I know that it this scenario is always difficult.

However I was annoyed today. Every afternoon I take Hannah our Greekie (rescue) on her training lead out on to our nearby moor, a haven for dog walkers, normally fairly quiet.  I take my other 3 doglets in the morning and can't manage all four together.

Hannah is getting fitter by the day and more confident. Hubby and I have let her off lead twice last weekend early in the morning.  She went bananas and had a great run (she is houndy) but did not stray far and so we were able to clip the lead back on eventually.  However on my own at the moment (we have only had her 4 weeks) I am not confident enough to let her off as she has had no training yet (she will do but we are taking it slowly).  Today on my own I was having a quiet walk with Hannah on her training lead when loads of women across the moor appeared with umpteen dogs all off lead.  Several of the dogs made a beeline for me and Hannah although we were a long way across the field.  Hannah being a hound type started leaping around madly so I had a real job to hold her.  You see I am not sure how she would be around dogs if she and they were all off lead at the moment,.   She is good with my own dogs but she is not your usual rescue dog - as she has not been in a domestic situation before.

The women could clearly see I am sure that I was in some difficulty with trying to hang on to Hannah who was terribly excited.   I alway put my dogs  back on their leads at the sign of any trouble- try to anticipate it  eg joggers/ children etc / dogs on lead when mine are off.  However they were sall o busy chatting that they were not much interested.  One was calling for about 10 minutes "Millie"  who was not taking a blind bit of notice.  Honestly!!!

It is quite hard at the moment coping with Hannah who clearly needs lot of exercise but  I don't feel is ready to be unleashed to all and sundry - she is not aggressive but is boisterous and is as fast as Lewis Hamilton!!!  Might knock down dogs/peeps etc.

Just wish peoople would be more aware of dogs on leads - there is usually a reason!!

Snowflake

Tell me about it, i tend to walk mine on a lead for a period of time to calm him down, when he is off lead if i do see someone with a dog on lead or going to grab their dog by the collar or recalling them back i do call out to them "is your dog ok or shall i put mine back on a lead", if too far away we either walk in the opposite direction if i want him off lead or i recall him back on the lead.

I met this guy with an elderly Akita the other day, off lead. My boy was on lead and he grabbed his girl's collar. I asked him if he'd like me to walk around him rather than next to him and is his dog ok with others. He said no she was fine and we walked up to each other and the dogs had a little sniff while we had a little chat.
I think in places where its a bit more remote its only fair to ask or to presume to put your dog on a lead in another is or about to be.
Unless
You are in a major dog park where nearly all dogs are off lead, where then i would expect if you had a dog which was nervous or really not sure the owners would have more common sense than to take their dog there.

> Just wish peoople would be more aware of dogs on leads - there is usually a reason!!

I do so agree! I give all the people attending classes at the training club where I teach a lecture on this every so often.  I have my daughters African here it is an ex guard, and is very protective. Where I walk there is a new dog walker, a man with a chocolate lab and he lets if off the lead it runs so far ahead of him he has no hope of controlling it! He always has either his iPod plugged into his ears or is on his mobile phone... Grrrrrr! Despite me asking him very nicely everytime his dog has come charging up hackles on end, winding up my African he still allows his dog to do exactly what it likes.

One day soon I shall not be responsible for my actions, I shall simply catch the blooming thing and walk off with it, he is always so far away he could not do a thing about it. It could get out of the fields and onto the roads and be killed or cause a timid dog or child to run into the road with the same consequences. I wonder if the local dog warden can do something to help? There is a "trigger happy" farmer near me so nobody walks our dogs near his land, he has a lot of sheep so he is always on the look out. This dog if it is not killed on the road could end up being shot, I really do not think this man would care one way or the other.

Ours are off lead most of the time when we are out but we shout them back to us when we see a dog on lead and both of them are good at coming back even if there are other dogs around. Our Bernese in particular is very good with other dogs, she seems to have a 'presence' about her and her doggy etiquette is very good. I've never seen her be the slightest bit threatening to any dog although she is not at all submissive, ever! I've never seen any dog being aggressive to her either but if there is the slightest sign of wariness from another dog she just leaves it alone. Our Gordon is more submissive and more likely to come back to us or to try to hide or look for Bramble to 'save her'. Maybe we've just been lucky but Bramble is 5 now and Treacle 4 so I hope it continues :-) . It does annoy me when people assume that because their dog is fine , yours will be too. I've had dogs that hated being approached when they were on lead so I always call my two back to us and even if the folk say its ok, the girls get a quick sniff and away as I don't feel its right for a leashed dog to be pestered by an unleashed one, they have nowhere to escape to and i think that can make some dogs anxious.

Hope you feel more confident about letting your girl off lead soon. We have a great walk near us where there is a large area of trees fenced off with deer fence and that was where we always let the girls free until we were sure of their recall.

It's nice to hear how Hannah is getting on - even if it's a situation like you had today :)

Your observations reminded me of a post on here several months ago.  Someone suggested using the fenced in tennis courts for dogs who have trouble with recall.  I saw someone doing just that whilst I was on holiday in Scotland recently - it looked like a young puppy and I wondered if she got the idea from CD too!!

It might not be suitable for you, not every park has them, and I suppose those that do might get busier with good weather but it's worth a try if you have one nearby.  It'll take the strain off you, give her a bit of extra freedom, and give you a safe place to practise her recall.  Another place you can try is your local riding stable, if you have one.  Many of them have good fenced paddocks or training areas you may be able to arrange to use for a few weeks.  A friend of mine used to check with her local farmer for sheep proofed fields she could use whilst they had no livestock in - she owned a runner!

Good luck whilst you get her sorted - sounds like she's doing very well though :)

> Every afternoon I take Hannah our Greekie (rescue) on her training lead out on to our nearby moor, a haven for dog walkers

Having a dog aggressive dog I do understand your frustration. However, you have described this place as a haven for dog walkers. I would not take my dog aggressive dog anywhere where we are likely to meet off lead dogs. Likewise when I got my rescue dog last year and I wasn't sure how she would react to off lead dogs we simply avoided them till I was sure she was ok.

Yes, it is annoying when seemingly out of control dogs run over to yours onlead but dogs aren't born with perfect recalls. Personally I understand that young dogs or newly rehomed dogs may not be perfectly well trained and may run over to my dogs. If I don;t want other dogs to approach mine I walk on streets, in empty farmers fields very early in the morning and similar :)

Edited to say Dogsababe it was probably me who mentioned the fenced in tennis courts, them and 5-a-side football pitches are fabulous for antisocial dogs or hounds prone to deafness :-)

Well the place where we walk is a huge moor, quite often no-one else around but of course when the weather is good more peeps appear,  cyclists and joggers too.  This morning I am taking her out at 10 am with a "doggy" friend and we are going to let her off the lead in the same spot as before as long as no-one is around.  The moor is fairly bleak in winter - one feels like the last woman on earth there usually.  It is a haven as there are great spaces for dogs to run and nowhere near a road.

I will let you know how today's exercise goes!

Snowflake

> The women could clearly see I am sure that I was in some difficulty with trying to hang on to Hannah who was terribly excited.

Ohhhh I know too well what this feels like - trying to hold on to an exited dog whith the other owners not appearing to be bothered :( Never mind, at least Hannah was happy to see the dogs, that's a good thing, you just need to learn how to curb her exitement now.
As for the women with off-lead dogs making half-hearted re-call attempts, there will always be people like this, it's best to not let it get to you. :)

Agree with you Tigger.  If you have a dog-aggressive dog than you should not be taking them to an area where there are a lot of other dogs.   It's asking for trouble really and making walks much more stressful for both owner and dog.   If it is absolutely necessary to walk an aggressive dog amongst other dogs, than a muzzle is in order.

I need to walk one of my dogs on lead all the time.  He is head shy and I cannot be sure he will allow me to put his lead back on him once I take it off :-(   Anyway, he is a wimp.   He really likes other dogs, but sometimes they scare him.  He will go up to other dogs and most of the time is fine.  Sometimes though he gets frightened and he will growl, it's nothing more than a bluster and the next second he's fine.  When growling does not work - and this has only happened once - he flips on his back, belly up and surrenders - waiting for the other dog to eat him.  

I am sure some people think he is on the lead because he is aggressive, when the fact is that he is exactly the opposite.  That said, no one has ever called their dog back or stopped them from running up to mine. 

Out of respect if I see another dog on the lead I always recall Kez in and put him on his lead or hold him until they have pasted. If I have not been quick enough to notice (if they are on extendable leads you can't always tell) Kez tends to give them a wide birth.

I always think the following, they could be old, poorly, in season, not good on recall, aggressive, shy/scared - however if I do have Kez on the lead no one pays me the same respect and it drives me mad. Kez may only weigh 32kg, but when he wants to play and he is on the lead he is determined and I just can't hold him.

Well - today a good friend of mine Sara came with me and all 4 dogs. She has 2 GSDs and is an experienced doggy (and horsey) person.  We all went for a long walk and when we found a quiet spot with no-one around we let Hannah off - although with her lead trailing.  This time she pottered about sniffing (doing the hound thing) fot quite a long time.  Once or twice we recalled her and then let her go again.  Then she took off for a bit,  circling through the fields althougn keeping us in her sight.  She returned to us of her own accord  and this is the third time so I am beginning to feel that we are getting there. She shows no signs of wanting to disappear over the horizon.

Tonight we took her for the third time to the dog training club - where I take Isla my sheltie and and one our of other dogs Pip JRx,  and all remarked on the change in Hannah, much more confident now and moving forward,  wanting to meet people and other dogs.  She is a complete hit - partly I suspect through her beauty!

Sitting here at the computer for once all is quiet as all dogs are utterly exhausted!

Snowflake

> Unless
> You are in a major dog park where nearly all dogs are off lead, where then i would expect if you had a dog which was nervous or really not sure the owners would have more common sense than to take their dog there

My feelings tend to go with the above, if you have a dog with poor social skills then you should wait to take it to major off lead doggy hang outs.

My poor dogs would never get any off lead time if I recalled them every time a dog hove into view.  the whole pleasure of having them in the park is for them to interact with others and have some freedom, but this only applies if they have good canine social skills.

If your dog has poor social skills then it is best to road walka nd get them used to other dogs in controlled circumstances (training classes, aranged meets with stooge dogs etc).  Why shoudl the average dog and owner have to ahve all the extra hassle because soem other dog has no social skills or is aggresive, it is that dogs owner who should sort out their problems.

Most dog can deal perfectly well with young upstarts that invade their space and tell them off without undue fuss or hurt etc, in fact that is how the youngsters learn their manners, from their elders.

I think we do interefere too much and shoudl relax more, and if we ahve ensured our canines are well rounded freindly dogs that cna deal with their own kind without undue fuss then let them enjoy meeting each other.