Should he have to keep his dog out of a 400 acre park because occasionally he will come across a person who's dog doesn't have a good recall? Who has more right to be there than the other? Neither - you can co-exist. He keeps his dog under control, on-lead if necessary, as he did in this situation, and you keep your dog away, on-lead if necessary, and voila, two happy dog walkers, and two well-exercised dogs that have had the good experience of playing in the park.

if his dog is under control, then he is just as entitled as you to walk there. if your dog doesnt have good recall, then i personally would keep him on a lead. Jakes recall was terrible as a pup, so i got a long line and practiced... a lot! now his recall is great, and i can trust him offlead... he still goes on lead when another dog is near though.

where would you suggest this man walks?

if the dog has a recall and is under-control yes it should...its the dogs without recall that shouldnt even if it is friendly!

Do you know what, I am obviously still feeling fragile as you have all made me cry and now I feel like a horrible owner who shouldn't have a puppy as I am obviously not doing him any favors and can't train him properly, I will not let him off the lead again and keep him in an enclosed space.

No one's calling you a horrible owner but dog owners have an obligation, not just morally but legally, to keep dogs under control in public places. Plenty of people have sympathised that it can be hard with a puppy - even with an adult dog, but until he has a solid recall you may find that you need to keep him on a long lead or in an enclosed space as you work on that. Every dog needs to learn a recall, no one expects it to happen immediately, but it's safer for your dog and others to keep him on some kind of restraint if you're not sure if he will run over to other dogs. Today's situation could've been a lot worse if it had been a very aggressive dog and I think it's sensible to take it as a lucky escape to learn from.

hey....just answering the question... ..please dont cry and dont feel useless,people should make allowances bothways smile, say sorry and share their spaces...no one or thing is perfect all the time that would be robots and not living beings.

Pop a line on him , that you can have trailing, That way you can stand on it in a emergancy.

I walk a dog agressive staffie, I often have loose dogs rushing up to her, with no recall, shes on a lead with me (although i know her owner does let her off).I even go out of my way to walk OUT of the way, but still somtimes no good!Its abit annoying, but dogs will be dogs, nothing to get upset about if she did bite another dog who has rushed over, then to my mind they are at fault, if: i have her n a lead, i have made moves to indicate i do not want a meeting. I walk her in off lead areas, but id not take her to a really highly highly populated dog off lead area (too stressful for me) but i know her owner does.
With regards to the stick, id prefer a dog to be kept at a distance with a stick , rather than a bite.

Chin up & keep working on your recall!

From what I can gather, his dog was completely under control. Should he really have to always keep his dog on a lead in a 400 acre park??

At the moment, you are smarting and so you are probably only seeing one side of the situation when you've calmed down a little, you'll probably see things a little differently.

Nobody is getting at you or trying to make you feel bad. It's lovely that you have a happy, social dog (and well done for helping him to be that way), but he needs a little more training. You'll get there with him, but every time your training is interrupted by another dog running up into his space while you are trying your hardest to put your training into practice, you too will likely become a little frustrated

You know, you should not be feeling bad. I have had a dog that didnt get on with other dogs and I never expected anyone elses dog to be a robot and not go near him thats why if a dog approached him, it was my job to focus on my dog and get him to behave. Of course I told others he didnt get on but I had no right to tell others they shouldnt let their dog do normal, good, sociable behaviour. Their dog is actually not asking for trouble by approaching in a playful or polite manner. I can't believe people would blame a puppy, having a puppy moment for being attacked and seriously harmed (potentially) or their owner. If anyone thinks their dog is going to cause actual harm to another dog it is their job to be responsible for their dog and prevent possible harm to other dogs and their own. If that means their dog should be wearing a muzzle, so be it.

I have also been on the other side and my dog that I have now had phases exactly how Cooper sounds as a youngster, he has turned out the best, socially speaking. He has learned how to read body language and knows which dogs to approach and which ones not to, once matured (only recent lol) does not go running up to dogs in the same way etc. He is fairly tolerant with males, playful even......Cooper sounds like he has a great base for growing into an obedient, well socialised and balanced dog so do not sell yourself short.

Of course you need to look after his saftey etc until he is a bit further on in his training but these things happen, if they didnt you would have no idea where he was in his training. At the end of the day, he is a grumpy old man, stuff him, next walk is a new walk and carry on with his training. If Cooper is anything like my dobe, he will know damn fine whether he is wearing a long, light line or not, if there is a fence or not, so months of a long line may not help tbh. By all means use one and be consistent to find out first though. What I learned by having a sociable, friendly and very playful, high energy dog was to use play as his focus, be the source of all the best of the play etc and that was the key, otherwise it was just plain hard work LOL LOL. If you want to know more about that just message me.

Remember, all dogs have their 'moments' no dog is under complete control as they are animals at the end of the day and the beginning. So people cant expect your dog never to approach another dog on his own decision whether he is 8 weeks, 8 months or 8 or 18 years old! Of course Im not saying to allow him to behave like that constantly but what I am saying is that for owners of seriously dog aggressive dogs to expect everyone elses dogs to never approach their dog in its whole lifetime, since they don't want them to wear a muzzle is a bit crazy IMO. Sorry to hear about your other dog and try not to be so hard on yourself.

When they are going through that stage, it is hard work and for people who have never owned a dog that can be SO extremley sociable and playful and energetic, its hard for them to understand exactly how hard, but stick with it and you will get more achievement and pride gained through Cooper than any dog, at least thats how I feel about my dog. Iv had people stop in cars to tell me how well behaved my dog is, people stop me in the street etc you'll get there, honestly.

You are a good owner and its obvious you didnt intend to allow him over, you appologised etc, the fact that are interested in his training shows you are a good owner. Stick with it and one day you WILL be able to let him off in that park (NON-enclosed) and trust him etc. When you do, and he is 'trained' you will honestly start noticing how IMperfect all the other dogs and owners are! and you will be the one getting compliments on Cooper.

I hope this post helps, I'm assuming I will be the one getting verbally beaten on here now LOL I did mention muzzles...(please don't folks)

I don't see why, when you're pretty much agreed with what everyone's said, just worded a bit differently.
No one's saying Wyrd/Cooper would be to blame if this dog was truly likely to attack Cooper, and if it should be muzzled in public but we don't know that's the case.
Either way, each dog owner is responsible for controlling their dog and in this situation it happened to be that Cooper was the one who ran over when he shouldn't have, no one's said Wyrd is a terrible owner for that, just that, as you said, it's an area to focus on for training in the future.