Think you've got the pooches mixed up I own the naughty Dally puppy (that got pushed over) and it was the springer who was nervous and uncomfortable!

I honestly couldn't say for definite whether she meant to push him over - probably not to be honest, she probably just wanted him to get away so she could sort out her own dog.

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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion....

Oh dear thats the trouble with spots in gangs they just turn into complete loons especially the girls the body slaming is at least you were on the scene though so hopefully the ss owner will be ok next time you see her

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All my children have paws!

This is not a criticism of the OP. Two sides to every story, it would interesting to hear the other person's account of events.

It would appear that the SS owner did what they felt they had to in that situation. Really shouting "no" and a push is the least that one might do in that situation. If I were dealing with such an out of control dog holding it by a harness or collar would be the last thing I would do, I want the threat to go away not hold on to it!

Also interesting that so many are leaping to defend the account with mitigating comments - but I recall reading similar threads within the last few months from the other side of such encounters and the comments fly in with condemnation for the owner of the "playful dog" that could not control their dog.

I say again this is not an attack on the OP but I get slated anyway for seeing two sides to such an encounter, maybe the pup needs a long line for the short term future to maintain control and develop a reliable leave it and recall. Use of a pea-whistle to break the focus of the pup then you run away for the pup to follow might have been better than chasing, as the pup sees that as extension of the game.

Dogs are independent animals and will sometimes do things they should not - it happens.

I think the OP is more in acceptance of the reality than some of this thread's respondents.

God yes, the body slamming; I forgot about that When they slam into Alfie he goes absolutely flying but as soon as he's up he's running straight back for more

An interesting post

I imagine the comments you're referring to were made because a. he is still a puppy so maybe a little slack from the SS owner might have been nice (she's told me several times what a little bugger she used to be herself as a pup ) and b. the dogs do actually know each other quite well and she (the owner) would have (I hope) absolutely known that Alfie meant no harm at all.

Definitely a lesson learnt for me anyway. I hope I bump into her this morning so I can try to apologise and clear the air. I don't like to think of anyone being pissed off with me or my dog.

__________________
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion....

To be fair though, this was a completely different situation to the ones I've seen complained about. If anything the other two dogs should not have been allowed to run over and join in, that is what triggered the whole incident and from what I can gather it's not the first time they've frightened the springer with the way they play.

I think the difference here is that the OP did try to control their dog - and it sounded like the ignoring and over-excitement to the stage of being unable to "snap out of it" and come away was a new experience and somewhat worrying to the OP, who is intending to make sure it doesn't get to that stage again - different to people who know their dog is like that and don't try to get it under control around other dogs.