When your out walking your dog do you ...

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Herbie31

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... allow them to run up to other dogs to say hello?

Blue's a big over enthusiastic with life border collie, loves other dogs and is very friendly - but does know the boundaries, says hello then goes on his way.

However I am very aware that not everyone appreciates a strange dog bowling up to their dog whilst out on a walk, so I tend to call him back and ask if its ok if he says hello to their dog first before giving him the go ahead.

This I would have thought was good manners, but I have been met with mixed reactions recently so am now totally confused on the ettiquet (sp).

So what do you do?
 
Very friendly springer :D let her go and say hello if dog off lead, call her away if dog on lead, pretty much anyway. Rarely ask as such.

I do pay attention to other dog's body language and owners too though and adjust my decision to call away accordingly.
 
Not B and he doesn't like it happening either (well, only certain dogs!) so if I see a dog approaching in a way I know will set him off I do call out and warn the owner to recall the dog, if they don't/can't I stand in front of him and keep him calm.
Otherwise if they approach politely he is fine.

The young pup I am trying to socialise, I have him on a long line and I call out and ask if he can say hi to the other dog, and if it is fine, then I do.
 
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I would never let mine run up to other peoples dogs, people don't appreciate it when its a GSD no matter how friendly.:(
If my dog is on lead it bugs me if people let their dogs run up, so would really appreciate someone who calls their dog back and checks first.
 
Mine are always on leads but I don't mind calm well mannered dogs saying hi.

I do mind dogs running up and getting, for want of a better description, "in my dogs faces"/jumping all over them

:)
 
When and where I walk my dogs I rarely ever meet other dogs but they know better than to rush up to dogs on a lead.
When I go back to my parents home I usually walk very early and late in the evening, there are more dogs around when I return from my early walk so I will keep the dogs all around me. I use the command 'Come in' as it is impossible when you have seven or eight dogs to have them all to heel.

Where I walk it is all open National Trust land and dogs can run free safely but when there are ground nesting birds I have them all behind me rather than letting them hunt.
 
Not too bothered about other peoples' dogs (I know mine is completely reliable in recall and 9 times out of 10 won't even look at other dogs but instead stay fixed on me) as long as they can control them.

What really annoys me is people who have no control over their dogs whatsoever... dog bounds up and says hello, grand... dog ignores owner completely, follows us, won't leave my dog alone, steals my dogs' ball, runs off with it (my dog is too much of a wimp to try and take ball back so allows this), refuses to fetch/leave it for its owner etc. Happens far too often. GRRRRRRR!!!!
 
I try to avoid people as much as possible. This forum has showed me how judgemental and nasty some people can be.
 
No because he is always on a lead. If he was/when he is an off lead dog I will try my hardest not to allow him to do that, as i know how infuriating it can be when your dog may not be the most social in the world/nervous/uptight- and having another dog run up to you isnt the most helpful thinkg in the world.
 
Depends, if the dog is off lead then I recall Cooper and put him on lead (he's got a death wish...thinks hello is barking in a dogs face and leaping at them...then lays on his back and gets eaten if they retaliate!!:rolleyes:), Tiz I recall and ask her to sit and stay to wait for the dog to approach her so I can assess her reaction, or if I know the dog and know she'll explode I put her on lead. Cromwell is usually 10 miles behind pottering along (he's nearly 18 so doesn't do speed anymore!), Sumo and Sidney are allowed to greet anyone and anything cos they are the nicest dogs in the world and Norris is either usually already attached to the other dogs neck trying to get them to play or stuck half way down a rabbit hole so not bothered about other dogs.

If on lead I'll get them all back and avoid the other person, can't be arsed to put 6 dogs on lead so I'd rather just walk the other direction.

Luckily I rarely meet other dog walkers anyway and if I do they tend to be people I know and they are fine with my lot, anyone new tends to avoid me in the first place...killer staffies don't you know!:rolleyes: Always laugh when people make the effort to meet my dogs and realise that despite being rescues and despite some of them being devil dogs they are actually very nice well behaved and fun animals. One fella with a spaniel says he's relieved to see my van because he knows his dog will get some play time and he'll have a quiet night because he'll be properly shattered by the time he gets home!
 
No. If I see anyone coming I put her back on a lead, unless I know them very well. Tink doesn't like dogs running up to her randomly, but if there can be some calm sniffing then I'll let her off.
 
jsr said:
Depends, if the dog is off lead then I recall Cooper and put him on lead (he's got a death wish...thinks hello is barking in a dogs face and leaping at them...then lays on his back and gets eaten if they retaliate!!:rolleyes:), Tiz I recall and ask her to sit and stay to wait for the dog to approach her so I can assess her reaction, or if I know the dog and know she'll explode I put her on lead. Cromwell is usually 10 miles behind pottering along (he's nearly 18 so doesn't do speed anymore!), Sumo and Sidney are allowed to greet anyone and anything cos they are the nicest dogs in the world and Norris is either usually already attached to the other dogs neck trying to get them to play or stuck half way down a rabbit hole so not bothered about other dogs.

If on lead I'll get them all back and avoid the other person, can't be arsed to put 6 dogs on lead so I'd rather just walk the other direction.

Luckily I rarely meet other dog walkers anyway and if I do they tend to be people I know and they are fine with my lot, anyone new tends to avoid me in the first place...killer staffies don't you know!:rolleyes: Always laugh when people make the effort to meet my dogs and realise that despite being rescues and despite some of them being devil dogs they are actually very nice well behaved and fun animals. One fella with a spaniel says he's relieved to see my van because he knows his dog will get some play time and he'll have a quiet night because he'll be properly shattered by the time he gets home!
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Wow - you have 6 staffies?! I thought my friend was pushing it with 4, albeit all carefully introduced into a strict pack order..the only time we have that many is when we go out with the yard dogs (i.e other liveries) and go for a hooley around the fields. Tend to stick onto our own land though to avoid any pack strikes!.

And i am afraid I am with Spudlet. Tend to walk mine away from other people or up at the yard, though when they come to events with me, they always end up with a lot of admirers and slow my progress right down!
 
Bop! said:
Very friendly springer :D let her go and say hello if dog off lead, call her away if dog on lead, pretty much anyway. Rarely ask as such.

I do pay attention to other dog's body language and owners too though and adjust my decision to call away accordingly.
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Yup same as this, rarely on leads but put Pads on if others are or nervous dog. Hecty won't approach another dog first so he stays loose, he'll say hello if another dog comes to him though.

Spudlet said:
I try to avoid people as much as possible. This forum has showed me how judgemental and nasty some people can be.
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Aw no that's a shame :(
 
No she has been attacked before by a big dog and now will growl at any dog that comes near so I keep her on the lead when other dogs are around and let her off when there arent any around. I hate the let me dog come over to see yours thing when they dont even know your dog. I had a nice shouting match at a man once who let his boxer gallop over to my dog and my girl started barking at the other dog which made the boxer show its teeth whilst its owner could not get it back. I told him to come and get his dog or he could be looking at a vets bill. He shouted at me as if I was in the wrong.
 
If the other dog is on a lead, not at all, I feel its rude (he can be quite bouncy) and the other dog is on a lead for a reason :)

Off lead ones, I try very hard to recall him and put him on the lead until I can assess the other dog/situation.

This is not always as successful as I would like, but I do shout apologies and call him away/fetch him back ASAP.

He is still just over a year old and a speedy whippet type , so I do have to be quite alert. Oddly enough, he is much better in the park (many dogs), than with the lone one we might meet on walks at home
 
Mine are always on leads so no, for strange dogs I keep them in close and pass with as little interaction and fuss as possible. Though neither is aggressive they are both very enthusiastic and a sniff-greeting quickly escalates into 'I want to play IWANTTOPLAYNOW!' which isn't appropriate for most of the dogs we meet and definitely not appropriate if I'm walking them on my own and wrangling two leads.

Luckily they have lots of 'friends' who are husky-savvy and if we meet them they can stop and greet, and often we'll walk together to one of the secure fields for them to have a proper play. :)
 
Dogs love interacting with each other I have never met one that doesn't the main problem is the owners thinking that their dog is too posh to socialise with mine !! I very rarly take my dogs where there is lots of others as we live in the countryside but the other day took him too the beach where they all ran together and loved it , there was just the odd owner who recalled the dog and spoiled the dogs fun !!
If the dog is aggresive though it shoud never be allowd off the lead that is irrisponsible and dangerous
 
Hmm, tricky. With our older dog then no, I try get him back on his lead as he can be a grump and seems to go in all defensive these days with any dog he meets. However, if we know the dog and know he is ok with that particular dog then we will allow him to go up to them. He is not a "bound up to other dogs" type though. He is actually worse if he's put on the lead as he will get more defensive than if he's left off and these days if you put him on the lead he automatically thinks it must be because there is a dog about! Sometimes we can have problems when he gets infront and we don't see a dog approaching and try recall ours - he is a bit deaf but has always been one to be 'selective' hearing wise anyway so it can be difficult to get him back - lots of high-pitched 'happy sounding' screaching at him may work! Lol

Our other dog generally I would not recall her unless I saw that the other dog owner had theirs on a tight lead or sepcifically asked us to put ours on a lead. The reason I would not really call her back is because she is wet anyway and would never bound up to another dog, she usually just skirts round them and, if she did approach (after skirting round first and checking all's ok) and they growled at her or anything she'll run away and get on with her walk! lol. I wouldn't rely on her to protect me from attack i can tell you! Ha ha ha (she's GSD x)

Just to add - I do not have issues with friendly dogs bounding up to our two either (even our grumpy one) if it's friendly then our older dog will soon realise it's not threat and gets bored of them then - he may grumble or bark at it or even tell it off but if that's the case then, if mine's on a lead that's the other owner's fault if theirs gets a bit of a telling off. I have no qualms about ours getting a telling off from another dog either if she invaded their space. If a loose dog came up to mine aggressively though that would annoy me a bit if mine were on leads.
 
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Yes I allow Harley to approach other dogs.

but there are 2 conditions to this.

1. the other dog has to be off lead. If he is on lead I would not let Harley approach. If the owner is also madly calling her dog back at the sight of me and Harley I would also recall him.

2. I would not allow my dog to approach another dog if I described it as "bounding over to say hello". that is very rude doggy language and even if the other dog is not "aggressive" it may snap or frighten it. Harley approaches other dogs slowly and politely sniffs before play begins.


I don't like peoples dogs that approach Harley really fast because i know it frigthens him.
 
Lots of mixed senarios there - now I'm even more confused!

I like him to go and say hello to other dogs, its good for him and nice for me to see. The other week we bumped into a man who immediately put his small dog on a lead so I called Blue back and said its ok he's friendly (i'm aware his size can be abit off putting especially to small dogs) The man said his was too, so why put his dog on the lead then????

Think I shall continue the way I am, at least then I am being courteous to others.

A few weeks ago we took him to the beach. He was happily trotting along off the lead in front of us going along the prom. He trotted past a lady (no dog) walking towards us in the opposite direction who then proceded to give me the most dirtiest look ever! The dog had done absolutely nothing wrong, the beach dog ban was not in place yet and he had not messed anywhere (I carry bags). This has made me abit nervous about peoples reaction to him in public, I wish now I had asked that silly bint what her problem was!
 
I never let my dog bound over to others and I hate strange dogs hurtling up to us.

The 'Dont worry he is friendly / just want to play' also does my tits in. My poor boy I lost this morning was dog agressive and would bite a rude dog. Betsy is very nervous of other dogs and we are doing alot of work to stop her flopping onto her back and showing her belly. Anything bigger than a spaniel heading towards her at speed and she shrinks and hides around my legs.
 
I TRY to get Skye our younger dog not to rush up to just any dog we meet, she is 18months and life is still very much a lark, in general she has learnt not rush in and tends to stop a few feet out and wait to see the other dogs reaction. If the dog is on the lead I recall her, and 9 times out of 10 she will come back, but now and again you get the talk to the paw attatude. I did get a bloke get stroppy one bank holiday afternoon when she was younger, his dog had been off the lead with another dog, he then put it on the lead, the other dog was bouncing, too much for Skye who ignored me and went to say hello to it and then approched the first dog, his dog barked, while I appreciate his dog didn't want meet Sky, he was very rude and if my dog was so dog aggresive it cound't meet another dog I'm not sure I would walk it in a busy county park on a bank holiday afternoon. Bea the older dog, rarely bothers with other dogs and was attacked by one last summer on the beach when we were on holiday so is warey of large dogs running fast at her and will panic and bark at them.
 
I take the view that if another dog is on the lead then it's for a reason and walk past briskly calling mine to follow . . . I do let them approach the dog because I see it as good for their socialization and if they get snapped at then they learn some manners but then their recall is wonderful and they will always follow me (they are both collie crosses). If I see a dog approaching who is . . . erm . . . out of control (and on the lead) I will recall mine, leash them, move off the path and ask them both to sit (particularly Fred who can be quite defensive when on the lead).

I do think, though, that there are far too many owners w/out basic dog handling awareness. Just this past weekend, on one 30-minute walk on a public footpath often used by dogwalkers:

- we met a woman walking a ridiculous handbag dog on a lead - when mine ran up to say hello and have a friendly sniff she got all sniffy and hoiked her dog up in the air - effectively dangling it right over my dogs' heads and then proceeded to spin in circles, squeaking . . . Fred thought this was a great game and joined her in her spinning . . . I had to shout at her to "stand still" so I could recall Fred . . . at no point was Fred being aggressive - he was merely curious and if the woman had had ANY dog sense at all she would have kept walking her way so we could pass and my dogs wouldn't have given hers more than a cursory sniff

- we then met a middle-aged man, with two young'ish children, all on bicycles and with a very unruly, lunging chocolate lab on an extendable lead - knowing that Fred isn't crazy about labs, and that he wouldn't take kindly to being lunged at, I leashed both of mine, moved off the path and asked them to sit so that a) the family could pass us; and b) Fred could exercise restraint . . . idiot man bent down and unleashed his dog who bounced straight up to Fred . . . thankfully Fred was already sitting and already in a calm state so didn't react much, but the man didn't know that Fred wouldn't react and had clearly seen me leashing my dogs - surely common sense would have prompted him not to unleash his until safely past us

Sigh

P
 
I always call them back and make them walk at heel.
I have had 2 incidents where the older boy has politely walked up to say hello to another dog and the other dog has gone for him. He has had 2 throat operations in his life and every single time the other dog goes for his neck!!! :mad:
No warning from the owner, and the dog is off the lead with the owner a few meter's behind them.
So unless the owner says their dog is fine I keep a wide berth. I know mine is fine, plus he's obedience trained so if I yell "DOWN!!!!" He decks it :D
ETA: the 2nd oldest, I do the same with. The oldest 2 come back fine so they will just be recalled back and asked to walk at heel.
The youngest lab won't come back, on lead at all times. She does the " come get me" game.. "but you cant get me.. you can't you can't you can't!!!!!". She is fine with other dogs and people but if she won't come back she stays on her lead, simples. I think its irresponsible to walk a dog off lead who won't come back.
The youngest dog, the basset, is only 5 months old so she gets the odd walk on her lead and mainly just plays on our garden for now. (We are paranoid about over-exercising puppies, especially one we want to show who is as well bred as her :eek: )
 
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Sweep is oblivious to any other dogs when we are out and about - and would certainly never iniate an interaction!:eek: Max is usually to busy looking for bunnies etc to pay any attention but is happy to play if another dog wants to otherwise its back to the bunny huntimg....*sigh*

Having lived in a city where my old spaniel was walked in a park I realise it is very different - there were 'security' GSD's who would run across the park to attack other dogs:o - but where I live now the only dogs my two meet are usually dogs they 'know' and interact accordingly:)
 
I keep my dog on the lead,or walking beside me in any place I think im going to come across other dogs.

90 percent of the time she is fine with other dogs but she has a dislike small dogs,
yappy terriers in particular( she was attacked by one as a pup and regards them all with suspicion since then), so her close is the safest for all around.

On the odd occasion that she has meet little terriers come barreling up to her barking the hackles come out.
On one occasion when we were on the beach and had headed up the dunes where its more quiet an off lead dog(terrier) decided to abandon his owners and ignore their calls.He came running up the dunes barking then lunged at her.she caught him and shock him like a rat.Then she dropped him as i yelled at her to drop and I draged her off while the terrier retreated back to his owners..by the look's of things just fine.
I go out of my way to avoid incidents like that.I dont walk her in dog filled areas.

Generally now when I meet or think I hear other people coming she gets recalled and put on lead.90 percent of the time the dogs I meet that are offlead are either close to their owners and relatively well behaved and when they see Jess on lead either just walk by as normal or call the more exuberant ones back and lead them.

The main issue is terrors that bound up with have no owner in sight.In those cases il ask jess to sit and stand in front of her.Tell the other dog sharply either to sit or go home.
They usually reevaluate then and if they come closer I just stand back and let jess deal with them herself hoping for the best. I have no intention of getting bitten because someone let their non friendly dog loose and I know jess will stand up for herself if she has to.

Bar the time in the dunes incidents have always gone well.Jess will poof and act very dominant but wont attack unless they jump at her first so its usually just a stand off until the owners appear of the dog decides to wander on.

She doesn't play.I've never seen her initiate play with another dog, bar our neighbours when they running free in the garden together.

I also dont bring her on walks to socialise her.
I bring her on walks for exercise and the fun of her being somewhere new.I dont want to socialise her with other dogs I dont know as I dont trust her not to be aggressive.

I hate when other people just allow their dogs to just come bounding over to her as she is always on lead when we meet and she may react badly.
 
Jake10 said:
Mine are always on leads but I don't mind calm well mannered dogs saying hi.

I do mind dogs running up and getting, for want of a better description, "in my dogs faces"/jumping all over them

:)
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Calm and well-mannered being the operative words.

My BT has only one eye, so she likes dogs that say hello in a respectful manner and don't come zooming over/end up trampling on her head in an effort to say hello. Prince the pug likes all-comers--in fact, the rowdier and bigger the dog, the better. If I make a point of saying one of my dogs is half-blind, other people are respectful, use their judgment and we have no problems.
 
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