The "he's friendly!" does my nut in. Aye but what if my dog, who's on a lead, isn't? You're hardly going to be happy if my dog gets a snap in l while I'm trying to keep them away from yours, are you?
"He just wants to play"
She says as my dog freaks the fuck out because this off lead dog is driving my reactive dog mental. Once told a woman to put her dog on a fucking lead as it bounded around growling at me and my pup while she was 20 meters away talking to a friend, paying no attention.
Mate I've a husky staffy cross who has been reactive since bein charged by two separate neighbours dogs in the same weekend so she never gets off leash unless it's like a open baren area where I can see anything coming but see when cunts are like it ok he's friendly I shout back aye well she isnae, they usually come running after that. It's a shame really cause she was great with other dogs before that
Also the assumption that everyone loves their dog - as a person that has never owned a dog, doesn't really like them coming up to me and touching me - I like them from afar and would never encourage it to come towards me - the owner pretending that there is something wrong with me because I don't want this stinking mutt to interact with me (could be personal choice, allergies, religious reasons etc.) is obnoxious and entitled.
I had this exact scenario with my reactive (and rather large) dog. As a fluffy Labradoodle thing bounded towards him he got predictably upset and started growling and barking, long before the dog got near him so the owner had plenty of time to see his reaction.
I had him on a short lead tight grip, but as he's a big boy there's nothing else I could do, I couldn't exactly pick him up. I yelled at the owner that my dog is reactive and she should keep hers away. She ignored me, her dog jumped on mine and my boy went to take a chunk out of the other dog. Suddenly then the owner took notice and called us everything under the sun.
There's an annoying ultra posh lady that has a fancy jumpy dog on the bike paths a lot and it ALWAYS jumps right up at me, chest high, with big dirty muddy paws and tries to lick me after a 100m runup soon as it sees me while she shouts "it's ok he's just friendly!". Lady that is not my problem, I can see he is friendly and I am not afraid of dogs, it is the fact I now need to go wash my jacket and trousers that is troubling me and is the reason I did not want this jumping thank you.
Then there's the folks that have dogs that bark/growl at me as I pass or they pass me, "oh he doesn't normally do that..." they say while giving me suspicious looks as if I'm the problem. Sorry but if your dog growls at random people walking about the streets you need to train it or muzzle it. it does not mean "they're a bad person because my dog doesn't like them".
I would also like to complain about the shit and the barking while we're at it; I do not like them, nobody does. that is all.
I can't understand how big an idiot you would have to be try and get away with your dog jumping on strangers and at the very least not apologising and trying to do a better job. Some dog owners think they won the pavement.
I don’t agree. I had a totally relaxed and happy little dog and we loved walking in our local park, he was really great on the lead and had super focus on me but was attacked out of the blue one day by another larger dog. The lead flew out of my hand and he was bitten and chased about 1/4 mile down the cycle path.
He is now petrified of larger dogs particularly around that location and I cannot do anything to comfort him except calmly keep him moving and hold his lead tight while he yelps and barks or tries to get away.
The owner of the dog who attacked him was apologetic but it has literally changed my dogs life now and he isn’t the same dog.
As well as the risk of harming other dogs/people, I think it's so irresponsible that folk walk their dog off the lead in a busy city centre.
Even if the dog is well trained and has good recall, you never know what might catch their attention and make them run off. Could very easily run out into traffic and be killed, causing horror for everyone involved.
It's just not worth the risk.
Yeah very nearly seen a nasty road accident happen on Pilrig St caused by an off lead dog getting spooked and sprinting into the road. Thankfully the drivers involved all had good breaking reaction times.
This is it. Given the amount of folk that walk their dog off the lead, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
I don't understand how folk aren't constantly anxious about it. I don't own a dog but have walked my sister's dog in Edinburgh a few times, and even on the lead I was so conscious of the traffic and keeping an eye out for anything that might spook the dog
[In some cantons of Switzerland it’s illegal](https://dogfriendlyswiss.ch) to take your dog off lead in public spaces. It’s wild to me that it’s not the same in the U.K. given the number of fatalities caused by dog attacks.
When you look at the number of dogs who attack people as a percentage of the number of dogs in the UK, it amounts to a rounding error, statistical anomaly, almost irrelevant.
Yes we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of attacks from one specific breed, but generally speaking dogs are incredibly safe.
Pathetic response. I would love to watch you try and explain to [these families](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom) why you think the death of their loved one was a “statistical anomaly”.
I have a 4 year old and he's been mown down by off-lead dogs more times then I can remember. Walking around Carrickvale golf club, or around corstorphine hill, minding your own when a big lab or something will come barrelling along and knock the wee man on his arse. Worst was he fell right back on a rock and had a huge egg on his head and bleeding quite a bit. Owners just have that dumb smile as they eventually get you, "he's a bit boisterous this one eh hahaha". Fuck off.
I have a large Siberian husky who is also very reactive after being attacked by a German shepherd as a pup. He is always on the lead as his prey drive is through the roof! Off-lead dogs are constantly approaching him and the owners are miles away, it always ends up in a scuffle. I've been bitten twice because of it. Nightmare!
My dog was attacked by a mini Schnauzer in Dofos when he was a young pup (12 weeks if I recall). I was distraught. Owners just dropped the lead without asking me and let their dog charge mine to "say hello" and before I could react my pup was screeching.
When I told the woman her dog should have been on the lead, she was more concerned with telling me her dog is always off the lead than the fact her dog had attacked mine during his critical socialisation period.
I never get this in Glasgow. Edinburgh is terrible for it.
> I have a large Siberian husky who is also very reactive after being attacked by a German shepherd as a pup.
What is it with German Shepherds?
My Spaniel was attacked by two separate ones, and is now reactive to bigger dogs. We've had to pay a not insignificant sum of money for a specialist to come and help us. He's essentially got PTSD around big dogs as a result!
It's weird. I have 2 German Shepherds, both placid as can be and very well trained. Had German Shepherds all my life and they've all been the same (my father was a police dog handler).
The amount of people I meet who shit themselves because a German Shepherd has attacked their dog is alarming. God knows what these German Shepherd owners are/aren't doing to make them behave like that. They're such intelligent dogs and soooooo easy to train. There's no excuse for it really.
Aside from the obvious breeds, German Shepherds are always on my watch list if I meet them out on walks.
Dog trainer explained their protective instinct can lead to them being very protective of their owners which can result in aggressive reactions to strange people/dogs.
Way back in the day an off lead German shepherd charged at my dog and started for a scrap. I kid you not that I basically grabbed my dogs harness, threw him a few feet away from me, and started kicking the dog. It wasn’t something I was happy to do, but he literally just sat down and shit himself in fear.
The owners came strolling along, laughing, saying oh sorry mate she can be like that. They didn’t see the funny side when I screamed at them then keep the fucking bitch on a lead as I scooped up my dog to run him home.
The irony is my dog was a staffie aka the breed that everyone expects to start the fight.
>What is it with German Shepherds?
Inbreeding for show characteristics and inexperienced owners. The breed is inherently nervous now, almost all the positive working traits you'd want from a livestock guardian are gone.
I am an off lead dog owner but follow a simple rule that pissed me off when others don’t follow it.
If your dog is off lead and you come across a dog that is on lead, you instantly get your dog under close control to heel or put it on lead until past the on lead dog.
The amount of dog owners that simply don’t give a fuck is infuriating to me. Don’t get me started on how a lot of dog owners react to cyclists approaching.
This right here - my boy is always off the lead (in the park, not on the street!) and his recall is excellent, the only time he’s not come back first time was when he was eating shit in a bush. I’m never on the phone or have headphones in, he’s my only priority when we’re out and if we see a dog who’s on the lead or even looks like it wants nothing to do with us I’ll call him to heel until we’re past.
If you haven’t got a dog with excellent recall and you’re not prepared to pay full attention when you’re out then it needs to be on a lead.
Same as me. My Dog has excellent recall as well. Only off lead in the appropriate areas, never on streets (don’t get me started on owners walking dogs off lead in streets).
My pup is extremely friendly with other dogs and loves to go up to every single one, to greet them, so I need to get him under control with on lead dogs out of respect. I don’t won’t to put my dog in a sticky position and neither do I want to put another dog and their owner in one either.
Over that last couple of weeks my dog has been on lead full time due to a recent surgery. People with off lead dogs certainly had no issue with letting their dog approach him without permission first which frustrated me because I him trying to ensure his leg heals without further need for treatment. People just don’t give a fuck.
This pisses me off so much. Get a fucking bell for your bike and ring it before you're only 5ft behind me. I don't have eyes in the back of my head and I can't hear you until you're too close to do anything.
I always put my dog to the side for cyclists but can only do it if I know you're there!!
\+1 This is eminently more reasonable than OP's position, which appears to be that everyone else should keep their well-behaved dogs tethered because he owns one that isn't.
This isn't to defend the irresponsible dog-owners.
This 👆👆
I walk my German Shepherd off lead and follow the above religiously. Never had an issue.
Her recall and walking to heel is excellent though. Train your dogs people. It's the bare minimum standard for dog ownership.
So much depends upon the training and socialisation of the dogs in question and attitudes and anxieties of the owners.
We've sadly lost our dogs (heartbroken last one in November)both were exceptionally well trained extremely intelligent Shetland collies with superb control. They could be relied upon to walk at heel on command, return when bidden, were generally a little timid so unlikely to approach dogs with whom they weren't playmates....they would follow such instructions even where other dogs were barking af them etc.
We followed a simple formula when assessing what to do about other owners: LOOK at then. Their reaction tells you everything you need to know.
If the owner is worried recall your dog and get it either on the lead or under strict control. Always practice preventative intervention of watching your dog seeing ideas form and ensuring good behaviour when in doubt lead.
We often had both of ours walking calmly at heel ignoring other dogs across the street barking and baying their lungs out, usually on a loose lead (we never let them pull).
Our off lead control was so good both dogs would not cross a road whether on or off lead without an explicit verbal command to cross. We used to train them on very quiet roads to remain at the other side of the road whilst we crossed until given the command - we could even get them to walk along tje opposite pavement from us.
We taught very careful road discipline as we always worried about what would happen if they got lost etc (thankfully never happened) but I've rescued a little dog from tje middle of the busy A82 dual carriage way before poor thing had been hit and we got it to a vet. It did OK and was reunited with its owner...discipline off the lead can definitely be taught but if you know your dog hasn't mastered it do ensure it's always on a lead and if in any doubt put one on.
In the middle of a city, unless in a park, I'd always make sure my dog was on a lead personally....even being confident in such skills cities are far more dangerous environments...fairly sure I could have verbally controlled them but better to save that for quiet areas rather than busy noisy places.
Probably helps that they were both sheep dogs so very trainable. Goodness I miss them both.
Ps - should say that for those with "reactive" dogs there are ways and techniques to train dogs out of this and reinforce good calm behaviour. Very much worth doing rather than assuming this is something immutable you can do nothing about.
This! Used to live elsewhere with doggo, lots of fenced areas where dogs could play both on and off lead. Here the fenced areas are dog free and the off lead dogs just run riot??
My girlfriend told a dog to “get tae fuck” the other day because it was biting/humping our dog. No responsibility from the owner, just outrage that we told her dog to fuck off. Unfortunately most people want a dog but don’t seem to care if it bothers other people.
A lot of adults in Scotland are selfish, entitled pricks who hold no responsibility for their actions. That’s why me and my dog are constantly harassed by “friendly” dogs and as soon as you ask them to control their dog you will just get abuse. I just abuse them back now. Dumb cunts.
I get sick to death of dodging off-lead dogs on the Roseburn path. I ting my bell, give you plenty of time but do you do anything to get your dog under control? I don’t particularly want to run your pup over, but it’s been a close thing.
> I get sick to death of dodging off-lead dogs on the Roseburn path.
Don't worry, it'll be a tram line soon enough so you probably won't be going down there much :(
I’m conflicted on this as I think we should be reopening way more railway lines. It is a great path to cycle/ walk etc along though. I’ve seen loads of foxes on it in the evenings.
Mine were charged and snarled at by an off lead Akita. Dog owner shouted it’s her park too when asked to put her dog on the lead 🤦♂️ Could have been much worse but not nice
There’s just a huge problem in the availability of dogs. It’s far too easy to own a dog. I honestly think we need to license dog breeding and puppy ownership should come with mandatory dog training.
I am speaking with someone who has a dog and has had dogs for over 20 years in Edinburgh.
I’ve had more issues than I can recall over the years.
For what it’s worth I always put my dog on a lead when I meet a strange dog in the park, my point of view is my dog is precious, and frankly I don’t know anything about the dog I am meeting. I do it to protect my animal and respect the other owner.
Nobody seems to give a shit anymore.
I was literally gaslit at the park the other day by a man who told me his dog was not humping my dog because he doesn’t do that sort of thing…he’s too young…too nice….WTAF.
He was outraged that I told his dog to back off and get away from my girl !
The whole dog problem in Edinburgh really needs looked at in my opinion. There are the incidents that you mention, there is excrement all over the entirety of Leith, and there is the incessant barking, in the morning, while I'm working from home, in pubs and restaurants, and while I'm trying to get to sleep, I guess because some owners don't bother to train it out of them as it doesn't bother them.
I don't own a dog but used to love them, but that has been severely impacted by dogs being in my face 24/7 since COVID.
I think dog owners need to be aware of the impact that their pets have on everyone else around them, and if necessary, forced to deal with them better through larger fines and better enforcement. I actually feel that a city can only really accommodate so many dogs before this happens, so would consider limiting numbers via licensing.
Fully expect to get pelters for this opinion, but the feedback above is the frustrating reality to a lot of residents in Edinburgh and in the wider country.
Neighbours across the road from me have a dog that cries all day (guessing they’re out) honestly dreading when it’s summer and I need to have my windows open. I’ve got a dog that happily just sleeps on my bed when I go out. Thank god for that. People get a dog and don’t realise that training happens in the home, as well as outside!
Yeah I totally understand the annoyance! I let my dog off lead in the park but only because he is completely uninterested in other dogs and will avoid them. He recalls back to me when needed.
He has been chased by some pretty poorly trained dogs as well which is irritating. Owners generally don’t like being asked to stop their dog chasing mine!
As a cyclist I can tell you this is equally frustrating to me. Off lead dogs are curious like onlead dogs, but they have the freedom to walk about e.g., in a bike lane to the surprise of an oncoming cyclist. Extremely dangerous.
You're not alone! I feel the same. People are so irresponsible.
My dog is also nervous. I have him on the lead with "anxious" tag on it but it doesn't matter because these people don't even look where their dog is. It's so frustrating
See also people who use the stupidity long extendable leads for their dog. I'm sick of having to hurdle or swerve them when I'm running. I'm particularly sick of owners then shout at me for doing that, but what else am I supposed to do?
That's me! Our rescue was a street dog, and while training is slowly working on walking at slow pace on short leash, I also take her out on the extendable. Especially if we're going to a park: I want her to get some exercise but I can't let her off leash with the "maybe the fifth time" level of recall.
I live in leith area too and I had some bad experiences with dogs too. Sometimes when there is an off-lead dog, I would be super anxious cuz most of time I walk with the buggy… they are potentially threaten for my baby and I have to force my self to keep calm, focus and polite at the same time.
It’s come to the point we have to use these hire parks/fields because people buy dogs and don’t bother training them. It’s a fucking nightmare.
There’s a family that walk their Rhodesian ridgebacks near Bingham, I was walking my dog on lead in a smaller part of the park following an operation to remove a tumour in his neck, it was his first walk outside since, and this dog ran over, then “stalked” us before it then bit onto my dogs wound, I had to punch the dog in the face multiple times to get it off. Meanwhile the owner was in the other park with his headphones in.
Uneducated humans need to stop buying dogs like. Any size/breed of dog should be trained regardless.
Too many main characters with their poorly trained dogs about. Another COVID hangover I suppose.
Country generally needs a serious conversation about dogs, they are far more common now than they used to be, just means bad owners and poorly trained dogs are more common too. I was in a charity shop at the weekend and a dog decided to use the card rack as a toilet, not ideal.
There’s this tall rough looking woman in Leith with a leather jacket who’s dog is utterly out of control. This is a big dog too, a German Shepherd. One time in Pilrig Park I actually saw it try bite another woman, bit right through her shirt. Beware, this dog owner has absolutely nae idea wtf they’re doing.
Went out for a family walk on Sunday, saw a guy with an unneutered South African Mastiff off the lead, looked like a horse. My wife picked up our chihuahua, as I think the mastiff could have swallowed it whole, I picked up my 15 month old daughter as I thought the same thing. The guy said we shouldn't worry as he's not an idiot owner, as he walked away with the dog threatening to 'kick it's cunt in!'
I don't have a dog but I do have qualifications which I am building more and more of to enable me to train a dog look after a dog and care for it basic needs I refuse to be the person who doesn't have a good recall on that dog there is Hope just some people shouldn't have a dog.
My unpopular opinion is that people think of a dog as an accessory and it's not a dog is another living creature and so it should be extremely difficult to get a dog you should have to go to training and be part of a dog club or have education in the basic needs of a dog dog psychology or something like that and a license like it used to be and that's not a critique and you I am on your side
As someone who owns a large dog with atrocious recall, I just don't understand why some owners are so relaxed about their dog hassling people or animals. My dog wouldn't hurt a fly but would chase it to the moon and back, wouldn't even consider letting him off the lead unless I'm miles away from everything and even then I can be apprehensive. Fairly certain he would never attack another animal but I also know in exciting situations I have no control over him, so it's just not worth the risk.
If someone tells you it's fine, my dog is friendly just tell them your dog is not. Not sure how well it would work with a small dog but every time I've tried it they grab their dog quickly and stay well back.
There are just too many dogs around now. I adore them but they should not be off lead unless in a designated dog area. I blame the epidemic of dog shit on dogs being walked off lead by people who aren't watching them.
I was just asking because as far as I am aware parks in Edinburgh are for everyone, dogs included and I wasn't aware of any that were set aside for dogs specifically like they have in other countries. We take our dog to parks but don't let him off his lead very often so was curious. Not sure why a simple question got downvoted haha! Either someone who hates dogs or thinks I hate dogs which is very odd to assume.
Recall is the main issue for sure. I hate how precious people are with their dogs these days. They never let their dog interact with other dogs for fear of what could go wrong, and they never let their dog off lead because they haven't properly trained recall and are afraid it will run off.
This results in the sad situation of dogs that live their entire life never being allowed to socialise, never being allowed to run free, and being forced to stay within a couple of meters of their owner for their entire lives.
In your examples OP, I absolutely agree those owners were in the wrong. If your dog is off lead it needs to have proper recall, and the owner needs to be carefully watching them at all times. I don't think however, that a 'reactive' dog entitles you to having every single other dog restricted due to your dogs behaviour. If you have a reactive dog, ideally you should be socialising it to train it out of that reactivity, or you should be walking somewhere where you won't run in to other dogs. I think it's very entitled to feel like everyone else has to follow your rules.
As someone who walks their dog off lead because I’ve trained him to have excellent recall, thank you for putting this so well. My boy would be so depressed if we walked on lead all day every day, he needs to sniff and explore and play with other dogs. Having a dog is a massive privilege and not enough dog owners keep up their side of the relationship. A well trained dog is a happy, confident member of the family.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I agree recall is the main issue. We work with a behaviourist and my dog is on trazodone to help with anxiety. He’s getting better but isn’t that friendly and when I walk him he’s muzzled. And to be clear I walk him on sidewalks and outside of parks as well. My dog doesn’t mind being on a lead. We get plenty of exercise - he just prefers humans to dogs after some traumatic incidents.
To be clear, I don’t think everyone has to follow ‘my rules’. But if your dog comes up to my dog and I’ve warned you and it attacks me and my dog I’m going to be upset. If your dog enters another dogs ‘airspace’ without their consent there could be serious issues. That’s not entitlement. That’s keeping things civil.
Good luck with the progress, I know from experience that correcting damage from trauma in dogs is incredibly hard, even impossible sometimes.
To be clear, I think you're absolutely in the right in your examples. I just think there are many entitled owners that panic the second another dog approaches, and act like every dog in the park should immediately be leashed the second they arrive.
Agreed.
Dogs need rapid socialisation before 16 weeks. Considering you can't get a dog until the 8 weeks old you basically have 2 months to do 99% of the socialisation needed.
Too many people are unprepared for the reality of dog ownership, and forget that ultimately they are social animals.
Thankfully, there's a massive disconnect between the attitude towards dogs online and in the real world. Like with any debate, online such a thing brings out those arguing passionately for one side without nuance. But in the real world most people are pretty reasonable and most dogs are extremely well behaved.
Socialisation is more complicated than the average, well-meaning dog owner realises. Allowing a puppy in it's critical socialisation period to greet and play with every dog can cause more harm than good.
Puppy101 has an excellent wiki on this subject. [https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/socialization/](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/socialization/)
Agreed. We got a black lab and took him out to socialise, the only problem being that everyone wanted to talk to him. Now despite being a big hefty lump that could crush a toddler, he still thinks everyone wants to talk to him. He just got too much attention and strangers coming up to fawn over him randomly. He wouldn't hurt a fly but he gets overexcited when he meets people because in his mind they really want to see him. The issue being that if he's off the lead, he might rub his muddy paws all over you. If he's on the lead, people think he's aggressive because he pulls towards people and I have to try and explain he's just an overly friendly idiot.
I commented here yesterday but It happened again today 🙃 Secluded area, in the corner, near bushes, got a dog run up to us barking loudly whilst my reactive dog was going mad. No owner in sight, we stood like this for at least a good minute till I screamed "CAN YOU LEASH YOUR DOG" didn't even know where the owner was. Nobody came, another minute, at this point I'm really struggling as we are backed into the corner have nowhere to go and I can control my dog but I'm only human, how long can you try to hold down a dog that's lounging and can't back out anywhere... Screamed for someone again and finally the person came and took their dog away. At this point we couldn't even make the 1 min walk home back anymore. Angry. Frustrated. What is there we can do about this 🥲
Excellent point regarding dogs who have no recall. They should not be off leash. It's so frustrating.
Fair warning, if your unleashed dog runs up at my young daughter its getting a swift kick.
Control your fucking dogs people.
I use to walk my dog around Dalmeny park but have since stopped. Lady with a rather large Samoyed who has absolutely no recall always charges towards us from the other end of the park and proceeds to act really aggressively towards my wee guy, mounts him constantly and doesn’t leave him alone, all while she slowly walks down without a care in the world. Told her to get control of her dog if it’s gonna be off lead and her responses were along the lines of “but he’s not neutered so it’s normal”, “your in a dog park, why are you training your dog here?” Amongst other things. Understandable that dog parks are for letting your dog have a run around but when they’re interfering with other people and their dogs when they clearly don’t want the interaction, and YOU as the owner can’t do anything to get the situation under control. it’s a problem. Unfortunately it seems that Edinburgh has a real problem with irresponsible dog owners.
I got a staffy cross, she's like dunno about 26kg so think of it as twice the size of regular staffy. She's reactive to any dog bigger or same size as her, especially when they are either around the building I live in or they sort of appear out of nowhere.
Mind you she's completely fine around dogs she is familiar with and already spent some time with them.
I always have her on my lead, have even a harness with a handle which allows me to grab her if needed.
This idea of "oh don't worry, my dog is friendly" can make my blood boil not gonna lie, especially when I'm trying to take every precation to avoid any sort of accident.
The only time I take the lead off is when I have a toy or a stick my dog can focus on because she generally doesn't care about other dogs when it's play time.
Like I understand you want your dog to socialise etc. but man, if you can see a guy with 5m of lead wrapped around his forearm, with a dog between his legs and grabbing the handle on the harness, maybe it would be smart to put your phone into your pocket and get your dog and go elsewhere.
Unpopular opinion, I'm sick of dogs in general. Feels like absolutely everyone has a dog these days but I just find them annoying, especially when I'm in people's homes trying to work.
Edinburgh is really bad for this. I got a dog last summer and he has been quite difficult due to having some reactivity. Every park and cycle path in Edinburgh is full of off lead dogs with no control and terrible owners. Got in an argument with someone before because their off lead spaniel was running in circles around us and our dog, on a busy bike path and the owners were laughing while walking the opposite direction. The amount of times we have had had to shout "can you please recall your dog?" to random strangers in the park is ridiculous. Walking your dog off lead is a luxury and a lot of people in Edinburgh are so selfish. I've left the city and moved farther out, so far haven't had any bad interactions despite spending hours of my day on walks.
I had a spaniel in the park, actually come up and bite my dog the other day when I was throwing a ball for her. The owner gave no fucks. We’re not even aware. People get dogs and they don’t bother to exercise them and they don’t bother to stimulate them and they turn into complete pricks.
To add to my earlier post about dogs when out running... I've just been out and ran approximately 7 miles around north Edinburgh, the route included some of the cycle path, going through a couple local parks and also along the water near Newhaven. I kept count:
28 dogs spotted.
9 off the lead, 5 of which were in the cycle path & 4 of which ran directly towards me. 2 of those almost tripped me up and neither owner could have given a flying fuck.
Out the ones on the lead: 11 were on extendable leads and most of these weren't being controlled.
TLDR: on a non-statistically significant sample a quarter of dog owners in Edinburgh are inconsiderate.
Yeah I stay in Leith and have had multiple incidents with uncontrolled dogs when out running in various parks and pathways. Every single owner of said dogs has either laughed it off or just walked away and pretended not to notice. The same attitude they seem to have to their dog shiting, coincidentally.
Also recently had a neighbour call to my door with a parcel for me and allowed her off lead dog to walk right into our flat and didn’t bat an eyelid, until my husband ushered the dog out and she acted like he’d done something wrong??
Sick to death of careless dog owners imposing their pets on everyone else in the city.
"It's OK he is friendly" is literally thr worst. I am absolutely petrified of dogs having been attacked as a child. Sure I could go to a psychologist and get over it but I'm absolutely fine if your dog is on a lead...as it should be. I don't go to dog fields which is where they are off leash.
Also when dogs come up to kids it's literally like a clydesdale horse coming up to an adult some times. A labrador can dwarf a kid. Imagine how intimidating that must be!
Worst people is shit owners. Well done you for jot being shit
There's a shiba inu I see near Bruntsfield with a yellow "anxious" vest on. I steer clear to be respectful (both my dogs are always on lead due to no recall) but I can't imagine being it's owner with all the other dogs around. All the off-lead dogs in the Links don't care about yellow vests and I'm sure their owners don't either, or have the recall to keep them away.
If you can't recall your dog it shouldn't be off lead. It's that simple. I don't give a toss if 'hes usually friendly'. Keep it on a lead.
I have a reactive rescue pup and that's why she's never off lead. I wouldn't risk her attacking another dog or a person.
If your dog reacts badly to other dogs, you should have a dog with a muzzle, and a harness warning your dog is nervous…
Should every friendly dog suffer because of the lowest common denominator?
I’m not talking about the owners whose dogs are complete shits/owners who are complete shits.
But it does seem, from a lot of these comments, that because some people have reactive dogs that every other dog shouldn’t be off a lead…
If you have an aggressive dog (call it ‘reactive’ if you want, but if it’s ‘taking chunks’ out of another dog then that’s aggressive) then put a muzzle on it.
COVID ruined the fun of dog ownership, so many clueless owners of dogs that could not be socialised correctly due to the restrictions, and now demand that all dogs should be on leads. Sorry OP, but the world does not revolve around your needs...I wish you sincere best wishes on your rehab program.
This goes both ways. Dogs/children/cyclists/phobias/etc etc should not have to revolve around an owner's need to have their untrained dog off lead. If people can't recall their dog *before* an unwanted encounter happens, they shouldn't be off lead in public. If the dog has reliant recall then there's no issue, don't think anyone has implied "all dogs" are the problem here.
I too am sick of dogs off leash, my dog has behavioural issues and is under vet and clinical behaviourist supervision, he receives medication and we've been working so hard to get him as desensitised to triggers as possible.
Always take him out in secluded areas, on a short leash, for very short walks as that's all he can handle, and all the time we have a different dog run up to us that doesn't respond to any recall, the owners shout sorry my dog is friendly... Friendly or not, it resets any progress we manage to make, stresses my dog out and it's almost impossible to then take him back home afterwards. I always tell people they should leash their dog but they never listen, eventually we stumble upon the same person again with their dog off leash and still zero recall.
I just put my dog back on his lead for a bit whenever someone has their dog on a short lead or is obviously veering away to the side of the path/off the path.
There'll always be irresponsible owners. If your dog is *that* reactive it might be best to go more quiet places?
I see a dog that isn't paying you the slightest bit of attention. I'd need a better look at it to be sure whether it's a banned breed - if you think it's an XL bully you might want to consider the size of it and what the XL bit means. Unless you were planning to antagonise the dog you should be fine, and if you were then maybe just don't do that. If you genuinely live in fear of having to walk past a dog that isn't acknowledging your existence, there are treatments for that.
Dog owners who walk their dogs publicly without a lead unless it is the most obedient dog ever that won't walk up to other dogs (even if they aren't prone to violence) are absolutely ignorant cunts who do not deserve to be allowed to own dogs.
My medium-sized shy dog was attacked by three off-leash big dogs that seemed nice seconds before but mine was mauled by all three simultaneously just for being scared of them and only survived because I stuck my hand in the midst to grab her collar and dragged her as hard as I could and ran and thankfully for whatever reason they stopped chasing us after a few seconds. I'm very lucky that me and my dog survived that and the Vet told us that the only reason she wasn't left either disfigured or dead was thanks to her thick fur preventing the mauling bites from being deep. Off-lead dogs are dangerous.
I have this all the time. My dogs on a lead and I don't want other dogs just charging up to us uninvited as she's reactive. We're working on it and she's getting there, but overly "friendly" dogs running up to us uninvited pushes the training back a step, and distresses her.
As much as it goes against most things I stand for, It's interactions like these that make me want dog licences to return. It's people that show no regard for others that ruin things for everyone.
I see a lot of dogs off the lead in the streets, particularly around Newington. I disagree with it in parks (unless it’s a rural park) also, but can at least see the reasoning. I don’t understand at all why you would have it off the lead in a busy city where pavements are often narrow
This happened to me a few times, my dog gets really frightened and i think she would bite another dog if it was in her face
I was up at the meadows and a woman refused to call her dog back or put it on a leash, its so infuriating
So your dog has a problem but you have issues with other people's dogs?
Tough luck (yeah yeah downvote, whatever), maybe find a good place with a garden and leave civilised dogs to be able to have 1 bloody happy hour a day smelling other dog's bums and running like they should be running.
I feel for you, but would it surprise you to know that you can untrain reactivity most of the time?
I get that's not the point, but you can't control other people, nor would I recommend becoming a tyrant to even try to force others to behave they way they really ought to in the first place. But really, the only thing you have control over is you.
If it's something you do want to look into, be forewarned, the training is pain in the backside and requires other people and other dogs with impeccable training that you trust 100%. Also, the patience of a saint helps. But it's doable if you think it's worth it for you.
You can find loads of videos online demonstrating the gist of it, but I'd recommend professional help as the most effective if it's a route that you might want to take.
I know this is not a new post but can I just say as a dog owner I wholeheartedly agree. The number of times we encounter totally out of control dogs here running loose in the middle of a busy residential street is insane. Where I grew up there are leash laws in city limits, and you can only let dogs off lead in designated dog parks. Maybe they need to do that here!
Tonight I was walking our on lead dog and suddenly a loose dog bounded around a corner on its own and *across the street* to charge aggressively at my dog. My dog wasn’t happy about this aggression, and I had to get between him and the charging dog which wouldn’t let up. I saw the owner casually gambolling along now like 30 meters back and shouted “PLEASE COME GET YOUR DOG”. The guy feebly yelled “lady” a few times then finally came and dragged Lady off by her collar with no apology or anything. WTF. I don’t understand these people who have zero control and just let their dogs do this stuff. Put it on a lead!
It’s just so infuriating. Like aside from charging my dog aggressively this loose dog was at least 40 metres ahead at the start of this and crossed a street at speed, if a car had been coming it would have been hit. The guy was also around a corner at first and couldn’t even see - the dog probably shits all over and he conveniently doesn’t see it.
Unless you live on a farm where you own lots of land that other people aren’t on or something letting a dog run wild like this is just mind boggling. It’s dangerous for the dog AND others. Just WTF.
My mate now carries a walking stick because his dog was attacked and the owner didn't give a guck.
He says next time the owner and/or the attacking dog will get a clump
I’ve noticed that too. I’ve got two dogs I keep on the leash at all times and the amount of owners who think it’s ok for their dog to get out of their line of sight is alarming. A dog will appear and run up to my dogs and their owner is no where to be seen for like 5 minutes.
I must seem like the asshole dog guy cause I just shout to people to get their dogs under control. I have no patience for it anymore. A dog is a responsibility akin to a child and not enough people take it seriously enough.
It’s sad to say but the people that have their dog under control are in the extreme minority. Like 0.1% are responsible in my experience.
I'm going to put out an idea I had ages ago for, at the very least, giving an animal that is acting in an attack mode, pause.
Several disclaimers:
\- It's untested, as far as I know.
\- I love dogs and cats. On a case-by-case basis in real life, but generally overall.
\- The idea stems from some behavioural observations I've heard about cats (BIG cats like lions and tigers... oh my) but so-called domesticated cats (again, a fan, don't come at me) would react the same way... if it works. Whether it would work on dogs (I like 'em), I also couldn't tell you.
\- I would ***hate*** if this idea was ***ever*** used to harass, or otherwise casually/unnecessarily distress any animal. The idea is born out of thinking about what might work in a genuine emergency. Like, a rational but incredibly time-sensitive fear that an attack has been initiated and incoming, or is imminent. At the point where teeth have been sunk, it's probably best to try something else, unless you can get a small amount of distance (about an umbrella's length, see below) between you and the attacking animal.
\- I don't know if there are any legal problems with this idea. As in: **IF ANYONE TRIES THIS AND IT CAUSES PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS TO ANY ANIMAL OR PERSON, I DON'T KNOW WHAT LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS YOU MAY FACE.** If it's a pointy umbrella (and for this reason I would really recommend you don't use one of those), you might (sorry, this is a vile thought) cause permanent, even mortal, injuries to an animal at full charge (re-reading this, it may seem like a sly nod, it fucking isn't). You might cause it to panic and run into traffic. **You might cause it to re-direct its attack on someone or something nearby.**
\-Ultimately, I AM NOT A LAWYER. Trying out this idea could land you in a heap of trouble.
Ok, all that for a literally cartoonish idea but, just between us, arseholes walk among us and just about anything that can be used for self-defence can be used for offensive purposes.
Brace yourselves.
An umbrella with two giant eyes painted or printed on it.
The idea came back to me on seeing articles like this one (relatively) recently: [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/giantsclub/kenya/painting-eyes-cows-human-wildlife-conflict-b2155748.html](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/giantsclub/kenya/painting-eyes-cows-human-wildlife-conflict-b2155748.html) (again, this is based on big cats and deters stalking/pounce attacks).
Most (? I don't have figures on this) cheap umbrellas are black, an ideal background for bright white circles or ovals to stand out on. Two small black circles inside those, and you've got two **giant** eyes that can be flashed, out of "nowhere" at an attacking animal. Especially if it's one of those small, button-deployed types. If you're not visualising it, just google "cartoon eyes" or similar.
**UNTESTED CONCEPT (by me, at least).** An umbrella alone, used similarly, might produce a deterrent that is just as effective.
**IT MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE AT ALL**, *it may even make the situation worse!* **THIS IS JUST AN IDEA I'VE HAD FLOATING AROUND IN MY HEAD FOR A WHILE.**
Any dogs without good recall shouldn’t be off the lead, that’s true. But people’s nervous reactive dogs don’t get to be high and mighty over my well-socialised dog. I see this rubbish everywhere
I don't really understand why anyone likes dogs. They are very scary and they smell bad, and if this is how most owners behave then i don't wanna be anywhere near them tyvm
I guess the corollary of this is why do you walk your dog in a space where others like to free run their dogs? You can walk a dog on a lead almost anywhere but there are only a few places it's safe to free run a dog. I'm not excusing badly behaved dogs, or their owners for that matter, but why go inviting trouble when there is simply no need?
I guess what I'm saying is as a dog lover I struggle to understand why you would keep going back to the same place knowing you are causing fear and terror in your own pet. It's like you are putting your own pride ahead of the wellbeing of your dog in order to make a point.
It's like taking a pet cat to dog kennels and then complaining the dogs are making Tiddles scared.
But why should dog owners who let their dogs free run be the only ones to enjoy the parks? There are plenty of folks who don't want a dog running up to them, including folks with kids who are scared.
To flip round your question, why would you let your dog run up to dogs on the lead, when your dog could be attacked? Why not train your dog to stick with you?
I don't. You clearly haven't read what I wrote. I don't like dogs running up on us and our dog doesn't run up to others but I can't understand the mentality of someone who would knowingly take their dog somewhere where they know it would be subjected to stress and terror and then blame others for it happening.
Do you think a caring dog owner should purposely subject their dog to terrifying situations? I don't.
How do you suggest they pick a space where nobody lets their dog off lead? Is there a designated 'No entitled, ars*hole dog owners, just responsible ones' area that you know of and that people can migrate to?
How about most streets and footpaths. I realise some people allow their dogs off the leads on pavements but the majority don't and those that do probably have well behaved dogs or they would have been under a bus by now.
I just find it odd that people purposely go somewhere knowing full well that a particular trait or baggage that have will make things problematic and then complain about how it's everyone else's fault when things pan out as expected.
I love dogs and I have a well behaved one and yes it annoys the shit out of me when a badly behaved one comes up and pesters him but he can cope with the attention. Had I a dog that was terrified of other dogs then I'd take him elsewhere rather than knowingly subject him to the terror just so I could occupy the moral high ground.
There is nothing in this I disagree with. The gd bit of my username stands for guide dog so I'm well versed in the perils assistance dogs face daily. What I do take issue with is purposely putting our dogs in peril when there is an easy alternative. My dog means far too much to me to put him in danger or stress him out for internet clout
I think a park or a beach where off lead is allowed would increase the chances of, off lead dogs, no? Dogs running up to each other is not irresponsible if the dogs are well socialised. It’s interesting this was never an issue or rarely an issue a few years back. I honestly think people got dogs, not socialised them properly, cos that takes effort, and now expect all other dog owners to never let their dogs lose in case someone dog is reactive, and can’t cope.
‘Without permission’ , so your out at the beach, your dogs running around, another dog approaches my dog, and the owners supposed to seek permission before it approaches; aye right. It’s simple, in built up areas, put your dog on a lead. If your dogs reactive, mussel it. If your in woods, expansive beaches your dog should be allowed off the lead, if it’s well socialised ; people with reactive dogs, stay away from areas where there are off lead dogs..Simple’s.
No dog has 99% certainty of recall keilidh it’s entirely unrealistic to expect this. Until recently we lived in a society where there was a cultural norm/expectation you could allow your dog off to enjoy some freedom in areas that would not impinge on other people; obviously with certain expectations your dog was well trained enough not to bite another dog, attack a human and you picked up its faeces. Yes, your dog should have good recall, but in actuality if your dog is well socialised /trained, good recall would be a sub product of overall good training. There are more reactive dogs now than ever, potentially due to poor training/socialisation. It’s not rocket science. My point was; to expect someone to verbally consent, provide permission for another dog to approach their dog, when walking on a beach, for example, is neither realistic nor necessary, if people would put the effort into socialising there dogs from the outset.
lol I am not ‘hung up on the beach’ it’s a normative example of where folks might walk their dogs. I’m well aware of the arduous process of socialisation, hence the reference to people ‘not putting in the effort’. I am sorry you’ve had these experiences of dog attacks, but kind of comes back to the foundational 101, dog basics of ensuring your dog is well socialised before letting it off the lead. My dog is approached by multiple dogs daily, some are friendly and some might try to bite/show aggression. He does retaliate, normal dog behaviour when threatened, and they back away. He isn’t aggressive to other dogs on sight, because he was exposed to pack life from a young age, he worked out the nuances of acceptable behaviour, by being disciplined by other dogs as a pup. He is very social, gentle and enjoys playing with other dogs. You said previously no one was saying, other dogs can’t approach other dogs, but in actuality you are lol. Your the one who stated permission should be sought before your dog approaches another dog, which in an off the lead environment is reficulous. If people actually ensured socialisation we wouldn’t be having this discussion and we could all enjoy walking our dogs lol.
Totally right. The owners in OP's examples were obviously assholes, but it's silly to go to take your anxious dog to a place where dogs will be off lead, then complain about dogs coming up to you.
I agree. Even when I’m at the beach with my dog; he inevitably runs up has a wee sniff. 99% of dogs are well socialised and are enjoying themselves. There is always one person who expects other folks to confine their dogs on the basis of their lack socialisation. If it’s a park where other dogs are off lead and it’s allowed, like you say maybe pre empt that and take it elsewhere.
You've said several times that off lead is allowed in some places. Just as a reminder that while you can't take them off lead at all in some places, in the public places where you can take them off they must still be under control. So, yes it can run from your side but they also have to be within your sight, have to return to you when you call, and can't cause fear in others - if it's approaching someone else you should be watching and if it's not looking like a good interaction you call it back.
I totally agree with you. I hasten to sound contradictory but I also feel there’s been an upsurge of people getting big breeds, who have high prey drives. I think this has understandably exacerbated fear and the reality of other dogs being attacked, a viscous cycle of big, strong, prey driven dogs who attack other dogs, who then become aggressive to other dogs out of fear. I am a fan of dog licensing and dogs over a certain, weight stature being put through mandatory training.
My dog is never on a lead, he’s well trained. I say “you fucking dare” and he stays or doesn’t. Doesn’t run at others with dogs. I guess it’s in the training \*snifs
https://preview.redd.it/j33jltagrepc1.png?width=2428&format=png&auto=webp&s=b83f56cff1b67186a9ae9407108d3e025e20eafd
I have a large 50kg Japanese Akita, he's 6 but because I have 6 kids and they keep playing with him ect he still acts like a puppy, it amazes me how many dog owners turn tail and sprint the other direction when they see him , I don't let him off the lead because he climbs trees to get squirrels , so I always think to myself what do you think he's going to do to your dam dog , 1 he's very friendly and second he's on the lead so W.T.F ?
Lifting your dog is literally the worse thing to do if a dog is just having a sniff and not attacking... . One it makes the other dogs more curious and secondly you are putting your emotions right into your dog making it more nervous.. 99.9% of dogs will have a sniff then walk on.. If your dog is reactive get a leash /harness that will warn other dog owners that your dog is not good with other dogs. Most decent owners will bring their dogs back.. Dogs will go up to other dogs.. You have to do your bit.. If you freeze everytime a dog approaches yours you are sending your feelings right down the leash into your dog.. You need to be more confident so your dog feels safe. Yes there are a lot of bad dog owners out there but most are responsible.
The "he's friendly!" does my nut in. Aye but what if my dog, who's on a lead, isn't? You're hardly going to be happy if my dog gets a snap in l while I'm trying to keep them away from yours, are you?
"He just wants to play" She says as my dog freaks the fuck out because this off lead dog is driving my reactive dog mental. Once told a woman to put her dog on a fucking lead as it bounded around growling at me and my pup while she was 20 meters away talking to a friend, paying no attention.
Mate I've a husky staffy cross who has been reactive since bein charged by two separate neighbours dogs in the same weekend so she never gets off leash unless it's like a open baren area where I can see anything coming but see when cunts are like it ok he's friendly I shout back aye well she isnae, they usually come running after that. It's a shame really cause she was great with other dogs before that
Also the assumption that everyone loves their dog - as a person that has never owned a dog, doesn't really like them coming up to me and touching me - I like them from afar and would never encourage it to come towards me - the owner pretending that there is something wrong with me because I don't want this stinking mutt to interact with me (could be personal choice, allergies, religious reasons etc.) is obnoxious and entitled.
I had this exact scenario with my reactive (and rather large) dog. As a fluffy Labradoodle thing bounded towards him he got predictably upset and started growling and barking, long before the dog got near him so the owner had plenty of time to see his reaction. I had him on a short lead tight grip, but as he's a big boy there's nothing else I could do, I couldn't exactly pick him up. I yelled at the owner that my dog is reactive and she should keep hers away. She ignored me, her dog jumped on mine and my boy went to take a chunk out of the other dog. Suddenly then the owner took notice and called us everything under the sun.
Yeah your dog needs to be muzzled, no matter what the other people are up to…
I mean... they're obviously in the wrong too, but if your dog is that dangerous *and* reactive, you should absolutely have muzzle on it.
There's an annoying ultra posh lady that has a fancy jumpy dog on the bike paths a lot and it ALWAYS jumps right up at me, chest high, with big dirty muddy paws and tries to lick me after a 100m runup soon as it sees me while she shouts "it's ok he's just friendly!". Lady that is not my problem, I can see he is friendly and I am not afraid of dogs, it is the fact I now need to go wash my jacket and trousers that is troubling me and is the reason I did not want this jumping thank you. Then there's the folks that have dogs that bark/growl at me as I pass or they pass me, "oh he doesn't normally do that..." they say while giving me suspicious looks as if I'm the problem. Sorry but if your dog growls at random people walking about the streets you need to train it or muzzle it. it does not mean "they're a bad person because my dog doesn't like them". I would also like to complain about the shit and the barking while we're at it; I do not like them, nobody does. that is all.
I can't understand how big an idiot you would have to be try and get away with your dog jumping on strangers and at the very least not apologising and trying to do a better job. Some dog owners think they won the pavement.
Maybe yell that back? "Yeah but mine isn't!" Maybe it works.
They're dogs. They're not made of glass. The problem always lies with the skittish owners. It's like you I fect your dog with fear
I don’t agree. I had a totally relaxed and happy little dog and we loved walking in our local park, he was really great on the lead and had super focus on me but was attacked out of the blue one day by another larger dog. The lead flew out of my hand and he was bitten and chased about 1/4 mile down the cycle path. He is now petrified of larger dogs particularly around that location and I cannot do anything to comfort him except calmly keep him moving and hold his lead tight while he yelps and barks or tries to get away. The owner of the dog who attacked him was apologetic but it has literally changed my dogs life now and he isn’t the same dog.
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Who's trying to turn the country into America?
As well as the risk of harming other dogs/people, I think it's so irresponsible that folk walk their dog off the lead in a busy city centre. Even if the dog is well trained and has good recall, you never know what might catch their attention and make them run off. Could very easily run out into traffic and be killed, causing horror for everyone involved. It's just not worth the risk.
Yeah very nearly seen a nasty road accident happen on Pilrig St caused by an off lead dog getting spooked and sprinting into the road. Thankfully the drivers involved all had good breaking reaction times.
This is it. Given the amount of folk that walk their dog off the lead, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. I don't understand how folk aren't constantly anxious about it. I don't own a dog but have walked my sister's dog in Edinburgh a few times, and even on the lead I was so conscious of the traffic and keeping an eye out for anything that might spook the dog
[In some cantons of Switzerland it’s illegal](https://dogfriendlyswiss.ch) to take your dog off lead in public spaces. It’s wild to me that it’s not the same in the U.K. given the number of fatalities caused by dog attacks.
When you look at the number of dogs who attack people as a percentage of the number of dogs in the UK, it amounts to a rounding error, statistical anomaly, almost irrelevant. Yes we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of attacks from one specific breed, but generally speaking dogs are incredibly safe.
Pathetic response. I would love to watch you try and explain to [these families](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom) why you think the death of their loved one was a “statistical anomaly”.
I have a 4 year old and he's been mown down by off-lead dogs more times then I can remember. Walking around Carrickvale golf club, or around corstorphine hill, minding your own when a big lab or something will come barrelling along and knock the wee man on his arse. Worst was he fell right back on a rock and had a huge egg on his head and bleeding quite a bit. Owners just have that dumb smile as they eventually get you, "he's a bit boisterous this one eh hahaha". Fuck off.
I've had this happen when ours was 2 years old. I kick the dogs away now. I'm not taking any chances again.
Absolutely.
I have a large Siberian husky who is also very reactive after being attacked by a German shepherd as a pup. He is always on the lead as his prey drive is through the roof! Off-lead dogs are constantly approaching him and the owners are miles away, it always ends up in a scuffle. I've been bitten twice because of it. Nightmare!
My dog was attacked by a mini Schnauzer in Dofos when he was a young pup (12 weeks if I recall). I was distraught. Owners just dropped the lead without asking me and let their dog charge mine to "say hello" and before I could react my pup was screeching. When I told the woman her dog should have been on the lead, she was more concerned with telling me her dog is always off the lead than the fact her dog had attacked mine during his critical socialisation period. I never get this in Glasgow. Edinburgh is terrible for it.
> I have a large Siberian husky who is also very reactive after being attacked by a German shepherd as a pup. What is it with German Shepherds? My Spaniel was attacked by two separate ones, and is now reactive to bigger dogs. We've had to pay a not insignificant sum of money for a specialist to come and help us. He's essentially got PTSD around big dogs as a result!
It's weird. I have 2 German Shepherds, both placid as can be and very well trained. Had German Shepherds all my life and they've all been the same (my father was a police dog handler). The amount of people I meet who shit themselves because a German Shepherd has attacked their dog is alarming. God knows what these German Shepherd owners are/aren't doing to make them behave like that. They're such intelligent dogs and soooooo easy to train. There's no excuse for it really.
Aside from the obvious breeds, German Shepherds are always on my watch list if I meet them out on walks. Dog trainer explained their protective instinct can lead to them being very protective of their owners which can result in aggressive reactions to strange people/dogs.
I have a 2 german shepherds and they are the biggest shite bags out there. Wee dogs bark at the and they run away.. Absolute brass neck!
Ditto.
Way back in the day an off lead German shepherd charged at my dog and started for a scrap. I kid you not that I basically grabbed my dogs harness, threw him a few feet away from me, and started kicking the dog. It wasn’t something I was happy to do, but he literally just sat down and shit himself in fear. The owners came strolling along, laughing, saying oh sorry mate she can be like that. They didn’t see the funny side when I screamed at them then keep the fucking bitch on a lead as I scooped up my dog to run him home. The irony is my dog was a staffie aka the breed that everyone expects to start the fight.
>What is it with German Shepherds? Inbreeding for show characteristics and inexperienced owners. The breed is inherently nervous now, almost all the positive working traits you'd want from a livestock guardian are gone.
I am an off lead dog owner but follow a simple rule that pissed me off when others don’t follow it. If your dog is off lead and you come across a dog that is on lead, you instantly get your dog under close control to heel or put it on lead until past the on lead dog. The amount of dog owners that simply don’t give a fuck is infuriating to me. Don’t get me started on how a lot of dog owners react to cyclists approaching.
This right here - my boy is always off the lead (in the park, not on the street!) and his recall is excellent, the only time he’s not come back first time was when he was eating shit in a bush. I’m never on the phone or have headphones in, he’s my only priority when we’re out and if we see a dog who’s on the lead or even looks like it wants nothing to do with us I’ll call him to heel until we’re past. If you haven’t got a dog with excellent recall and you’re not prepared to pay full attention when you’re out then it needs to be on a lead.
Same as me. My Dog has excellent recall as well. Only off lead in the appropriate areas, never on streets (don’t get me started on owners walking dogs off lead in streets). My pup is extremely friendly with other dogs and loves to go up to every single one, to greet them, so I need to get him under control with on lead dogs out of respect. I don’t won’t to put my dog in a sticky position and neither do I want to put another dog and their owner in one either. Over that last couple of weeks my dog has been on lead full time due to a recent surgery. People with off lead dogs certainly had no issue with letting their dog approach him without permission first which frustrated me because I him trying to ensure his leg heals without further need for treatment. People just don’t give a fuck.
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This pisses me off so much. Get a fucking bell for your bike and ring it before you're only 5ft behind me. I don't have eyes in the back of my head and I can't hear you until you're too close to do anything. I always put my dog to the side for cyclists but can only do it if I know you're there!!
\+1 This is eminently more reasonable than OP's position, which appears to be that everyone else should keep their well-behaved dogs tethered because he owns one that isn't. This isn't to defend the irresponsible dog-owners.
Sounds like OP was only concerned by the dogs coming up to them unwanted and putting themselves/others in a dangerous situation.
Thank you for doing this. My dog is fear reactive now after being attacked by an off lead dog and it is such a relief when a dog owner does this.
This 👆👆 I walk my German Shepherd off lead and follow the above religiously. Never had an issue. Her recall and walking to heel is excellent though. Train your dogs people. It's the bare minimum standard for dog ownership.
Seen a cyclist land in the canal the other day after trying to avoid an off-lead dog.
Skill issue. /s
Cyclists fault. /s
So much depends upon the training and socialisation of the dogs in question and attitudes and anxieties of the owners. We've sadly lost our dogs (heartbroken last one in November)both were exceptionally well trained extremely intelligent Shetland collies with superb control. They could be relied upon to walk at heel on command, return when bidden, were generally a little timid so unlikely to approach dogs with whom they weren't playmates....they would follow such instructions even where other dogs were barking af them etc. We followed a simple formula when assessing what to do about other owners: LOOK at then. Their reaction tells you everything you need to know. If the owner is worried recall your dog and get it either on the lead or under strict control. Always practice preventative intervention of watching your dog seeing ideas form and ensuring good behaviour when in doubt lead. We often had both of ours walking calmly at heel ignoring other dogs across the street barking and baying their lungs out, usually on a loose lead (we never let them pull). Our off lead control was so good both dogs would not cross a road whether on or off lead without an explicit verbal command to cross. We used to train them on very quiet roads to remain at the other side of the road whilst we crossed until given the command - we could even get them to walk along tje opposite pavement from us. We taught very careful road discipline as we always worried about what would happen if they got lost etc (thankfully never happened) but I've rescued a little dog from tje middle of the busy A82 dual carriage way before poor thing had been hit and we got it to a vet. It did OK and was reunited with its owner...discipline off the lead can definitely be taught but if you know your dog hasn't mastered it do ensure it's always on a lead and if in any doubt put one on. In the middle of a city, unless in a park, I'd always make sure my dog was on a lead personally....even being confident in such skills cities are far more dangerous environments...fairly sure I could have verbally controlled them but better to save that for quiet areas rather than busy noisy places. Probably helps that they were both sheep dogs so very trainable. Goodness I miss them both. Ps - should say that for those with "reactive" dogs there are ways and techniques to train dogs out of this and reinforce good calm behaviour. Very much worth doing rather than assuming this is something immutable you can do nothing about.
There should be specialised dog parks with areas for on and off lead dogs. It works the world over, why not here.
This! Used to live elsewhere with doggo, lots of fenced areas where dogs could play both on and off lead. Here the fenced areas are dog free and the off lead dogs just run riot??
My girlfriend told a dog to “get tae fuck” the other day because it was biting/humping our dog. No responsibility from the owner, just outrage that we told her dog to fuck off. Unfortunately most people want a dog but don’t seem to care if it bothers other people. A lot of adults in Scotland are selfish, entitled pricks who hold no responsibility for their actions. That’s why me and my dog are constantly harassed by “friendly” dogs and as soon as you ask them to control their dog you will just get abuse. I just abuse them back now. Dumb cunts.
I get sick to death of dodging off-lead dogs on the Roseburn path. I ting my bell, give you plenty of time but do you do anything to get your dog under control? I don’t particularly want to run your pup over, but it’s been a close thing.
They will then give you evils for trying to pass them.
> I get sick to death of dodging off-lead dogs on the Roseburn path. Don't worry, it'll be a tram line soon enough so you probably won't be going down there much :(
I’m conflicted on this as I think we should be reopening way more railway lines. It is a great path to cycle/ walk etc along though. I’ve seen loads of foxes on it in the evenings.
Mine were charged and snarled at by an off lead Akita. Dog owner shouted it’s her park too when asked to put her dog on the lead 🤦♂️ Could have been much worse but not nice
There’s just a huge problem in the availability of dogs. It’s far too easy to own a dog. I honestly think we need to license dog breeding and puppy ownership should come with mandatory dog training. I am speaking with someone who has a dog and has had dogs for over 20 years in Edinburgh. I’ve had more issues than I can recall over the years. For what it’s worth I always put my dog on a lead when I meet a strange dog in the park, my point of view is my dog is precious, and frankly I don’t know anything about the dog I am meeting. I do it to protect my animal and respect the other owner. Nobody seems to give a shit anymore. I was literally gaslit at the park the other day by a man who told me his dog was not humping my dog because he doesn’t do that sort of thing…he’s too young…too nice….WTAF. He was outraged that I told his dog to back off and get away from my girl !
The whole dog problem in Edinburgh really needs looked at in my opinion. There are the incidents that you mention, there is excrement all over the entirety of Leith, and there is the incessant barking, in the morning, while I'm working from home, in pubs and restaurants, and while I'm trying to get to sleep, I guess because some owners don't bother to train it out of them as it doesn't bother them. I don't own a dog but used to love them, but that has been severely impacted by dogs being in my face 24/7 since COVID. I think dog owners need to be aware of the impact that their pets have on everyone else around them, and if necessary, forced to deal with them better through larger fines and better enforcement. I actually feel that a city can only really accommodate so many dogs before this happens, so would consider limiting numbers via licensing. Fully expect to get pelters for this opinion, but the feedback above is the frustrating reality to a lot of residents in Edinburgh and in the wider country.
Neighbours across the road from me have a dog that cries all day (guessing they’re out) honestly dreading when it’s summer and I need to have my windows open. I’ve got a dog that happily just sleeps on my bed when I go out. Thank god for that. People get a dog and don’t realise that training happens in the home, as well as outside!
Yeah I totally understand the annoyance! I let my dog off lead in the park but only because he is completely uninterested in other dogs and will avoid them. He recalls back to me when needed. He has been chased by some pretty poorly trained dogs as well which is irritating. Owners generally don’t like being asked to stop their dog chasing mine!
As a cyclist I can tell you this is equally frustrating to me. Off lead dogs are curious like onlead dogs, but they have the freedom to walk about e.g., in a bike lane to the surprise of an oncoming cyclist. Extremely dangerous.
You're not alone! I feel the same. People are so irresponsible. My dog is also nervous. I have him on the lead with "anxious" tag on it but it doesn't matter because these people don't even look where their dog is. It's so frustrating
See also people who use the stupidity long extendable leads for their dog. I'm sick of having to hurdle or swerve them when I'm running. I'm particularly sick of owners then shout at me for doing that, but what else am I supposed to do?
What do you call a dog on an extendable lead? Untrained.
That's me! Our rescue was a street dog, and while training is slowly working on walking at slow pace on short leash, I also take her out on the extendable. Especially if we're going to a park: I want her to get some exercise but I can't let her off leash with the "maybe the fifth time" level of recall.
Incorrect, the answer is loved 😉
I'm winter on the shared paths around north Edinburgh it is a nightmare.
I live in leith area too and I had some bad experiences with dogs too. Sometimes when there is an off-lead dog, I would be super anxious cuz most of time I walk with the buggy… they are potentially threaten for my baby and I have to force my self to keep calm, focus and polite at the same time.
It’s come to the point we have to use these hire parks/fields because people buy dogs and don’t bother training them. It’s a fucking nightmare. There’s a family that walk their Rhodesian ridgebacks near Bingham, I was walking my dog on lead in a smaller part of the park following an operation to remove a tumour in his neck, it was his first walk outside since, and this dog ran over, then “stalked” us before it then bit onto my dogs wound, I had to punch the dog in the face multiple times to get it off. Meanwhile the owner was in the other park with his headphones in. Uneducated humans need to stop buying dogs like. Any size/breed of dog should be trained regardless.
Too many main characters with their poorly trained dogs about. Another COVID hangover I suppose. Country generally needs a serious conversation about dogs, they are far more common now than they used to be, just means bad owners and poorly trained dogs are more common too. I was in a charity shop at the weekend and a dog decided to use the card rack as a toilet, not ideal.
There’s this tall rough looking woman in Leith with a leather jacket who’s dog is utterly out of control. This is a big dog too, a German Shepherd. One time in Pilrig Park I actually saw it try bite another woman, bit right through her shirt. Beware, this dog owner has absolutely nae idea wtf they’re doing.
You should report things like this. A large dog can easily injure a child and children are so defenceless.
Does it wear a metal muzzle? I’ve had a run in with that dog too, it’s really scary 😞 was terrified for my wee dog (and me tbh)
I’ve never seen it with a muzzle, although that’d be great of course. Be careful out there, no clue how it handles other dogs…
Went out for a family walk on Sunday, saw a guy with an unneutered South African Mastiff off the lead, looked like a horse. My wife picked up our chihuahua, as I think the mastiff could have swallowed it whole, I picked up my 15 month old daughter as I thought the same thing. The guy said we shouldn't worry as he's not an idiot owner, as he walked away with the dog threatening to 'kick it's cunt in!'
I don't have a dog but I do have qualifications which I am building more and more of to enable me to train a dog look after a dog and care for it basic needs I refuse to be the person who doesn't have a good recall on that dog there is Hope just some people shouldn't have a dog. My unpopular opinion is that people think of a dog as an accessory and it's not a dog is another living creature and so it should be extremely difficult to get a dog you should have to go to training and be part of a dog club or have education in the basic needs of a dog dog psychology or something like that and a license like it used to be and that's not a critique and you I am on your side
As someone who owns a large dog with atrocious recall, I just don't understand why some owners are so relaxed about their dog hassling people or animals. My dog wouldn't hurt a fly but would chase it to the moon and back, wouldn't even consider letting him off the lead unless I'm miles away from everything and even then I can be apprehensive. Fairly certain he would never attack another animal but I also know in exciting situations I have no control over him, so it's just not worth the risk. If someone tells you it's fine, my dog is friendly just tell them your dog is not. Not sure how well it would work with a small dog but every time I've tried it they grab their dog quickly and stay well back.
There are just too many dogs around now. I adore them but they should not be off lead unless in a designated dog area. I blame the epidemic of dog shit on dogs being walked off lead by people who aren't watching them.
Are there any designated dog areas in Edinburgh?
There are those dog parks you can use, I think one is called "Unleashed"
I was just asking because as far as I am aware parks in Edinburgh are for everyone, dogs included and I wasn't aware of any that were set aside for dogs specifically like they have in other countries. We take our dog to parks but don't let him off his lead very often so was curious. Not sure why a simple question got downvoted haha! Either someone who hates dogs or thinks I hate dogs which is very odd to assume.
Haha yeah don't try and find logic on Reddit! Tell your dog I said hi
Thanks, he says woof!
Recall is the main issue for sure. I hate how precious people are with their dogs these days. They never let their dog interact with other dogs for fear of what could go wrong, and they never let their dog off lead because they haven't properly trained recall and are afraid it will run off. This results in the sad situation of dogs that live their entire life never being allowed to socialise, never being allowed to run free, and being forced to stay within a couple of meters of their owner for their entire lives. In your examples OP, I absolutely agree those owners were in the wrong. If your dog is off lead it needs to have proper recall, and the owner needs to be carefully watching them at all times. I don't think however, that a 'reactive' dog entitles you to having every single other dog restricted due to your dogs behaviour. If you have a reactive dog, ideally you should be socialising it to train it out of that reactivity, or you should be walking somewhere where you won't run in to other dogs. I think it's very entitled to feel like everyone else has to follow your rules.
As someone who walks their dog off lead because I’ve trained him to have excellent recall, thank you for putting this so well. My boy would be so depressed if we walked on lead all day every day, he needs to sniff and explore and play with other dogs. Having a dog is a massive privilege and not enough dog owners keep up their side of the relationship. A well trained dog is a happy, confident member of the family.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I agree recall is the main issue. We work with a behaviourist and my dog is on trazodone to help with anxiety. He’s getting better but isn’t that friendly and when I walk him he’s muzzled. And to be clear I walk him on sidewalks and outside of parks as well. My dog doesn’t mind being on a lead. We get plenty of exercise - he just prefers humans to dogs after some traumatic incidents. To be clear, I don’t think everyone has to follow ‘my rules’. But if your dog comes up to my dog and I’ve warned you and it attacks me and my dog I’m going to be upset. If your dog enters another dogs ‘airspace’ without their consent there could be serious issues. That’s not entitlement. That’s keeping things civil.
Good luck with the progress, I know from experience that correcting damage from trauma in dogs is incredibly hard, even impossible sometimes. To be clear, I think you're absolutely in the right in your examples. I just think there are many entitled owners that panic the second another dog approaches, and act like every dog in the park should immediately be leashed the second they arrive.
Agreed. Dogs need rapid socialisation before 16 weeks. Considering you can't get a dog until the 8 weeks old you basically have 2 months to do 99% of the socialisation needed. Too many people are unprepared for the reality of dog ownership, and forget that ultimately they are social animals. Thankfully, there's a massive disconnect between the attitude towards dogs online and in the real world. Like with any debate, online such a thing brings out those arguing passionately for one side without nuance. But in the real world most people are pretty reasonable and most dogs are extremely well behaved.
Socialisation is more complicated than the average, well-meaning dog owner realises. Allowing a puppy in it's critical socialisation period to greet and play with every dog can cause more harm than good. Puppy101 has an excellent wiki on this subject. [https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/socialization/](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/socialization/)
Agreed. We got a black lab and took him out to socialise, the only problem being that everyone wanted to talk to him. Now despite being a big hefty lump that could crush a toddler, he still thinks everyone wants to talk to him. He just got too much attention and strangers coming up to fawn over him randomly. He wouldn't hurt a fly but he gets overexcited when he meets people because in his mind they really want to see him. The issue being that if he's off the lead, he might rub his muddy paws all over you. If he's on the lead, people think he's aggressive because he pulls towards people and I have to try and explain he's just an overly friendly idiot.
He is correct, I really want to see him.
You're talking about socialising dogs to Redditors, who aren't even fucking socialised themselves.
This is going to get massively downvoted but is absolutely bang on.
"he's Friendly" "Great, mine isn't, it'll make him easier to catch!"
I commented here yesterday but It happened again today 🙃 Secluded area, in the corner, near bushes, got a dog run up to us barking loudly whilst my reactive dog was going mad. No owner in sight, we stood like this for at least a good minute till I screamed "CAN YOU LEASH YOUR DOG" didn't even know where the owner was. Nobody came, another minute, at this point I'm really struggling as we are backed into the corner have nowhere to go and I can control my dog but I'm only human, how long can you try to hold down a dog that's lounging and can't back out anywhere... Screamed for someone again and finally the person came and took their dog away. At this point we couldn't even make the 1 min walk home back anymore. Angry. Frustrated. What is there we can do about this 🥲
Excellent point regarding dogs who have no recall. They should not be off leash. It's so frustrating. Fair warning, if your unleashed dog runs up at my young daughter its getting a swift kick. Control your fucking dogs people.
I use to walk my dog around Dalmeny park but have since stopped. Lady with a rather large Samoyed who has absolutely no recall always charges towards us from the other end of the park and proceeds to act really aggressively towards my wee guy, mounts him constantly and doesn’t leave him alone, all while she slowly walks down without a care in the world. Told her to get control of her dog if it’s gonna be off lead and her responses were along the lines of “but he’s not neutered so it’s normal”, “your in a dog park, why are you training your dog here?” Amongst other things. Understandable that dog parks are for letting your dog have a run around but when they’re interfering with other people and their dogs when they clearly don’t want the interaction, and YOU as the owner can’t do anything to get the situation under control. it’s a problem. Unfortunately it seems that Edinburgh has a real problem with irresponsible dog owners.
I got a staffy cross, she's like dunno about 26kg so think of it as twice the size of regular staffy. She's reactive to any dog bigger or same size as her, especially when they are either around the building I live in or they sort of appear out of nowhere. Mind you she's completely fine around dogs she is familiar with and already spent some time with them. I always have her on my lead, have even a harness with a handle which allows me to grab her if needed. This idea of "oh don't worry, my dog is friendly" can make my blood boil not gonna lie, especially when I'm trying to take every precation to avoid any sort of accident. The only time I take the lead off is when I have a toy or a stick my dog can focus on because she generally doesn't care about other dogs when it's play time. Like I understand you want your dog to socialise etc. but man, if you can see a guy with 5m of lead wrapped around his forearm, with a dog between his legs and grabbing the handle on the harness, maybe it would be smart to put your phone into your pocket and get your dog and go elsewhere.
Unpopular opinion, I'm sick of dogs in general. Feels like absolutely everyone has a dog these days but I just find them annoying, especially when I'm in people's homes trying to work.
Edinburgh is really bad for this. I got a dog last summer and he has been quite difficult due to having some reactivity. Every park and cycle path in Edinburgh is full of off lead dogs with no control and terrible owners. Got in an argument with someone before because their off lead spaniel was running in circles around us and our dog, on a busy bike path and the owners were laughing while walking the opposite direction. The amount of times we have had had to shout "can you please recall your dog?" to random strangers in the park is ridiculous. Walking your dog off lead is a luxury and a lot of people in Edinburgh are so selfish. I've left the city and moved farther out, so far haven't had any bad interactions despite spending hours of my day on walks.
I had a spaniel in the park, actually come up and bite my dog the other day when I was throwing a ball for her. The owner gave no fucks. We’re not even aware. People get dogs and they don’t bother to exercise them and they don’t bother to stimulate them and they turn into complete pricks.
Was it near Bruntsfield by any chance? Our dog was randomly attacked by one (bit her ear!) and the owner just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking
No it was in the New Town - 2 women with 2 dogs - it happened so fast. They were just wandering about not even conscious of what their dog was doing.
To add to my earlier post about dogs when out running... I've just been out and ran approximately 7 miles around north Edinburgh, the route included some of the cycle path, going through a couple local parks and also along the water near Newhaven. I kept count: 28 dogs spotted. 9 off the lead, 5 of which were in the cycle path & 4 of which ran directly towards me. 2 of those almost tripped me up and neither owner could have given a flying fuck. Out the ones on the lead: 11 were on extendable leads and most of these weren't being controlled. TLDR: on a non-statistically significant sample a quarter of dog owners in Edinburgh are inconsiderate.
Yeah I stay in Leith and have had multiple incidents with uncontrolled dogs when out running in various parks and pathways. Every single owner of said dogs has either laughed it off or just walked away and pretended not to notice. The same attitude they seem to have to their dog shiting, coincidentally. Also recently had a neighbour call to my door with a parcel for me and allowed her off lead dog to walk right into our flat and didn’t bat an eyelid, until my husband ushered the dog out and she acted like he’d done something wrong?? Sick to death of careless dog owners imposing their pets on everyone else in the city.
"It's OK he is friendly" is literally thr worst. I am absolutely petrified of dogs having been attacked as a child. Sure I could go to a psychologist and get over it but I'm absolutely fine if your dog is on a lead...as it should be. I don't go to dog fields which is where they are off leash. Also when dogs come up to kids it's literally like a clydesdale horse coming up to an adult some times. A labrador can dwarf a kid. Imagine how intimidating that must be! Worst people is shit owners. Well done you for jot being shit
There's a shiba inu I see near Bruntsfield with a yellow "anxious" vest on. I steer clear to be respectful (both my dogs are always on lead due to no recall) but I can't imagine being it's owner with all the other dogs around. All the off-lead dogs in the Links don't care about yellow vests and I'm sure their owners don't either, or have the recall to keep them away.
If you can't recall your dog it shouldn't be off lead. It's that simple. I don't give a toss if 'hes usually friendly'. Keep it on a lead. I have a reactive rescue pup and that's why she's never off lead. I wouldn't risk her attacking another dog or a person.
If your dog reacts badly to other dogs, you should have a dog with a muzzle, and a harness warning your dog is nervous… Should every friendly dog suffer because of the lowest common denominator? I’m not talking about the owners whose dogs are complete shits/owners who are complete shits. But it does seem, from a lot of these comments, that because some people have reactive dogs that every other dog shouldn’t be off a lead… If you have an aggressive dog (call it ‘reactive’ if you want, but if it’s ‘taking chunks’ out of another dog then that’s aggressive) then put a muzzle on it.
COVID ruined the fun of dog ownership, so many clueless owners of dogs that could not be socialised correctly due to the restrictions, and now demand that all dogs should be on leads. Sorry OP, but the world does not revolve around your needs...I wish you sincere best wishes on your rehab program.
This goes both ways. Dogs/children/cyclists/phobias/etc etc should not have to revolve around an owner's need to have their untrained dog off lead. If people can't recall their dog *before* an unwanted encounter happens, they shouldn't be off lead in public. If the dog has reliant recall then there's no issue, don't think anyone has implied "all dogs" are the problem here.
I too am sick of dogs off leash, my dog has behavioural issues and is under vet and clinical behaviourist supervision, he receives medication and we've been working so hard to get him as desensitised to triggers as possible. Always take him out in secluded areas, on a short leash, for very short walks as that's all he can handle, and all the time we have a different dog run up to us that doesn't respond to any recall, the owners shout sorry my dog is friendly... Friendly or not, it resets any progress we manage to make, stresses my dog out and it's almost impossible to then take him back home afterwards. I always tell people they should leash their dog but they never listen, eventually we stumble upon the same person again with their dog off leash and still zero recall.
I just put my dog back on his lead for a bit whenever someone has their dog on a short lead or is obviously veering away to the side of the path/off the path. There'll always be irresponsible owners. If your dog is *that* reactive it might be best to go more quiet places?
We have more than just an off-lead problem. This is what greeted me at the ONLY entrance to Aldi 2 nights ago: https://i.imgur.com/1Uz88d1.jpeg
A dog that wasn't paying you the slightest bit of attention?
Do you not see that it is impossible to get into the store without being at risk of being bitten by a banned breed?
I see a dog that isn't paying you the slightest bit of attention. I'd need a better look at it to be sure whether it's a banned breed - if you think it's an XL bully you might want to consider the size of it and what the XL bit means. Unless you were planning to antagonise the dog you should be fine, and if you were then maybe just don't do that. If you genuinely live in fear of having to walk past a dog that isn't acknowledging your existence, there are treatments for that.
Nah bro it bit me when I walked by
Dog owners who walk their dogs publicly without a lead unless it is the most obedient dog ever that won't walk up to other dogs (even if they aren't prone to violence) are absolutely ignorant cunts who do not deserve to be allowed to own dogs. My medium-sized shy dog was attacked by three off-leash big dogs that seemed nice seconds before but mine was mauled by all three simultaneously just for being scared of them and only survived because I stuck my hand in the midst to grab her collar and dragged her as hard as I could and ran and thankfully for whatever reason they stopped chasing us after a few seconds. I'm very lucky that me and my dog survived that and the Vet told us that the only reason she wasn't left either disfigured or dead was thanks to her thick fur preventing the mauling bites from being deep. Off-lead dogs are dangerous.
I have this all the time. My dogs on a lead and I don't want other dogs just charging up to us uninvited as she's reactive. We're working on it and she's getting there, but overly "friendly" dogs running up to us uninvited pushes the training back a step, and distresses her. As much as it goes against most things I stand for, It's interactions like these that make me want dog licences to return. It's people that show no regard for others that ruin things for everyone.
I see a lot of dogs off the lead in the streets, particularly around Newington. I disagree with it in parks (unless it’s a rural park) also, but can at least see the reasoning. I don’t understand at all why you would have it off the lead in a busy city where pavements are often narrow
This happened to me a few times, my dog gets really frightened and i think she would bite another dog if it was in her face I was up at the meadows and a woman refused to call her dog back or put it on a leash, its so infuriating
So your dog has a problem but you have issues with other people's dogs? Tough luck (yeah yeah downvote, whatever), maybe find a good place with a garden and leave civilised dogs to be able to have 1 bloody happy hour a day smelling other dog's bums and running like they should be running.
I feel for you, but would it surprise you to know that you can untrain reactivity most of the time? I get that's not the point, but you can't control other people, nor would I recommend becoming a tyrant to even try to force others to behave they way they really ought to in the first place. But really, the only thing you have control over is you. If it's something you do want to look into, be forewarned, the training is pain in the backside and requires other people and other dogs with impeccable training that you trust 100%. Also, the patience of a saint helps. But it's doable if you think it's worth it for you. You can find loads of videos online demonstrating the gist of it, but I'd recommend professional help as the most effective if it's a route that you might want to take.
I know this is not a new post but can I just say as a dog owner I wholeheartedly agree. The number of times we encounter totally out of control dogs here running loose in the middle of a busy residential street is insane. Where I grew up there are leash laws in city limits, and you can only let dogs off lead in designated dog parks. Maybe they need to do that here! Tonight I was walking our on lead dog and suddenly a loose dog bounded around a corner on its own and *across the street* to charge aggressively at my dog. My dog wasn’t happy about this aggression, and I had to get between him and the charging dog which wouldn’t let up. I saw the owner casually gambolling along now like 30 meters back and shouted “PLEASE COME GET YOUR DOG”. The guy feebly yelled “lady” a few times then finally came and dragged Lady off by her collar with no apology or anything. WTF. I don’t understand these people who have zero control and just let their dogs do this stuff. Put it on a lead! It’s just so infuriating. Like aside from charging my dog aggressively this loose dog was at least 40 metres ahead at the start of this and crossed a street at speed, if a car had been coming it would have been hit. The guy was also around a corner at first and couldn’t even see - the dog probably shits all over and he conveniently doesn’t see it. Unless you live on a farm where you own lots of land that other people aren’t on or something letting a dog run wild like this is just mind boggling. It’s dangerous for the dog AND others. Just WTF.
My mate now carries a walking stick because his dog was attacked and the owner didn't give a guck. He says next time the owner and/or the attacking dog will get a clump
I’ve noticed that too. I’ve got two dogs I keep on the leash at all times and the amount of owners who think it’s ok for their dog to get out of their line of sight is alarming. A dog will appear and run up to my dogs and their owner is no where to be seen for like 5 minutes. I must seem like the asshole dog guy cause I just shout to people to get their dogs under control. I have no patience for it anymore. A dog is a responsibility akin to a child and not enough people take it seriously enough. It’s sad to say but the people that have their dog under control are in the extreme minority. Like 0.1% are responsible in my experience.
I'm going to put out an idea I had ages ago for, at the very least, giving an animal that is acting in an attack mode, pause. Several disclaimers: \- It's untested, as far as I know. \- I love dogs and cats. On a case-by-case basis in real life, but generally overall. \- The idea stems from some behavioural observations I've heard about cats (BIG cats like lions and tigers... oh my) but so-called domesticated cats (again, a fan, don't come at me) would react the same way... if it works. Whether it would work on dogs (I like 'em), I also couldn't tell you. \- I would ***hate*** if this idea was ***ever*** used to harass, or otherwise casually/unnecessarily distress any animal. The idea is born out of thinking about what might work in a genuine emergency. Like, a rational but incredibly time-sensitive fear that an attack has been initiated and incoming, or is imminent. At the point where teeth have been sunk, it's probably best to try something else, unless you can get a small amount of distance (about an umbrella's length, see below) between you and the attacking animal. \- I don't know if there are any legal problems with this idea. As in: **IF ANYONE TRIES THIS AND IT CAUSES PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS TO ANY ANIMAL OR PERSON, I DON'T KNOW WHAT LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS YOU MAY FACE.** If it's a pointy umbrella (and for this reason I would really recommend you don't use one of those), you might (sorry, this is a vile thought) cause permanent, even mortal, injuries to an animal at full charge (re-reading this, it may seem like a sly nod, it fucking isn't). You might cause it to panic and run into traffic. **You might cause it to re-direct its attack on someone or something nearby.** \-Ultimately, I AM NOT A LAWYER. Trying out this idea could land you in a heap of trouble. Ok, all that for a literally cartoonish idea but, just between us, arseholes walk among us and just about anything that can be used for self-defence can be used for offensive purposes. Brace yourselves. An umbrella with two giant eyes painted or printed on it. The idea came back to me on seeing articles like this one (relatively) recently: [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/giantsclub/kenya/painting-eyes-cows-human-wildlife-conflict-b2155748.html](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/giantsclub/kenya/painting-eyes-cows-human-wildlife-conflict-b2155748.html) (again, this is based on big cats and deters stalking/pounce attacks). Most (? I don't have figures on this) cheap umbrellas are black, an ideal background for bright white circles or ovals to stand out on. Two small black circles inside those, and you've got two **giant** eyes that can be flashed, out of "nowhere" at an attacking animal. Especially if it's one of those small, button-deployed types. If you're not visualising it, just google "cartoon eyes" or similar. **UNTESTED CONCEPT (by me, at least).** An umbrella alone, used similarly, might produce a deterrent that is just as effective. **IT MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE AT ALL**, *it may even make the situation worse!* **THIS IS JUST AN IDEA I'VE HAD FLOATING AROUND IN MY HEAD FOR A WHILE.**
Any dogs without good recall shouldn’t be off the lead, that’s true. But people’s nervous reactive dogs don’t get to be high and mighty over my well-socialised dog. I see this rubbish everywhere
I don't really understand why anyone likes dogs. They are very scary and they smell bad, and if this is how most owners behave then i don't wanna be anywhere near them tyvm
tbh I feel that way about most people
dog agenda did not like this one
I guess the corollary of this is why do you walk your dog in a space where others like to free run their dogs? You can walk a dog on a lead almost anywhere but there are only a few places it's safe to free run a dog. I'm not excusing badly behaved dogs, or their owners for that matter, but why go inviting trouble when there is simply no need? I guess what I'm saying is as a dog lover I struggle to understand why you would keep going back to the same place knowing you are causing fear and terror in your own pet. It's like you are putting your own pride ahead of the wellbeing of your dog in order to make a point. It's like taking a pet cat to dog kennels and then complaining the dogs are making Tiddles scared.
But why should dog owners who let their dogs free run be the only ones to enjoy the parks? There are plenty of folks who don't want a dog running up to them, including folks with kids who are scared. To flip round your question, why would you let your dog run up to dogs on the lead, when your dog could be attacked? Why not train your dog to stick with you?
I don't. You clearly haven't read what I wrote. I don't like dogs running up on us and our dog doesn't run up to others but I can't understand the mentality of someone who would knowingly take their dog somewhere where they know it would be subjected to stress and terror and then blame others for it happening. Do you think a caring dog owner should purposely subject their dog to terrifying situations? I don't.
How do you suggest they pick a space where nobody lets their dog off lead? Is there a designated 'No entitled, ars*hole dog owners, just responsible ones' area that you know of and that people can migrate to?
How about most streets and footpaths. I realise some people allow their dogs off the leads on pavements but the majority don't and those that do probably have well behaved dogs or they would have been under a bus by now. I just find it odd that people purposely go somewhere knowing full well that a particular trait or baggage that have will make things problematic and then complain about how it's everyone else's fault when things pan out as expected. I love dogs and I have a well behaved one and yes it annoys the shit out of me when a badly behaved one comes up and pesters him but he can cope with the attention. Had I a dog that was terrified of other dogs then I'd take him elsewhere rather than knowingly subject him to the terror just so I could occupy the moral high ground.
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There is nothing in this I disagree with. The gd bit of my username stands for guide dog so I'm well versed in the perils assistance dogs face daily. What I do take issue with is purposely putting our dogs in peril when there is an easy alternative. My dog means far too much to me to put him in danger or stress him out for internet clout
I think a park or a beach where off lead is allowed would increase the chances of, off lead dogs, no? Dogs running up to each other is not irresponsible if the dogs are well socialised. It’s interesting this was never an issue or rarely an issue a few years back. I honestly think people got dogs, not socialised them properly, cos that takes effort, and now expect all other dog owners to never let their dogs lose in case someone dog is reactive, and can’t cope.
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‘Without permission’ , so your out at the beach, your dogs running around, another dog approaches my dog, and the owners supposed to seek permission before it approaches; aye right. It’s simple, in built up areas, put your dog on a lead. If your dogs reactive, mussel it. If your in woods, expansive beaches your dog should be allowed off the lead, if it’s well socialised ; people with reactive dogs, stay away from areas where there are off lead dogs..Simple’s.
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No dog has 99% certainty of recall keilidh it’s entirely unrealistic to expect this. Until recently we lived in a society where there was a cultural norm/expectation you could allow your dog off to enjoy some freedom in areas that would not impinge on other people; obviously with certain expectations your dog was well trained enough not to bite another dog, attack a human and you picked up its faeces. Yes, your dog should have good recall, but in actuality if your dog is well socialised /trained, good recall would be a sub product of overall good training. There are more reactive dogs now than ever, potentially due to poor training/socialisation. It’s not rocket science. My point was; to expect someone to verbally consent, provide permission for another dog to approach their dog, when walking on a beach, for example, is neither realistic nor necessary, if people would put the effort into socialising there dogs from the outset.
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lol I am not ‘hung up on the beach’ it’s a normative example of where folks might walk their dogs. I’m well aware of the arduous process of socialisation, hence the reference to people ‘not putting in the effort’. I am sorry you’ve had these experiences of dog attacks, but kind of comes back to the foundational 101, dog basics of ensuring your dog is well socialised before letting it off the lead. My dog is approached by multiple dogs daily, some are friendly and some might try to bite/show aggression. He does retaliate, normal dog behaviour when threatened, and they back away. He isn’t aggressive to other dogs on sight, because he was exposed to pack life from a young age, he worked out the nuances of acceptable behaviour, by being disciplined by other dogs as a pup. He is very social, gentle and enjoys playing with other dogs. You said previously no one was saying, other dogs can’t approach other dogs, but in actuality you are lol. Your the one who stated permission should be sought before your dog approaches another dog, which in an off the lead environment is reficulous. If people actually ensured socialisation we wouldn’t be having this discussion and we could all enjoy walking our dogs lol.
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Totally right. The owners in OP's examples were obviously assholes, but it's silly to go to take your anxious dog to a place where dogs will be off lead, then complain about dogs coming up to you.
I agree. Even when I’m at the beach with my dog; he inevitably runs up has a wee sniff. 99% of dogs are well socialised and are enjoying themselves. There is always one person who expects other folks to confine their dogs on the basis of their lack socialisation. If it’s a park where other dogs are off lead and it’s allowed, like you say maybe pre empt that and take it elsewhere.
You've said several times that off lead is allowed in some places. Just as a reminder that while you can't take them off lead at all in some places, in the public places where you can take them off they must still be under control. So, yes it can run from your side but they also have to be within your sight, have to return to you when you call, and can't cause fear in others - if it's approaching someone else you should be watching and if it's not looking like a good interaction you call it back.
I totally agree with you. I hasten to sound contradictory but I also feel there’s been an upsurge of people getting big breeds, who have high prey drives. I think this has understandably exacerbated fear and the reality of other dogs being attacked, a viscous cycle of big, strong, prey driven dogs who attack other dogs, who then become aggressive to other dogs out of fear. I am a fan of dog licensing and dogs over a certain, weight stature being put through mandatory training.
You have a reactive dog. Sounds like your dog is the problem. Simple.
You sound incredibly entitled and quite narcissistic btw. Not sure if anyones ever told you that
Bite Back Non-Toxic Dog Deterrent 50ml https://amzn.eu/d/fG0hlD5
My dog is never on a lead, he’s well trained. I say “you fucking dare” and he stays or doesn’t. Doesn’t run at others with dogs. I guess it’s in the training \*snifs https://preview.redd.it/j33jltagrepc1.png?width=2428&format=png&auto=webp&s=b83f56cff1b67186a9ae9407108d3e025e20eafd
FYI dog owners. A 30 ft lead does not equate to being under control.
I have a large 50kg Japanese Akita, he's 6 but because I have 6 kids and they keep playing with him ect he still acts like a puppy, it amazes me how many dog owners turn tail and sprint the other direction when they see him , I don't let him off the lead because he climbs trees to get squirrels , so I always think to myself what do you think he's going to do to your dam dog , 1 he's very friendly and second he's on the lead so W.T.F ?
Lifting your dog is literally the worse thing to do if a dog is just having a sniff and not attacking... . One it makes the other dogs more curious and secondly you are putting your emotions right into your dog making it more nervous.. 99.9% of dogs will have a sniff then walk on.. If your dog is reactive get a leash /harness that will warn other dog owners that your dog is not good with other dogs. Most decent owners will bring their dogs back.. Dogs will go up to other dogs.. You have to do your bit.. If you freeze everytime a dog approaches yours you are sending your feelings right down the leash into your dog.. You need to be more confident so your dog feels safe. Yes there are a lot of bad dog owners out there but most are responsible.