I know that if I take hold of my dogs or lead them up as an on lead dog approaches, if I let them off too soon, Jed will do an about turn and follow the dog, sniffing their scent, he just cant help himself and finds it very difficult to just ignore other dogs. I've learnt this and now he stays restrained until around 20 yards is between us and then I usher him in front before letting him off.

As an owner of a reactive dog i've already expressed my distaste at owners letting their dogs approach mine when i'm making an effort to keep away. It really does annoy me but i've never attempted to kick a dog. I might do if I thought it had trouble on it's mind rather than play and my dogs were in danger but I just try and face the dog off, make it think twice before it approaches by looking like I mean business. This doesnt work very well with really young dogs though.

Some people just overreact and panic. Although I dont like it and it winds me up when other dogs come running over, I dont make a big song and dance about it, I just try and sort the situation in a calm way. Sounds like the man with the collie was flustered and behaved a bit OTT.

But the thing is, sometimes it isn't about whether what you're doing will teach your dog something positive, but is about protecting your dog from something negative. Maybe this guy is a horrible person who kicks dogs for coming up to his or maybe he is just a guy at the end of his tether who is trying to deal with a reactive dog and is willing to threaten the other dog so that it doesn't come any closer/come back again and set his dog off.

I'm sorry but as others have said, I do think it would have been wise to put your dog on the lead until the other dog had passed. It is great that you want him to get lots of socialisation but if you're just letting him go up to strange dogs, especially ones on lead, you may end up with him getting the wrong sort of socialisation.

I have one dog who is reactive to strange large dogs coming into "her space". She is always on a flexi-lead when there are other dogs about and if I see another dog charging towards her that I don't know I will use my pet corrector spray to get it to back off. Sometimes I will pick her up but then there is always the risk that the other dog will jump up and hurt you and I already have a neck and arm injury from a road-traffic accident so not a good option!

The last time I kicked someone's dog was a situation as follows-

I was walking my dogs both on-lead by the river near the city centre in Norwich. On this particular walk there were many signs up stating categorically "ALL DOGS MUST BE ON LEADS" and we had just turned a corner and a Bearded Collie charged at Cherry's head. I had no time to get my spray out or pick Cherry up so I kicked the dog, it backed off and flew at her again and it got kicked again. I was absolutely fuming at being put into this situation. It was with a group of people working in a boat-yard and I said to one of them "Can you not see the signs about dogs must be on leads-there's enough of them!" He apologised half-heartedly and said it wasn't his dog. I said "Don't apologise then but the owner should have it leashed"

Cherry had just been discharged from Newmarket after cataract surgery and the last thing I needed was her face injured.

You don't know if this man's dog was in a similar situation, it seems you are trying to justify yourself but those of us with ill or elderly or just plain scared dogs (because they have had bad experiences with loose dogs) can be very wary of what can happen if your on-lead dog gets another loose dog approaching it.

I had a bad experience today...walking Teagan on lead (she cant be let off - dog agressive and also various health problems), and saw a couple with 3 off lead dogs coming towards me, so as always, I turned and went in another direction. (Teagan really can't deal with other dogs, apart from Isochicks 2).

One of their dogs started running over, and they just watched it...me with dog on lead having turned the other way.....
I got Teagan to sit as the dog approached, and tried to get her attention on me, whilst this other dog launched it's self onto her back and started to hump her

The owner started to call it's name (whilst still walked in the other direction), and I shouted to him to please come and get his dog.
He sauntered over, and told me I should have just kicked his dog off. His dog was great at avoiding him - but kept coming back and jumping on Teagan, who was at her wits end, terrified and trying to attack

This couples dogs had no collar or leads on, so the guy had nothing to 'grab'. He said "He's a disobedient ******"......

If he hadn't come over...I would have kicked his dog....i'm sorry, but my duty is to protect my dog, who was really stressing out.
She was in the 'red zone' by the time the guy managed to kick a stick so his dog chased after it, and it took her an hour or so to calm down at home once we arrived back
Really spoilt our day

If she had attacked, you can guess who would have been blamed

My Jed is also reactive on a lead, after being attacked last summer whilst on a lead, he will try to get any dog he doesn't know if they come near him when he's on lead, so I also find it very irritating when people let their dogs run up to mine, if he's on lead.
I also just drop Jeds lead if dogs come running up,

Our new dog has some dog aggression problems, although she has now started obedience training/socializing which is helping.

When a dog approaches, I lead her off the path and get her to sit and focus on me and then warn the other owner that our dog isn't friendly.
If they won't, or can't control their dog then I'll keep her as calm as I can but she will snarl and snap when pestered.
I don't see it as my fault, I do my best and hope that she'll improve and she's always on a lead in an area where there's a possibility of other dogs.

To protect the off lead approaching dog I initially shout then wave my stick if they get too close I use my stick more aggressively. Better to meet my stick than my dogs teeth I always think. I never understand why people think I have him on a lead if they engaged brain they might think it could be to protect their dog but some people seem to think their dog is friendly so mine must be I guess.

What she said! But ALL of it, which didn't for some reason come out in this quote.

I felt very sorry for a lady owner on the park yesterday. There was a Rottweiller mooching about and the owner was right over the other side of the field. When she saw me approaching with Parker (fortunately Cherry had stayed at home- gone back to bed!) she shouted out "it's ok-he's friendly". I wasn't really worried as Parker is fine with other dogs and would just back off if the other dog wasn't friendly.

However, another lady came round the corner with 2 large Bull terriers on lead, 1 muzzled. I saw them coming and recalled Parker and put his leash on. The Rottweiller waltzed up to the on-lead dogs and the owner was having the devil of a job to hold her dogs back as they were not happy about this dog in their faces. The Rottweiller was completely ignoring its owner's recall. Fortunately it didn't have a go back but just barked at the other dogs and then eventually left them.

I was just grateful this didn't escalate onto something worse though! It was a bit scarey watching wondering what would happen when the Rotty went over to the other leashed dogs. I don't think it's a good idea to have your dog so far away from you like this one was, especially with the breed as some old lady walking her toy dog may have been scared by it because of people's perceptions of certain breeds.

I wish more people would exercise common sense around on lead dogs (comment not directed at OP). I think I'm quite clear that I do not want to be disturbed. I take wide paths around other people and dogs, I reel Cain in on a short lead and put him behind me, I stop and wait to let people get some distance. Some people read this well, the other day a person cycling with their dog saw me pull over to the side of the path. He stopped, put his dog on lead and walked his bike passed, we both smiled, said thank you and went on our merry way incident free. Five mins later, same situation different dog, but we got mugged by the dog and the owner was cycling away, oblivious to what was going on

Some dogs are on lead for innocent reasons - poor recall, high prey drive/chase instinct, medical reasons like poorly legs etc. And these dogs might be perfectly friendly and the owners might want them to interact with other dogs. However many dogs onlead are DA and I wish people wouldn't assume all dogs are friendly or that it'll be ok bevause their dog "is friendly" .

My basic rules would be if you see a dog on lead, always recall your dog, do not allow it to approach and keep it under control. Read the owners body language, it should be clear if they want to avoid you or not. If you think they may like to interact, then call out and ask the owner. If they say no, respect it and keep your dog with you until they are well past you. My walks would be far mote pleasant if people did this. Really you'd think it is just common sense...but apparently not!