Oh I am angry!!!
I have 3 dogs...Roxy- a lovely natured lab-, Scully -manic collie/russell- and Katy- a springer/collie (with some mental health issues I think!). Rox is great with other dogs, Katy very nervous and unsure, tends to bark and tell others in no uncertain terms to back off,( a rescue dog who had no socialisation for the first 12 months of her life before I adopted her) and Scully who was attacked by another dog and since then has been extremely mistrustful of other dogs and will generally air snap to warn any that come too close that she has teeth and may use them.
On Saturday I set off to take them for a late afternoon walk along a fairly busy cycle path. Now I always leash my dogs around other dogs when walking all 3 as 2 of them have issues and I always leash them around children. So as a young guy with a happy staffy type , a baby in a papoose, and a 3 or 4 year old child come towards us on go the leads. 'He's alright' shouts young guy pointing to his dog who is cheerfully trotting off lead towards us.. 'O they aren't' I shout back, and the guy calls his dog and son to him. As we go past his little boy puts his hand out and the guy says 'Don't.. they are NASTY DOGS'!!
Well if he did, I am sorry and ashamed to say I gave him a mouthful of abuse, as he tried to tell me that they MUST be nasty dogs if they didn't like other dogs .....I was so cut up that a stranger should have that perception of my girls. Argh!!!
Sorry..just needed to vent a bit of air

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You have my sympathy! I have just one rescue dog, adopted a week ago. He has similar issues. I'm ok with him barking etc but staggered and irritated by the behaviour of other dog owners.

When other dogs come too close I tell them 'he's not socialised and will nip and get very stressed', but many people seem to make light of it and say, 'oh mines ok' Meanwhile, my dog is biting his own lead and my trouser legs! I'm seriously considering being more proactive, ie RUDE I order to stop people prolonging their dogs meetings with mine.

One woman with a docile lab insisted I was wrong and my dog was 'just wanting to play', I said 'errr I really don't think so', before I knew it she had moved her dog closer. Result: my dog snarled and nipped him on the nose! I've also had children of other dog owners yelling 'bad dog' at mine.

I'm hoping things will gradually get easier....

Yep that's it..the behaviour of other dog owners!! drives me up the wall. Even when I just had one great natured dog previously i would always put her on lead if another dog approached on lead, out of courtesy, figuring there is probably a very good reason why that dog is on a lead. I just don't understand why other people don't seem to get that too! I would love to let them socialise but its got to be controlled with the other dog at a distance which my dogs can tolerate. I think someone would be quick to complain if I let Scully run loose, as she's so convinced every other dog is going to murder her, she has decided she better get the first strike in!

Two sides to every story, sounds to me that his comment was more for the benefit of teaching is son about approaching strange dogs uninvited than for your ears.

We have frequently seen threads where the "problem" is a child's lack of self-control, where a parent is taking steps to address this let's not be so quick to criticise them.

I used to get it a fair bit with Rupert. I never let it bother me to be honest. Maybe those children who were told they weren't to pet my dog because he was nasty will be the ones to learn that not all dogs are friendly and that they shouldn't just go running up to them.

IMO, you need to be. For his sake. If he's stressed and upset about other dogs getting too close then you need to do what you can to ensure it doesn't happen. And in my experience people do not listen. It's like they simply cannot believe that a dog may not like theirs or something. Rupert was muzzled and they still tried the "oh mine's friendly, they'll be fine" sort of thing

Yep probably was the quickest way of explaining to his young son (in a way that he could understand and fast) that he wasn't to touch them......and didn't really think about the offence and rudeness caused to you by saying it. The fact is; he shouldn't be letting his son touch strange dogs anyway as most parents would try and instill that into their kids - you'd think?!!!

Totally understand how you'd feel though, not a pleasant thing to hear about your doglets

My sisters JRT is very wary of other dogs, I think its because my dads chihuahua x is always snapping at him .... because he is so small some people allow their bigger dog to bound up to him etc whilst shouting "oooh they wont hurt him" .... it is so annoying because they just laugh

My dog is fine with other dogs, she loves everyone and everything, she is always off leash at the beach, she stays very close to me until I tell her to "go play" but some people just allow their off leash dogs to trample her, I mean, she seems to enjoy it but she could get seriously squished

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Raw fed since 2010

Why do other people assume they know other dogs better than their owners?

I have a similar problem with Bella, I always shout ahead to people that's she friendly but not socialised and will jump, most people will take the hint and give us a bit of space but there's always a few that won't move their dogs on so she goes hyper and jumps over me or their dog or them . There's an older gent I've met a couple of times who insists on stopping with his off-lead collie and encouraging her to jump up at him no matter how many times I say I'm trying to teach her to stop jumping up.

I'll have to try the rude approach as well

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Stupid people!

On the other hand, nice to see another Katy I have a Katy too. Everyone tells me its a weird name for a dog

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Photography

I think this guy needs to teach his son that the child must not just assume all dogs want to be touched,, i often take my g/children out on walks with the dogs, but from small children i have always taught them that they must never touch/go up to dogs unless they ask the person 1st who is with the dogs.