Polite Dog Walkers.

Wed 14 May 2008 by Sue McCabe

I recently had a call from a very distressed client who is desperately trying to help her dog get over his fear aggression towards other dogs. She had been working really hard on the suggested training programme but was struggling, not with her own dogs lack of manners, but with that of other dog owners out and about.

It doesn't matter if your dog is 'only trying to say Hi', or is 'just a bit boisterous', if your dog runs up to another dog, especially one who is on leash with a clearly distressed owner, this is grossly unfair and totally unacceptable. Dogs with poor body language skills, who race up to another dog and immediately jump at them or worse still on them to play, are saying Hello with the equivalent force of me meeting a client for the first time and slapping them in the face.

My own experience of this has been in such great numbers, that it has become my habit to put all dogs back on leash, or into a down stay if I see an unruly dog and owner approaching. A recent incident where the offending approaching dog started a fight with the dogs I was walking, resulted in me throwing a long leash into the fracas in order to break up the incident. Only at this point did the owner bother to intervene but not to help with his dog, instead to yell at me that I should never hit another person’s dog and offer a torrent of abuse. He has no answer when I asked how he would suggest I break up a fight with multiple dogs except the old adage ‘He was just trying to say Hi’.

If your dog does not have a reliable recall around other dogs, then keep him on leash. If your dog runs up to another dog and tries to say "HI' in a manner equivalent to a small tank military maneuver (you dog owners know who you are) then they should not be off leash around other dogs. The dog being approached may have a genuine fear or aggression issue and at the end of the day, I'm afraid, if a dog gets injured, it's your dog-the one off leash-who is to blame.

A good tip is if you see someone stepping out of the path, putting their dogs on leash or into a very obvious avoidance tactic like a down/stay, then you should put your dog on leash, smile and say hello to the other dog owner and walk quickly by. If you would like your dog to interact with other dogs, please, please ask first. All my clients will honestly tell you 'No' if their dogs are not good with other dogs and surely this will have the best outcome for all dogs and owners involved.
Recommended Reading on this topic.
www.livingwithdogs.us/articles/He-just-wants-to-say-hi

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