Because of Jazz's reactive issues, when we see an off-leash dog, Jazz gets picked up and in the sling she goes. I usually get the standard, "Mine's friendly" to which I reply "Mine isn't and she would like to kill yours". I have actually then got the reply "Well, you shouldn't walk your dog in public if it isn't friendly" - my reply "It's only the dogs & owners who break the law by not leashing that cause my dog's issue". Nobody wins, but Jazz doesn't get reactive to the other dog because she's in the sling, so it makes for a happier outing.

Yikes. I haven't had to deal with unleashed dogs yet and I hope I never do.

I can never take Sage anywhere very public because he is extremely uncomfortable, vulnerable and dog reactive in public areas. An encounter with an off leash dog will set us back to square one and we have worked too hard to risk that. Where i live is rather rural, converting to suburban, and many Townies hold over the same open-door dog management that has been in place since much less developed times here. There are loose dogs everywhere, and chained ones that lob canine epithets at him as we go by. At public places he must go, like the vets, (our dear vet happens to be in a Banfield in a PetsMart, so the tone is very dog-social and visit-y to get to him. The only place I take him where I can fend dogs off, and the receptionists and techs do everything to minimize our lobby time.) I am no longer wishy washy about describing why someone should keep their dog away (no more, "Umm, actually.."). The shortest thing you can say that gets the action you want to happen. I have to react before Sage does- no small task. At even a glance, "We're not Friendly!" usually does the trick, and typically then Sage puts on a very convincing display of not being friendly, followed by the spacey owner with the damn retractable leash responding "WHAT! IS THAT?!" and mumbles into their cell that they just met a crazy red haired woman with a freakin hyena in a PetsMart.

The way most people employ their flexi leads the dogs might as well be off leash.

Hmmm...I've been known to say " Violet that other dog doesn't want to say hello" when someone pulls their dog away, as a more neutral way to gauge whether the dog isn't friendly, or if the other owner is afraid of my dog. I don't think that anyone who says it is automatically judging you. I say it because I don't want to make any assumptions and say "my dog is friendly" because there are a range of reasons why someone may pull their dog away-- from their dog being reactive, to their being afraid that your dog isn't friendly because their dog has been attacked recently. On the other hand I also always ask if Violet can say hello (asking if your dog is friendly also seems to frame things a bit too judgmentally and doesn't take into account that a dog may be friendly most of the time but is stressed out at the moment or having a bad day). What I really don't understand are the people who have unfriendly dogs that let them go off-leash. When Violet was still very young, we had an off-leash lab bound up pretty close to her one day. I asked if it was ok if Violet said hello and she responded that her dog was unfriendly and reactive and I had to wonder why on earth this woman would have her dog off-leash, in a densely populated part of a very dog friendly town.

Admittedly though I've experience a lot fewer problems with dogs off-leash and I'm guessing it's because our time is spent primarily in Princeton, NY, or Baltimore. I suspect that the latter two are too urban or populated for people to really try to get away with having dogs off-leash, and Princeton has a large police force with seemingly little to do other than patrol the streets, so one would be unlikely to get away with having their dog off-leash without being fined. I guess my personal pet peeve is more when people bring reactive dogs to the dog park knowing that they are reactive (once I saw a woman who had adopted a rescue and was trying to socialize her reactive dog. The dog had to wear a muzzle for the majority of the time and kept chasing and snapping once the muzzle came off). I understand socializing a reactive dog, but plunging them straight into the dog park seems like a recipe for disaster.

I just wish that people would be taught general manners when it comes to interacting with other dogs. This whole thread sadly reminded me of that time I asked if Violet could say hello and some poor put upon woman actually thanked me for asking her first. It's something that I wish were automatic. I also wonder if those with their dogs off-leash in public places think about the fact that some people don't like dogs, or may be scared of them. We've encountered people (usually children but some adults) who are terrified of Violet, and as it is we keep her no more than 2 feet away from us on a walk, and don't let her sniff strangers unless they indicate that it is ok. Even then I can recall of at least one instance where someone was really upset with us because she wanted to know why we would walk such a "vicious" looking dog. I can't imagine the fits that off-leash dogs give her.

this is a little off topic but Mylo's post just reminded me of some idiot drivers. It blows my mind how many people do a rolling stop when its a red light. At first I didn't realize it was a such a big issue until I was walking my pup and he walked ahead of me and almost got ran over by some moron that decided to keep going thru the red light. Ugh I hate stupid drivers and starting to get Severus to walk by my side now.

Rolling stops and flexileads---2 things on the I Really Hate List.

Ki is very excitable around other dogs. I tend not to let him say 'hi' to new dogs without explaining his play-style (he likes to jump and shove so that the other dog with chase him) and getting an okay. Even then, I'm careful if there is a big size difference. For the most part, we haven't had any problems with dog-sized dogs. Luckily the only ones we've bumped into off-leash were well-behaved.

Ki has had a number of run-ins, however, with micro-dogs. Being the Californian apartment-dwellers that we were, most of the dogs we'd see were tiny tiny omg tiny things. Chihuahuas, mini poodles, those tiny things that look like papillons or poms with husky colors... Anywho, what these dogs tended to have in common was a lack of exercise, a lack of training, and Napoleon complexes.

So on a number of occassions we've had these little dogs charge Ki and try to kill him. Their size meant that their attempts were rather unsuccessful but it was their owners lack of concern that always bothered me. Their responses ranged from, "Oh yeah eventually another dog will get him...but then he'll learn" to "My dog can't hurt anyone so keep your dog under control."

My favorite (read: totally made me so mad) was when a woman's three-legged mini-chihuahua (he had gotten away before and been injured) broke through her screen window to attack Ki...she ran out and scooped him up from where Ki was sitting (thankfully! usually he gets into a game of whack-a-mole where his squishes them under his paws like a cat) with her dog trying desperately to reach his throat and glared at me whilst cuddling him as if Ki had broken into her house to try and eat him.

I totally appreciate (and am jealous of) people who have awesome control when their dog is off-leash, but in an area with other dogs, even when you have that training, it's just safer and nicer to the other dogs who might get a bit cranky about other dogs being off-leash to keep your dog on until you get to somewhere that's more appropriate. The people who inappropriately have their dogs off-leash don't seem to be the type you can reason with. Everything that could possibly happen is totally not their fault...it's like they want something to go wrong. :( It seems all you can do is mention it politely, avoid them, and report them when necessary.

Keiko is still trying to figure out if she likes other dogs. She's 8 and was a puppy mill breeder, so it's a big deal that she shares a sniff with any dog at all. Currently she seems to be less bothered by the smaller dogs, but it's the big, goofy, playful dogs that freak her out. She has no idea what to think of this big dog trying to get up in her face to play. I also get the "mine's friendly" and have to remind them mine is NOT. I live in an apartment building, and two of these crazy dogs are on my floor, so I run into them a LOT. One, Cash, is always on a leash and well-behaved with "dad", but "mom" lets him go off-leash and thinks it's just hysterical that Cash wants to play. This morning I was leaving for work and Cash, who is a BIG collie, came charging down the hall at me. Luckily, I know he's friendly, and Keiko was safely in the apartment, but still. What if I was afraid of dogs? I mean, this woman has NO CLUE. Stella, the big collie on the other side of me, at least has a mom who knows her dog is a big goof and keeps her away from Keiko. Still, TRAIN YOUR DOG TO BEHAVE, LADY! Ignorant/lazy dog owners annoy me as much as ignorant/lazy parents. If you're not going to train it, DON'T HAVE IT.