On Saturday morning, I took Cooper for a long, leisurely walk through our neighborhood, down along a local trail, and the looong way home. We were walking through an undeveloped section where empty lots are overgrown with two-foot-high weeds. When we moved here in 2008, these lots were supposed to become homes. After the housing market crashed, they’re piles of wood, debris, and scraggly, prickly weeds.
As we were walking around a block of these lots, I heard the familiar jingle of approaching dogs. I looked around and didn’t see anyone. Then the weeds rustled.
Through this bramble, two tiny dogs were bounding – as best they could – toward us. In this order I thought:
- Gosh. Those dogs are chubby.
- I don’t see a person.
- Uh oh.
- Keep walking? Stop and let them catch us in case they’re lost?
- What if they’re unfriendly?
- Thank goodness Lucas isn’t with me.
I debated whether or not to keep going. On the one hand, if they were unfriendly, I wouldn’t want to put Cooper in danger. On the other hand, if they were lost, I’d hate to leave them in danger.
They were huffing along, getting closer, when I heard a whistle. Both dogs stopped, turned their heads toward the direction they came from… then kept running toward us.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a guy walking toward the dogs. He whistled again.
I kept going.
Later, I wondered if I should have stopped. Should I have let the dogs come check us out – what they clearly wanted to do – to allow the guy time to catch them? I felt a little bad, but I just didn’t want anything to happen to Cooper.
The whole way home I kept thinking how lucky I was that it wasn’t Lucas I was walking. The scenario would have played out so differently. Despite working so, so hard with him, an off-leash dog approaching when he’s on leash is still a huge trigger.
Sunday evening, two boys from down the street opened a lemonade stand. I hadn’t walked Cooper yet, so I decided to take him over to the stand, let him socialize with a group of kids, and buy myself a lemonade ($1 for a lemonade plus free ice for dogs!).
I went out our garage into the alley. We walked to the end of the alley and turned left to cross a short block to get to the stand. Just as we turned the corner, a spaniel ran around the far corner straight at us.
There was no question the dog was friendly. He had a loose body, a happy wag, and his tongue was hanging out. He was also dragging a leash behind him.
He ran straight up to Cooper who froze and tucked his tail.
Then, from around the block, comes an intact standard poodle. Also dragging his leash.
Then a woman meanders around the corner with a tiny terrier on leash.
“Are these your dogs?” I said with as much huff as I could muster in my very flustered, very annoyed state.
“Ummhmm,” she said as she breezed past. The two dogs dragged their leashes a block ahead of her and she and the little one trotted off after them.
I wanted to scream, but there were children around. I didn’t scream.
But, again, if I had Lucas with me, that situation would have been a disaster. The first dog was around the corner so suddenly that I didn’t have a moment to move Cooper before the dog was on him sniffing away. I barely had time to react to the first dog before dog #2 came around the corner and waltzed right up to his face.
Poor Cooper’s tail was tucked so far it was touching his belly.
Lucas would have lost his mind and aggressed. And I’m sure the lady would have been pissed at me.
Both incidents left me frustrated and annoyed. Both incidents made me grateful that Lucas wasn’t with me, which is a horrible feeling.
I guess the takeaway is that I need to keep working with Lucas, and work even harder since there are lots of clueless dog walkers in our neighborhood.
Have you ever had an encounter like this on a dog walk? How did you handle it?
Oooooh yes. These interactions infuriate me, and “infuriated” is never a good mindset for a productive conversation. Usually, if I am walking a dog on-leash (rather than at the dog park or hiking in the woods), it’s because the dog I am walking is not good with other dogs. I usually say something like, “He’s not good with other dogs,” or “Please get your dog away from mine.” I hope that my frustration and attempts to put my body between the dogs makes it clear to the owner that it is BAD behavior to let their dog run up to any other dog. I am sure there’s a better way to accomplish this, but in the moment that’s what I’ve come up with. I hope that other owners leave the interaction thinking about practicing their recall or keeping their dogs on leash.
I’ve had this happen quite a few times. Cinder was really aggressive toward all other dogs and there was a woman who let her little dog run dragging its leash all the time. When I would stop and hold Cinder and ask her to hold her dog, she always replied it would be fine. I told it wouldn’t, her dog would come running over and Cinder attacked. Then we had to break up a dog fight and the little one always had at least a hunk of hair pulled out. This happened with the same woman multiple times. It was terrible for that little dog and I got to the point of having to scan every street before we could turn to make sure she was no where around. I’ve also had it happen in your neighborhood with Cady, who thankfully, likes everyone. But there was a woman about a year ago with a golden and another dog that she let run around dragging their leashes. The first time I got the leashes and held the dogs for her until she caught up. But then I saw her go down to the path and drop the leashes on purpose so I knew this was her M.O. It’s a terrible situation. It makes everyone nervous to have a dog charging at you. The people who do this need to understand that even if their dog is friendly, charging at someone is dangerous for everyone.
I’m sorry you and Cooper had to experience this. I’m really glad it wasn’t Lukey.
And, $1 for a lemonade! When I had a lemonade stand as a kid, it was 5 cents – but I guess that just shows my age.
I have occasionally encountered dogs that have gotten loose, but never anything so blatant as a person strolling calmly along behind a leash-dragging dog as if it was the most normal thing in the world for their dog to be roaming freely.
That would annoy me a lot, not because I think it’d be a problem for my dog most of the time, but because it’s just irresponsible. Diamond happens to think being around other dogs is the Best. Thing. Ever. but owners of random other dogs don’t know that, and shouldn’t assume that all the dogs they encounter are going to be that way.
Heck, even with my dog, I may not *want* to be approached by random other dogs. If I have her practicing a loose-leash walk, cute fuzzy distractions that she wants to play with are *not helpful.*
Do you know either of these people that you can talk with them when you don’t have Lucas or Cooper with you and explain that it’s a problem?
Should I have let the dogs come check us out – what they clearly wanted to do – to allow the guy time to catch them? I felt a little bad, but I just didn’t want anything to happen to Cooper.
My answer to this is “No!” Your first responsibility is your own dog. If you feel safe and comfortable helping someone catch their off-leash dog, great, but if you don’t, you’re not even remotely obligated to.
The last time this happened with Bella-I wasn’t walking her. I only heard the story from my mom who had taken them for a walk.
A neighbor has a girlfriend who sometimes brings her spaniel to the house. And this dog is crazy nuts hyper and has zero recall.
The dog ran up to Bella, she growled, snapped, mom held her back (I generally don’t, I try to let the leash be loose). Bella has good bite inhibition. But it looks and sounds nasty and she does NOT give up. Luckily the guy came and got the dog and understood Bella was just trying to fend off a rude dog.
Wow. Sounds like there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners out there. I guess the best thing to do is whatever it takes to keep YOUR dog safe.
@Ann, $1 lemonade is steep! These little guys are mini-moguls! 🙂
Even though we live in Chicago, and we’re bordered by some very busy streets, thereare several people on our block who let their dogs run off-leash. We are particularly angry with some people who live next door who have no control over their lab, yet decide to play fetch on the sidewalk in front of our building. We have even spoken with them about it, and there are people in the neighborhood who are afraid of their dog, and they still do whatever they want. I just try to avoid them and carry citrinella spray for emergencies.
Ohmygosh. Fetch on a busy city street?! Crazy!
GREAT tip to carry citronella spray for emergencies. I hadn’t thought of that, but I will have to pick up a canister!
Is it evil or passive aggressive of me to suggest a phone call to animal control, or mentioning to the owners that that might happen, if the same person is frequently letting their dogs run around off-leash. It might be overkill, but in a lot of places there are rules about this sort of thing, and they exist for a reason.
This makes me so mad! What are you supposed to do – never take Lucas out for a walk because these idiots in your neighborhood want to let their dogs run around out of control? How’s he ever supposed to improve if he can’t learn to trust that he’s not going to have dogs charging him? And, they even frightened poor Cooper. It’s completely unfair to you and your dogs – and that’s unacceptable. The next time I encountered them I’d let them know about the local leash laws and tell them the next time I’d be contacting the authorities. You have a right to walk your dogs without worrying about this.
Amy, I truly appreciate your outrage. And you are so right. I kept thinking, “Thank goodness Lucas wasn’t with me.” But I DO walk Lucas, of course. So what if he had? It would have been a disaster, and I think he probably would have felt like he couldn’t trust me, that the world isn’t a safe place after all, so he better stay on guard. Which would be a huge setback.
I had never seen either of those two people before, but I’m going to be extra vigilant on our daily walks and hopefully have a nice conversation with them if I see them again…
Those encounters would have made the top of my head flip open and fire come out, I think. Elka really really does not dig dogs in her face, because of course dogs don’t know polite body language. Elka doesn’t either, so it’s a vicious cycle, I guess, but I keep her out of other dog’s faces, so, points for me.
I also talk very little to other dog owners while walking, so I’m not sure I would’ve said anything to those owners, either, or what I would’ve said. I don’t think either of them behaved appropriately, that’s for sure. It’s a good idea to have a rough game plan in mind for when stuff like that happens. Body blocking? Automatic sit? etc. That way, you can manage the interaction on your end, at the very least, perhaps while “gently encouraging” the other owner to get their freaking dogs.