MAD

I'm really mad cos i just took my dog for a walk round the lake near the kennels. My dog is 11 months old and is really friendly, she wants to play with every dog.

I let her off the lead and while we were walking round she ran towards 2 white fluffy dogs on their leads to try to play with them. She was wagging her tail and started rolling over and then running round them.

The reason i'm mad is the man who was walking them, along with his wife and teenage daughter, tried to kick my dog!

Was he justified? Surely he could tell she was playing and not aggressive!! I wanted to kick him to see what he thought.

Should i have my dog on a lead at all times because of people? Am i overreacting?

I also realised as I walked away that I knew him and will see him at my kids school. Can see an argument coming.

I want to be able to let my dog off her lead when we are out, she loves running up and down, but she also loves other dogs so should i keep her on her lead?

Ohh this is a difficult one. I don't think you are overreacting at all, I think its the man with the dogs on the lead that is overreacting. Surely all dog owners know that if a dog is on its back its not being aggressive? From having a dog aggressive dog myself, Archie is aways kept on the lead and we have had times where other dogs have come running up to him. Archie kicks off big style at this but I would certainly never kick the other dog especially if it is being submissive and playfull. When the other dog owners see Archies reaction they either come and get their dog or the dog will go away knowing full well Archie doesn't want to play. In the eyes of the law (although I could be mistaken on this) if one of the dogs on the lead had bitten your dog there wouldn't be anything you could do about it as they are classed as being under control. I would personally put it down to an ignorant dog owner who simply cannot tell basic dog behaviour. Unfortunately there are quite a few of these people about.

Having an aggresive dog, who doesn't tollerate dogs running up to him, i always shout that Sam isn't friendly to the owner, if they don't retrieve the dog then they accept the consiquence. Sam is always on a lead but never have i ever had to kick out at another dog, some ignorant owners - Yes!
Nancy is always off lead and enjoy's a run with many other dogs, Sam is a mummy's boy and never strays far from me.
It is my experience in dog ownership that you will always upset someone, but i wouldn't limit my dogs life for the sake of one idiot, perhaps he was related to him below!

Your not the only one fumming, i have just made a man so mad his head nearly exploded and i dare say if he had got his hands on me he would have lamped me one.
Going to Majorettes with Amelia, i pull out onto a main road with traffic lights to my left as i turn right, anyway there was nothing coming from either side so i pulled out when i checked my rear veiw mirror this idiot was practically in my boot, he must have come along the main road and through the traffic lights at 80, so he was gobbing off as he had to jump on his brakes, he continued with his hand clapping and gesturing, so i blew him a kiss, and gave him a thumbs up sign, this drove him to the edge but did not tip him over, it was when i refused to drive faster than 29 miles an hour, that did it, what made it worse was when he was going the same way as me and i deliberatly slowed down for corners and stopped at junctions, by the time he over took me on a bend he was bright red, he pipped as he overtook and i blew him one last kiss and a two fingered wave.
I will not be pressured into driving dangerously, i will not put my kids life at risk, and i will not be intimidated. I pay my road tax, insurance and mot my car just like him, so i will drive safely whether it inconvienieces anybody or not.
If your tempted to drive up someones back side just remeber it might be me infront, and if your rushing because your late, then you will be LATER.
After idiot over took me, the car he got behind did exactley the same as me so he was still only yards infront and i laughed my head off, and he knew it!!!!

Well done. If anyone is ever up my backside I always slow down to just under the speed limit to annoy them.

Hiya Sarah,I have two Barc dogs both had been badly bitten when I took them on and I hate it when other dogs run over to us,like Julie I always warn people my dogs arent dog friendly,Jesswill bite noses if they come too close and Buddy is hysterical with fear they are both totally ok with dogs they know ie other family dogs.It is very hard to control two dogs on leads when another is running around free and mine are always on leads if other dogs are around. I think the man in question cant have been an exprienced dog person and acted over the top yours was totally friendly and submissive you are going to meet all sorts of strange people on your walks and your doggie will meet more of the friendlier sort im sure .Its always good to teach your dog recall but not always possible when they are having a ball I would give anything for my dogs to be just like yours and im sure many years ago they were before bad people let bad things happen to them ,just make sure she never goes up to a dog who is aggresive or you may have a doggie like my two.

Well done Julie you are a woman after my own heart! x

Hi Sarah, if that had been me i would have run up to him and shouted "OY! DO YOU WANT ME TO KICK YOU LIKE THAT!!" and then stare at him with mad furious eyes just long engough for him to gulp a bit, then say "She's only playing for god sake!" before patting my dog and marching off with disdain.

Makes me so mad that type of thing! Stupid, small minded, idiots.

As for you Drabble, i bet youre one of those motorway central lane hoggers arent you??!!

then stare at him with mad furious eyes

Is that what you'd do to me when i'm lane hogging and you couldn't get past!

thats the least YOU could expect!

hi,
On the note of dogs running up out of control (however friendly).
My Henry is great BUT since getting a new puppy in January he is overprotective to the extreme, which poses a danger. If a loose dog runs up to him uninvited and Henry bites or attacks it, it is him that is in touble and has the prospect of euthanasia when the other dog should have stayed away!!!!!. My bug bear is people who allow their dogs to run up uninvited, they have no idea how the other dogs are going to react and if the person is trying to train their dogs or if they are aggressve, no matter how submissive or friendly your dog is it won't stop it being attacked, I speak from experience Henry has been bitten on a few occassions when he's run over to new dogs. My pup is now 15kg henry is almost 18kg when both are on lead and lunging its hard to keep on your feet if another dog is running around them, especially if Henry is acting aggressively to the intrusion in order to protect the vulnerable puppy. IF THE OTHER DOG IS HELD OR LEASHED THERES A REASON!!!!!!!
People should NEVER EVER let their dogs run over without shouting to the other owner for permission 1st (i don't condone kicking unless the dog is being aggressive towards my dogs then its a protective issue and I don't know 1 dog owner that wouldn't kick a dog if theirs were threatened, if I feel my dogs are either in danger, or mine are in danger of injuring another I will try to place myself between them and the intruding dog.)
I personally am trying to train my new puppy not to run over uninvited, as Henry has in the past, but everyone allows their dogs to come over because shes a puppy, which doesn't teach her to wait, or walk nicely to the other dog to then be let off and given permission to play. Please think twice about letting your dog run over to other dogs, yes if they are friendly and have been given permission let them off again, but if they have a tendency to run over to others please re leash them until the other dogs have gone past or you've ascertained whether the other owner is happy for you to let them play together, its a common courtesy as you don't know if the other dog is injured and is restricted physically and a dog running over could cause them to make that injury worse. When Amber was neutered trying to keep her calm and on the floor was hard enough without random dogs being allowed over to over excite her and make her jump around risking splitting her stitches!!!! . If you ascertain its ok for them to play you can let them off and allow them to play but there are too many people not having good distance control over their dogs and not knowing the nature of the dogs their running over to. Plus its a dangerous habit as if they saw a dog over a road they would dart over as they have been allowed to run to dogs without permisson before.
A good example was Friday my 2 were playing in the water at Pugneys, I saw 3 dogs free running, so grabbed mine (just in case) 1 dog ran over to Amber (who was on a long line and I hadn't chane to reel her in or recall her), Henry wasn't close enough to do anything, but not being able to protect her he was about to start lunging and barking when I shouted for them to call their dog back which luckily they had some control over it. If Henry had been totally loose he could have acted aggresively towards this dog, which would have been his fault of course not the fact that they let theirs run amuck, when if it had stayed away he wouldn't have even looked at it.
All I ask is consideration for what I'm trying to do, and think twice before allowing your dog to run to new dogs as you have no dea of what that dog has been through or how its going to react.

Thanks everyone for your comments, a very mixed bag.

We have been going to dog training classes and whilst there are no dogs around Coco will happily come when called. However, when there is another dog she ignores me.

It seems that I should keep her on a lead at all times, although that is not what I want to do and stops her being able to sniff around or have a good run.

I usually go on the same walk but The Dog Whisper on the telly advised against this cos dogs get bored. I think she will have to get bored cos at least on my usual walk there are no roads so it is safe to let her off and the people i see, if i see any, have their dogs off the lead too and are ok for Coco to run up to them.

Another thing to remember is that Coco is still young and at that stage when she wants to interact with other dogs through play. You might find that as she gets older she won't be too bothered about running upto other dogs and will stay close to you when off lead.

Why not buy one of the long training leads then you can practice recall in amongst plenty of distractions but still have full control

you are so lucky that you have a lovely friendly dog enjoy letting him play but dogs on leads dont normally like loose dogs i would love to let my dog off her lead to play with another dog but since problems with her rear end thats not possible but kicking someones dog (or your own ) is a no no i wonder if he treats his dogs like that ?