I know this has been discussed before but..

why oh why cant people control their dogs when they KNOW their dog has aggression issues with other dogs???

Im really upset... was taking Barney over the field for his morning run.. was nice and quiet so i thought Id let him off lead, then out of nowhere, this dog came rushing up to Barney and was properly snarling and barking and trying to incite a fight... it got really really aggressive and i could see Barney was trying so hard not to figth back but this dog just kept coming at him and at him... i got Barney back on the lead na dwas trying to stay in between them while trying to shh this horrible dog away without hurting myself...

meanwhile while this was all happening and i was clearly distressed, the dogs owner didnt seem that bothered by what was going on... occasionally shouting him but not making any effort to come and put her dog back on a leash... when she eventually came strooling over she had the cheek to say to me... "he just wants to fight with every dog he sees" no remorse for ther fact that im uposet and my dog is terrified... she then takes an age to finally leash this dog up, all the while this dog is trying to take chunks out of mine.

I mean.. SERIOUSLY???? what the hell goes thourgh some peoples heads that they think its ok to have an aggrssive dog like that off leash and then think its ok when its terrorising other innocent dogs...

Thankfully Barney wasnt hurt, but If I hadnt leashed Barney so soon and intervened then I think that he could of been so much diffrerent

rant over.....

I agree its very annoying and sometimes the boot is on the other foot when people who have dogs that get on well with other dogs allow theirs too come over and you are clearly trying to keep your dog who can be reactive to other dogs under control.

Ollie can be re-active too some dogs not others so I always have him under control till I know the state of play.

Good to hear Barney is okay, rather than me ranting with you all I will say some people are just stupid stupid stupid stupid and there is no explanation that makes sense to me than that

I know the shoe can be on the other foot, he is a very friendly dog and loves to play with others, but i know there are some dogs that come over the field regularly that arent so friendly so I always wait till ive surveyed the area to see who's about before i let him off... Barney was off lead this morning because i thought the field was empty.. this dog literally bounded out of nowhere and it was a while before i even eventually saw the owner too.... normally i dont feel the need to rant as 9 times out of ten both mine and the other dogs both give as good as they get, but its usually just boisterous play that gets a little out of hand... today this other dog was just aggressive from the very start.

I know where you are coming from people with dogs that have issues should have them under control Ollie is never in a position to just go up too any dog not that he wants too now unless he knows them or is comfortable with them.

I would be really unhappy with an aggressive dog not being under control there is no excuse in my opinion.

I can't understand people who have an aggressive dog but don't want to muzzle it. Do you want other dogs to be harmed by your dog? I just think its selfish to not protect others when you KNOW your dog is aggressive.

You can flip the coin and say that people shouldn't let their off lead dogs run up to on lead dogs, especially if you have kept your aggressive dog on lead, and the other owners just let their dogs run up to yours. This isn't fair either. There should be a general rule that dogs should not be allowed to run up to each other unless they know each other and the owners know the temperaments of the dogs that they are meeting.

I don't think people with aggressive dogs should HAVE to muzzle, but their dogs should be kept on lead and not allowed to meet other dogs. It's unfair for them to have to muzzle their dogs 100% of the time outside, but they should also not be put in the position where strange dogs are running up to theirs.

This is one more reason why people should train their dogs to a good recall or leash them up when they see another dog. I do both with Dahlia. She's friendly, but I don't know another dog's temperament. I only allow her to meet dogs who are dog friendly and don't let her run up to dogs we don't know.

Wasn't there some information floating about somewhere that suggested that keeping a dog muzzled was more dangerous than keeping them unmuzzled or something because they got more aggressive?

Personally I think it is unfair to suggest that all dogs who are dog aggressive should be muzzled. As long as they are kept on lead and not allowed to go up to other dogs their owners are being responsible & so other dog owners should repay the favour by being responsible and making sure their dogs don't go up to on lead dogs.

I tend to keep my dog on lead because her recall isn't 100% but when I first got her I used to keep her on lead because she could be a bit hit & miss with other dogs. The amount of times people just let their off lead dogs bound up to mine without even bothering to call them back or feebly called their name once or twice only to be ignored is absolutely ridiculous.

I have one friendly very sociable male dog and one fear-reactive female dog who doesn't like strange dogs rushing up to her as she was attacked by a Rottweiller and she is also blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other so can't read other dogs' signals to know if they are friendly or not.

I certainly would not let her off-lead to annoy other people's dogs even though she would not bite but head-butt! At the same time I do not walk her muzzled as this would stress her even further.

My friendly dog I recall if I see another dog being walked on lead. It is just common courtesy as I do not know why the other dog is on a lead. It may have had bad experiences like Cherry and be scared of other dogs or be dog-aggressive.

There is no excuse for letting a dog off-lead if you know it will try to fight other dogs. Just plain stupidity and being irresponsible I am afraid.

Owners like this are the reason I carry a pet corrector spray with me. If I see a dog charging over to Cherry with no owner in view I will use it to stop her having another bad experience or getting reactive cos she is scared.
The other week I had to use it 6 times to stop a Staffy trying to either go for her or bounce on her-don't know which! The owners were not happy and didn't see their dog was a problem despite them being a long way away when their dog charged towards Cherry. I will now shout out that Cherry has an infectious skin disease so other people grab their dogs away from her. Appealing to these types of owners self-interest is the only way to make them get their dog away as they couldn't give 2 figs for the fact that your dog has problems.

i have to agree with all thats been said already if i see a dog mine dont know there straight on the lead till i know the state of play it so annoying when the other owner can see your trying to keep there dog at bay but make no real effort to get it back i find this quite difficult also as im holding two dogs one that can be off hand if approached in the wrong manner i must admit i now carry my pet corrector every where as i dont want my dogs attacked and they have been many times every time when they were leashed i hope barneys ok and you dont bumped in to that idiot again