# I have HAD IT with stupid people and their off-leash dogs!



## msshovel (Jul 28, 2012)

How am I supposed to get my 15 month old boy to like other dogs if every dog he meets is rude and misbehaved? We just took Major on his walk and some guy was letting his dog run loose in his yard while he mowed the lawn. Well of course when the dog saw Major he runs into the street and starts growling. My 12 year old had Major by the leash and I was pushing my son in the stroller. She quickly gave me the leash and I was able to keep my boy and the other dog apart by keeping walking. The other guy stands in the middle of the street with his hands on his hips giving his dog a "disapproving" look. I mean really? What an idiot!!

Keep your dogs on leashes people!

Major has had an unpleasant experience on a walk with another dog a few months before. Again it was some idiot who let their dog run wild.

I'm just steaming right now.


----------



## Narny (Sep 8, 2010)

It is really amazing how stupid people can be able this sort of thing. They assume that they are the only dog in the area so it shouldnt be a problem. I yelled at a women the other day who was walking 2 dogs off leash. They were well behaved ie didnt run away etc but there is a leash law. They HAVE to be on a leash, and I told her so. Her dogs wouldnt stop barking at my Lulu and were just causing a racket. It was a mess.


----------



## lafalce (Jan 16, 2001)

So there is dog is loose while mowing the lawn......how brilliant.

I know what you mean by stupid people. By me, I have loose Chiwawa's running up to us.

Argggggggg!!!!!!!


----------



## redandgold (Jul 2, 2013)

With ya. I hate people who won't keep badly behaved dogs on a leash. I have in the past had to shoulder-charge grown retrievers off my younger smaller dog because the owner won't call them off. 'Oh, but he's only playing'. So what? It's not appropriate to let him jump all over my littlie.


----------



## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

My favorite line is: "You wouldn't want my GSD to do it, so why does your dog get to do it?"

The off-leash areas are slowly dwindling here, but just because it's an inconvenience to me doesn't mean I (knowingly) do it.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when your dog encounters other dogs when you're out walking
use that time as a time to train and socialize. if your dog isn't
socialized start training and socializing.


----------



## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> when your dog encounters other dogs when you're out walking
> use that time as a time to train and socialize. if your dog isn't
> socialized start training and socializing.


I don't want my dog socializing with other dogs. Too much potential liability and exposure to risk. People need to keep their dogs under control and I will do the same. If you let your dog run up on my dog, I will do my best to keep him from causing both of us very expensive vet bills, but I cannot guarantee it wont end bad. The best plan is to keep them from ever meeting.


----------



## sparra (Jun 27, 2011)

Living remotely we don't have to put up with other dogs however we have just returned from a holiday where this subject came up.
We were picnicking at a beautiful dam......dogs were allowed but signs up saying "Must be leashed" We didn't have a dog with us but a 6 month old husky came running up to us and knocked my 14month old baby to the ground and proceeded to jump all over him. We didn't even see the dog run up until it was on top of our son. It was friendly and our son was laughing so the owner just stood there laughing....didn't even bother to come over. I took the dog by the collar and marched it back and told her to leash it.....she saw I was not happy and just turned and walk away and let the dog go again and this time it started harassing some older kids who were TERRIFIED.
She leashed it then........


----------



## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

Sent from Petguide.com Free 

My neighbore for several years now let her dog, some little mop dog, run out front to poo in everybody elses yard but hers. I always new when she let it out because it would run down the street with her kids chasing it yelling at the top of thier lungs! So when we were out with Cruz to my disbelief what do I see? My neighor taking a walk with this same dog and no leash. Brilliant!


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Yeah , I hate that. Pet peeve if you will. I have an English Mastiff that can be dog aggressive..only if other dogs get in her face and won't read her leave me alone cues. She will not snap if I keep on her constantly until the other dog is gone, but why should I be the one to make sure their unleashed out of their control dog stays safe ? It takes my attention off my children and that is NOT fair to me. Plus , if it does break bad it could be dangerous to my kids. I would have to just let them fight while I made sure my toddler , 5 year old , and 6 year old are safe.

I have her under my control and leashed, I know she is not to be trusted with other dogs. I'm being responsible yet I often have to discipline other people's dogs to keep them safe. Grrrr.

My other dog is solid off leash , never jumps , has no aggression issues ,has trustworthy recall ..to me that is the only time a dog should be off leash.


----------



## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

It's not just unleashed dogs.

I was out for a hike and my dog can be dog reactive. I had some guy walking a Dutch Shep start walking toward me asking if they could meet. I said I'd rather not, she's reactive, and he kept telling me it was ok, his dog was friendly. At this point my friend stepped in front of him to block him and said "Her dog is NOT" and he kept coming! Unbelievable! So my dog started to bark and hackles up, I then had to correct her, and then the guy hurried away like he was really surprised that my dog didn't like his dog. WTF?!

And I'm trying to keep taking my dog out and work on it with her, but help me out here people! When someone asks you to keep your dog away from their 70 lb GSD, please listen!! I was so mad, because until he let it get close, she was being really good about not reacting to it, and we'd had a nice walk passing other dogs so far, but then he pushed it too far and we had a problem.


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

I also HATE when people allow their children to rush up to dogs. Mine are all trustworthy with children , but not all dogs are!

I mean , I have a 130 English Mastiff on a leash who at the VERY best has a look of apathy about her ( we are always joking saying " hey Greta , why the long face? lol) .This is not a friendly or inviting looking dog by any means. Though she is no danger to adults or children she absolutely looks like she could be. 

aAnd yet , time and time again , children run up to her . One mother got really mad at ME because her two kids ran right up to her ..one hugged her and got a long string of Mastiff snot on her shirt and was then crying and upset. The mother was throwing me daggers. I told her her kids should be taught not to run up to strange dogs. When people ask if they can pet her , I always warn about the drool thing.


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

This is why I don't go on "walks" ever. We do hikes at nature areas, etc. and will run into the occasional dog, or at the park. I don't have a problem with them being off leash if they're under control (as this is what I do) but if they charge me, I give no care who hears me cursing and I have kicked dogs off of mine before. I have been through reactivity because of stuff like this and I do NOT want to give either of my younger dogs a reason to become reactive or aggressive. They are trusting me to keep them safe and that's exactly what I do.


----------



## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Oisin's Aoire said:


> I also HATE when people allow their children to rush up to dogs.



YES!!! I had a couple of kids do this to my dog when she was a puppy and she was in a fear stage. She FLEW backwards on the leash, the one kid was squealing with glee and scared my poor dog so badly! She's better since then, but that really could have gone badly for the kid. I was standing a good distance away just letting her watch the kids playing, and this kid ran up from behind her. At least the mother apologized for her kid not meeting the dog properly.


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

I know dogs that have issues because kids were rough with them , and I know people who are afraid of dogs because of a bite when they were little.

We as adults are responsible for how our kids and our dogs are taught and how they act. Wish more people realized that!

My one son as a toddler was not good with dogs yet. He was not allowed to be near them until he was. Now he loves dogs and they love him. Would not have gone that way if I had merely watched and " oh , look how good Fido is with kids" as a 3 year boy treats her roughly.

People who do ask " is your dog good with kids?" always get the same reply from me - " are your kids good with dogs?"


----------



## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

This happened to me yesterday when a Labradoodle ran up to us. I happened to have a ball so I threw it for the dog to go get and it actually worked. I have one dog that doesn't respond well to strange dogs running up because they always try to sniff her in the face which sets her off.


----------



## redandgold (Jul 2, 2013)

Oisin's Aoire said:


> I also HATE when people allow their children to rush up to dogs. Mine are all trustworthy with children , but not all dogs are!
> 
> I mean , I have a 130 English Mastiff on a leash who at the VERY best has a look of apathy about her ( we are always joking saying " hey Greta , why the long face? lol) .This is not a friendly or inviting looking dog by any means. Though she is no danger to adults or children she absolutely looks like she could be.
> 
> aAnd yet , time and time again , children run up to her . One mother got really mad at ME because her two kids ran right up to her ..one hugged her and got a long string of Mastiff snot on her shirt and was then crying and upset. The mother was throwing me daggers. I told her her kids should be taught not to run up to strange dogs. When people ask if they can pet her , I always warn about the drool thing.


I'm so with you. I also hate people who allow their children, usually boys who they refuse to discipline because 'boys will be boys', to freaking THREATEN my dog and try and provoke her. My next door neighbour's child is a brat. I've told him multiple times not to whirl a stick around and yell at her because she was abused as a puppy and sticks are a fear/rage trigger (you know how a fearful dog will sometimes go into hunterkiller mode rather than run away? This). He still does it. Then his parents get annoyed and sulky with me for POLITELY scolding the child. I said to him 'No, stop it, you mustn't do that, you're frightening her'. I didn't even raise my voice. 

Aaaaaand my sister is bringing her brat over next month too. He is a huge, strong, grossly antisocial 5 year old child. I don't know his height or weight but he is large enough to shove grown women around and does things like push them into the paths of cars if annoyed. He has been known to hit their small dog over the head with a stick, even if ordered not to. I will not be allowing him to have contact with her for any reason, no matter how inconvenient it is. He loves to annoy me, will do the opposite of what he is asked, and would probably find it highly amusing to extend his whacking-with-sticks behaviour to my lovely malinoid. NOT looking forward.


----------



## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

I so hate this. That is what leash laws are for. I do not want my dog to meet yours. just based on the fact you are a bad owner for walking your dog loose down the street. putting your dog and other people and their dogs at risk. Also putting your dog at risk from being hit by a car. Some of these dogs are very little and you do not know what a big dog might do. I also don't want your big dog running up on my grandchildren. People with no brains just stay away from me.


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Sadly, I normally don't even get the "he's friendly!" response when I asked people to leash their dogs or keep them away. In my neighborhood people seem quite fond of turning their backs and flipping the bird.


But yeah, extreeeemely irritating. Some of my dogs have gotten to the point where they get tense just seeing a dog off leash away from the owner because they expect it to run up and act rudely. (They normally charge us barking as if we were on their property) 

Another thing that annoys me too, is even in stores with a Service Dog in a harness that clearly states such, people STILL let their kids run up screaming. And people bring their pets up to him too. I've had a gal come running across Target with her dog saying "She's a service dog too!" with obvious intent to greet. I rounded a corner quickly and kicked it into turbo gear. LOL


----------



## ShelbyCD (Oct 9, 2012)

This drives me insane too! We're working on desensitizing our 10 month GSD to people and other dogs (she's not aggressive, she just gets overly excited). Last week on a hike, a woman had two of her dogs off leash on a trail. They were WAY ahead of her and ran straight and at full force towards Shelby. As I'm trying to get Shelby's attention to focus on me, she yells "if they get hurt, it's my fault!". I didn't even know what to say to that. First of all, who thinks like that?? Second of all, does she think that would make me feel better if in fact one of the dogs was hurt?? CRAZY!! If one of her dogs was hurt and my dog was hurt, just because she takes responsibility wouldn't change how horrible it would be.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

What burns me up is a person's *off-leash* dog getting out of their fencing, going after my *on-leash* dog (witnessed by an acquaintance in the neighborhood), and saying they're going to call the cops because my dog went after their dog.


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

There's no fixin' stupid. Only you can prevent mishaps by training your dog to behave properly.


----------



## gsdlover32 (Jul 10, 2013)

I live in an apartment and one of my neighbors never has their dog on a leash and I dont think they even own one. I opened the door to leave for work and his dog comes running into my unit and starts picking a fight with my gsd. His is not trained at all and attacks her each time he sees her, even blocks away but the owner takes his sweet time, never corrects. Im thankful mine just sits there unless he takes it too far that he latches on and she pins him. I've never had a previous dog be so calm during everything but she only gets aggressive if needed to keep herself safe.


----------



## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Ran into your apartment??????? WOW!!! 

I am with you all on this, both off leash dogs and out of control kids. Ugh!


----------



## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

Yup, there is definitely no fixin' stupid!


----------



## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

They have this cool new electric fly swatter. It runs off of batteries, has an adjustable handle and has a button on it so you can 'juice' the swatter part. It's supper light. It is only $10.00 at your local hardware store. 

I really don't know how much of a punch it carries, but you can actually smoke a wasp on it - and it makes the electric crackling noise as it zaps. 

Just sayin......


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

That would take care of the annoying kids alright lol


----------



## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

I had a dog run at me dragging a flexi the other day. The owner looked up and saw us and started saying how the dog should know better because it got attacked a couple of days ago???


----------



## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

> they get tense just seeing a dog off leash away from the owner because they expect it to run up and act rudely. (They normally charge us barking as if we were on their property)


Why these dogs behaved this way? Surely, you've met well behaved as well. Besides those situations when they listened to their owner's command, they might simply had no reason to challenge your dogs or they decided they are weaker than yours. Other ones, the loose house protectors did. They senses your dogs not only as potential intruders on their territory, but as physically strong and agressive, pretty much capable of protecting themselves, and, that they might lose in combat with them. Their best defense is their attack. Their owners might simply like it. Being in a tight grip of their daily lifestyle, choked by daily stress, they see an embodiment of freedom in their wicked barking members of the family. They want some break, some holidays away from all good manners, road signs and bossy ladies bothering them at their peasantly weekend. Forgive them in a Christian way, they are not guilty by having been born half-humans. You have to become a human in order to be the one. You differ from them, you are better, nobler, that's why you think you cannot afford having your dogs behaving badly. What's the rule? "Don't cast pearls before the pigs ..." Don't try hard to prove anything to them or ask for anything, just walk without looking, with your caramel nose up, with your dogs heeling absolutely perfectly, be above them.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i think the best plan is teaching a dog not to be reactive.



doggiedad said:


> when your dog encounters other dogs when you're out walking
> use that time as a time to train and socialize. if your dog isn't
> socialized start training and socializing.





robk said:


> I don't want my dog socializing with other dogs. Too much potential liability and exposure to risk. People need to keep their dogs under control and I will do the same. If you let your dog run up on my dog, I will do my best to keep him from causing both of us very expensive vet bills, but I cannot guarantee it wont end bad.
> 
> >>>>> The best plan is to keep them from ever meeting.<<<<< [/QUOTE]


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

it's amazing everyone else is stupid when a dog approaches a dog and both dogs are reactice. what's there to be said about both owners
of the dogs when both dogs are reactive because they're not trained or socialized? wait, the go to answer is "the other person is stupid".



Josie/Zeus said:


> There's no fixin' stupid. Only you can prevent mishaps by training your dog to behave properly.


----------



## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> i think the best plan is teaching a dog not to be reactive.


I agree to a point. I've worked long and hard to get Koda out of her reactivity, and I have worked hard to keep Shoba from ever being reactive. But. If a loose dog runs up and attacks either, it WILL be attacked by BOTH. As well as myself.

Actually dealt with this a couple weeks ago. Woman let her 150+ lb mastiff run straight over despite me yelling warnings and telling her to GET HER DOG. When it got to us, it was hackling and growling at Shoba. Before I could react it went for her. Koda went for it. As soon as it was off of her, Shoba was on it as well. And so was I. 
Luckily, Shoba is fine and thus far has not shown any reactivity because of it. Thank God.
But my point is that, neither of mine would have reacted to the dog being rude and running up. But they will react when one or the other is being attacked (not growled or postured at, both of them ignore this and wait for me to handle it). So to me, there needs to be a proper mixture of "teach the dog not to be reactive" and "don't let them meet." I believe that unless your dog is 100% controlled, it needs not to be off leash.


----------



## Myah's Mom (Mar 25, 2013)

doggiedad said:


> when your dog encounters other dogs when you're out walking
> use that time as a time to train and socialize. if your dog isn't
> socialized start training and socializing.


Verrrry true. We have to keep our reaction a non-reaction and quiety, methodically, use it as a training time to "ignore" or "leave it". :apple:

Otherwise, we transfer our anxiety down the leash to the dog and they are SO SMART, they will think that's how they should react, too!


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

David Taggart said:


> Why these dogs behaved this way? Surely, you've met well behaved as well. Besides those situations when they listened to their owner's command, they might simply had no reason to challenge your dogs or they decided they are weaker than yours. Other ones, the loose house protectors did. They senses your dogs not only as potential intruders on their territory, but as physically strong and agressive, pretty much capable of protecting themselves, and, that they might lose in combat with them. Their best defense is their attack. Their owners might simply like it. Being in a tight grip of their daily lifestyle, choked by daily stress, they see an embodiment of freedom in their wicked barking members of the family. They want some break, some holidays away from all good manners, road signs and bossy ladies bothering them at their peasantly weekend. Forgive them in a Christian way, they are not guilty by having been born half-humans. You have to become a human in order to be the one. You differ from them, you are better, nobler, that's why you think you cannot afford having your dogs behaving badly. What's the rule? "Don't cast pearls before the pigs ..." Don't try hard to prove anything to them or ask for anything, just walk without looking, with your caramel nose up, with your dogs heeling absolutely perfectly, be above them.


Hopefully I interpreted this correctly, not sure if it's the wording or just my tired mind! 

I have no respect for, nor will I grant forgiveness to the man who stands there as his 4 terriers charge and bite my service dog. I've had to whip out pepper spray several times. If I gave any kindness to him, it would be that I didn't let my dog kill or seriously injure his. (Took 6 calls before AC even came out to his house too. AC is just _wonderful_ here.) 

Perfectly happy to walk away from dogs barking on their property edge, but when they get in close and start getting physical it's not cool.


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

doggiedad said:


> it's amazing everyone else is stupid when a dog approaches a dog and both dogs are reactice. what's there to be said about both owners
> of the dogs when both dogs are reactive because they're not trained or socialized? wait, the go to answer is "the other person is stupid".


I agree , and my 130 pound Mastiff and 90 pound Boxer/hound/pitbull mix behave impeccably when they are approached by anything and are always well under my control . However , the people who own the offleash dogs and the children do know KNOW that about my dogs so they are putting living beings that are their responsibility in danger and that makes them stupid and careless in my book. 

By the way , I am a 4 foot 11 100 pound female , and I am holding 230 pounds of canine on a single lead . And yet they think nothing of their kid or dog getting in their faces. They do not know me , they do not know my dogs , anyone with a basic grasp of physics would see me with all that dog and be leery . So that makes people who allow their out of control dog's children and pets to get in my 2 dogs faces, in my opinion , triple stupid.

Lucky for them , I am one of the few who invest in training my dogs.


----------



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

And to elaborate on the " I agree with you part" , my Mastiff was very reactive and very frightened which as we all know is a dangerous combination. I worked with her and worked with her , I had her around other known to us dogs to work on her training . This took about a good 8 months of daily solid training. I did not walk her in public places until I felt confident she could handle things that come at you in public. We rescued her and started training her in October 2011. By June 2012 I was able to take her anywhere. If she had never achieved that point where I felt she was under my control and safe , I would not have walked her down public sidewalks. Because of all the stupid people


----------



## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

doggiedad said:


> it's amazing everyone else is stupid when a dog approaches a dog and both dogs are reactice. what's there to be said about both owners
> of the dogs when both dogs are reactive because they're not trained or socialized? wait, the go to answer is "the other person is stupid".


I have a reactive dog who I've worked very hard with since I got her at 8 weeks. But she's still reactive, and she's been like that since I got her as a wee puppy. Does that make me stupid to want to walk my dog because other people let their obnoxious dogs off leash and running amok? 

My dog isn't always perfectly behaved, but I have the sense to have her controlled on leash and we work on it all the time. It's not fair to me to have other peoples dogs getting in her face, but telling me "Oh, he's friendly, don't worry!".


----------



## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> it's amazing everyone else is stupid when a dog approaches a dog and both dogs are reactice. what's there to be said about both owners
> of the dogs when both dogs are reactive because they're not trained or socialized? wait, the go to answer is "the other person is stupid".


My GSD is non reactive. He is aloof. He ignores. He doesn't want to be friends. However, as an aloof dog, he can easily become reactive if I'm not 100% viligant every time I take him off property. If a dog comes charging at us, he'll ignore until that dog gets into our space. Then he'll react. And it's ugly to witness. I can't fault him for that. I can only make sure the unwanted dog doesn't get into our space...or on our property. 

My Lacy is just coming of age. He'll ignore other dogs unless they react. Although I've been socializing him for the past 17 months, he is just now showing signs of being DA towards males who react to him. I'm nipping this in the bud and it's going well. However, let us meet a male off leash, that charges us, all bets are off. My dog is handler sensitve, any reaction from me will create a greater reaction from my dog. Now I'm in a huge mess because Joe Q Public didn't think they should keep their dog on a leash. I WILL NOT be a happy camper. 

If a new owner is attempting to train their dog NOT to be reactive and encounters reactive dogs off leash, it creates a major set back, that some dogs aren't able to over come. 

IMO - I've spent countless hours training my dog(s) to behave on leash. Along comes Joe Q Public who doesn't give a whip about their dog and lets it run off leash causing harm to others, it will be ME that will be the reactive crazy nut and not my dog. I promise, that owner will wish it was my dog reacting and not me.


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

My old dog Zeus was extremely neutral, he had little football dogs yapping and biting his feet and he ignored them per my leave it command.

Koda is doing the same now, he sits still when other dog approaches him. But the key is, I am very relaxed and do not show anxiety whenever we are in that sort of situation. As a GSD owner, I do feel like I have to show people that GSD's are non-dog/child eating dogs. They are regal and calm, that's the message I want to send.


----------



## Walperstyle (Nov 20, 2012)

Cookie von Chomp'n'Stein is 11 months old and he barks and growls at dogs all the time, but when he gets up close its playtime. He has been bit at by other GSD's that have attitude problems, but personally I think we would be better off if everyone had the dog off leash from the start. 

...maybe I have a limited success perspective with our guy.


----------



## sunsets (Oct 25, 2012)

Oh man. I was that stupid person this morning. I usually know better than this, but I screwed up 

Part of the morning routine is "Let's go out and get the paper from the front lawn". Heinz only comes along if I check to make sure no one is walking dogs on the block (tiny lots crammed in on a city block). Looked right, looked left, let Heinz trot down the steps and check the "P-mail" on the street tree. Somehow I missed the guy walking two dogs across the street, and before I could react, Heinz dashed over to say hi. 

Needless to say the other dogs didn't like this, and I came tearing over (barefoot) and collared my dog immediately, whilst uttering many abject apologies. The other owner didn't accept them. Not that I blame him, a 90 lb GSD in full run is terrifying, no matter how happy and slobbery he may be. 

Morning paper fetching will henceforth be accomplished on long line, and we will use this opportunity to work on a rock-solid "Leave it!"


----------



## The Stig (Oct 11, 2007)

I can empathize. My GSD became reactive when she was attacked by an aggressive mastiff-cross around 10 months old. She was on the leash, and the perp was loose. I am 4'11", that loose dog completely ignored me, even when when I was KICKING the **** out of him. It is traumatic for any dog, especially when they are leashed and their attackers are loose. 

It took years of compassion, consistency and training for her to ignore lunging, barking dogs when she was on the leash. If the dogs ignore her, she ignores them. 

Last year, she was attacked by a loose Border Collie and JRT when strolling in the neighbourhood. I was not there, she was with my husband. He said the dogs came charging at them from behind an RV parked in the driveway, barking & hackling. The BC grabbed her neck, but my husband was able to kick it and send it packing. The JRT tried next, and he took care of it too.

So we are back to Square One, and I am LIVID.

When I see loose dogs running towards us with no owner in sight or completely ignoring their owners when Janka is ON the leash in a Leashed Zone, I do NOT take chances. I assume the role of Alpha, tell Janka to sit/blieb, lay the leash down and chase off the strange dogs. If they ignore me, I have no hesitation using force. I don't care if the dog is 'friendly', because I wouldn't know for sure, would I? And neither does my dog. If I see a stranger charging at me, I know my immediate reaction is defensive and I expect any intelligent dog with an understanding of pack structure to react that way as well.

So yes, I have a lot of empathy for those whose well-trained, well socialized dogs were traumatized by loose aggressive dogs while walking on leash.


----------



## mechanic1908 (Jul 16, 2013)

I live in a leash law area.
My dog trainer, who is also a K9 unit police officer told me that the simplest (but not humane) way of dealing with this type of behavior is to simply "Place kick" the off leash offending dog to the other side of the street.
It is in my location, a legally justified reaction to a uncontrolled dog approaching you.
I have had a uncountable number of encounters with off leash dogs who's owners yell at me from a distance "don't worry, my dog is friendly" 
You should see their reaction when I reply with "mine's not and he will kill your dog if he gets the chance.'
Not really true, but when you are walking a 120 lb. GSD it gets peoples attention pretty quick.


----------



## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

Where i am it's 50/50 leashed versus unleashed dogs. 

To me it is a test of my handling skills to keep my dogs in control in public no matter what is the distraction. The more I understand dog behavior the more I can avoid conflict when meeting other dogs. 

If dogs are off leash and there is room I will just lets my dogs off too. To me it's is normal for dogs to meet and greet.


----------



## The Stig (Oct 11, 2007)

MadLab said:


> To me it is a test of my handling skills to keep my dogs in control in public no matter what is the distraction. The more I understand dog behavior the more I can avoid conflict when meeting other dogs.


Working a dog under distraction, even if it is a stroll through a neighbourhood, is completely different from facing a situation consisting of a loose *and *aggressive dog. Trust me... No amount of handling skills and understanding will help one's dog if the other [loose] dog is uncontrolled and bent on a fight. 

In the OP's case, they did a great job handling the situation and were very fortunate the other dog did not pursue Major when they kept on going. It is every owner's responsibility to have control of their dogs at all times, just as it is our responsibility to have control of our dogs at all times and make sure we provide a safe and confident environment for our dogs. So if another dog is loose and bullying other dogs, yes, I will point fingers at that owner and call him/her an incompetent idiot.

It is unrealistic to expect a dog to be completely fine when charged at, especially when it is restrained by a leash. It changes the entire dynamics of the meet-and-greet.

I hope Major will not have another run-in again, and that owner realizes that it could have been an ugly situation and correct it. It could even be a scenario where that dog decides to chase an outdoor cat and gets hit by a car in the process. 

Plenty of morons with no foresight out there, that's for sure.


----------



## Darth_Ariel (Jun 20, 2013)

I've amazingly not encountered anyone off-leash while I've had Vader, but my neighbor prior to moving refused to leash his two dogs. My older two aren't friendly in the least, we don't take them on walks and they only go from the house on-leash to the back yard for that reason (not bad dogs, just ornery, 13 years, and unsocialized). My neighbor had the gumption to walk his two 80+lb dogs down past my non-fenced yard insisting "they don't go after anything unless I don't keep their bellies full", go figure when my dogs start snarling the puppy of the two comes wandering into my yard! 

Kid's in public have been a huge issue since I've gotten Vader, they don't so much run up to him as they start squealing/screaming puppy, run within a foot of him and then run away squealing. We're still working on being non-reactive to that but in the meantime that's my least favorite child habit. He goes out of his mind with excitement and assumes it's the best game of chase in the world.


----------



## icanhike (Jan 7, 2012)

Sorry some of you have had bad experiences, but I have a different take on the subject. I have worked very, very hard to train my dog off-leash. When we go on hikes he is trained to come back to me when we encounter others on the trail. We played Frisbee on the community lawn at least twice a day, off leash. In fact, I never have him on a leash unless we are going for a walk or visiting an unfamiliar area. 

When I got Summit two years ago he was extremely shy and became reactive as he gained confidence. I socialized the heck out of him, and while he's not perfect he has learned what I expect of him. One day a man came by with his rat terrier on a leash and started yelling at me for having Summit off-leash. Summit started to run up to greet the dog but I called to him and he stopped short, so there was no contact. The man told me his dog would bite, and my response was that he should not be walking a dog that is known to bite in a public place without a muzzle on. 

While muzzles may seem extreme, they will protect dogs and people from adverse reactive behavior. My last shepherd wore one at the dog park when he started getting nippy...he learned quick that if he wanted to go muzzle free he couldn't nip. It's not easy to train a reactive dog not to react, but it can be done with some dogs, and when training doesn't work a muzzle will work 100% of the time. 

Just my thoughts.


----------



## Darth_Ariel (Jun 20, 2013)

icanhike, I can agree but at the same time I disagree, it's a very torn deal. There's a time and place for off-leash and people who have good control off-leash are punished for those don't. But it's not fair for someone who wants to walk their dog reactive dog to have to muzzle them, sure it's safer if someone doesn't have control over that dog, but someone else's dog has no business coming within his 4-6 feet of leash space. 

If that made any sense at all. 

Sometimes dogs are great with all dogs and just have one random one that rubs em wrong. Too many people keep their dogs off leash and have that attitude or "but she gets along with all dogs", you stopped yours before it got to the other dog but way too many people just have this attitude of "Mine likes others so yours should be fine with her in his face".


----------



## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

A guy who used to live in my neighborhood ALWAYS walked his dog off leash and I would constantly see the dog running in front of cars, through people's yards, etc. I did ask him why he thought it was ok for his dog to go up to other people's dogs either in their yard or in public and he said ' My dog isn't causing any harm, he's just passing through.'

The leash law in my county states that dogs have to either on a physical leash OR be under voice control 100%. I am sure you can guess how many people have 100% voice control over their dogs.


----------



## Beckch (May 23, 2013)

what a great response "Is your dog good with kids?" "Are your kids good with dogs?"
Terrific!


----------



## Beckch (May 23, 2013)

I was walking Ares (on leash) the other day and encountered a loose Chihuahua who charged my dog wanting to attack. The owners had NO control over this dog and kept chasing it and calling it's name and of course the dog was running wild and kept trying to get at my GSD. Thankfully I had a squirt gun on me and used that to spray the little dog to keep him at bay. I advised the owner to run away from the dog and call it's name and it will follow. She did and they finally got it safely into their yard, but sheesh - that little dog could have been dead!


----------

