I like to think of myself as a fairly responsible dog owner.
Pepper is a pretty mental dog; she’s nearly 10 months old now and charges around the house like a bull in a china shop, and pulls like a beast on the lead. She’s not perfect, but we try really hard to keep her, and everyone around us, calm and safe.
In my endeavours to keep my lunatic of a dog out of harm’s way, I’ve come across some seriously incompetent fellow dog owners, who evidently don’t feel the sense of responsibility that they should. This post is for them.
Dear dog owners,
Your dog is friendly; I get it. He’s really freaking friendly and ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’. Does this mean it’s okay for him to be off his lead, running up to every person and their dog that they meet? No.
Let’s for a minute forget about the fact that the humans he approaches may not be comfortable with an excited greeting from your mutt. Have you ever considered that, although your dog is extremely friendly and carefree, my dog might not be?
If a dog is on a lead, they could be on a lead for a reason. Either their recall isn’t great and they’re a flight risk, they’re undergoing rehabilitation for an injury, or they’re uncomfortable with interactions from humans or other dogs. None of these situations are going to be helped by your happy-go-lucky Fido bounding up to them out of nowhere.
Many dogs have fear aggression and anxiety. A boisterous hello could scare them and cause them to lash out at your furry pal in defence. Not only is this traumatic for that dog and your dog, it’s not very nice for you human people to sort out either.
If you have good control of your dog and are able to call him away from a situation effectively before there is a problem, then fair play to you. If not, your dog should also be on a lead.
I walk my dog Pepper on a lead when we go to the woods or to the park. It’s not because she has aggression – it’s because she is the overly friendly dog who will run up to others very enthusiastically. Her recall isn’t good enough yet for me to control situations from a distance, so to keep everybody out of trouble, I keep her close to me on a lead.
Please consider the temperament of other dogs when you decide to let your little beast run wild, especially those on leads. The owners of that dog are being responsible by keeping their dog under control, and you should do the same.
I’m particularly aware of this type of situation, as there have been several cases recently in my area, whereby a friendly off-lead dog will run up to a anxious on-lead dog and end up injured because the on-lead dog freaks out. It’s not as rare as you think.
Also if you let your out-of-control dog with aggression run around off-lead around other dogs and people then you’re really a piece of something else.
// Rant over.
Please share this post if you agree!
Oh my gosh yes, yes, yess!!! My Baker is turning 3 this month and although he started out as super friendly he has been attacked a few times in his sort life by dogs of these kind of owners. Now he is very nervous and I detest people letting their dog bound over and just shouting ‘its alright, hes fine, just wants to play’…yeah he might do, but mine is petrified so I’d prefer if you’d have the decency to call them back or if they aren’t great at responding to you, pop them back on the lead until you are passed us.
The thing is also, when a dog is on a lead and one off a lead comes over, the on lead one gets extra anxious because they feel they can’t escape the situation. I wish more owners would take the time to learn the tell tale signs of different dog emotions.
I could literally go on forever on this subject…so I’ll stop there. But great post!
xo
Thanks Danielle! I could go on and on about this as well – hence I had to write an entire post about it haha.
Your Baker is the perfect example of exactly what I’ve just written about – I feel so sorry for him, and you! The “It’s alright, he’s fun, just wants to play” is what the most common, annoying thing ever. I could easily let Pepper of her lead and run crazily up to everyone she meets because ‘she only wants to play’ but it’s very dangerous.
You’re right about the on-lead anxiety too – spot on! I forgot to mention that. Just makes the whole thing worse for dogs that are already anxious. x
I wish everyone thought like us eh!? haha
And to mention the comments others have left, I always keep Baker well away from people and I’ve had people ask why, my answer – how am I to know that they arent scared, allergic or whatever else?! I’d rather them be angry that I didnt let them pet him than angry that he sniffed/licked uninvited-ly. x
As a non dog owner I feel that dog owners expect me to want their dog all over me, which I really don’t. I resent being made to feel like there’s something wrong with me when I don’t want a strange dog jumping up at me. I have been known to scream when a dog charges at me; I don’t know if he’s friendly and just wants to play, and that’s no excuse anyway. You may love your dog, but I don’t!
Exactly! Until we got Pepper, I’d never owned a dog before, and for many years was scared of dogs myself – now that we have a dog I understand dog psychology much better, but I also understand non-dog-owners concerns too!
I keep Pepper on a lead because if she wasn’t on a lead she would run up to unsuspecting non-dog-owners like yourself and probably scare lots of people, and I don’t want that at all x
I’m not a dog owner but I absolutely love dogs so the fact that overly friendly dogs run up to me for fussing makes me smile, I threw balls for dogs at the park with my PT tonight and last week one bounded up to me and lept up to lick me all fine with me. My mother on the other hand is terrified, she’s never been a fan of dogs and if dogs come over to her even if it’s just to see what’s happening and have a quick sniff she’s extremely scared. I wish other dog owners would realise the points made in this post. Like you say it’s not just people it’s other dogs, my neighbours dog barks most of the day at home and as soon as he sees another dog when they’re out he goes mad barking and jumping, it must be terrifying if you’re the other dog or the dog owner, that’s even when he’s on a lead, I can’t imagine otherwise as recall is shocking from what I’ve seen at least.
Glad there are some responsible dog owners about – Also as a non dog owner I always make the point to ask people if I can touch their dogs before doing it, so many people just stick their hands near a strange dog – don’t come crying to me when you lose a finger haha!
x
Thanks for your comment Emma – so glad you’re one of the good people who asks to touch a dog before touching it! You would be absolutely amazing how many people just rush up to Pepper and try to pet her EVEN THOUGH she’s on a lead!
Luckily Pepper is friendly, but if she wasn’t there would have been many accidents by now. x
I genuinely don’t think people think about it, I walked with a friends dog in Plymouth a few years ago and she was a malamute puppy so thoroughly excitable and loved to be fussed over, but she was also incredibly strong so when small kids came over and just stuck their hands near her she was like woohoo playtimes and started trying to clamber on them. Used to freak people out, I said so many times please be sensible with her she’s young and doesn’t understand being careful. x
Slow hand clap to each and every word of this, in fact, I wrote my column on it a few weeks ago – my dog is the terrified one who has been attacked and who is likely to lash out when a bounder comes along. She’s a softy but a scaredy and that’s ok….until some bozo (yes, bozo) let’s their ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’ fur baby come running over to say hello. Even when she’s on her lead at my side, somehow it’s still my fault that Betty didn’t like their very friendly little sausage. No no no no.
It blows my mind how many people just don’t get this, It’s not rocket science eh? Just common sense.
Thanks for your comment Michelle – you are the perfect example of why people need to think about and consider others when walking their dogs. People often rant about people being irresponsible with their aggressive dogs etc, but no one ever seems to call out people being irresponsible with their friendly dogs, and it’s almost just as dangerous! x
Agreed! I had a dog once who savaged a dog that ran up to it on the lead – dogs behave differently on the leash. Luckily the owner took responsibility for what had happened but three days later – the same dog was off the leash and was trying to run up to my dog! People should have 100% control over their dog if they want to unleash it in a public area. I have had dogs I couldn’t unleash. Fortunately Pickle is extremely obedient to the nth degree – she’d have been a great candidate for obedience training, and won’t leave your side – that doesn’t mean I am not always super wary though and if another dog enters the area and that dog is leashed then Pickle is straight on the leash too. Or if children around/I can tell someone is wary (Pickle is a rottie after all).
Holly I’m so glad you agree – you sound like a very responsible owner! :) Pickle sounds adorable; I love rotties! :) But I totally get that children can be wary etc. Some people are wary around Pepper because she’s a bull dog breed and very muscly, even though she’s small – but I totally get it. She acts like a crazy person, leaping everywhere and slobbering all over the place haha.
I’d love to be able to have control of her and let her off the lead, but I really don’t want to scare people or other dogs, so until she calms down a little, I just can’t do it. xx
Yeah, it took us a while to have Pickle totally under control, until we realised that she will do ANYTHING for food – honestly, anything! It was all easy after that. But people are also really wary of her as she is a rottie, but she is the same – would just lick you if you let her, even that is not very social though!!