Absolutely Livid!....Other Dog Owners (POSITIVE UPDATE)

[Walshies]

Sounds like a complete over reaction, shouting and swearing at another dog owner is hardly model behaviour either is it? Of course if this dog had attempted to attack your dog then it would be a different story.

You may have a point but then it is easy to say that from where you are. If it were me then I would probably have done exactly the same - from previous experience fear makes you do strange things you would not normally dream of doing.

In every case that Fudge has had issues with other dogs, the incident could have been prevented had the owner of each dog had control of their dog when off lead - oh, and some common sense also.

[7733lily]

Thanks for the support
Of course I do not advocate shouting and swearing at other dog owners, this is not how I usually behave, but in the heat of the moment when you're caught off guard and one of your dogs is at threat, all sorts of things take over and it all happens in a split second
Afterwards you think of all the other ways you SHOULD have handled it but ideally I wouldn't have to have these thoughts at all if other dog owners were as responsible as they should be

[Ali101]

Today we were walking up a lane near us, in an area where dogs are off lead as there are no cars, we saw two people with dogs coming towards us. When they saw us they turned and took a different public footpath so we wouldn't meet. I remarked that the dogs must not be friendly as they seemed to want to avoid us. So.....we carry on walking with our two (off lead) and as we get near the stile of the footpath they took, one of the dogs with the two people (who by now we're well over 500yds away) spotted our dogs and left their owner and ran to our two, jumped the stile and started to attack our labrador, who is a very nervous dog. My OH DID SWEAR, which I don't necessarily advocate, but it seemed that these people knew they had an aggressive/unfriendly dog as they wanted to avoid us, but then just let it do it's own thing.....AND HAD NO CONTROL over the dog at all. This totally frustrates my OH who has spent a great deal of time training our girls, and he finds it difficult that people do not take responsibility for their dogs. My OH is very protective of our girls, especially as Pen is so nervous, and swore because he was REALLY CROSS and upset. It all seemed sooooooo avoidable go me, and surely they would have been better passing us on the lane with all dogs on leads (we always put leads on if other dogs are on leads or we don 't know them) than avoiding us and then letting the dog run back. Sometimes we don't act as we should, but if more dog owners could be bothered to (a) train their dogs and (b) just put a lead on if passing others, and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their dogs, as the last poster said this wouldn't need to be debated.

[7733lily]

Today we were walking up a lane near us, in an area where dogs are off lead as there are no cars, we saw two people with dogs coming towards us. When they saw us they turned and took a different public footpath so we wouldn't meet. I remarked that the dogs must not be friendly as they seemed to want to avoid us. So.....we carry on walking with our two (off lead) and as we get near the stile of the footpath they took, one of the dogs with the two people (who by now we're well over 500yds away) spotted our dogs and left their owner and ran to our two, jumped the stile and started to attack our labrador, who is a very nervous dog. My OH DID SWEAR, which I don't necessarily advocate, but it seemed that these people knew they had an aggressive/unfriendly dog as they wanted to avoid us, but then just let it do it's own thing.....AND HAD NO CONTROL over the dog at all. This totally frustrates my OH who has spent a great deal of time training our girls, and he finds it difficult that people do not take responsibility for their dogs. My OH is very protective of our girls, especially as Pen is so nervous, and swore because he was REALLY CROSS and upset. It all seemed sooooooo avoidable go me, and surely they would have been better passing us on the lane with all dogs on leads (we always put leads on if other dogs are on leads or we don 't know them) than avoiding us and then letting the dog run back. Sometimes we don't act as we should, but if more dog owners could be bothered to (a) train their dogs and (b) just put a lead on if passing others, and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their dogs, as the last poster said this wouldn't need to be debated.

Gosh, hope your lab is ok?
I think we can perhaps agree that we don't always do what is right in the heat of the moment but all these events could so easily be avoided
I take full responsibility for my dogs' actions but find it very stressful having to consider what other dogs are going to do and have a plan of how best I'm going to deal with it, for what seems like most times I go out

[Lily Freya]

Fear, panic and absolute helplessness would make anyone swear and behave out of character.

So glad you were all ok, and not hurt.

Luis has been attacked 3 times now by other dogs, and it has certainly destroyed my confidence  when a bigger dog approaches.  It is a shame too, as many of the bigger dogs are friendly and just want to socialise.   

[7733lily]

Fear, panic and absolute helplessness would make anyone swear and behave out of character.

So glad you were all ok, and not hurt.

Luis has been attacked 3 times now by other dogs, and it has certainly destroyed my confidence  when a bigger dog approaches.  It is a shame too, as many of the bigger dogs are friendly and just want to socialise.   

I think that's what it is, so many emotions going on in such a short space of time
This is the second time Dylan has been "attacked" the first was by a cocker,albeit a very large one, who apparently had "done it before"
Yes, we're all fine thanks and we'll just chalk it up as another experience and if you thought about all the things that could happen you'd never go out
It just means our list of places to go and times to go is getting smaller
It does knock your confidence and makes you feel quite vulnerable from a protecting my boys point of view

[Ali101]

My lab is fine,but each time this happens your heart sinks because after all the hard work you have put in trying to increase your dog's confidence, something like this sets you back. For us,because Pen is nervous, If we don't know the dog we try to distract to take her mind off the situation,  but we would have her on the leash IF we don't know the dog or if the other dog was on the lead. I know it's impossible for every dog to be trained and for all owners to be responsible, but we know our dog and every move we make when we are out is about them, keeping them safe and doing the right thing. How nice if this was shared by the dog community. Am sure after your experience 7733lily you have thoughts on this .

[EmmaG82]

After saying earlier up thread I worried about something like this happening yesterday it did. A young dog attacked my boy. The owners recall was terrible. Jacks is superb so even though he was being attacked he squeaked then ran back towards me for which he was bitten at the scruff of the neck, pinned down and shaken just as I got to him. I smacked the other dog in the face and lurched forward over it making a nasty growly sort of noise and the dog backed off by which time his stupid owner caught up pleading that he was sorry and his pup just want to play. His pup was twice the size of Jack and wanted to attack, Jack is a totally submissive puppy and I've seen other dogs approach aggressively but for him to actually be attacked is something else. Their dog was not in play mode, it was not it in play mode, it was trying to rip jacks neck. I was fuming and still am actually.

[JennyBee]

After saying earlier up thread I worried about something like this happening yesterday it did. A young dog attacked my boy. The owners recall was terrible. Jacks is superb so even though he was being attacked he squeaked then ran back towards me for which he was bitten at the scruff of the neck, pinned down and shaken just as I got to him. I smacked the other dog in the face and lurched forward over it making a nasty growly sort of noise and the dog backed off by which time his stupid owner caught up pleading that he was sorry and his pup just want to play. His pup was twice the size of Jack and wanted to attack, Jack is a totally submissive puppy and I've seen other dogs approach aggressively but for him to actually be attacked is something else. Their dog was not in play mode, it was not it in play mode, it was trying to rip jacks neck. I was fuming and still am actually.

No wonder you are angry. How can an owner see his dog do that and say it was just wanting to play - really astounding .  I hope Jack is ok xx

[Snoopy]

The woman clearly knows very little about the breed she owns.

Airedales are known to be unfriendly to other dogs and the most aggressive of the terrier group.

[LadyLexicon]

Im terrified about this with my new little man, my old bichon was attacked by a german sheppard, hes was on the lead and the GS wasnt. Its very worrying, i think dogs should pass a recall test before being allowed off lead in public. If something doesnt happen soon i think well go american styley and have to have the dogs on leads at all times!

[tritonx]

These experiences of irresponsible owners seems so common. It's infuriating. I'm still trying to get my veins to stop sizzling from an encounter yesterday with a group of off leash dogs on the seafront in an on leash area. My Fraser was on lead as he was supposed to be. He's happy to meet other dogs, but when he's on leash and they aren't, he can get defensive, so I took a wide detour around the chatting group and milling dogs. One of them was a rotweiler which is not in itself a bad thing except Fraser is more likely to get defensive with a large dog. Even with the wide berth, I had to return to the path and at that point the other dogs, mostly small, but including the rottie came over to sniff Fraser. Since it was a complicated greeting situation, with the large dog taking a long time to sniff him, I said to the owner, a big, burley man, could you call your dog off. Mine can get defensive in this situation. His dog wasn't doing anything aggressive, but too many times I've seen greetings go from seeming okay to growling in a second. But the man wouldn't give way. He said his dog was fine and well trained. I pointed out it was an on leash area and if the dog was well trained, would he call it to him, repeating that I was asking because my dog might get defensive. There was more to the conversation in which I continued to speak calmly, but he became mocking, saying if my dog has issues, he shouldn't be out in public, all the while grinning and looking at the other people as if to say, what an idiot this woman is. He was so in the wrong and so insulting with it that I walked away rather than escalate it, to his mocking laughter. Needless to say, this has enraged me with no outlet. Except for here. I was going to make a new post but saw this one where it's clear there are far too many dog owners out there who simply either won't take the proper precautions with their dogs or are outright aggressive about their 'right' to have a dog off leash and to refuse to listen to other dog owners when they try to keep a bad situation from emerging. It's all too infuriating and we all know that as long as we own a dog, we'll encounter it again and again in different forms. 

[7733lily]

The woman clearly knows very little about the breed she owns.

Airedales are known to be unfriendly to other dogs and the most aggressive of the terrier group.

Interesting! I didn't know that.  There is one at our local park who lovely, very calm and keeps herself to herself.
Maybe its just a male thing (I.e the Airedale was male and so are my three) as the female of this pair also kept to herself 

[7733lily]

These experiences of irresponsible owners seems so common. It's infuriating. I'm still trying to get my veins to stop sizzling from an encounter yesterday with a group of off leash dogs on the seafront in an on leash area. My Fraser was on lead as he was supposed to be. He's happy to meet other dogs, but when he's on leash and they aren't, he can get defensive, so I took a wide detour around the chatting group and milling dogs. One of them was a rotweiler which is not in itself a bad thing except Fraser is more likely to get defensive with a large dog. Even with the wide berth, I had to return to the path and at that point the other dogs, mostly small, but including the rottie came over to sniff Fraser. Since it was a complicated greeting situation, with the large dog taking a long time to sniff him, I said to the owner, a big, burley man, could you call your dog off. Mine can get defensive in this situation. His dog wasn't doing anything aggressive, but too many times I've seen greetings go from seeming okay to growling in a second. But the man wouldn't give way. He said his dog was fine and well trained. I pointed out it was an on leash area and if the dog was well trained, would he call it to him, repeating that I was asking because my dog might get defensive. There was more to the conversation in which I continued to speak calmly, but he became mocking, saying if my dog has issues, he shouldn't be out in public, all the while grinning and looking at the other people as if to say, what an idiot this woman is. He was so in the wrong and so insulting with it that I walked away rather than escalate it, to his mocking laughter. Needless to say, this has enraged me with no outlet. Except for here. I was going to make a new post but saw this one where it's clear there are far too many dog owners out there who simply either won't take the proper precautions with their dogs or are outright aggressive about their 'right' to have a dog off leash and to refuse to listen to other dog owners when they try to keep a bad situation from emerging. It's all too infuriating and we all know that as long as we own a dog, we'll encounter it again and again in different forms. 

It shouldn't matter what your dog is doing or not doing if the other owner wants you to remove your dog away from theirs then you should
You're right, things can very quickly escalate from a quick sniff to handbags (or worse) and surely no-one wants that 

[Archie bean]

These experiences of irresponsible owners seems so common. It's infuriating. I'm still trying to get my veins to stop sizzling from an encounter yesterday with a group of off leash dogs on the seafront in an on leash area. My Fraser was on lead as he was supposed to be. He's happy to meet other dogs, but when he's on leash and they aren't, he can get defensive, so I took a wide detour around the chatting group and milling dogs. One of them was a rotweiler which is not in itself a bad thing except Fraser is more likely to get defensive with a large dog. Even with the wide berth, I had to return to the path and at that point the other dogs, mostly small, but including the rottie came over to sniff Fraser. Since it was a complicated greeting situation, with the large dog taking a long time to sniff him, I said to the owner, a big, burley man, could you call your dog off. Mine can get defensive in this situation. His dog wasn't doing anything aggressive, but too many times I've seen greetings go from seeming okay to growling in a second. But the man wouldn't give way. He said his dog was fine and well trained. I pointed out it was an on leash area and if the dog was well trained, would he call it to him, repeating that I was asking because my dog might get defensive. There was more to the conversation in which I continued to speak calmly, but he became mocking, saying if my dog has issues, he shouldn't be out in public, all the while grinning and looking at the other people as if to say, what an idiot this woman is. He was so in the wrong and so insulting with it that I walked away rather than escalate it, to his mocking laughter. Needless to say, this has enraged me with no outlet. Except for here. I was going to make a new post but saw this one where it's clear there are far too many dog owners out there who simply either won't take the proper precautions with their dogs or are outright aggressive about their 'right' to have a dog off leash and to refuse to listen to other dog owners when they try to keep a bad situation from emerging. It's all too infuriating and we all know that as long as we own a dog, we'll encounter it again and again in different forms. 

It shouldn't matter what your dog is doing or not doing if the other owner wants you to remove your dog away from theirs then you should
You're right, things can very quickly escalate from a quick sniff to handbags (or worse) and surely no-one wants that 

Absolutely. I just don't know why it's so hard to listen when people are politely asking you to do something. I think part of the problem is that until you own a reactive dog you just don't get how tricky these situations can become in the blink of an eye.