If your two large dogs....

CorvusCorax

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...rushed up to a dog onlead and started barking, making the onlead dog (which had been offlead beforehand but leashed for safety/politeness when unknown dogs were sighted) feel threatened and uncomfortable, would you apologise?

And if on the return leg one of those dogs went out of its way to cover 100m at speed to continue bothering what is now a visibly upset onlead dog (again, who had been happily pottering offlead until this point and had passed other dogs with neutrality), would you, you know, consider even putting a COLLAR on your dog?

I do try and make light of any not so successful interactions but this one really got my goat :( especially when the owners showed not a hint of contrition.
And these were not dogs who 'wanted to play' their body language and vocals were rude and threatening.
 
If they are dogs you meet regularly then I wouldn't bother to put my dog on a lead when I saw them.
 
...rushed up to a dog onlead and started barking, making the onlead dog (which had been offlead beforehand but leashed for safety/politeness when unknown dogs were sighted) feel threatened and uncomfortable, would you apologise?

And if on the return leg one of those dogs went out of its way to cover 100m at speed to continue bothering what is now a visibly upset onlead dog (again, who had been happily pottering offlead until this point and had passed other dogs with neutrality), would you, you know, consider even putting a COLLAR on your dog?

I do try and make light of any not so successful interactions but this one really got my goat :( especially when the owners showed not a hint of contrition.
And these were not dogs who 'wanted to play' their body language and vocals were rude and threatening.

Yes I would apologise, some people don't care and some even see to get a buzz out of witnessing these sort of interactions.
Hopefully you won't meet them again.
 
Yep, if any of my dogs did anything to upset anyone else's dog, i'd apologise - it's only manners after all. Accidents happens, but you can still be polite.

We have a big very reactive dog who is always on leash & muzzled, wears a Do Not Pet harness & a Give Me Space bandana, & we often get people allowing their dogs to charge up to him. My hubby used to get really annoyed about it, but i'm more of the opinion that we can only control & focus our energy on what our own dog does & unfortunately, although more difficult for him, he will just have to learn to cope with whatever other irresponsible dog owners allow their dogs to do.

I follow a very simple rule - if another owner has their dog on leash, i ensure all mine are because i presume there's a reason for it. If only everyone could follow that simple rule it'd make the lives of reactive dogs (& reactive hubbys!) much easier!
 
Mine go on leads as soon as I see any other dog. Just can't take the chance. If the owner is happy and we are in the same direction, we do a proper introduction and then they all end up off lead.

Last time I made an assumption (my bad), owner went white and snatched up his dog. I assumed (incorrectly) he was nervous as mine are staffords. Turns out his very VERY cute little spaniel had bitten pretty much every dog in the village!. (oddly, he seemed to really like mine with the brief meet they had)

But more seriously, where is this sense of entitlement coming from? its roadusers (I have priority over others - dog walkers - my dog is entitled to go wherever it likes)

having had a dog who was fine 99.99% of the time but who let me down by leaving me to go after another dog..I had to deal with having a dog on a long lead pretty much at all times. It isn't fun, its much nicer to have your dogs running around but you also must accept responsibility and share the walks with other people.
 
They sound rude and irresponsible, I hate when people can't control dogs off the lead, it's a massive pet hate of mine when people let their dogs come bounding over to my dog (who's always on a lead) even when they yell "it's OK he/she's friendly" well actually no its not OK because you can quite clearly see mines on a lead so don't just assume that mine is friendly!! (He is 98% of the time but there has bin the odd time he's taken a dislike to certain dogs) really gets my blood boiling!
 
if my very tiny 5month old terrier pup runs up to people and/or dogs i always apologise and put him on the lead. i generally put him on the lead if i see people or dogs that i dont know but i sometimes get caught out.... not all dogs like being bothered by a pup and some people are the same although he is so cute most people want to take him home.....so you are absolutely right to be annoyed IMO...
 
Happens a lot and drives me absolutely up the bloody wall.

Agree that some people seem to actually get a buzz out of it and not always the type you might expect, lots of entitled red trouser types round here who find it funny to intimidate women.
 
At least you did not get a mouthful of abuse as I did when two GSD's ran up to my three on lead dogs triggering chaos and mayhem. Apparently I was at fault and how did I dare ask (politely) for the dogs to be called back...
 
Happens a lot and drives me absolutely up the bloody wall.

Agree that some people seem to actually get a buzz out of it and not always the type you might expect, lots of entitled red trouser types round here who find it funny to intimidate women.

What's an 'entitled red trouser type'? Not heard that expression before.
 
Our Parsons was very reactive when he was younger, after a while he calmed down enough to be OK with calm dogs but still react very badly when other (especially larger) dogs came hurtling up to him. I found out just how many dogs round here have no recall... Very few owners apologised too, they just said 's/he just wants to play'.
I think the owners of the large dogs who came up to yours owe you an apology.
 
What's an 'entitled red trouser type'? Not heard that expression before.

Stolen from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/01/in-defence-of-red-trousers and only slightly tongue in cheek... :p

"... tends to be the kind of wannabe brayer that gallivants around Henley pouring jugs of Pimms on errant serfs' heads, whilst hoping that his friends won't tweet incriminating pictures that may later spoil his chances of becoming a Tory councillor. They have all the markings of what the public loathe at the moment: the pillaging banker, the cosy hedge-funder or worse, the Chelsea Foxtons estate agent."
 
Stolen from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/01/in-defence-of-red-trousers and only slightly tongue in cheek... :p

"... tends to be the kind of wannabe brayer that gallivants around Henley pouring jugs of Pimms on errant serfs' heads, whilst hoping that his friends won't tweet incriminating pictures that may later spoil his chances of becoming a Tory councillor. They have all the markings of what the public loathe at the moment: the pillaging banker, the cosy hedge-funder or worse, the Chelsea Foxtons estate agent."

Brilliant! I've met a fair few of those... :-)
 
...rushed up to a dog onlead and started barking, making the onlead dog (which had been offlead beforehand but leashed for safety/politeness when unknown dogs were sighted) feel threatened and uncomfortable, would you apologise?

And if on the return leg one of those dogs went out of its way to cover 100m at speed to continue bothering what is now a visibly upset onlead dog (again, who had been happily pottering offlead until this point and had passed other dogs with neutrality), would you, you know, consider even putting a COLLAR on your dog?

I do try and make light of any not so successful interactions but this one really got my goat :( especially when the owners showed not a hint of contrition.
And these were not dogs who 'wanted to play' their body language and vocals were rude and threatening.

Nah - they only want to play doncha know,you are really over-reacting..... :p
 
Stolen from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/01/in-defence-of-red-trousers and only slightly tongue in cheek... :p

"... tends to be the kind of wannabe brayer that gallivants around Henley pouring jugs of Pimms on errant serfs' heads, whilst hoping that his friends won't tweet incriminating pictures that may later spoil his chances of becoming a Tory councillor. They have all the markings of what the public loathe at the moment: the pillaging banker, the cosy hedge-funder or worse, the Chelsea Foxtons estate agent."

our ex landlord wore red trousers, in various shades, every day. a seed merchant.

if you go to the RHS, there's a stand with racks of them in shades from pink through to red to burgundy.
 
I'd go nuts, it drives me up the wall, Zak is very reactive. There's a new lady who allows her two designer crosses to harass my two every single time we are in the (massive) park. I don't know how many times she is going to make me do that before she realises/teaches her completely untrained dog how to recall. :mad3:

I used to have red trousers: they were gorgeous.
 
It's so sodding rude! I have an evil EBT who is never off lead and even though I shout "the Rottie is fine but this one is nasty" folk still let their dogs run up to her - the dogs usually retreat, however, once they realise that she will happily take them on, no questions asked! I know perfectly well that she/I would be blamed for any damage she did though.
 
To reiterate, mine is generally neutral to other dogs and had already met a lhasa who did a bork ;) when we walked by and two other dogs that live locally. As I may have said before, he's just the equivalent of the Goth kid at the youth club who wants to be left alone to dress in black and listen to his records without the annoying shouty jocks hassling him....
 
This is precicely why dogs end up fearful and reactive! My dog used to love all dogs until she was pinned to the ground by the biggest puppy I've ever seen (mine was on a lead). Consequently she's now wary of all puppies, which is a shame as most of them are lovely. mine is always non some sort of lead as she's a terrier with no recall, but I'd say a good proportion of the people we meet have dogs with poor recall skills don't seem to bother.
 
I hate the 'they just want to play' phrase- especially when sometimes its not true. but even when it is- if your dog does not want to play- they need to be recalled.

my last dog was a GSD and reactive. In a way, it helped he was a big dog, as some people would naturally keep away (hilarious one day a lady lifted up her beagle to walk past, even though he was walking on a lead nicely taking no notice of her dog!) He had a few dog friends, but we had to avoid busy places.

My new rescue is a nutty collie who wants to run up to every dog to say Hi. She had no interaction for her first 2 years, so she basically behaves a bit like an over confident puppy. But therefore I regularly put her on lead or at least on a long line. We go to the park and ask people if there dog is OK before we let her off to play for a bit. If in doubt she stays on lead, as her recall is hit and miss.

She is not nasty- but I could see her really irritating some dogs and really scaring timid dogs

I was certainly apologies after the first meeting and prevent the second one.
 
That phrase (don't worry he/she is friendly/just wants to play) is the bane of my life... :D

I have 2 large, friendly dogs (northern breeds) who are always on a lead, due to high prey drive and selective hearing tendencies. I walk them attached to a walking belt, so my shoulder stays located where it's meant to be when all the local off lead dogs with no recall come and bound around us just beyond the reach of the lead. The husky is very dog reactive (in an 'I want to play and bounce on EVERYONE' kind of way), he ends up leaping all over the mal cross who then gets annoyed and gives him a warning growl, they end up having a bit of a harmless play spat (although it sounds as though they're trying to kill each other), and I get accused of having dangerous dogs....

So, yes, I think you're entitled to an apology and to expect more consideration but it's very rare you'll get either! :P Although luckily, it is only a minority of dog owners.
 
I used to wonder why certain people don't even attempt to call their dogs when they are charging towards you - i've realised it's because recall is non-existent & they don't want to make a fool of themselves by calling & being ignored.
 
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