration or perhaps her dog just takes a dislike to some dogs and mine was one of them. I feel guilty for getting angry now. My dog trainer organises training walks in the park where we practice recall, following off lead with distractions, playing with the other dogs and then back on lead etc. Its excellent and there are all sorts of dogs there, some are muzzled, some are a bit too exhuberant and bowl my westie over, others are a bit nervous, but we all tolerate each other because we all know what we have to do to ensure the safety of ours and others dogs and we all use the same techniques and instructions - I feel very safe there. Its a bit pot luck outside of this group as the other night showed. I think perhaps this subject is being done to death now so perhaps we should leave it there and thanks for your responses.

June, it sounds like your dog was lucky that the other dog had been picked up.  What if the other dog had been on a lead and your dog had approached it and been attacked because you were unable to recall him?

My dog is getting better and better around strange dogs but can still be a bit iffy if other dogs approach her.  My own point of view is that I get pretty naffed off when a dog makes an obvious bee line for my dog with its owner ignoring, failing to check with me or not being able to recall their dog.  My dog is easily recalled until the other dog invades her "personal space" and then she will chase them.  Usually I am able to put her on a lead long before then before quite frankly I feel frustrated that other owners don't always see the other perspective. 

i dont know if the hot weather is making us tetchy, but yesterday i had an incident (details of which are unimportant and there are 2 sides to the argument so wont bore you with it), but the point is, i did snap at someone and i normally wouldnt have said anything, being generally so laid back i am asleep.

In my mind, you were at fault.  There was a woman, rotating and turning in circles while holding her dog, and your dog was following it round.  The situation should never have got anywhere near this.

I think we also have to remember that not only are our dogs all different with differing levels of obedience and socialisation skills but we owners are also all different and deal with situations in a multitude of different ways and have different skills and varying levels of experience.

We all have different personalities and accordingly will have different ways of dealing with situations and different beliefs as to what is the right or wrong way to deal with a particular situation.  Some people will thrive in a certain situation and others would dread it so as well as doing what is right for our dog we also have to do what is right for us.

I always put my dog on his lead when I see another one approach - even if the other dog is off lead itself - as he is still under a year old and although very friendly I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it any other way and I don't have to worry about causing a potential problem.

However if my daughter is taking him out she only puts him back on the lead if the other dog is also on lead and, with her, our dog tends not to take any notice of the approaching dog and she feels more comfortable with this as her view point is that by putting him on his lead for every off lead dog she sees will make him think that approaching dogs are something for him to worry about.

I have no idea which one of us "right" but I do think the two different approaches work as we are both within our comfort zone and so don't convey any uncertainties to the dog.

One man's meat is another man's poison as they say.so what is right for one dog and it's owner is not necessarily so for another. :)

I have a dog aggressive dog, I have spoken about him before. Anyway, he is always on lead and I was having problems with a woman who let her dog run up to anyone and everything because in her words "it was friendly". It would approach mine and run around him in circles barking and yapping, basicly teasing him.
It would work him up into a frenzy. The first couple of times I spoke to her calmly and told her it would be better if she put him on lead around strange dogs as not all were friendly. Howerver after several encounters I ended up shouting at her.
The next time it happened I shouted at the dog to GO AWAY! and threatened to let mine off the lead to "PLAY" with hers! 
That was the turning point, I had achieved total control of the woman and her dog, she now always puts hers on a lead when she sees me and we pass by with no problem!

Well I certainly agree with onetwothree and dianamaz - I would be much happier if I thought dogs went back on leads in the vicinity of others.  Then perhaps I would be relaxed while walking with my dog and wouldnt transmit nervous vibes down the lead!

>We have all become far too reluctant to allow dogs to socialise naturally thus reducing their chances of learning how to react normally around other dogs - and what a nightmare walks seem to have turned into for many folk on here

Hear, hear! There's times when I think I am living in a parallel doggy universe - or perhaps it's just that I really am "simple countryfolk" but life with my dog is a very laid-back and enjoyable experience. He's not perfect and I'm certainly no great shakes as a dog trainer but we seem to exist cheerfully without every second walk turning into a nightmare. He likes other dogs and plays very well with them but is well able to read the doggy body language that says "I want to be ALONE!"

I don't make a big issue out of his interaction with other dogs but tend to take the view that an on-lead dog is on-lead for a reason and it's owner probably won't want it leaped on by an enthusiastic terrier so this was an early message to get through when he was a pup. But I still maintain that if you have an aggressive dog then it's unreasonable to expect everyone within 25 miles of it to put their dogs on a lead though!

Yes, I agree. Its all part of the my space/my dog/don't touch me/don't talk to me/don't hurt me or i'll sue culture we have these days

Very good post Roz and totally concurs with my own dog walking experiences and etiquette :) 

I want my dogs to enjoy every aspect of their walks and a major part of that is being free to run about and play with their other canine chums - some tiny in comparison and others dwarfing mine. 

IME dogs are very good at teaching other dogs manners and in almost 20 years I've neither had one injured nor cause an injury during their exercise.  Ironically, the only injury has been when an *on-lead dog at a training class* lunged and tore the ear of my youngster!

regards, Teri :) 

I think you must all live in much better places than me......... If we see a dog off lead here we get away ASAP as 99.9% of the time it will be aggressive towards other dogs and cannot be recalled. I don't think I've met more than one in the 4 years we've been here that was friendly and off lead. So many are without owners as well, they are just let out on their own. I won't even walk my Papillon without a Malinois to guard him as the risk of him getting killed by another dog is so big.

Hi Marianne,

I suppose all areas are different ;)   We have very few stray or latch key dogs (probably only one that I can think of :( ) but lots and lots of all sorts of breeds use the park and bridle paths that I use and yet they all mingle quite happily.  Those that don't want to be involved in boisterous nonsense (as was the case with my dearly departed golden oldie) soon see off anyone that's being a pain without the need for bloodshed :P   Sadly there have been a couple of lovely GSD litter mates (separate owners) who were originally kept on lead for about 10-12 months and both had very poor doggy manners.  Eventually most other dog walking regulars persuaded their owners to let them cavort with similarly sized dogs and they have now both turned into really friendly dogs and less boisterous because they burn off more energy and know how to interact and with which dogs it's OK to do so.

regards, Teri  

I hesitate to bring this up...but is this a generation thing?  Are all the ones in the 'Brainless' camp (myself included) - natural interaction/risks minimised but accepted as part of life - near or over fifty? It's just that we all seem to hark back to the time when dogs were an integrated part of life rather than a special area of interest and expertise.

(I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I mention this because I recently had a thread of mine locked before I could get a word in because someone passed a critical remark about someone else - so please, like the dogs: play nice and don't fight.)

Linda

I am 42 :D and a parent, does that maybe also make a difference?

:D I'm 49, and a parent too. I'm sure it makes a difference! :D

Hi Linda,

I don't know if it is or isn't a generation thing ...... possibly it has an influence.  You're (almost) a decade out with me but then again even my grand parents' dogs enjoyed the same freedom as mine although they were based in the country side and I'm not so perhaps our experiences differed.

I think as Brainless has suggested it may be that being a parent also puts a slightly different slant to attitude as well.   Also, as with the dogs themselves, we all have differing personalities and abilities to cope with varying levels of stress etc.  Personally I have a very laid back approach with my dogs which IMO is vital because as a breed they are too needy and sensitive to have a stressed out owner ;)  

I think some owners perhaps don't really have the time to have a dog and rear it appropriately while conversely others have been led to believe (whether through training classes, books, www, vets, TV shows etc) that instilling acceptible and easy to live with behaviour in our dogs is an art form - whereas most of what is required IMO is patience and common sense.

regards, Teri :) 

Not all of them! I'm in my 20s :-D

I used to let my dogs off the lead from the start of the walk to the end of the walk, meeting dogs along the way, some I knew some I didn't. And we as owners used to leave it down to pot luck as to weather our dogs would get on. Most of the time but purely down to luck the dogs got on, we would loose control of our dogs for 10 mins as they raced off playing. We had no recall what so ever. Then enter another dog on to the scene weather it was on a lead or not our dogs would run over 100 miles an hour to greet it. Even the most well behaved dog would be intimidated by a pack of dogs' running towards it especially when on a lead.

we would say the "oh they are all friendly, they are only young/playing/harmless" making excuses for the real fact that we had no control over them what so ever and by saying those words would if by magic excuse the rudeness and the risk we where putting our dogs through.

In many instances the other owner would say its fine and walk off with a dozen of dogs trailing after it, tangling in the lead as the owner tried to walk away. With me and the other dog owner shouting our dogs names over and over again to death ears. Then when our dogs got back, we told them they where naughty.

then it would happen again only this time meeting a dog owner fed up of being interrupted this way, having a dog that has a medical condition/is old/scared/dog aggressive through fear what ever. And when we this time make our pitiful excuses they turn to us in a horrible tone "your dogs should be on a lead" it hurts when we here these words. The truth does hurt!
But they are right of course!

I'm shamed to say this was me as a novice dog owner who thought my dogs had a born right to wonder the fields approaching every dog and if they met a horrible dog it was the other owners fault not mine, because my dogs where perfect, would not hurt a fly.
Of course i was wrong again. Because if my dog was perfect it would never of run off, ignored my recall.
There is no excuse; the dog only knows the boundaries set by his owner!
With the amount of dogs on our dog fields at any given time, if we where all to let our dogs off all the time it would cause a mass riot I'm sure of that!

it makes no difference how good your training is, when an animal is scared or excited they are then are fuelled by instinct and so letting your dog get to this stage is just going to prove a disaster if you have no control over it.

I now view things very differently after having a dog of mine attacked, although in this case my dogs where on a lead and the attacking dogs ran out of a house and jumped on my dog. I realised how quick a dog attack can happen, I was powerless. And this was on a street with 4 other people. Had I of been on the open fields i would not have stood a chance and my dog would of probably been killed.

now my dogs start there walk on the lead and end there walk on the lead, and if they do come off lead it is when there are no other dogs in at least 100 meters of sight!
You have to be one step ahead. My dogs have learnt that recall means a treat, not "oh there's another dog/a group of kids/a bike/a jogger" they just see it as a treat opportunity. So it is a positive experience. And there recall has come on so much more better.

I never let my dogs run wild, run over to other dog even those they know, other wise that just creates double standards and causes confusion. It's best they never get the chance to run over to any dog then they don't expect the liberty.

Even dogs I know can have off days you never know what's going on in a dogs mind!

I see other dog owners letting there dogs run wild, and now I am watching from the other side of the fence i realise how wrong i was to ever let my dogs be that way.  I even get annoyed with other dog owners letting there dogs approach mine, after putting all 3 in a sit and making them wait patiently in till the dog passes, I'm annoyed at the fact the owner allows there dog to approach mine and cause havoc, it isn't fair.

Unless you have a dog that never approaches other dogs no matter what then i don't see how you can ever have your dog off lead safely in a busy area and expect to have 100% control over it in all situations. So in essence you where in the wrong, and now it has taught your dog that his behaviour is acceptable.

But its ok, you now know what you need to work on. Letting dogs play together is fine, they just need to know when its time to stop, this comes only with training.

With me, I often take my neighbour's Yorkie up to the dog playing fields but have to keep him on the lead because his recall is terrible. He is really friendly and loves other dogs, but he runs up to dogs, doesn't matter how big they are, and he had a close shave with an aggressive Boxer that was on its lead. I apologised to the owner as it was my fault that I didn't have my dog under control, so now I keep him on an extendable lead at all times. It is a shame but it doesn't seem to bother him because he can still greet other dogs when we know they're friendly.
Emma+May

Its quite strange in the dog showing theres an unspoken rule that you do NOT allow your dog to sniff arse unless you know otherwise (and risk your dogs nose to be taken off)  :D and yet they are all on leads! but away from dog showing many people are so lax about it!

I have seen very few arguments amongst show dogs, yet in such a relatively small space where theres hundreds of dogs you'd expect more, not so as we all show the same respect for others as we expect to us.

Just something that struck me and thought it was a valid point.