I guess I was rude, but I don't care. ;)

[mbc1963]

And on a side note:

 

My new, 20-lb dog came out of a hoarding case. In the first few weeks, she was overwhelmed and scared of this entire new world. She literally shook for 2 days; I thought she might have Parkinson's. Big dogs charging at us at the park is an issue. And I came off 10 years of having Buddy, and my behavioral and emotional responses to the world are shaped by his "normal," which was very different from real "normal."

 

But! My new girl? After four months, she's learning to love greeting other dogs. Plays rough with the 85-lb labrador up the street. Greets friendly Great Danes. Went up and down my street during trick-or-treat the other night: not a yip or bark or withdrawal. (Talked to a man with a giant pumpkin on his head. Casually watched the guy on the 12-foot-tall unicycle riding around.)

 

This dog's resilience has shaped my internal landscape. When I see a stranger or in-control dog approaching now, I fully expect the interaction to be happy and exciting. My leftover wariness of the world from my old dog doesn't seem to have touched my new dog's adjustment. She's gonna be the feisty, happy dog she's wired to be, despite a bad start and despite my being initially far more cautious than I needed to be.

[gcv-border]

I also wonder if it's an issue of (a) interest and ( a self-selected group.

 

I have noticed that owners of dogs with some reason not to allow other dogs to approach- haemophilia, arthritis, fear etc.- have this. Because they notice it more because they have to, and they talk about it more. When I went for a walk with my rock-solid dog and another dog was obnoxious, I was unlikely to remember it afterwards. No reason to post about it. Now that she has arthritis the equation is different, for the same dog with the same temperament, and I remember incidents more and am more likely to talk about it, because she is more likely to hurt her shoulder and thus give me a reason to remember. Walking another dog that might undo a couple weeks of training, that would make you remember and give you enough of an interest to talk about it.

 

Self selected group. People who talk about 'reactivity', who recognize it, who try and train out of it, rather than just having a dog who 'doesn't like others' or 'should go say hello' or (worst of all) 'is really friendly he is just growling with play', are also more likely to talk about a dog being 'rude.'

Self-selected group: nothing wrong with that. This entire board is a self-selected group.

 

Certainly people will post about what makes them happy (puppeeees!), or worried, or confused and needing advice or .... And people will answer, the discussion goes on - thus making a 'self-selected group' in a broad sense of the term.

[chrisandgabe]

Our last dog was completely bomb-proof, and wouldn't react even if a dog was being rude, snapping at him, chasing us, whatever. I don't actually think that was a great quality, since it kind of left him open to getting picked on a lot, and we were pretty defenseless out in the world. I'd get nervous when we would see a dog that was giving off bad signals, waiting for the day when a dog attacked him and I couldn't do anything about it, which never ended up happening, but it didn't make him reactive. He was fine.

 

Gabe came to us reactive, and I wasn't even expecting it at first. We were told he was dog friendly. And maybe he is off-leash, with the right dogs. He's had social times, but he has a really hard time on leash and with dogs running up in his face. But on his first walk with us, I wasn't expecting the leash reactivity, wasn't nervous about it, didn't tense up on the leash, and he reacted. After his attack, my anxiety increased 100x, and for a good week or so he didn't react AT ALL. Now we're about back to where we were before the attack, where he's good in a lot of situations, makes a lot of good decisions, like looking back at me when we see another dog so he can get a treat, but he still reacts sometimes.

 

I think there's value in dogs socializing with each other, but I need to trust the dog, and the owner. I'm much more likely to let him greet a dog whose owner leashes the dog when asked than one who argues the point with me. I don't love on-leash greetings, so we don't do that often, but we walk in a place where dogs are required to be on-leash, and I don't trust the judgment of people who refuse to do that, even when asked. It's my job to protect him. I'm not trying to make friends for either one of us when we walk. We're getting exercise, doing something we both enjoy, and getting out in the world.

[Sue R]

I rarely run into issues like these as we don't often walk where there are other dogs, at least not other dogs that are loose and/or not under control. This last week, down at the Outer Banks, I was walking on the beach with Celt and Megan on lead (there is a stiff fine for off-leash dogs). We'd walked about a mile down towards the Hatteras Inlet and Ed had walked on to the inlet from there with Dan, while I turned back with Celt and Megan.

 

When we were most of the way to our goal, a couple fishing stopped to warn me that there were people with loose dogs up ahead. They thanked me for having my dogs on leash. They were concerned about the two (or more) larger dogs running around in the direction where I was headed. I had noted the dogs already but was very grateful for the warning. We turned off the beach to use the porta-john, and when we came back, I was careful to note where the loose dogs were still gamboling, and Celt, Megan, and I sat down to wait for Ed. Since none of the loose dogs had looked our way or noticed us, I wasn't concerned but I was watching.

 

Eventually, I noticed one couple coming towards us with a Chihuahua on a Flexi and a large yellow doodle running loose at the edge of the waves. I expected them to either leash their loose dog or at least have him/her under voice control as they appeared to be making for the walkover to the parking area. Nope, the man called his dog as it came arching around in a circle to approach us. No response. He whistled for his dog. No response. I called and asked him to get his dog under control and he said I shouldn't worry because his dog was friendly. I responded by saying that mine were not and would he please control his dog. His dog was under no control whatsoever and he wasn't making any speedy effort to come get him.

 

I was sitting on the sand and my dogs were leashed and had been in a down-stay but they got up when the dog was nose-to-nose with them, which I totally understood. Being a bit older and stiffer, I was not in a position to get up quickly to remove my dogs. I knew I was overstating the situation when I said mine were not friendly but when a strange dog comes up with no good manners and my dogs are on leash and I can't move, it's just not a good situation.

 

Fortunately, Celt and Megan were mannerly and nothing happened but as the man finally came up and clipped a leash on his dog, I asked (he had a German accent) if he was aware that there was a stiff fine for dogs running loose on the beach. He said he was but that, "A dog exercising is a beautiful thing." I said it was not a beautiful thing when a loose dog gets in my leashed dogs' faces.

 

He really did not understand in the least what I was talking about. His dog was friendly and seemed well-socialized, although his manners were a bit rude.

 

I guess that if I'd been smart, I'd have simply taken my dogs somewhere else - to the car, to another part of the beach. At least it was just the one dog and a reasonably nice dog, but I don't think we'd have had the same harmless outcome if it had been Dan on leash with me instead of the two old dogs. Dan does not take well to impolite dogs that get in his face.

[Liz P]

But you were obeying the law, your dogs were not causing problems, so you shouldn't even have to think "I guess that if I'd been smart, I'd have simply taken my dogs somewhere else."

 

I was once tackled by a pack of loose dogs on a bike trail. I was lucky I wasn't hurt. The dogs were friendly (being playful), but they knocked my bike over. I had a bruise and would have had scrapes and cuts had I not been wearing long pants. That was not the first time I had seen that pack of dogs loose on the trail. I pulled out my cell phone and took photos of the dogs and owner. I then let the owner know I would be calling the police if he did not leash his dogs and if I ran into him with loose dogs on the trail again. That method seems to be the only one that works on some people these days.

[rushdoggie]

Its a cultural thing too.

 

My dogs are usually pretty reliable off lead, even if some other dog is coming towards us. I often walk them off leash where technically they are supposed to be leashed, and if I see anyone looking like we will pass or meet I call them, leash up and either we wait in a down stay for that person to pass or just widen the gap and pass. I'd say 90% of the people we pass do the same.

 

One day, after herding practice at a place I go sometimes I took Argos for an off lead walk in a field designated for off lead dogs across the way from the farm. He had been working with me for a couple of hours and he was gambooling with his Aussie buddy who he has known for years. Way across the field was a stranger with 2 little dogs. They were a long way off, engaged with their owner so we started walking the perimeter.

 

Suddenly Argos took off after those dogs. I called him, he came back. We kept on. Then he ran off again and completely ignored me. I could tell by his body language that he was being happy and friendly, he lives with 2 little dogs and loves them. He has several small dog friends. For whatever reason he became laser focused. I took after him running as fast as I could in knee deep grass and rubber boots.

 

I was mortified. He ran in, dropped down and started wagging in a down and I literally had to get within 10 feet of him to get him to see me. The woman, bless her heart, was very nice. She said as soon as he got close and dropped into a down she knew he came over to play. I gushed apologies.

 

I can only imagine how terrified she must have been in the seconds before that. In this case, my dog *was* just "being friendly" but that didn't make it OK for him to rush her and her dogs! I was so embarrassed, and so angry at him for doing that. He was leashed the rest of that walk and I see her there occasionally and ensure he is firmly attached to me if I do. He's not done it since but I'm not giving him another chance.

 

I can't imagine someone just saying "oh its ok!" and going on. In my dog culture your dog is not off lead unless you have control. If your dog bothers someone else you should be embarrassed and apologize.