DO YOU ALLOW . . . your dog to interact with other dogs while you are out on a walk?

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

More specifically, when you are taking a walk and your dog is leashed, do you allow him or her to connect with other dogs that you come in contact with and do not know along the way?  I am asking this question, because of two recent scary experiences.  

The first one happened a few months ago, when I was walking Wally and my daughter's dog around our neighborhood.  Someone who lives a couple of streets away, approached us and asked if her Great Dane could say, hello, to Wally and Monty.  That greeting ended up with me in the hospital.  (I am now fine.)  The Great Dane was friendly at first and then lunged at us.  I reacted by shouting, "No," and immediately yanked my two dogs away.  The force of the pull caused me to fall backwards and hit my head on the pavement.  

The second incident took place about a week ago, when I was walking Wally in a friend's neighborhood -- far away from my home.  She took me over to her friend's yard, so that Wally could be introduced to a "very friendly" dog."  Well . . . that dog behaved very aggressively and I had to tug Wally away before he was bitten.  I understand that this situation was a different, in that the dogs were not meeting on the street, and that only Wally was leashed.

Wally loves all people and all animals, and doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. He always acts appropriately around other dogs.  However, he is not submissive, and will stand up for himself if provoked.  For safety's sake, should I just stick to a rule whereby walks are meant for walking and nothing more?  

Thanks for your input!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Laurie, First of all, love your name...LOL! I am sorry you ended up in the hospital. That must have been very scary. I do not allow my dogs to greet other dogs on leash while we are walking. Vern would most likely be fine, but Fudge would not and I have no problem saying to anyone that approaches that we do not greet on leash. I also don't trust other people in their ability to predict their dog's behavior. Part of the problem with the second incident is that you met that dog on his turf. Maybe if you met in a neutral territory, the dog would have behaved nicely. Maybe you could find someone you like to walk with that has a dog that both you and Wally like. Good luck!!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I sometimes let them greet other dogs on leash, as long as it's in neutral territory and I always ask the owner if the other dog is friendly. I then judge by the owners response and the dogs body language if it will be ok, as well as the size and breed of dog (yes I do discriminate when it comes to keeping my dogs safe). If the owner even hesitates for a moment I will not let them meet. A couple times I've seen owners hesitate and then say yes their dog is friendly only to have it snap at my dogs. I'm lukcy that Sophie and Winston have really easy temperaments and aren't usually put off by a reactive dog.

All of this being said, after hearing your story I'm starting to think twice about allowing it at all! I would have never predicted a great dane doing that. I love GD's as all the ones I know are so gentle and sweet. The fact that he was fine at first and then suddenly reacted tells me that you can't always trust the initial body language of the dog. That must have been scary for you!

[Christine & Shelby]

Our approach is similar to your Sherri - Shelby is nice, sometimes a bit shy.  I immediately begin observing other dogs when I see them and depending on my read of the situation and Shelby's - there are some dogs it's clear she wants nothing to do with... she is sensing something.  I respect it and we keep moving (in a close heel) or cross the street.   We do know several of the dogs on our typical walking path and they greet all the time and look forward to their daily meet up!

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Hi, Laurie - I like your name, too!  Happily, we do have lots of walking friends (human and canine, alike), but I keep finding myself in this type of situation and I'm very interested in knowing how other folks handle it.  Just yesterday, my husband and I had Wally with us at an outdoor art festival, and I stuck to my guns about Wally not interacting with other dogs.  He understands that when he is leashed, he is to remain at my side.  Anyway . . . a woman with a dog approached us and asked that same familiar question:  "Is your dog friendly?"  I said yes, smiled, and kept walking.  I can't even describe the unfriendly face that I received in reaction.  I just responded that I don't allow Wally to interact with other dogs while he is on a leash.  She looked particularly perturbed, but I just smiled again and we moved on.  

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I think you did exactly the right thing. Some dogs really do react differently on leash. I am in a class now with a Big Black Russian Terrier. It is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. Big and fluffy and looks like Vern, but he is very dog aggressive and attending that class, because he bit another trainer. When you first see him, you want to approach him because of his cuddly looks (like a polar bear), but the results would not be good. Looks can be deceiving, for sure, and sometimes there are a lot of clueless people out there who think all dogs are friendly and get along with everyone and every animal. You were right to protect Wally!

[F, Calla & Luca]

What kind of class are you taking?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Vern and I have been back in class the last four weeks to build his confidence. It is called an Advanced Obedience Class. I know you won't believe this, but I am working on a blog about it..LOL :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Surely you jest : )

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Yes! Great response to the other person! Love it! Sorry you were hurt but after 2 experiences like that I think you should stick to that rule. Good luck!

[Leslie J]

I do allow Cocoa to greet neighborhood dogs on walks- it is the highlight of her day.  I'm very careful when meeting a new dog, however.  I always exclude dogs that are much bigger or much smaller- big ones because they might be hard to control and small ones because we've had too many bad experiences with them.  If I don't know the dog really well I avoid greeting dogs on retractable leashes because it's too hard to control them if they become aggressive. Most of our greetings are with the dozen or so local dogs that we see all the time and I think they all recognize each other.

Whenever meeting new dogs remember that you can't necessarily rely on the owner's claims.  Twice now (before I learned better) I've had owners assure me that their dogs are socialized and friendly only to find out while chatting that they'd only adopted the dog a couple of days before!  One of those dogs snapped at Cocoa, the other was fine but I've learned better.  Some new dog owners don't realize that dogs behave differently on and off leash.

[Adina P]

In a word...only RARELY.  But no, I don't allow it.  No reason to do it and LOTS of reasons to avoid it given that you have no idea how another leashed dog will treat your own dog. 

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

We also walk a 3 mile loop every day through our community - meeting neighbors and dogs along the way.  I always play the "meet on leash" on a case by case situation.  If the other dog(s) appears to be under the control of the owner(s) - aren't growling or acting aggressive - then yes we let them greet.  I see this as a training moment for my boys - I want them to be confident yet friendly to others.  Today we (dh & I) had a not so good experience when we saw a golfing partner (and her dh) up ahead of us.  She has two miniture collies that are very barky and my boys had never met them before.  Thank God my husband had all 70lbs of Stuart under control with his easy walk harness because when the mini collie went beserk barking as we walked towards them - Stuart spun around at the sound so fast that his easy walk harness actually spun him back around and all four feet of his went airbourne - and down he went in the street.  So Stuart was not behaving in this case.  We immediatly put him in a sit/stay till he got his control back - then we went in for a calm meeting.    Sometimes I don't trust the other dog but today - Stuart was overly excited.