Another dog owner lets their dog come up to your without asking?

This happened to me this morning - I was checking out a new trail, trying to find a longer walk for the dogs, and over the other side of a field (the path goes along the edge), I saw a guy walking his dog - and not even a second later, I realised the dog was hurtling full tilt towards me and mine.  Not much I could do of course - it was very fast, so I leashed mine and stood very still.  It stopped about 10 feet away, then slowly came over - all friendly thank dog, and everyone started trying to play.  Eventually the owner came over, and just said "is he being a nusiance?" in a half-jokey way - to which I replied, "he's lucky mine were friendly."  "why?" Why?  How about because he couldn't have asked from so far away what they were like, or even seen their body language - his dog was a white blip when I first realised it was running toward us.  So I said "because if I'd been walking my other dog, he'd probably need to go to the vet now."  Not true - she'd have msot likely scared him off first - but I was just so annoyed that this pillock had let his dog run at us like that.  Especially given the bad publicity lately - his dog was a staffy mix, and a big one too - what if someone else had been walking and reported it as a pit mix?  So infuriating.

We went different directions but the nature of the trail means we both had to turn round and backtrack at some point - so we passed again.  But this time he looked suitably less humorous and the dog was on a lead.

So what do you say when something like this happens?  I find it hard not to start laying into them, but I realise it's totally counterproductive - especially as I know one day I'll be dealing with these people as clients!

I generally display my displeasure and point out that it is rude and possibly dangerous.

However i will NOT leash my dogs if an off lead dog is approaching as i know this is MUCH more likely to result in my dogs ending up defensively agressive about being on the lead. Leave 'em off, then they can run or deflect any nastiness as needs be.

I think this very much depends on the dog - where I walk (miles and miles of old farmland) there is a timid little rescued lurcher girl. She got chased by a much bigger dog snapping at her ankles and ran away quite some distance. It took the owner several hours to find her crouching in a bush in an entirely different area, so in her case she now definitely puts her on the lead unless she has previously met the dog.

I tend to let my Dobe stay off the lead but call him to walk close to me, or take a detour if they look like trouble! My boy will neither run nor deflect trouble - will just stand there and get beaten up :rolleyes:

What would I say? Probably "Hello!" and walk on. :)

Ditto Jeangenie, there's far too much paranoia about dogs socialising together.    I have 3 and never have them on leads, I leave them to greet & sniff strange dogs and a yell from myself brings them back to me.   If there is a dog approaching that the owner puts on a lead, I usually step off the path and tell mine to stay but if the other dog is free running, it takes it's chances like mine to with it!

I would have kept walking takiong a course at 90' degrees from the oncoming dog.  If it seemed i would become a problem I would alert the owner (maybe they didn't notice). 

Mine would have been very happy to greet it, and many would think twice when they see that I have several wating for them.

I wouldn't think it rude if the owner is obviously relaxed and the dog freindly.

I am fortunate in owning bitches of a medium size bred athat are all pretty sociable.

If I had a male that disliked other males or a frail dog I might feel diferent, but the girls are unlikely to arouse aggresion in any but the most dog aggressive canines, generally dogs don't attack bitches and most bitches don't squabble on neutral territory.

I think you will find most people on here fall into one of two camps on this subject.  Some will feel as you do that all other dog walkers should ask before letting their dog approach yours and others, like myself, who feel that dog walking should be as sociable as possible with both dogs and owners able to mix reasonably freely.  Having said that, I always try to be perceptive to human/dog body language and put my dog back on lead if  necessary and I am also inclined to lead my dog if another owner has theirs on lead, just out of politeness.

Personally, if I had a dog that tended to be aggressive, I think I would either muzzle it, keep it on the lead or try to exercise it when/where there were fewer if any dogs about but that's just my opinion.

I walk mine on lead and muzzeled as he is dog aggressive. I also walk him most days at 5.30am, so I dont bump in to too many people. I do this so my dog can get a peaceful happy walk and so I am not a nuicence to others. However alot of the time people with their lovely friendly dogs allow them to come charging up to mine from a big distance away, I always shout out 'can you call your dog back please as mine is not friendly' to which I mostly get ignored or they try to call and the dog ignores them and I end up getting a very stressed dog for the rest of my walk.

I find this incredibly rude.. I'm very pleased for these people that their dogs are friendly but mine is not and I do all I can to keep out of their way so is it really much to ask that they just call theirs away for 5 seconds while we pass each other? :(

People are very rude if they ignore you Zoe (assuming they are near enough to hear you of course :)).  You are doing everything right so in those circumstances, they should certainly act to control their own dogs. 

nikita, I would have done the same as you.  I usually say to them that my dog is on the lead for a reason and that she is a bit anti-social at times and doesn't like other dogs running at her.  If people don't point out that certain behaviour is perceived as unacceptable how the owner of the other dog to know.  It could end in tears and bloodshed if it runs at the wrong dog - no doubt that would contribute to another devil dog story :rolleyes:

I can see it from both points of view. If this is a known doggy walking area, country park type place and he and the dog are relaxed and friendly then I don't see the problem. I leave the collies to speak to any aproaching dogs, usually it's a quick sniff and they walk on but occasionally they'll have a play. I would assume that dogs walked in these sorts of places are friendly. However, I also have my two borzois, one really doesn't like any other dog, and his brother who always feels the need to back him up. They are walked on leads unless I'm sure the field is secure and no one else is around then they get off for a spin (muzzled). If I see another dog approaching while they are on their lead I always shout ahead and ask them to call their dog back, I've never had a problem with people not doing this...probably because it's backed up by a 36", 110lb borzoi jumping up and down on it's back feet and baying at them :(

This subject has been discussed many times on here, I don't see a problem with well socialised friendly dogs just wandering up and speaking to each other. If you know you're dog doesn't like this just call ahead - as the owner of a dog aggressive dog I think it's my responsibility to avoid other dogs, I don't expect every other dog to be deprived the opportunity to make friends :)

I guess you're lucky the owners of these other dogs listen to you :)

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want their dog coming up to Mr Beastly, as he usually spots them before me and starts shouting :rolleyes:

I must admit the last thing I do now if a dog is running towards mine is put mine on the lead - in fact if mine is on his lead and a dog runs towards him I let mine off its an area away from roads and chldren - things seem to go better that way.  Last year when I first got him (4 yrs old) my dog was a bit dog aggresssive and I was forever asking people to call theirs away.  I then spent months working on these issues and will now allow mine to run free off lead - he does sometimes approach others at quite a speed although not a great distance - if the other dog is off lead too I dont see the problem now. 

So I suppose I used to be in the camp of why do other people let their dog approach mine and now if both are off lead I think they tend to work it out for themselves.

Maxine

"If you know you're dog doesn't like this just call ahead - as the owner of a dog aggressive dog I think it's my responsibility to avoid other dogs, I don't expect every other dog to be deprived the opportunity to make friends "

Very good point.  I have worked hard to ensure my dos are sociable as excellent recall is not one of their most natural traits, and it would be a shame if they were confined all their lives to a lead because they are not 100% on recall if I can ensure their manners to dogs and people are good.

> If you know you're dog doesn't like this just call ahead - as the owner of a dog aggressive dog I think it's my responsibility to avoid other dogs, I don't expect every other dog to be deprived the opportunity to make friends

The trouble is, he was too far away to have a hope of hearing me when he let the dog off - we're talking 200-300 feet!  No way he could have heard me or seen what my dogs were like from their body language, and his attempts at calling his dog were minimal as well - when he was about 10 feet away I heard a barely audible whistle.  When I walk Soli, as soon as I see any dog approaching off-lead I call to the owners to call them back as she won't be able to handle it - 9 times out of 10 they either don't hear me or completely ignore me, even after she's started reacting.  This is despite the fact she's a 40kg dobe :rolleyes:

The situation didn't allow me to let mine off - Opi for one is very prone to getting over excited and running around like a mad thing with a playful dog, to the point of running off, and I already had remy on-lead as he'd expressed a strong interest in completely disappearing after rabbit smells on the field we were walking next to. :rolleyes: I'd prefer to let them off, I do like them to socialise - and up the park I tend to, after I've asked other owners - but this wasn't a good place to do it.

What a dilemma I think we all deal with every day unless you have instant recall.  Mine hasn't yet - still working on it.  I find she reads other dogs very well.  If the dog looks agressive she makes a wide berth of it.  She is more likely to be agressive when on the lead because she knows she is trapped.  However although recall is poor when another dog is in sight she stays within a reasonable distance so I can communicate with the owner of the other dog.  Mind you having a collie means that when approaching a strange dog she is usually flat on the ground crawling!   It was a very different story with my last dog - an English Setter dog who hadn't a clue about other dogs being agressive.  He would run up to everyone and everything not expecting anything nasty at all.  I had to keep him on the lead most of the time - he would also disappear over the horizon too leaving me alone with the lead.  All dogs are different.  If I see another dog these days I feel my dog can cope with it - all except my neighbours dog who gives off all the wrong signals.  She says come and play and then turns and snaps.  When my dog puts her in her place it is my dog's fault.  It means that their dog has the freedom of the front garden but mine can't.  ~ Never mind.

I agree Ceejay, all dogs are different. I know that I make it worse with my reaction, I was always nervous when other dogs approached  our dogs and it travels down the lead to the dog. My husband rarely had a problem as he never expected dogs to fight so never got uptight. When we got the last two I was determined that walking them would be a pleasure not a trial so I made a huge effort not to get upset when other dogs approached. It helps that they are bitches not dogs, as Brainless says.

We had our dogs (2 bitches, 1 neutered, 1 not at the time) at the beach, they were having a ball running in and out of the waves when this medium sized mongrel type came wandering over and started to pester our unneutered gordon setter. She was quite young and was obviously taken aback at this very rude dog sticking its nose up her bottom although there was no aggression from either of them. Anyway she barked getting the attention of our bernese who came bounding over to investigate. Well I have never seen such a look of shock on a dog before, he took one look at this huge animal bounding towards him and ran back to his owners (who hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to him), while the girls got on with their game, it was sooooo funny :-D . The bernese was going to see what was going on and would have played quite happily with him, the big feartie! I was really pleased with their reaction though and that helps your confidence next time. Later on a lab came over to play and was being called off by his owners, only problem, he was called bramble and our bernese is also bramble, so we are all standing shouting Bramble while both dogs completely ignored us.
A few years ago I would have had our dog on the lead on the beach and if he was off lead I was constantly watching for other dogs coming anywhere close - no pleasure for any of us.

I must admit I am a great one for putting the dogs back on lead or calling them in at the approach of another dog but after reading lots of posts I have relaxed this rule a little especially with the juvenile Beardie.  She can get very nervous at the approach of another dog no matter how friendly and will snap and lunge to try and make it go away if she is on lead.  Now I very rarely have more than three dogs with me at any one time and so long as there is no immediate danger, cliffs or busy roads, I let them off but keep them reasonably close when walking - i.e. as soon as they start to get close to the edge of my voice range - I call them back.

The difference in behavior is very interesting.  They have worked out there own strategy and they tend to scatter in three different directions, confusing on coming dogs, and circle back in behind me.  I guess this must have a lot to do with their herding past.  When the TT is with us she tends to run in a zig zag line and look for a Beardie to hide behind.

All makes for a more relaxed walk.

I am torn between the two courses of action. Having a large breed in the teenage stage I tend to put him back on his lead if I see a small dog or one on the lead (or elderly people or  children) because he is too dog friendly and can rush around like a loon if the other dog wants to play and never looks where he is going. If an approaching dog is off lead and the owner doesn't call their dog back then I tend now to leave him off lead as well.

I always used to recall him and put him on the lead regardless but noticed that whenever I recalled him he would instantly look around to see if there was another dog out there somewhere - so I began to think I was turning the dog meeting thing into a big issue rather than letting it be just an ordinary part of everyday life. By taking this new approach I have noticed that his attitude to other dogs has become more of a take it or leave it affair - if they want to play he is more than happy to do so but if they are not interested he has a quick hello and then walks off again.

I know he runs the risk of meeting an off lead dog who may not be too friendly but he also stands the chance of being able to vacate the area if he too is not on his lead. Everyone has a different view on the subject so there will always be people who do not see the situation in the same way but I have to say my new approach seems to have made him less interested in other dogs rather than finding each one a source of great excitement. Perhaps he is just growing up a bit but, whatever the reason, it makes for more relaxed walks.

I think the question for me is how far away the owner of the other dog is, and how fast the other dog is approaching!

I used to have a lot of problems with my lab who had a serious case of selective deafness on recall, but since getting her a remote collar and operating it approximately four times the first day only, I am proud to say I am one of the lucky people whose dog comes back when its called!  I now take the view that if we're out at the beach its hard to avoid other dogs, and I think its sad to deprive them of a sociable 'hello' - however only to the extent that my dog does not now hare off to meet other dogs on the horizon - when she trots over (and no faster) to say hello to another dog i'm close enough to see whether it looks friendly, and to guage the reaction of the other dog's owner.  If either look unhappy i can call her back to heel until they've past. 

However this morning my bitch was chased around a fair bit by a gsp dog who was trying to hump her, and whose owner was somewhere in the distance ambling over with no apparent concern or undue haste!  I did think this was a bit rude - if my dog behaved like this (or should I say when she was like this!) I would avoid the beach at busy times and keep a squeaky toy in my pocket to distract her if I thought she was about to take off, at least long enough for me to get her lead back on.

Oh yes you have reminded me - my Eng Setter was entire and he would hump other dogs later in life - male or female.  I couldn't trust him with children either because he would do the same given the chance.  Poor thing must have known he was missing something in life.  Our Collie meets new dogs at agility.  On the lead she gets edgy - off the lead she rolls over on her stomach and flirts with the males!  The beach yesterday afternoon was relatively busy.  She stayed away from children, she didn't chase balls, she interacted very well with every dog she met - either having a good play or a quick walk around and sniff and on her way.  She stayed within a reasonable distance and we kept calling her back for a treat every now and then.   So we all had a lovely walk.  I feel lucky that I have a dog like this - I have worked at getting her socialised and trained.  However I know what it is like to own a difficult dog - although I feel guilty with the knowledge that I have now - maybe I could have done things differently.  It is very easy to be relaxed having a laid back friendly dog like a setter but I was guilty of letting him run up to strange dogs on the lead - and getting snapped at (once).  I didn't need anyone to tell me that I was wrong - I learnt the hard way but didn't know how to do anything other then keep my dog on the lead.   I usually speak to other people when out for walks.  It may be possible to offer some tactful advice - eg my old dog used to do that - here is a possible solution - one may find that the person with the out of control dog may be looking for help and advice.