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Four times in the last two days I have run into an unleashed dog with an owner trailing behind him and I never know what is the appropriate thing to do--do I stand still with Phoebe or do I continue along my merry way making no eye contact (my personal preference for a few reasons)? I have always thought that in moving along, I would give the owner the opportunity to focus on their dog and to limit the distraction so the dog with follow their command.  I must be doing somthing wrong though because three of the four people started to yell at me that I was walking away from the dog and not 'helping them."  I am frustrated because I do not want to seem unkind but my concern is one of safety for Phoebe first--I have no idea who these people are or how their dogs will react to Phoebe--and me second as I am not a fan of dogs I am unfamiliar with.  I was wondering if there is a prescribed way to handle this situation and how other doodle lovers handle themselves in similar situations. 
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I agree. Before having my dogs I once came across a big Sheepdog in the middle of the road. I was really afraid it would get hit and restrained it. Soon it's owners drove up looking for it. But I also remember Kyoko's episode, which she wrote about on DK. She got bitten and had to have rabies shots while trying to be helpful. I have inadvertently dropped a leash when walking my two but they usually don't even realize and I've always reovered the leash without incident. I would appreciate help if I needed it but I wouldn't expect it. Yelling at someone, who is not obliged to help is not the way to go about things but getting help or being helpful if possible would be good.
For me it completely depends on the situation.  If I see a dog with an upset owner running after it, and it's clear that the dog had gotten loose by accident, I would definitely try to help (unless the dog appeared to be aggressive).  On the other hand, if it appeared that the owner had allowed the dog to be loose, I'd be pretty angry.  This happened a couple of weeks ago when I was walking Murphy.  The owner had dropped her leash to let her dog run free (and the dog was clearly not trained to be off leash).  He came running toward Murph, which put my guy into a complete "frenzy".  I was absolutely livid.  I yelled to her to come and get her dog, while I put Murph in a sit and stood in front of him.  I said to her "this dog needs to be leashed"....to which she responded "well, he IS on a leash".  I told her if I ever saw her dog running free again I would call animal control....at that point she stormed off.  This was actually in the same Park where a couple of weeks earlier there was a young man who was training his dog off leash.  That dog was completely under the control of the owner, and it was a joy to just watch them.  So, there are shades of black, white, and gray for me with this question.

 I've encountered people with their off leash dogs.  I just keep going on my intended route.  I know D&K will react well to another dog pretty much regardless of the dog's behavior.  Once time the dog we encountered started growling loudly/visciously at Kirby.  I just pulled Kirby and we kept walking.  The owner was mortified and drove up to us to apologize for her dogs behavior.  I may be naive, but I've never encountered a truly viscious dog in our neighborhood so I basically just say hi but continue on my way.  I can't believe these people yelled at you - haven't they heard of leash laws??

If the dog appears lost I definitely would try to help it.  One time we were in OBX and the most adorable playful young dog followed us home from the beach.  We leashed him up and called his owner.  In the the interim him and Dex had a lovely time wrestling :) 

I had this issue on Sunday, walking around a local park with some friends and their dogs (all leashed) and there were three people running with their dogs off leash. I take exception to this for many reasons. First - it is not a safe area for dogs to be off leash...the 2 mile loop around the park is bordered by busy streets. Second - it's annoying. People always think their dogs are perfectly trained and frequently they are not. A well trained dog will not run over to our little traveling pack of dogs. Third - it's illegal in the city of Atlanta, and there are signs stating that about every 100 yards around the park. Fourth - because Callie isn't perfectly trained, she gets excited at the unleashed stranger dog, she breaks ranks and trips us up. All in all, frustrating.

Jack will get reactive if a strange dog runs up him when he's on leash; there is a lab in my neighborhood who breaks out of his yard at least once a month and charges at JD or whatever dog is walking by, barking and growling the whole time. The ensuing nose-to-nose snarling, etc. is very frightening.

A few months ago, I heard that a German Shepherd (and I love German Shepherds) ran out the door of his house and attacked a dog who was being walked on leash and had the misfortune to be right in front of the Shepherd's house at the time. These are the stories that keep me from trying to help someone get ahold of his dog when JD is with me.

 

I think in the case of truly aggressive/vicious dogs like that GSD, you or your dog would be attacked before you even had a chance to consider helping or not helping.  Either that or it would chase you even if you walked away.

I can understand why you might not be want to help catch the dog and are even a bit uncomfortable. 

However, turning your back and walking away actually stimulates the loose dog to follow you.  Also you cannot see what is going on.

I would suggest facing the dog and making eye contact and saying in your best teacher/ mom voice ( firm and deep) "go home".  These behaviors will usually cause the dog to turn away from you and toward his owner. Taking one or two steps toward the loose dog can further encourage him to turn toward his owner.

 

If the dog continues toward you, put Phoebe in a down and  stand in front of her and still face the loose dog.  It really is unlikely that the dog will attack either you or Phoebe without warning.   You could also carry some extra smelly treats with you when you walk if this happens frequently and throw a bunch as far in front of you as you can.  Probably the loose dog will stop to eat them (they need to be smellilicious) and the owner will think you are a hero and you and Phoebe will be safe.  Phoebe gets a treat too as you walk away if she keeps her cool.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

It is so not your job to catch someone's dog.  I definitely think the best thing to do is go merrily on your way.

I hope I haven't been p****** people off.  I walk every morning with a group of people who don't leash their dogs, and our protocol is to leash the dogs as soon as we spot a dog ON leash.  It is an open park with an easy panoramic view, and I leash Porter not so much because of fear of the interaction, but because I realize no one wants to have their dog in play mode while on a leash...tangled leads and arms are no fun. Having to leash up during this 20 min window of time only happens maybe 1/5 days and it is good practice, and I am pretty sure the owners don't even realize the dogs were off leash as they stay in a pack. 

The place I hike, not so often these days (Sorry, Porter) is in the woods, and of the maybe 25 times I've been there, I am not sure I have ever seen a dog on a leash (apart from near the parking lot).  It is a relief to not have to worry about the etiquette of leash-no leash.  And I guess I am totally spoiled because on this path, I have never once encountered a dog who made me worry about Porter's safety.

 

I was once walking on a trail with my husband and I heard a guy keep yelling, "Lady, Lady" and when I turned around a HORSE (and not a big dog like Vern, a real, live HORSE) was running right at me. The horse's name was Lady and he wanted me to stop the horse, but he did add, "If she bites, let her go!" Apparently, the horse fell and was spooked. Like an idiot, I did stop the horse, but my husband never stopped walking and all he said was that he wasn't stopping any damn horse.

Now, back to the subject about dogs running loose. My van door will not shut correctly on an incline, which I found out, when I was walking around to my side of the car and I spotted a brown dog running around the parking lot. It then occurred to me that the dog looked exactly like Fudge and was making a mad dash to a woman with a small dog. I almost had a heart attack and luckily, she was nice to me because I was so embarrassed. Sometimes things happen and if the dog seemed friendly, I would do my best to help. The people should not have yelled, but it might have been out of sheer frustration and desperation, because sometimes a dog does get loose by accident and it is very scary. If the dog seemed unfriendly, then yes I would keep walking and get my dogs to safety.

A horse who bites!  You are brave!!

On the hiking trail I mentioned, where dogs are all off leash, I have helped on two different occasions in the return of two senile/deaf dogs who were separated from their owners and followed me and Porter in their confusion.  We went to the trailhead and waited for the desperate and thankful owners to show up.  I can understand the owners wanting to continue an enjoyable activity for the dogs, and I would probably do the same, but given how out-of-it the dogs were--probably the hikes were not a good idea.

Your story made me remember what happened to my dad.  He went to the store (Home Depot I think) and took his gd Lindy along in the van.  It was a new van and apparently he didn't have all the buttons figured out.  He left Lindy in the van and went inside, did his shopping (okay, he's a man, he was hunting not shopping!), and headed out to the van.  As he left the store, he saw his sliding van door wide open with Lindy sitting inside waiting for him.  He was shocked, appalled, amazed, relieved, and oh so thankful!  Apparently he had accidently pressed the button to close the door twice, saw it close, and didn't realize that it opened again.  There were a couple people in the parking lot who commented on how well behaved his dog was, one lady who kindly stayed in the parking lot to make sure that Lindy didn't run off.  This made us all aware to verify that everything is closed, has stayed closed, and the keys are put away, before we go inside.
I would think the safety of my dog first, too!!  For, me, since Charlie is pretty reactive, I would just have her sit by me and be still until the dog passes by. Plus, if the dog got loose accidently or not, you don't know what type of dog that is!! You cannot be fooled by its appearance either.... If you do, you may end up needing to get 6 Rabies shots!! ( I was bit by a loose, nice looking well groomed scotty in October at the park, had to get series of Rabies vaccine!)

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