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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 thought of you when I read this post and all that you went through trying to help a dog.

I try not to worry when I see an unleashed dog although, to be honest, I base a lot of my opinion on the breed of dog.  In my former neighborhood there were several unleashed pitbulls and I did worry about them approaching.  I always watch my dog and the approaching dog to see if there is any aggression (not excitement) being shown.  If everything seems fine, I let my dog say hello and then we move off.  Sometimes the dog will follow and we'll make a few stops to say hello again because I don't want us leaving to add more excitement so we stop, say "hi but we're not playing", and move along at an average pace.  Turns out that the pitbulls in my former neighborhood are friendly and we have never had any negative encounters when the situation is handled in a calm yet firm manner.

If there is an owner, we simply turn and walk toward the owner so the dog gets closer to his owner instead of farther away.  In a perfect world all dogs would be well trained and under control at all time, however, that's not the case.  If I can help an owner get his dog, I'll spend a few extra minutes getting the two back together.  

At the beach, an elderly pit bull once showed up for a playdate.  He must have heard Porter and his pug "cousin" playing outside and mosied over.  I called the number on the tag and the owner said something like, "He knows his way home.  If he's bothering you, I'll come get him."  Well, he had a lovely time with our dogs and came over almost every day for two weeks.  There is almost no traffic in the neighborhood and he had to be btw 10-15 yrs old.

Different customs in different areas and for different people.

I just got back from Argentina, and in the middle of the busy city only about half the dogs walked on leashes.  The rest walked next to their owners and stopped at corners.  It was strange to see.  Even me who is comfortable with Porter off leash cannot bear for him to go near a street.  Then there were these cute professional dog walker guys too ;-) Don't get me started...

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