Dog owners - do you avoid dogs on leads when walking your dogs.

Sorry, pointless ramble so here's a flash to make me feel better.

Rusty is gorgeous.

If a dog is on a lead then the understanding is that either the dog is a pain in the arse to get back on the lead ie naughty, or that it may be anxious around other dogs, or that it is possibly aggresive, so the purpose of the lead is to protect your dog and other dogs. However you can't stop other dogs that are not on leads coming over. All you can do is walk away, and if a dog isn't on a leasd then the etiquette is that it should be a well behaved dog therefore not a threat, it isn't always the case though.

Rusty is a stunner!

In this case the owner of the dog was at fault, your dog was on the lead, and you were approached. He should have called his dog off and had better control of it - but I know that is too much to hope for in many dog owners.

If a dog is on the lead, as Claire said, it will be for a reason, and I don't let my dog go near them for both their sakes. If the owner was happy for it to be off lead running with other dogs, it would be. This man should have respected the reasons why you had Rusty on the lead. He's a twunt - quite a common trait of dog owners I'm afraid!

I know you only have him for a holiday, but it's maybe worth your sister seeing if he could get a coat of some type advising he is an assistance dog in training or something?

The guy is a knob. I hate dog owners that let their dog off the lead when they can't control them. He shouldn't have let his dog approach you, if he can't control that, the dog needs a leash.

Agree Hatters - dogs shouldn't be off the lead unless they can be controlled by their owners/aren't agressive. P was attacked by a Jack Russell and the owner's excuse was "He's old and grumpy - doesn't like puppies" Well you saw me coming you kn0b..... put your dog on a lead.

I work hard to train her and it annoys me when other dog owners can't control them. Rescue dogs with issues aside, the only excuse for they have is lazyness.

On that point my friend asked me the other day who had trained Penny. Erm me, you cow!

WHTS

What an absolute twunt.

I avoid ALL dogs while walking my dog ?

Best advice if a dog comes towards you is to just carry on walking in the opposite direction to be honest. It's rare you'll get a dog as aggressive as Buster that's off the lead so the most you'll probably have to contend with is a bit of scuffling and showing off.

You were in the right he let his out of control dog run over to you. This is a particular bug bear of mine as I have a difficult dog. However that doesn't help you as there are lots of dog owners around who have no clue and give the rest of us a bad name.

I usually try and walk away, which you did, my next tactic is to shout loudly 'Call your dog'. Again this won't help if they are idiots but hopefully having something to say rather than help may make you feel in control. It will also draw attention to the fact that it is his dog which is out of control not yours. Also my trainer always says that the dogs pick up clues from us so try and fake some confidence (even if you're scared inside). It sounds like Rusty is a good dog and so you don't really need to worry about him it was the other dog which growled and scared you. Try and look for clues from the other dog to calm yourself, if it had a waggy tail even though it was leaping and growling chances are it was play, if the hair is standing on end on their back it is fear or agression. This won't stop the twunt of an owner lettign their dog run wild but hopefully you will be able to reassure yourself that all is OK.

Also ^^ WSS

Most of us who own aggressive dogs are well aware of what they are like. I also know exactly who is around me at all times with mine. I can't risk it. Plus a truly responsible owner of an aggressive or potentially aggressive dog will muzzle them.

Thank you all. This really helps.

We had my Dad's puppy for 4 days a couple of weeks ago. She is a German Shepard and now 4 months old.

She is impeccably behaved - for my dad! She may as well have been deaf for the first two days I had her! My voice commands just did not register in her furry little brain. However, by day 3 and 4 and short walks 12-16(!) she was really responsive and I felt much more confident letting off the lead in safe places. She would come back, leave other dogs alone, drop their toys, sit, paw, look scared if I said No!

So it might get better.

Or he might just be a cheeky chappy. At least you get to give him back!

I generally tried to keep her away from other dogs on leads, as Claire says, it is normally because the dog on the lead isn't great with other dogs so its nice to give them space and not stress them.

A much nicer walk today, I was all ready with my confident "call your dog" and keep calm on the outside, and didn't see another soul!

will miss the great big bundle of fun when he goes!

thank you all for giving me the support to handle him and other dog owners so that I didn't let my sister down.

x

The other dogs owner was being a twunt - if they could see it was winding up your sisters dog, they should have recalled it or come over and put it on its lead.

Might be worth your sister investing in one of the things from http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk/ if anyone else is going to be taking the gorgeous Rusty out again.

Shea is a little git so I don't let him off lead (except in an enclosed area) and always make sure that when we are walking down little paths (which we have to in the village) that I am between him and other dogs. He is getting better (thankfully!!) and will now walk to heel most of the time