Anonymous wrote:My dog is frightened of and aggressive toward most other dogs, and we have reason to believe that she was abused--and possibly involved in dog fighting--before we adopted her. We steer clear of places where we might run into other dogs, and cross the street with ample room to spare to avoid other dog walkers.

When your mild-mannered dog runs up to my leashed one, a fight may ensue. My emotionally unstable dog is probably the jerk who "started it," but then she's on a leash and yours is the one who ran up to us, all the while you're yelling to me not to worry because your dog is friendly. Unless you're a dog behaviorist, you probably can't anticipate how your otherwise calm dog will behave once it encounters mine.

I understand that my dog is the outlier, and know that the onus is on us to avoid pet stores, parks, even the kinds of trails that OP describes. But I have to walk her somewhere, and have had dogs run up to us on suburban sidewalks. It happens rarely, but it does happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because you once saw an unmannered dog off leash doesn't mean that all dogs off leash are unmannered, PP. I do think it was unacceptable for the dog to run into the man.

I have one dog that is trustworthy off leash and one that isn't, she's still a puppy. They are both allowed to run off leash on my farm, though. If you come on my property, that's your choice so I see nothing wrong with that. I will crate them if someone comes over with a fear of dogs.

NP. Unleashed dogs are not all ill mannered, but all owners who let their dogs off leash where it’s prohibited by law are breaking the law,

Many laws called “leash laws” merely require the dog to be under control (including voice.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that I have a weekly "running date" with. We live in the same neighborhood, which is a large suburban HOA with paved trails through wooded areas. These are well used trails--I run and walk on them several times a week (sometimes with my friend and sometimes on my own) and I always see other people on them.

Frequently when we are running, we'll encounter people walking their dog without a leash. The dog is just running around out of control. Last week we even saw a dog run right into another man who was running a bit further up the trail.

If you do this, why? It's the law to leash your dog. Why do you think its ok for other people to be attacked by your dog while they are out for a run or walk?

+1 I don’t like dogs and having several of them approach me or even follow
me briefly on runs is so stressful. Ruins my peace.

I don’t like cyclists on the trails I hate to move over to the side and change my pace too but I tolerate them because I don’t expect public places and strangers to be exactly to my liking. It is part of living in a community. You make accommodations and tolerate the presence of others. See how that works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that I have a weekly "running date" with. We live in the same neighborhood, which is a large suburban HOA with paved trails through wooded areas. These are well used trails--I run and walk on them several times a week (sometimes with my friend and sometimes on my own) and I always see other people on them.

Frequently when we are running, we'll encounter people walking their dog without a leash. The dog is just running around out of control. Last week we even saw a dog run right into another man who was running a bit further up the trail.

If you do this, why? It's the law to leash your dog. Why do you think its ok for other people to be attacked by your dog while they are out for a run or walk?

+1 I don’t like dogs and having several of them approach me or even follow
me briefly on runs is so stressful. Ruins my peace.

I don’t like cyclists on the trails I hate to move over to the side and change my pace too but I tolerate them because I don’t expect public places and strangers to be exactly to my liking. It is part of living in a community. You make accommodations and tolerate the presence of others. See how that works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that I have a weekly "running date" with. We live in the same neighborhood, which is a large suburban HOA with paved trails through wooded areas. These are well used trails--I run and walk on them several times a week (sometimes with my friend and sometimes on my own) and I always see other people on them.

Frequently when we are running, we'll encounter people walking their dog without a leash. The dog is just running around out of control. Last week we even saw a dog run right into another man who was running a bit further up the trail.

If you do this, why? It's the law to leash your dog. Why do you think its ok for other people to be attacked by your dog while they are out for a run or walk?

+1 I don’t like dogs and having several of them approach me or even follow
me briefly on runs is so stressful. Ruins my peace.

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that I have a weekly "running date" with. We live in the same neighborhood, which is a large suburban HOA with paved trails through wooded areas. These are well used trails--I run and walk on them several times a week (sometimes with my friend and sometimes on my own) and I always see other people on them.

Frequently when we are running, we'll encounter people walking their dog without a leash. The dog is just running around out of control. Last week we even saw a dog run right into another man who was running a bit further up the trail.

If you do this, why? It's the law to leash your dog. Why do you think its ok for other people to be attacked by your dog while they are out for a run or walk?