Do you ever wonder if there is any point to trying to train your dog in public??

This morning I came across a GSD in the park. My lot were off lead but recalled when I asked and stayed within 6ft of me with prompting whilst I detoured around the other owner and dog. Just when I was feeling chuffed at how good they were being the GSD decided it wanted to say hello and came trotting over.
Owner-"dont worry, she likes little dogs, she wont bite"
Me-"yes, but mine dont like big dogs and will bite!"

Too late at this point as the dogs are nose to nose. Sure enough Hannah snapped at the other dogs nose. (thankfully the GSD was old and wise enough to see it as a way of getting space and not aggressive so happily backed off).

Sometimes it seems more like a minefield then a park when you are walking dogs..

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SUMMER...JUST SAY NO!

I love my furkids.
dogs-Adam, Hannah, Heidi.
cats-Banjo, Bess, Eric, Tootsie, Blossom, Gracie.
Syrian Hamster-Inigo Montoya.
Rats-Ezri, Audrid, Emony.
Corn Snake- Kiora.
Kenyan Sand Boa- Kushti.

RIP- Winter, Autumn, Leela, Spring, Gandalf, Summer,Jet, Pip, Moo, Lilac, Wild Thing, Patrick, Frisbee, Echo.

TBH I don't see that owner at fault.

Had it be me and you had you put your dogs on lead I would have then moved my dog away as a respect for you don't want the dogs to meet but if you just call 'em back and fail to put 'em on lead, I see that as being careful as you don't know what my dog is like so when close enough i'd allow my dog to greet.

We get many dogs owners who are just nervous around Maya because of how big she is so if I allow my dog to greet then they can see she's not going to attack the other dog. Now if the dog was put of control and all over the place, I would have placed her on lead and probably avoided as Maya dosen't like dogs throwing themselves all over her.

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R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

http://www.dog-breeds-plus.com
Mine and My husband's Dog breed website

So you would still think I wanted to greet just because my dogs werent on a lead, even if I was taking them on a massive detour to avoid going near you???
Hmmm, that is abit weird...

__________________
SUMMER...JUST SAY NO!

I love my furkids.
dogs-Adam, Hannah, Heidi.
cats-Banjo, Bess, Eric, Tootsie, Blossom, Gracie.
Syrian Hamster-Inigo Montoya.
Rats-Ezri, Audrid, Emony.
Corn Snake- Kiora.
Kenyan Sand Boa- Kushti.

RIP- Winter, Autumn, Leela, Spring, Gandalf, Summer,Jet, Pip, Moo, Lilac, Wild Thing, Patrick, Frisbee, Echo.

it was a gsd so what it saw dogs off lead and thought fun times yours warned im not playing so he went wheres the problem.

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To me that could mean you were just scared of my dog

If you put them on lead, that would be different.

__________________

R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

http://www.dog-breeds-plus.com
Mine and My husband's Dog breed website

The problem is not the that the dog couldnt tell I was trying to avoid them it was the owner! I wouldnt expect a dog, even an intelligent breed like a GSD, to be capable of abstract thought.

If I put them on a lead then it would be more likely that mine would have bitten the 'scary' big dog as they would have felt trapped. Besides which if I thought someone was scared of my dog (by the way it was lovely!!) I would try and keep it away anyway, out of manners.

__________________
SUMMER...JUST SAY NO!

I love my furkids.
dogs-Adam, Hannah, Heidi.
cats-Banjo, Bess, Eric, Tootsie, Blossom, Gracie.
Syrian Hamster-Inigo Montoya.
Rats-Ezri, Audrid, Emony.
Corn Snake- Kiora.
Kenyan Sand Boa- Kushti.

RIP- Winter, Autumn, Leela, Spring, Gandalf, Summer,Jet, Pip, Moo, Lilac, Wild Thing, Patrick, Frisbee, Echo.

Yes, but had the chance to put your dogs on lead BEFORE the dog came over.

Not quite because of how laid back Maya is no one sees that till they meet her, she's a big dog so it's intimating to people. I allow Maya to approach to show she's no harm to them or their dogs, she won't stay she just wants to say Hi and walk on. I NEVER allow her to approach dogs on lead Unless I know the dog but even then it's rare as allot of dogs don't like other dogs even more so on lead, I know Maya can be.

It's far better manners to not allow you dog to approach a dog on lead than offlead, i've never heard of anyone thinking it's bad manners to let your dogs greet each other offlead.

__________________

R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

http://www.dog-breeds-plus.com
Mine and My husband's Dog breed website

No I think it can be, it just depends on the context of it. You can usually tell how comfortable people are/are not about the situation regardless of lead status. If someone recalls their dog away from an impending meet/greet I always try and respect that and make sure mine are under control and leave alone or pass by without interfering.

I'm baffled by these posts relating to dogs meeting up 'In the park' Etc. O.k. most of my dog walking is done in the country and my dogs are rarely on leads, If I come across another dog on my walks it's fairly obvious if it's freindly / curious, or aggressive. Providing it's showing no aggressive signals then I have no problems with my dogs socialising, I know they'll come when called and I have to say we never seem to get any of these issues that I'm reading about. If you've had dogs for any length of time then you can usually tell if there's going to be a problem and take steps to avoid it. At present I'm training a retreiver pup, it's going well, but if, during a session another dog approaches I pack in the training and, providing the owner has no objections, if his/her dog wants to play then fine, I'm happy to let them carry on. That way my pup gets to learn just how far he can push things before getting put in his place, lessons he can only find out by interacting with other dogs.

I've come to conclusion everyone has their own rules and i've no clue anymore

__________________

R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

http://www.dog-breeds-plus.com
Mine and My husband's Dog breed website