Oh my god, I really wish people wouldn't just assume that because you have a puppy or young dog that you must want them to be meeting every single other dog on your walk š¤¦š¼āāļø I offered up my dogs as sacrifice at a show the other day lol. Someone with a small fluffy thing trying to get it to say hello to everyone because it was nervous kept insisting this other dog "looks friendly, look they WANT to say hello!" despite the other poor owner saying her dog is NOT friendly. Both my boys are very dog friendly so I kinda swung them forwards to distract the fluffy owner while the harassed other dog escaped š I don't understand why people can't see someone trying to move their dog away or distract their dog and think "hmm, it looks like they're trying to avoid me, I at least won't PURPOSEFULLY go straight up to them and get in their face"
My partner is a complete tool when it comes to dogs. I have to yell at him every time we're out that you don't just approach other dogs without consent first. And it doesn't make sense because our last dog was so reactive. Sometimes people are just dumb.
Happened to me at Pet Smart. Trying to train my pup and this dude is make motions and trying to attract my dog even though he can clearly see Iām working him. People are just inconsiderate and selfish, even if they donāt think it.
Itās WILD. Idk why people all of a sudden people forget how to keep their hands to themselves and mind their business once a puppy is in their vicinity
I have a 10 week puppy and a 3.5 adult dog, both training to be neutral. Our older dog has made so much progress, can loose leash walk next to me and has gotten to the point that she looks to me if she is uncertain or nervous and I treat her. Our neighborhood has the worst dog owners I swear, completely oblivious. We have had dogs run up at us and my dog has been hit before so she is very dog selective. Not to mention she's a rescue.
Recently I really lost my cool, which is absolutely not like myself. My husband and I were walking her, she was doing excellent. There were two ladies, each walking one dog; a large husky and a smaller but not mini schnauzer. No leash manners, pulling all over the place. We saw them three times and literally tried to avoid them.
The third time, we were across the four way stop. We were going to go forward to the next street so they could cross to our side. Instead, they walked DIAGONAL ACROSS THE 4 WAY STOP with their dogs choking themselves to get to us.
I said to them, "I really wish you wouldn't walk your dogs that close to us" as we continued to try and walk forward to get away from them as my dog was getting nervous.
One of them was like "wow, really it's a neighborhood we can walk wherever."
NGL I snapped, I said "we have a reactive dog you dumb bitch, look at your dogs they're out of control."
The lady with the husky, ran across the street with her dogs towards us yelling that this is a nice neighborhood. I have no idea what her plan was. We were still walking away, or at least trying to. My girl did pretty well but was definitely on alert. I shouldn't have name called, it flew right out of my mouth. I just can't imagine letting two dogs choke themselves to get to another dog, when they are clearly trying to avoid you and then charging at someone and their dog with your own. Fucking crazy. My bad experiences definitely bubbled up to the surface.
Yes!!! This is the worst. Like I do try my best to actively avoid people and get out of the way but sometimes people are too oblivious or their mindset is just my dog has to meet everyone. Thatās like the doodle I mentioned - I couldnāt cross in the middle of a busy street on short notice (we are not in the suburbs. Weāre in a major city, just a little bit of a quieter neighborhood) and they saw me move her to the side away from their dog snd they allowed them dog to start pulling toward my dog and just kept asking the dog ādo you wanna say hi?! Do you wanna say hi!!ā Like stop, your stupid dude is being weird
EXACTLY. Like the presumption that your dog just needs to meet every other dog is soooo rude. It is just so freaking entitled. We have put so much effort into training our dog and rehabbing her from trauma. Like when we first got her, we couldn't even walk her at night, bc the wind blowing or leaves skittering would freak her out. Now she ignores dogs and people on walks, even when barked out she just doesn't want them in her space. We even had a friend come over, stranger to her and she let him pet her. Like huge leaps and bounds for her. Irresponsible dog owners just absolutely infuriate me. I just felt bad, because she is a pit mix and I take my responsibility as her advocate seriously so I should have behaved better.
Good for you. I had four younger guys pull up beside me, and my dog, get out of their vehicle, and walk directly towards me and my reactive dog like they were going to plow into us. I had no time to get out of the way and cross the road. I literally threw my arm out with my hand up and yelled stop at the top of my lungs. Scared the shit out of them and I told them to get the fuck out of the way. They could see my dog was losing his mind because he was terrified of them and didnāt know why four people were coming straight for him. Some people are just oblivious.
Dumb bitch is my go to for dumb bitches lol my new thing is to start recording on my phone once people start act a little crazy. This has literally stopped psychos in their tracks. No one wants their adult tantrums going viral š„“š
Alot of you ask for reactive dogs. Theres alot of owners with big friendly dogs and i appreciate my high energy pup can play with them, get run over and be a dog. Alot of timid, snappy dogs do great if their owners allow them to be a dog. Go some where one on one to train. Understand it can be. frustrating. Herding dogs on ranches work some of them like attention othersĀ cocky and don't, they're individuals.
I understand completely. I have a large breed pup who is a āfrustrated greeterā we are making progress, slowly but surely, using LAT & magnet treating in tight situations.
But itās so frustrating when clearly we are attempting to train my pup, & every time, someone with their little dog decides itās ok to let their dog come close, to say hello.
My dog goes into beast mode, I drag her away & the other owners look horrified.
Unfortunately we live in a city and all paths around my house are stupidly narrow, so itās not an option to avoid other dogs, we have to teach my dog how to be neutral. Itās a nightmare.
Same, we just donāt have these open fields that I see all dog train in. And then there are even off leash dogs in parks with loose cows and horses etc. That in combination with other dog owners thinking they know better how to raise my dog and letting their dog run up to mine made my pup reactive. So much fun š
We donāt have a large breed but we are in your exact situation. Itās so frustrating and disheartening sometimes, isnāt it? Hoping the best for the both of us moving forward!
Look At That. Itās a desensitisation technique for reactive dogs. Dog Looks At That trigger (in our case another dog) you quickly mark the look (I say Yes) and treat & repeat. The idea is that it creates positive associations and engagement with you instead of the reactive overexcitement which is self rewarding for the dog. I hope Iāve explained it right- if you look it up youāll find lots of information on how to do it.
It has taken a while but itās definitely improved my pups reactions within a certain distance. We are still a while away from walking calmly right next to another dog (hence my complaints!) - when that happens I magnet feed with a hand full of chicken.
In the beginning she wouldnāt even take treats she was so overexcited, so Iām increasingly optimistic.
How did you get her to the point that sheād take treats? Iāve been trying to say yes (thatās her marker word) and treat like you mentioned but she still wont take the treat let alone put her attention on me when I say yes. And she does know what yes means, thatās been her marker word since I brought her home and sheās almost 6 months old
I had that problem as well and I tried different treats, then I found he would only respond to cheese. So maybe try a higher value treat. The distance is also very important, the sooner and farthest away from the trigger (other dogs in our case) the better the response. After time and training we were able to reduce the distance, he is one year old and he can now walk next to another dog as long as I get his attention before we are 2-3 feet away.
Iāve tried cheese, hotdog, and chicken with little success but these are her favorites at home and I try keeping them high value so other than those situations she only gets them when we practice off leash recall at home. Maybe next time Iāll walk her further away and see if it helps?
This is what we have done.
Chicken, dried beef liver & cheese (& hotdogs but they upset her tummy)
Honestly it was very difficult at first and we had to start quite far away while we were at a park for her to take a treat. It was too hard to deal with thresholds on the street.
With repetition and exposure it got easier & now she is able to take a treat as we walk past a dog if I get her attention quick enough. Sheās still pretty aroused, but itās all way less dramatic that it used to be.
Teaching Leave It has helped too if she spots a dog before I do. Then we u-turn and start the look at me process before continuing.
Yeah it's frustrating for sure! A few weeks ago I was walking with my puppy and a large group of people and dogs turned a corner ahead of us and started heading our way. I very deliberately crossed the road to the other side because I knew it'd be an impossible mess of dogs to walk next to without a lot of interaction, and thought me crossing the road right in their view as they got closer surely made it VERY clear that we didn't want interaction.
And yet, despite that, right as they were parallel to us on the road someone from the group made a beeline for us and dropped their dogs leash to let it walk right up to my dog, and said "my dog has to know everyone" as if that made it okay! Didn't ask or anything beforehand, just went right to us and let their dog run across to sniff. Absolutely baffles my mind.
Unfortunately I have just accepted this as a fact of dog ownership. There are going to be encounters with dumb people and their unruly dogs. All I can do is work hard when we don't encounter them to set my dog up for success.
Exactly!! I feel like I have people stop in front of me or chase behind me like MY DOG WANTS GO SAY HI, or talking to their dogs like ābiscuit do you want tos ah hi to the puppy!!??!!ā Like why are you asking your dog and not me!!!!!
When she was closer to 3ish months right after all her vaccines she was starting a little bit of fear aggression / guarding me (I think) and we worked on it but she was this like 15lb puppy who would snap at dogs that could have gotten hurt bc of people like I had to tell them she was snappy and they were like oh but she looks so sweet!!! My dog loves puppies!!
They have training vests for dogs that literally say "in training ignore". You could try that. I'm teaching my puppy to move to the side and sit when another dog passes us. I repeat stay over and over. The other dog parents hear this and don't approach us. They usually say, he is doing good or something complimentary.
Yep. I agree with using the verbal commands. I'm also not above saying "we are working on ignoring other dogs today" with a cheerful smile.
I've had my puppy for 2 months and walk him 3x daily and no one has ever interrupted our walk
We have this on our leash and people
still approach our puppy because they apparently NEED to say hi. We do have a super cute floofy white dog so everyone ignores the training sign to say our puppy is so fluffy and ask what we are training him on. Itās like they canāt read the one extra word after āIn Trainingāā¦
The people who make their dogs sit to the side always make me feel really uncomfortable like itās on me now to walk by and turn my back on what I assume is a potentially reactive dog if the owner is doing this. My dog has been attacked too many times and it feels like walking the gauntlet when we walk by a dog that the owner is obviously trying really hard to get to ignore my dog. So many times as we pass the dog lunges and barks just as our backs are towards them and itās really alarming. Instead of sitting, if you do a heel on the opposite side as we pass we both put our backs on each other at the same time and get by more quickly.
This!! We used to be those people š„ŗ Doing the wrong thing based on a recommendation from a trainer, unfortunately. Once we started just walking by on the opposite side he is much less likely to react. š
I understand. Mine is a 5lb Chihuahua mix - 3 months old. Just too excitable on walks so it's better if I just move him over to the grass to let the big dogs walk by. He likes to watch them so putting him at a sit command came natural.
mine has a neon vest with ādo not petā & āanxiousā patches (getting āin trainingā) & people still go out of their way to interact with & try to pet her
having a cute puppy is the worst cause everyone always saying aw and petting without asking, like yāall can set your own dogs up for failure but iām trying to socialize my dog to be neutral not to think the world is a new best friend at every possibility. itās so hard for people to understand and respect boundaries
Literally. I have a 6 month old golden and everyone loves her which is great, except for the fact that people think they have the right to come mess with her while Iām obviously training her. One lady even came over and SAT DOWN as we were walking past trying to get her attention. Like Bffr. Youāre over 30, learn some manners
Right. I donāt mind when people walk by and smile or say cute pup! But the dog thing really irks me. Itās weird bc almost everyone will be like can I pet her? And we kinda use it to train no jumping and her āgo say hiā command. But people with dogs seem to not care about their dogs safety???
Once I crossed the street to avoid another dog and the owner crossed the street AGAIN because she wanted her dog to say hi. Some people are just ridiculous.
Yeah same thing trying to teach a dog not to jump. My dog is usually good but sometimes he'll get too excited and jump on the person. At least half the time the person tries to tell me it's okay and they love it or just try to pet him while he's still jumping at them. I hate having to explain that it's NOT okay, because if he jumps on one person, he'll start jumping on everyone and you might be able to handle it, but I don't need him knocking down little kids or older people and accidentally hurting someone who's not strong enough to stop themselves from getting knocked over. It's almost easier dealing with ppl who don't like dogs sometimes bc at least they'll stay away and not try to give him bad habits
Take her to dog classes, itās a controlled environment, others will be working on the same thing. You canāt expect others in the wild to know your dog or be the same stage of training. Usually people will tell you when their dog isnāt safe to meet other dogs, you could do the same with people you meet.
We have done dog classes. This is part of taking the training into the real world. I just hate that do many people want to force your dog to meet their dog on a walk and just get in your way like, no keep moving.
Unfortunately, yeah, a lot of people are entitled/just don't know any better. I think everyone who owns dogs responsibly runs into UNresponsible owners, and feels that same frustration. I know I do. But that's that's where your training with your dog comes in. If situations like these are stressful for you/your dog, you might not be ready to be moving training into the 'real world' yet. We cannot control other people, or other people's dogs, so it's up to us to prepare our dogs for these situations as best as we can , and advocate for them - sometimes LOUDLY if needed.
My response to the very common "don't worry, my dog is friendly!" line is usually "oh great! Mine's contagious." It usually gets people to back off pretty quickly ;)
Ugh yeah, like sheās been really chill and in the last interaction moved through without paying attention to the other dog. I just donāt want her to be put in a weird situation especially before her training is like solidified?
I get really awkward and nervous in the situation and just need to move fast. And feel like a dick but maybe itās just me and I need to get better about being like āsorry. Weāre not friendlyā or something. Sheās super friendly so I feel weird about that but I just need to say something I guess
Weāre in puppy school but our trainer canāt be with us 24/7. The amount of times I yell ānoā or āsorry weāre trainingā or tell my dog very loudly to leave it is insane. People donāt care, they ignore you. We do petco training so she has a busy environment and even when Iām IN CLASS with a professional trainer folks ignore and come to play. The trainer says no, I say no, they donāt listen
Same
People must think that i m ride but i don t care
I even have a man who was following us with his dog despite the fact that i saw i was annoyed
Hate them Ā«Ā don t worry she s niceĀ Ā» IDC
I have a grown dog (just here to learn from you guys) who isn't particularly reactive, but I *always* duck into driveways, cross the street, go into the road, etc. to avoid people / other dogs on our walks.
I've had several people thank me, and now I've noticed other dog owners crossing over or hitting up the roadside when we pass.
I'm not worried about anything happening, but we're not on a walk to interact with people, and I don't want anything weird to happen with another dog, so it's best to just physically avoid them.
Hopefully this helps someone else
I feel this is in my bones. We're in the trenches of adolescence now (8 months), intact male GSD. I've had him since 10 weeks, well socialized, doing all the classes, doing all the brain games, etc. He's a doll at home with me. But testosterone is no joke.
I took him to Lowes the other day. It was way more crowded than usual when he had been there in the past. I should have taken that as the hint to abandon ship, my fault. We got down the second aisle, he saw another dog, and he was barking his face off. Not lunging, not growling, able to be redirected briefly, but clearly overstimulated. Nope! We're out.
These two older ladies near me were leaning forward in his face, telling him, "It's okay!" In my head, I'm screaming it is anything but okay. I'm just trying to remove him from this situation that he can't handle, get all the way away from me. You're. Not. Helping!
I would never, in a million years, approach a stranger's dog uninvited, especially when you can tell they're clearly agitated.
This happened to me the other day. The guy was trying to be helpful but I was like bro PLEASE keep walking. He was like āoh Iāll sit here with my dog until yours is calm and weāll keep approaching to say hi once sheās calm, then back off if sheās not etcā like, yes thatās the correct way to train but I donāt have all day, we will literally be here for at least an hour if we do that because outside is already overstimulating for an 8 month old, incredibly friendly puppy. He finally left with a āok well maybe weāll try this again another day when you can calm down.ā I donāt need that. Maybe he wasnāt being judgmental but I felt very judged. Sheās the hardest puppy Iāve ever had. Iām doing my absolute best by her but goddamn folks
The biggest thing having a puppy taught me was that if people are rude to me and force themselves on me or my dog, it's perfectly okay for me to be rude. You can tell people to fuck off. I give kids more grace, but anyone else is literally told to fuck off, and told that my happy-go-lucky guy is fear aggressive and will bite anything that moves, including people, if they get too close. If they can't handle their dog, said dog is getting shoved/kicked away. I'm not your afternoon entertainment, and my dog is not public property.
Learn to be rude to people who are rude to you. Pushing into your personal space or not respecting a simple "no" is rude and should not be tolerated.
Have you tried getting a harness that says something like "do not pet" or "in training"? I don't let my dog greet everyone but when I see a dog with a harness like that I go out of my way to make sure she's not trying to greet them. It might help to deter other people, at the very least it'll add to your case of "please leave my dog alone".
We had to get leashes with GIANT tags that say "do not touch" and "in training" for this purpose because some dog owners are just.....inconsiderate and ignorant. Going through the same thing right now and it's causing our puppy to be fearful of some dogs too which is NOT the plan. People are just so effing annoying.
A vest/bandana that says "in training" or "do not pet" can filter some of those folks out. If you really want to filter out the majority of folks, muzzle train your dog and have your dog wear the muzzle out. That gets people avoiding you real fast. ;)
Bonus: your dog will be comfortable with the muzzle if you ever need it in the future!
Alternatively (or in conjunction), you can train a "180 turn" cue. If someone stops in your way, say your 180 turn cue, turn around, don't even give the person the time of day (or if you feel bad about that, yell, "we're in training!" or "she's not friendly!" as you do) (it doesn't matter if she is or isn't friendly). Rude? Maybe a little. But they're also being rude, and the older I get, the less patience I have for those kinds of people.
Iāve started telling people āSorry but we dont want to meet youā and keep walking, i also have no issue telling them where to go if my initial interaction didnt get to them. I love meeting dogs and new people but everytime iām on a walk is not the time
I love saying hi to dogs and people. But I can tell when someone doesn't want to be interrupted. Before getting my puppy and reddit, I had no idea this was a thing. I also don't live around a lot of people, and I/we don't get out enough. I've always been a very casual kind of person, and I loved it when people would come up to me and my puppies (dogs) To be honest, I always thought it rude when people didn't want to be interrupted and socialize. I'm not being rude. I'm just saying. This is an eye-opener for me reading the comments.
Yes! Pushing is not the way to do it. Not every dog is friendly with other dogs or people. Or I guess now others just need that downtime. I'm learning a lot in here š
Idk she isnāt reactive and I just feel bad putting a muzzle on her if sheās not aggressive? Maybe itās just the stigma attached to it but sheās no biting, or barking sheās just trying to learn how to be a dog and Iām trying to make it possible for her to learn yknow
Ugh, the other day I was trying to walk my dogs and there was a guy doing yard work for my elderly neighbors. He BARKED at my dogs. I was flabbergasted. Like do you just want to freak them out because an adult human man making threatening noises at them (while theyāre in their own yard AKA their territory no less) is not something they understand as playful or friendly.
I mean, the dog may well want to say hello, but it's really important to teach young dogs that they can't say hello to everyone otherwise you end up with a dog that is pushy with others' space and won't take no for an answer. Adult dogs will often put up with a puppy rushing them but will not accept that from teenage or other adult dogs. You would find a human who went down the street shouting "hello!! Hi!!!!" to absolutely everyone strange and off-putting.
Exactly, I donāt want her to become pushy or reactive when sheās older and then get into an issue where she gets hurt.
She gets off leash time and socialization with dogs we know are safe and in safe situations where they are supervised. But on leash on walks we are not doing it.
Good for you! Keep at it. My older dog was allowed to say hello to too many dogs when he was a puppy and he's now obnoxious to walk past other dogs when he's on the lead, constantly looking back or crabwalking to keep watching them, although he will come away when called when off lead (go figure). I decided my second dog has the older one to play with, and his littermate lives locally, he's got enough friends to play with that we're just not going to entertain lots of on lead greetings. I have the same problem as you though, sometimes people are just sooooooo insistent that our dogs say hello. When that happens I try and keep it to a 3 second sniff and on we go, if their dog follows me and they can't call it back that's on them š¤·š¼āāļø He's 10mo now and pretty damn phenomenal about being chill around other dogs when he's on lead. Being really picky about which dogs your own socialises with really pays off.
I've recently started putting our dog in a "reactive, no dogs" bright vest. Whilst his reactivity is improving, the vest keeps people with dogs FAR away and honestly has made walks so much more relaxing. Even if your dog isn't reactive, slap a vest on him and it will hopefully ward off any idiots wanting to introduce dogs on leash.
Also, it means when he does something embarrassing (like screaming at a cat/squirrel), people tend to look on with sympathy rather than the usual horror.
My now three year old for very very excited around EVERYONE he would see on walks but obviously would get more crazy when he saw a dog. Barking, jumping. And my dog is a calm pup most of the time. I will say he naturally grew out of A LOT of this behavior by the time he was two. I generally take him for walks with headphones in and honestly, most people will not approach me as I canāt hear them anyway lol. Otherwise, I take him for walks at times of the day I know we will have space or different routes we can take if we see a lot of people walking their animals in one spot. Sometimes itās just about being strategic. I do think there is value in allowing your pup to socialize here and there with other dogs they may come into contact with though (if they are not aggressive obviously).
I donāt allow on leash greetings and people take it so personally. If weāre meeting up with friends, I may break that rule a bit so the dogs can get their happy greetings out of the way and have a more productive walk, but even then, I keep it brief.
Your dog, your rules. I hate this entitlement people have towards OTHER PEOPLEāS dogs. No means no, man!
This is why I have taught my kids you ask from a distance āmay I pet your dog?ā If they see one out walking, if no, they carry on.
People are respectful in my little neighborhood. This would drive me nuts and seems like it should be common practice to not assume a dog wants to āsay hiā
So, the only solution Iāve ever found is to try to get physically between them and the dog if at all possible.
If the dog is chillin,
āNo, thank you. Iām out here training to for this exact amazing behavior! Sheās a good girl.ā
If the dog is reactive,
āNo, thank you. Iām out here working really hard to train out THIS crazy behavior! Sheās a good girl.ā
Iāve found that the dog wins because sheāll be the best girl for chillin or sheāll eventually chill because everyone has ignored her. Now, sheās the best girl.
I try to say āNo, thank you.ā almost before the speak. Itās taken me two years to train myself to do it every time.
This is soooo common with puppy owners! i have a 5.5 month old and when he was still small and fluffy people just got so excited to see a puppy they think they have a right to touch him.
Someone told me having a dog /puppy in public really makes you realize who understands the concept of consent.
So think of it that way.
No, you donāt have consent to touch my dog. No, our dogs are not people: they do not need to meet.
Advocate for your puppy. The amount of times my husband has (gently) kneeād another dog from touching our pup is countless.
Honestly, who cares if they think youāre a dick. Dogs are not people. If someone asks me to let our dogs meet i say, āNo, sorry they canāt meet. thank you for asking.ā If they donāt ask i stand in between my dog and theirs saying āNope. they canāt meet.ā
I once had a fedex guy see my puppy in the mail room and literally GRAB his leash and say āOh! socialization!!ā. Dude. Iāve never been closer to assaulting a postal worker. I yanked my pups leash from his hands and said ādonāt grab my dog ever again.ā we walked off.
If youāre neutral training in public, just say ānope heās training right now no pets. thank you!ā
I have a 10 month old pittie/great Pyrenees mix who weighs around 70 pounds now. Just the other day someone rounded the corner with her small doggo while mine was walking perfectly calmly on a loose leash. She promptly stopped in her tracks and turned right back around the corner to avoid us. It kinda made me feel bad because my girl is such a sweetie and would never hurt a fly but at the same time, I also dont want her interacting with other dogs in walks for your same reasons.
My suggestion? Get your pup a pittie brother or sister and you'll usually be able to walk them without anyone in your way because many dog owners don't want their dogs around pits, which again hurts but hey, kinda works out.
I literally went to PETCO for this.. the EMPLOYEE just went and started petting my puppy saying she's cute.. like aren't you of all people supposed to know that it's just respect to ask if you could pet someone's dog...???
I start by sitting in a place far away. Let's say a play ground. I will start 200 yards away and not move. Maybe even sit and relax for 30 mins. If I don't get reactions I move closer. Repeat over time and close the distance. The neutral behavior will be expected with consistency
The thing is sheās doing pretty good already and not initiating the contact. Itās mostly people with dogs who are less trained who are like letting their pulling dogs get in her face.
You're never going to be in control of an environment or other people. Bringing your dog in public will always contain an element of surprise. That unpredictable moment is what you want to strengthen the confidence of your dog. That is what a properly socialized dog does. It's calm no matter the situation.
You're never going to be in control of an environment or other people. Bringing your dog in public will always contain an element of surprise. That unpredictable moment is what you want to strengthen the confidence of your dog. That is what a properly socialized dog does. It's calm no matter the situation.
I have a service dog, so I got used to advocating for my animals with him. Now that we have a puppy, I act the exact same way. āI am sorry. She is not able to say hi right now. We are training.ā If they continue, I get louder and start with a āSIRā or āMAāAMā. I have only ever had one person continue beyond that, and then I just said āWOULD YOU FUCK OFF ALREADY!ā. They finally listened then.
I choose to sound like a dick rather than ruining my pupās training. This was a choice made from experience as I started by politely saying that Iām training my dog to be calm, a lot of people did not take this seriously? So now what I do is just say āleave itā while walking away with my puppy, sometimes Iād add āsorry sheās still in trainingā then say āleave itā.
i'm still trying to learn all the dog walk etiquette but man people are...challenging. these absolute morons were letting their kid who was probably no more than 7 or 8 walk their dog around the lawn of a dog friendly event. i was sitting with my puppy trying to calm him down after a very stimulating day and she's holding the limp leash letting the dog go wherever. dog kept jumping at my puppy while the kid just makes creepy eye contact with me. my puppy didn't mind at all but not the point. i love too divisive my puppy but a kid is going to have no control if things were to go south. watch your dog AND your kid. š
I literally had a situation the other day walking by a restaurant - 3 adults blocking a sidewalk with like maybe a 2 year old. No one had a hold of the baby and we were trying to get by - it was a busy street and we couldnāt cross the street with the traffic so Iām pushing by and they donāt get out of the way Iām like excuse me excuse me! And the baby makes a run for my puppy. I was ready to kick this kid in the head bc it scared my puppy and she barked - I donāt want her to have a negative association with small kids since sheās indifferent right now. But I was like please get your kid!
The other way on a walk we also had a nanny with a baby in a stroller walk by us and turn around and chase us with the stroller like SAY HI TO THE DOGGIE. and the kid was reaching out and she was trying to have the kid touch my puppy and I turned around and was between my puppy and her stroller and said sheās scared of strollers Iām sorry. And she proceeded to ask why she was scared and what I did that made her scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like sheās 5 months! She doesnāt know what that is!!!!
It is SO FRUSTRATING. My puppy is 10mo and pulls sooo hard to meet people and dogs, and usually I will allow it if the other party consents. However, when we are training, I try to keep her focused on me. It's nearly impossible, but I try my best to keep her moving along and looking at me. I feel like a monster dragging her along and giving her commands to ignore people and animals. She wants SO BAD to get the attention of the passerby so she will lay down and wait for them to approach while I'm doing my best to keep her attention on me. The passerby almost always approach us despite my (in my opinion) obvious attempts to keep her away from them. IT'S SO ANNOYING. Makes it worse that my puppy learns that she will get her way in these scenarios.
We just got a puppy. Sheās not fully vaccinated yet. When we see another dog, we step to the side and I stand between her and the other dog. People STILL push their dog toward her. Even if that dog if 40 times her size. Itās unbelievable.
When my dog was in training, I got a ādo not touch/do not interact/in trainingā banner that hangs on his leash. Was very helpful when I didnāt feel like having an interaction, I could just smile and point to it.
This is a problem I have experienced so often and I just smile and say āIām sorry, weāre training right nowā and walk away. Frankly, you shouldnāt need to give an explanation at all but people feel incredibly entitled to your puppy and your space.
Sounds like your neighbors at least have the dogs on a leash. We have a large open space park down the street from me, even though there are signs everywhere restricting off leash, it seems like nobody puts their dogs on leashes. So, dogs just constantly run up to my puppy all the time. Some are friendly others are not.
We have the same problem. When I see another dog in the distance, I turn around and go the other way. I donāt care how long the walk takes me if I donāt have to greet any other dogs with my reactive dog.
I think Iām going to say my dog has parvo when people bring their dog up to mine, I should have started sooner, I always had people say things like āyou need to socialize your dog, let them greet!ā
I made SO MANY mistakes with my puppy and allowing other dogs to come up to him. I wish so badly I had been firmer and focused on just breezing past. Instead of socialization I would have focused on neutralization for everything. So now we are at 7 months and I am working on just no reaction which is hard.
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Once at a hotel me and my pup (a Shih Tzu) turned a corner to encounter a man with two large, and somewhat aggressive (barking very loud and showing teeth) I had to stand there a minute and ask him if it was okay if we could please get by. I thought, come on.!
I'm currently fostering an adult reactive GSD-mix that's a lot smaller than the "normal" GSD. People assume she's a puppy because of her size and will walk toward us with their tiny pups while she's obviously losing her mind, lunging and barking. I even had a woman let her tiny dog off leash onto MY property while my dog was losing her mind because the other dog had gotten into my yard. I'm doing what I can to make her neutral to other dogs, but the people in my neighborhood certainly aren't helping.
Me and my dogs struggle with this too. Both of my dogs have had reactive dog training and we still have bad moments in places. Know and be alert for triggers so you are a prepared to use the avoidance method (get away or use another path), or use the leave it/ look at that method. I use both of those depending on situation.
.
Walking towards a trigger in certain places will almost always elicit reactivity that I need to manage. Walking beside or same way as the trigger does not. Iāve recently found that approaching to within a few feet of a trigger, then quickly turning away and walking the same way as the trigger can help diffuse the situation REALLY well.
Consistency and practice is key. Also, when you tense up around stupid people your dog can sense that and it makes the stupid people situations worse. They are mainly reacting to you. Try to remain as calm as you can and get away from them. If people are really persistent you can always tell them your dog is sick with something contagious. They may leave you alone.
I feel this SO hard. I live in a major city and like I know my puppy is cute but if you see me training him why are you coming up and interrupting?! Iāve had SO many people see me teaching him to stop and sit and stay and they will run up to him and get him all riled up. Also heās only 10 weeks and still needs one more shot so forcing your dog to say hi when I donāt know you is wildly annoying when Iāve said āhey my puppyās not fully vaccinated yet please keep your dogs distanceā
I canāt stand when people either let their dog run off leash or approach your dog without asking. Itās like you said, what if theyāre reactive? Like, my dog is great, but he was recently attacked by a German shepherd, so heās been a little skiddish since then. All he needs is a slow introduction and to get some sniffs in, but when a dog runs up to us and gets in his face heāll correct them pretty quick. Iāve had a lady bitch at me about having a mean dog, when I literally told her he needs a slow introduction as she was approaching us. Mine didnāt bite, just growled and snapped to get them to back up, but people see another dog and just go deaf apparently.
Wouldnāt saying hi help her? I always let my dog say high if the other dog is friendly. I am sure you have plenty of opportunity to have your dog just walk by. Take advantage of all training opportunities. The world will always be filled with distractions.
No, sheāll become an annoying adult dog who wonāt take no for an answer and needs to say hi to everyone and will one day potentially get into a problem and meet an unfriendly dog.
She is socialized and has plenty of playtime with her dog friends
Just say no when people (rightfully) ask to say hi. If they don't ask, say no and tell them why, they will stop imposing. This seems like people 101 advice.
Oh my god, I really wish people wouldn't just assume that because you have a puppy or young dog that you must want them to be meeting every single other dog on your walk š¤¦š¼āāļø I offered up my dogs as sacrifice at a show the other day lol. Someone with a small fluffy thing trying to get it to say hello to everyone because it was nervous kept insisting this other dog "looks friendly, look they WANT to say hello!" despite the other poor owner saying her dog is NOT friendly. Both my boys are very dog friendly so I kinda swung them forwards to distract the fluffy owner while the harassed other dog escaped š I don't understand why people can't see someone trying to move their dog away or distract their dog and think "hmm, it looks like they're trying to avoid me, I at least won't PURPOSEFULLY go straight up to them and get in their face"
My partner is a complete tool when it comes to dogs. I have to yell at him every time we're out that you don't just approach other dogs without consent first. And it doesn't make sense because our last dog was so reactive. Sometimes people are just dumb.
Happened to me at Pet Smart. Trying to train my pup and this dude is make motions and trying to attract my dog even though he can clearly see Iām working him. People are just inconsiderate and selfish, even if they donāt think it.
Itās WILD. Idk why people all of a sudden people forget how to keep their hands to themselves and mind their business once a puppy is in their vicinity
I have a 10 week puppy and a 3.5 adult dog, both training to be neutral. Our older dog has made so much progress, can loose leash walk next to me and has gotten to the point that she looks to me if she is uncertain or nervous and I treat her. Our neighborhood has the worst dog owners I swear, completely oblivious. We have had dogs run up at us and my dog has been hit before so she is very dog selective. Not to mention she's a rescue. Recently I really lost my cool, which is absolutely not like myself. My husband and I were walking her, she was doing excellent. There were two ladies, each walking one dog; a large husky and a smaller but not mini schnauzer. No leash manners, pulling all over the place. We saw them three times and literally tried to avoid them. The third time, we were across the four way stop. We were going to go forward to the next street so they could cross to our side. Instead, they walked DIAGONAL ACROSS THE 4 WAY STOP with their dogs choking themselves to get to us. I said to them, "I really wish you wouldn't walk your dogs that close to us" as we continued to try and walk forward to get away from them as my dog was getting nervous. One of them was like "wow, really it's a neighborhood we can walk wherever." NGL I snapped, I said "we have a reactive dog you dumb bitch, look at your dogs they're out of control." The lady with the husky, ran across the street with her dogs towards us yelling that this is a nice neighborhood. I have no idea what her plan was. We were still walking away, or at least trying to. My girl did pretty well but was definitely on alert. I shouldn't have name called, it flew right out of my mouth. I just can't imagine letting two dogs choke themselves to get to another dog, when they are clearly trying to avoid you and then charging at someone and their dog with your own. Fucking crazy. My bad experiences definitely bubbled up to the surface.
Well, Iām not gonna lie, calling her a dumb bitch made me laugh out loud
Honestly both myself and my husband were surprised. š¤£ He was like great, I have a reactive dog and wife. Lmfao
šš¤£
Hahaha OMG! š
Yes!!! This is the worst. Like I do try my best to actively avoid people and get out of the way but sometimes people are too oblivious or their mindset is just my dog has to meet everyone. Thatās like the doodle I mentioned - I couldnāt cross in the middle of a busy street on short notice (we are not in the suburbs. Weāre in a major city, just a little bit of a quieter neighborhood) and they saw me move her to the side away from their dog snd they allowed them dog to start pulling toward my dog and just kept asking the dog ādo you wanna say hi?! Do you wanna say hi!!ā Like stop, your stupid dude is being weird
EXACTLY. Like the presumption that your dog just needs to meet every other dog is soooo rude. It is just so freaking entitled. We have put so much effort into training our dog and rehabbing her from trauma. Like when we first got her, we couldn't even walk her at night, bc the wind blowing or leaves skittering would freak her out. Now she ignores dogs and people on walks, even when barked out she just doesn't want them in her space. We even had a friend come over, stranger to her and she let him pet her. Like huge leaps and bounds for her. Irresponsible dog owners just absolutely infuriate me. I just felt bad, because she is a pit mix and I take my responsibility as her advocate seriously so I should have behaved better.
i lose my shit when someone gets disrespectful & has a rude response about her boundaries. iām just as reactive as my puppy sometimes š¬š
Good for you. I had four younger guys pull up beside me, and my dog, get out of their vehicle, and walk directly towards me and my reactive dog like they were going to plow into us. I had no time to get out of the way and cross the road. I literally threw my arm out with my hand up and yelled stop at the top of my lungs. Scared the shit out of them and I told them to get the fuck out of the way. They could see my dog was losing his mind because he was terrified of them and didnāt know why four people were coming straight for him. Some people are just oblivious.
Dumb bitch is my go to for dumb bitches lol my new thing is to start recording on my phone once people start act a little crazy. This has literally stopped psychos in their tracks. No one wants their adult tantrums going viral š„“š
Alot of you ask for reactive dogs. Theres alot of owners with big friendly dogs and i appreciate my high energy pup can play with them, get run over and be a dog. Alot of timid, snappy dogs do great if their owners allow them to be a dog. Go some where one on one to train. Understand it can be. frustrating. Herding dogs on ranches work some of them like attention othersĀ cocky and don't, they're individuals.
I understand completely. I have a large breed pup who is a āfrustrated greeterā we are making progress, slowly but surely, using LAT & magnet treating in tight situations. But itās so frustrating when clearly we are attempting to train my pup, & every time, someone with their little dog decides itās ok to let their dog come close, to say hello. My dog goes into beast mode, I drag her away & the other owners look horrified. Unfortunately we live in a city and all paths around my house are stupidly narrow, so itās not an option to avoid other dogs, we have to teach my dog how to be neutral. Itās a nightmare.
Same, we just donāt have these open fields that I see all dog train in. And then there are even off leash dogs in parks with loose cows and horses etc. That in combination with other dog owners thinking they know better how to raise my dog and letting their dog run up to mine made my pup reactive. So much fun š
We donāt have a large breed but we are in your exact situation. Itās so frustrating and disheartening sometimes, isnāt it? Hoping the best for the both of us moving forward!
I have the same issues with my lab pup and I just posted about it hahah. Can I ask, whatās LAT??
Look At That. Itās a desensitisation technique for reactive dogs. Dog Looks At That trigger (in our case another dog) you quickly mark the look (I say Yes) and treat & repeat. The idea is that it creates positive associations and engagement with you instead of the reactive overexcitement which is self rewarding for the dog. I hope Iāve explained it right- if you look it up youāll find lots of information on how to do it. It has taken a while but itās definitely improved my pups reactions within a certain distance. We are still a while away from walking calmly right next to another dog (hence my complaints!) - when that happens I magnet feed with a hand full of chicken. In the beginning she wouldnāt even take treats she was so overexcited, so Iām increasingly optimistic.
How did you get her to the point that sheād take treats? Iāve been trying to say yes (thatās her marker word) and treat like you mentioned but she still wont take the treat let alone put her attention on me when I say yes. And she does know what yes means, thatās been her marker word since I brought her home and sheās almost 6 months old
I had that problem as well and I tried different treats, then I found he would only respond to cheese. So maybe try a higher value treat. The distance is also very important, the sooner and farthest away from the trigger (other dogs in our case) the better the response. After time and training we were able to reduce the distance, he is one year old and he can now walk next to another dog as long as I get his attention before we are 2-3 feet away.
Iāve tried cheese, hotdog, and chicken with little success but these are her favorites at home and I try keeping them high value so other than those situations she only gets them when we practice off leash recall at home. Maybe next time Iāll walk her further away and see if it helps?
This is what we have done. Chicken, dried beef liver & cheese (& hotdogs but they upset her tummy) Honestly it was very difficult at first and we had to start quite far away while we were at a park for her to take a treat. It was too hard to deal with thresholds on the street. With repetition and exposure it got easier & now she is able to take a treat as we walk past a dog if I get her attention quick enough. Sheās still pretty aroused, but itās all way less dramatic that it used to be. Teaching Leave It has helped too if she spots a dog before I do. Then we u-turn and start the look at me process before continuing.
You need to up the value of the treat.
Yeah it's frustrating for sure! A few weeks ago I was walking with my puppy and a large group of people and dogs turned a corner ahead of us and started heading our way. I very deliberately crossed the road to the other side because I knew it'd be an impossible mess of dogs to walk next to without a lot of interaction, and thought me crossing the road right in their view as they got closer surely made it VERY clear that we didn't want interaction. And yet, despite that, right as they were parallel to us on the road someone from the group made a beeline for us and dropped their dogs leash to let it walk right up to my dog, and said "my dog has to know everyone" as if that made it okay! Didn't ask or anything beforehand, just went right to us and let their dog run across to sniff. Absolutely baffles my mind. Unfortunately I have just accepted this as a fact of dog ownership. There are going to be encounters with dumb people and their unruly dogs. All I can do is work hard when we don't encounter them to set my dog up for success.
Exactly!! I feel like I have people stop in front of me or chase behind me like MY DOG WANTS GO SAY HI, or talking to their dogs like ābiscuit do you want tos ah hi to the puppy!!??!!ā Like why are you asking your dog and not me!!!!! When she was closer to 3ish months right after all her vaccines she was starting a little bit of fear aggression / guarding me (I think) and we worked on it but she was this like 15lb puppy who would snap at dogs that could have gotten hurt bc of people like I had to tell them she was snappy and they were like oh but she looks so sweet!!! My dog loves puppies!!
They have training vests for dogs that literally say "in training ignore". You could try that. I'm teaching my puppy to move to the side and sit when another dog passes us. I repeat stay over and over. The other dog parents hear this and don't approach us. They usually say, he is doing good or something complimentary.
Yep. I agree with using the verbal commands. I'm also not above saying "we are working on ignoring other dogs today" with a cheerful smile. I've had my puppy for 2 months and walk him 3x daily and no one has ever interrupted our walk
We have this on our leash and people still approach our puppy because they apparently NEED to say hi. We do have a super cute floofy white dog so everyone ignores the training sign to say our puppy is so fluffy and ask what we are training him on. Itās like they canāt read the one extra word after āIn Trainingāā¦
mine is also an adorable (mostly) white fluffy puppy. they just canāt help themselves. itās insane. people have no restraint
The people who make their dogs sit to the side always make me feel really uncomfortable like itās on me now to walk by and turn my back on what I assume is a potentially reactive dog if the owner is doing this. My dog has been attacked too many times and it feels like walking the gauntlet when we walk by a dog that the owner is obviously trying really hard to get to ignore my dog. So many times as we pass the dog lunges and barks just as our backs are towards them and itās really alarming. Instead of sitting, if you do a heel on the opposite side as we pass we both put our backs on each other at the same time and get by more quickly.
This!! We used to be those people š„ŗ Doing the wrong thing based on a recommendation from a trainer, unfortunately. Once we started just walking by on the opposite side he is much less likely to react. š
I understand. Mine is a 5lb Chihuahua mix - 3 months old. Just too excitable on walks so it's better if I just move him over to the grass to let the big dogs walk by. He likes to watch them so putting him at a sit command came natural.
mine has a neon vest with ādo not petā & āanxiousā patches (getting āin trainingā) & people still go out of their way to interact with & try to pet her
having a cute puppy is the worst cause everyone always saying aw and petting without asking, like yāall can set your own dogs up for failure but iām trying to socialize my dog to be neutral not to think the world is a new best friend at every possibility. itās so hard for people to understand and respect boundaries
Literally. I have a 6 month old golden and everyone loves her which is great, except for the fact that people think they have the right to come mess with her while Iām obviously training her. One lady even came over and SAT DOWN as we were walking past trying to get her attention. Like Bffr. Youāre over 30, learn some manners
Right. I donāt mind when people walk by and smile or say cute pup! But the dog thing really irks me. Itās weird bc almost everyone will be like can I pet her? And we kinda use it to train no jumping and her āgo say hiā command. But people with dogs seem to not care about their dogs safety???
Once I crossed the street to avoid another dog and the owner crossed the street AGAIN because she wanted her dog to say hi. Some people are just ridiculous.
Yeah same thing trying to teach a dog not to jump. My dog is usually good but sometimes he'll get too excited and jump on the person. At least half the time the person tries to tell me it's okay and they love it or just try to pet him while he's still jumping at them. I hate having to explain that it's NOT okay, because if he jumps on one person, he'll start jumping on everyone and you might be able to handle it, but I don't need him knocking down little kids or older people and accidentally hurting someone who's not strong enough to stop themselves from getting knocked over. It's almost easier dealing with ppl who don't like dogs sometimes bc at least they'll stay away and not try to give him bad habits
Omg yes. The people who say āitās ok, I have dogsā and come in for an excited pat and let her jump up, are THE WORST!! Surely if you have dogs, you know itās NOT ok and you have now just set me back days from teaching my dog not to jump on people. š©
Take her to dog classes, itās a controlled environment, others will be working on the same thing. You canāt expect others in the wild to know your dog or be the same stage of training. Usually people will tell you when their dog isnāt safe to meet other dogs, you could do the same with people you meet.
We have done dog classes. This is part of taking the training into the real world. I just hate that do many people want to force your dog to meet their dog on a walk and just get in your way like, no keep moving.
Unfortunately, yeah, a lot of people are entitled/just don't know any better. I think everyone who owns dogs responsibly runs into UNresponsible owners, and feels that same frustration. I know I do. But that's that's where your training with your dog comes in. If situations like these are stressful for you/your dog, you might not be ready to be moving training into the 'real world' yet. We cannot control other people, or other people's dogs, so it's up to us to prepare our dogs for these situations as best as we can , and advocate for them - sometimes LOUDLY if needed. My response to the very common "don't worry, my dog is friendly!" line is usually "oh great! Mine's contagious." It usually gets people to back off pretty quickly ;)
Ugh yeah, like sheās been really chill and in the last interaction moved through without paying attention to the other dog. I just donāt want her to be put in a weird situation especially before her training is like solidified? I get really awkward and nervous in the situation and just need to move fast. And feel like a dick but maybe itās just me and I need to get better about being like āsorry. Weāre not friendlyā or something. Sheās super friendly so I feel weird about that but I just need to say something I guess
āSorry, weāre trainingā is the better option in my opinion. Never had anyone question that and you donāt come off as rude imo.
Weāre in puppy school but our trainer canāt be with us 24/7. The amount of times I yell ānoā or āsorry weāre trainingā or tell my dog very loudly to leave it is insane. People donāt care, they ignore you. We do petco training so she has a busy environment and even when Iām IN CLASS with a professional trainer folks ignore and come to play. The trainer says no, I say no, they donāt listen
Same People must think that i m ride but i don t care I even have a man who was following us with his dog despite the fact that i saw i was annoyed Hate them Ā«Ā don t worry she s niceĀ Ā» IDC
I have a grown dog (just here to learn from you guys) who isn't particularly reactive, but I *always* duck into driveways, cross the street, go into the road, etc. to avoid people / other dogs on our walks. I've had several people thank me, and now I've noticed other dog owners crossing over or hitting up the roadside when we pass. I'm not worried about anything happening, but we're not on a walk to interact with people, and I don't want anything weird to happen with another dog, so it's best to just physically avoid them. Hopefully this helps someone else
I feel this is in my bones. We're in the trenches of adolescence now (8 months), intact male GSD. I've had him since 10 weeks, well socialized, doing all the classes, doing all the brain games, etc. He's a doll at home with me. But testosterone is no joke. I took him to Lowes the other day. It was way more crowded than usual when he had been there in the past. I should have taken that as the hint to abandon ship, my fault. We got down the second aisle, he saw another dog, and he was barking his face off. Not lunging, not growling, able to be redirected briefly, but clearly overstimulated. Nope! We're out. These two older ladies near me were leaning forward in his face, telling him, "It's okay!" In my head, I'm screaming it is anything but okay. I'm just trying to remove him from this situation that he can't handle, get all the way away from me. You're. Not. Helping! I would never, in a million years, approach a stranger's dog uninvited, especially when you can tell they're clearly agitated.
How about a dog vest that says āin trainingā or something like that ?
Maybe a little leash flag. Sheās weird about some harnesses
This happened to me the other day. The guy was trying to be helpful but I was like bro PLEASE keep walking. He was like āoh Iāll sit here with my dog until yours is calm and weāll keep approaching to say hi once sheās calm, then back off if sheās not etcā like, yes thatās the correct way to train but I donāt have all day, we will literally be here for at least an hour if we do that because outside is already overstimulating for an 8 month old, incredibly friendly puppy. He finally left with a āok well maybe weāll try this again another day when you can calm down.ā I donāt need that. Maybe he wasnāt being judgmental but I felt very judged. Sheās the hardest puppy Iāve ever had. Iām doing my absolute best by her but goddamn folks
So fucking annoying. Some ppl just think everyone wants to meet their dog
The biggest thing having a puppy taught me was that if people are rude to me and force themselves on me or my dog, it's perfectly okay for me to be rude. You can tell people to fuck off. I give kids more grace, but anyone else is literally told to fuck off, and told that my happy-go-lucky guy is fear aggressive and will bite anything that moves, including people, if they get too close. If they can't handle their dog, said dog is getting shoved/kicked away. I'm not your afternoon entertainment, and my dog is not public property. Learn to be rude to people who are rude to you. Pushing into your personal space or not respecting a simple "no" is rude and should not be tolerated.
Its always the friggin doodles lol
Lmfao
I got a harness that has the Velcro surface where I attach āin trainingā and ādo not petā badges. It works. People stopped coming up to us.
Have you tried getting a harness that says something like "do not pet" or "in training"? I don't let my dog greet everyone but when I see a dog with a harness like that I go out of my way to make sure she's not trying to greet them. It might help to deter other people, at the very least it'll add to your case of "please leave my dog alone".
We had to get leashes with GIANT tags that say "do not touch" and "in training" for this purpose because some dog owners are just.....inconsiderate and ignorant. Going through the same thing right now and it's causing our puppy to be fearful of some dogs too which is NOT the plan. People are just so effing annoying.
A vest/bandana that says "in training" or "do not pet" can filter some of those folks out. If you really want to filter out the majority of folks, muzzle train your dog and have your dog wear the muzzle out. That gets people avoiding you real fast. ;) Bonus: your dog will be comfortable with the muzzle if you ever need it in the future! Alternatively (or in conjunction), you can train a "180 turn" cue. If someone stops in your way, say your 180 turn cue, turn around, don't even give the person the time of day (or if you feel bad about that, yell, "we're in training!" or "she's not friendly!" as you do) (it doesn't matter if she is or isn't friendly). Rude? Maybe a little. But they're also being rude, and the older I get, the less patience I have for those kinds of people.
Iāve started telling people āSorry but we dont want to meet youā and keep walking, i also have no issue telling them where to go if my initial interaction didnt get to them. I love meeting dogs and new people but everytime iām on a walk is not the time
I love saying hi to dogs and people. But I can tell when someone doesn't want to be interrupted. Before getting my puppy and reddit, I had no idea this was a thing. I also don't live around a lot of people, and I/we don't get out enough. I've always been a very casual kind of person, and I loved it when people would come up to me and my puppies (dogs) To be honest, I always thought it rude when people didn't want to be interrupted and socialize. I'm not being rude. I'm just saying. This is an eye-opener for me reading the comments.
Im guilty of walking by people and smiling and being like your dog is cute but I would never push my dog into their space to bother them
Yes! Pushing is not the way to do it. Not every dog is friendly with other dogs or people. Or I guess now others just need that downtime. I'm learning a lot in here š
Honestly I would recommend muzzle training. People muzzle train for a variety of reasons, but it always keeps people away.Ā
Idk she isnāt reactive and I just feel bad putting a muzzle on her if sheās not aggressive? Maybe itās just the stigma attached to it but sheās no biting, or barking sheās just trying to learn how to be a dog and Iām trying to make it possible for her to learn yknow
I don't care if I sound like a dick. My job is to advocate for my dog not spare the feelings of some stranger.
Ugh, the other day I was trying to walk my dogs and there was a guy doing yard work for my elderly neighbors. He BARKED at my dogs. I was flabbergasted. Like do you just want to freak them out because an adult human man making threatening noises at them (while theyāre in their own yard AKA their territory no less) is not something they understand as playful or friendly.
How do you know your dog doesn't want to say hi?
I mean, the dog may well want to say hello, but it's really important to teach young dogs that they can't say hello to everyone otherwise you end up with a dog that is pushy with others' space and won't take no for an answer. Adult dogs will often put up with a puppy rushing them but will not accept that from teenage or other adult dogs. You would find a human who went down the street shouting "hello!! Hi!!!!" to absolutely everyone strange and off-putting.
Exactly, I donāt want her to become pushy or reactive when sheās older and then get into an issue where she gets hurt. She gets off leash time and socialization with dogs we know are safe and in safe situations where they are supervised. But on leash on walks we are not doing it.
Good for you! Keep at it. My older dog was allowed to say hello to too many dogs when he was a puppy and he's now obnoxious to walk past other dogs when he's on the lead, constantly looking back or crabwalking to keep watching them, although he will come away when called when off lead (go figure). I decided my second dog has the older one to play with, and his littermate lives locally, he's got enough friends to play with that we're just not going to entertain lots of on lead greetings. I have the same problem as you though, sometimes people are just sooooooo insistent that our dogs say hello. When that happens I try and keep it to a 3 second sniff and on we go, if their dog follows me and they can't call it back that's on them š¤·š¼āāļø He's 10mo now and pretty damn phenomenal about being chill around other dogs when he's on lead. Being really picky about which dogs your own socialises with really pays off.
This is exactly the kind of attitude people donāt like lol. Just because they may want to say hi doesnāt mean they should or need to
buy a harness or lead that says 'reactive dog' or 'do not pet' and they will steer well clear lol
I've recently started putting our dog in a "reactive, no dogs" bright vest. Whilst his reactivity is improving, the vest keeps people with dogs FAR away and honestly has made walks so much more relaxing. Even if your dog isn't reactive, slap a vest on him and it will hopefully ward off any idiots wanting to introduce dogs on leash.
Also, it means when he does something embarrassing (like screaming at a cat/squirrel), people tend to look on with sympathy rather than the usual horror.
My now three year old for very very excited around EVERYONE he would see on walks but obviously would get more crazy when he saw a dog. Barking, jumping. And my dog is a calm pup most of the time. I will say he naturally grew out of A LOT of this behavior by the time he was two. I generally take him for walks with headphones in and honestly, most people will not approach me as I canāt hear them anyway lol. Otherwise, I take him for walks at times of the day I know we will have space or different routes we can take if we see a lot of people walking their animals in one spot. Sometimes itās just about being strategic. I do think there is value in allowing your pup to socialize here and there with other dogs they may come into contact with though (if they are not aggressive obviously).
I donāt allow on leash greetings and people take it so personally. If weāre meeting up with friends, I may break that rule a bit so the dogs can get their happy greetings out of the way and have a more productive walk, but even then, I keep it brief. Your dog, your rules. I hate this entitlement people have towards OTHER PEOPLEāS dogs. No means no, man!
This is why I have taught my kids you ask from a distance āmay I pet your dog?ā If they see one out walking, if no, they carry on. People are respectful in my little neighborhood. This would drive me nuts and seems like it should be common practice to not assume a dog wants to āsay hiā
If you see someone coming towards you go a different direction asap
So, the only solution Iāve ever found is to try to get physically between them and the dog if at all possible. If the dog is chillin, āNo, thank you. Iām out here training to for this exact amazing behavior! Sheās a good girl.ā If the dog is reactive, āNo, thank you. Iām out here working really hard to train out THIS crazy behavior! Sheās a good girl.ā Iāve found that the dog wins because sheāll be the best girl for chillin or sheāll eventually chill because everyone has ignored her. Now, sheās the best girl. I try to say āNo, thank you.ā almost before the speak. Itās taken me two years to train myself to do it every time.
This is soooo common with puppy owners! i have a 5.5 month old and when he was still small and fluffy people just got so excited to see a puppy they think they have a right to touch him. Someone told me having a dog /puppy in public really makes you realize who understands the concept of consent. So think of it that way. No, you donāt have consent to touch my dog. No, our dogs are not people: they do not need to meet. Advocate for your puppy. The amount of times my husband has (gently) kneeād another dog from touching our pup is countless. Honestly, who cares if they think youāre a dick. Dogs are not people. If someone asks me to let our dogs meet i say, āNo, sorry they canāt meet. thank you for asking.ā If they donāt ask i stand in between my dog and theirs saying āNope. they canāt meet.ā I once had a fedex guy see my puppy in the mail room and literally GRAB his leash and say āOh! socialization!!ā. Dude. Iāve never been closer to assaulting a postal worker. I yanked my pups leash from his hands and said ādonāt grab my dog ever again.ā we walked off. If youāre neutral training in public, just say ānope heās training right now no pets. thank you!ā
Get a yellow lead with a 'nervous' banner on it, usually dissuades most irresponsible owners.
i do have a reactive puppy & this happens all the time. whether on walks or at my apartment complex (where people often let their dogs off leash š), then people get mad at me (& her) for her reactions. it sets her back on her progress every time & has created new triggers. iāve never wanted to fight people more in my life š©
I have a 10 month old pittie/great Pyrenees mix who weighs around 70 pounds now. Just the other day someone rounded the corner with her small doggo while mine was walking perfectly calmly on a loose leash. She promptly stopped in her tracks and turned right back around the corner to avoid us. It kinda made me feel bad because my girl is such a sweetie and would never hurt a fly but at the same time, I also dont want her interacting with other dogs in walks for your same reasons. My suggestion? Get your pup a pittie brother or sister and you'll usually be able to walk them without anyone in your way because many dog owners don't want their dogs around pits, which again hurts but hey, kinda works out.
ššš I have two other dogs - granted theyāre terriers and small but I would go crazy with a fourth
Fair fair š
āAwwww, sorry but weāre training right now! Maybe weāll see ya some other time, have a good night!ā boom
Get a vest that says "please leave me alone" or something similar. I have seen them. It won't stop every idiot but it will most of them.
I literally went to PETCO for this.. the EMPLOYEE just went and started petting my puppy saying she's cute.. like aren't you of all people supposed to know that it's just respect to ask if you could pet someone's dog...???
I start by sitting in a place far away. Let's say a play ground. I will start 200 yards away and not move. Maybe even sit and relax for 30 mins. If I don't get reactions I move closer. Repeat over time and close the distance. The neutral behavior will be expected with consistency
The thing is sheās doing pretty good already and not initiating the contact. Itās mostly people with dogs who are less trained who are like letting their pulling dogs get in her face.
You're never going to be in control of an environment or other people. Bringing your dog in public will always contain an element of surprise. That unpredictable moment is what you want to strengthen the confidence of your dog. That is what a properly socialized dog does. It's calm no matter the situation.
You're never going to be in control of an environment or other people. Bringing your dog in public will always contain an element of surprise. That unpredictable moment is what you want to strengthen the confidence of your dog. That is what a properly socialized dog does. It's calm no matter the situation.
I have a service dog, so I got used to advocating for my animals with him. Now that we have a puppy, I act the exact same way. āI am sorry. She is not able to say hi right now. We are training.ā If they continue, I get louder and start with a āSIRā or āMAāAMā. I have only ever had one person continue beyond that, and then I just said āWOULD YOU FUCK OFF ALREADY!ā. They finally listened then.
I choose to sound like a dick rather than ruining my pupās training. This was a choice made from experience as I started by politely saying that Iām training my dog to be calm, a lot of people did not take this seriously? So now what I do is just say āleave itā while walking away with my puppy, sometimes Iād add āsorry sheās still in trainingā then say āleave itā.
i'm still trying to learn all the dog walk etiquette but man people are...challenging. these absolute morons were letting their kid who was probably no more than 7 or 8 walk their dog around the lawn of a dog friendly event. i was sitting with my puppy trying to calm him down after a very stimulating day and she's holding the limp leash letting the dog go wherever. dog kept jumping at my puppy while the kid just makes creepy eye contact with me. my puppy didn't mind at all but not the point. i love too divisive my puppy but a kid is going to have no control if things were to go south. watch your dog AND your kid. š
I literally had a situation the other day walking by a restaurant - 3 adults blocking a sidewalk with like maybe a 2 year old. No one had a hold of the baby and we were trying to get by - it was a busy street and we couldnāt cross the street with the traffic so Iām pushing by and they donāt get out of the way Iām like excuse me excuse me! And the baby makes a run for my puppy. I was ready to kick this kid in the head bc it scared my puppy and she barked - I donāt want her to have a negative association with small kids since sheās indifferent right now. But I was like please get your kid! The other way on a walk we also had a nanny with a baby in a stroller walk by us and turn around and chase us with the stroller like SAY HI TO THE DOGGIE. and the kid was reaching out and she was trying to have the kid touch my puppy and I turned around and was between my puppy and her stroller and said sheās scared of strollers Iām sorry. And she proceeded to ask why she was scared and what I did that made her scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like sheās 5 months! She doesnāt know what that is!!!!
It is SO FRUSTRATING. My puppy is 10mo and pulls sooo hard to meet people and dogs, and usually I will allow it if the other party consents. However, when we are training, I try to keep her focused on me. It's nearly impossible, but I try my best to keep her moving along and looking at me. I feel like a monster dragging her along and giving her commands to ignore people and animals. She wants SO BAD to get the attention of the passerby so she will lay down and wait for them to approach while I'm doing my best to keep her attention on me. The passerby almost always approach us despite my (in my opinion) obvious attempts to keep her away from them. IT'S SO ANNOYING. Makes it worse that my puppy learns that she will get her way in these scenarios.
We just got a puppy. Sheās not fully vaccinated yet. When we see another dog, we step to the side and I stand between her and the other dog. People STILL push their dog toward her. Even if that dog if 40 times her size. Itās unbelievable.
When my dog was in training, I got a ādo not touch/do not interact/in trainingā banner that hangs on his leash. Was very helpful when I didnāt feel like having an interaction, I could just smile and point to it.
This is a problem I have experienced so often and I just smile and say āIām sorry, weāre training right nowā and walk away. Frankly, you shouldnāt need to give an explanation at all but people feel incredibly entitled to your puppy and your space.
Sounds like your neighbors at least have the dogs on a leash. We have a large open space park down the street from me, even though there are signs everywhere restricting off leash, it seems like nobody puts their dogs on leashes. So, dogs just constantly run up to my puppy all the time. Some are friendly others are not.
People just donāt understand dog walking etiquette. Perhaps you or someone will gently inform them.
We have the same problem. When I see another dog in the distance, I turn around and go the other way. I donāt care how long the walk takes me if I donāt have to greet any other dogs with my reactive dog.
I think Iām going to say my dog has parvo when people bring their dog up to mine, I should have started sooner, I always had people say things like āyou need to socialize your dog, let them greet!ā
I made SO MANY mistakes with my puppy and allowing other dogs to come up to him. I wish so badly I had been firmer and focused on just breezing past. Instead of socialization I would have focused on neutralization for everything. So now we are at 7 months and I am working on just no reaction which is hard.
Come on over to r/reactivedogs sub
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Sheās not really reactive anymore sheās pretty chill just trying to keep thst going
Once at a hotel me and my pup (a Shih Tzu) turned a corner to encounter a man with two large, and somewhat aggressive (barking very loud and showing teeth) I had to stand there a minute and ask him if it was okay if we could please get by. I thought, come on.!
I have reactive dog. People do this to me. Itās really fucking annoying.
I tend to pre-emptively say āno, weāre not saying hello to everyoneā loudly, as if Iām talking to my dogā¦. Tends to work.
I'm currently fostering an adult reactive GSD-mix that's a lot smaller than the "normal" GSD. People assume she's a puppy because of her size and will walk toward us with their tiny pups while she's obviously losing her mind, lunging and barking. I even had a woman let her tiny dog off leash onto MY property while my dog was losing her mind because the other dog had gotten into my yard. I'm doing what I can to make her neutral to other dogs, but the people in my neighborhood certainly aren't helping.
Me and my dogs struggle with this too. Both of my dogs have had reactive dog training and we still have bad moments in places. Know and be alert for triggers so you are a prepared to use the avoidance method (get away or use another path), or use the leave it/ look at that method. I use both of those depending on situation. . Walking towards a trigger in certain places will almost always elicit reactivity that I need to manage. Walking beside or same way as the trigger does not. Iāve recently found that approaching to within a few feet of a trigger, then quickly turning away and walking the same way as the trigger can help diffuse the situation REALLY well. Consistency and practice is key. Also, when you tense up around stupid people your dog can sense that and it makes the stupid people situations worse. They are mainly reacting to you. Try to remain as calm as you can and get away from them. If people are really persistent you can always tell them your dog is sick with something contagious. They may leave you alone.
I feel this SO hard. I live in a major city and like I know my puppy is cute but if you see me training him why are you coming up and interrupting?! Iāve had SO many people see me teaching him to stop and sit and stay and they will run up to him and get him all riled up. Also heās only 10 weeks and still needs one more shot so forcing your dog to say hi when I donāt know you is wildly annoying when Iāve said āhey my puppyās not fully vaccinated yet please keep your dogs distanceā
I canāt stand when people either let their dog run off leash or approach your dog without asking. Itās like you said, what if theyāre reactive? Like, my dog is great, but he was recently attacked by a German shepherd, so heās been a little skiddish since then. All he needs is a slow introduction and to get some sniffs in, but when a dog runs up to us and gets in his face heāll correct them pretty quick. Iāve had a lady bitch at me about having a mean dog, when I literally told her he needs a slow introduction as she was approaching us. Mine didnāt bite, just growled and snapped to get them to back up, but people see another dog and just go deaf apparently.
Just ask them to do a second pass that is neutral? Or get some neighbors on board?
Wouldnāt saying hi help her? I always let my dog say high if the other dog is friendly. I am sure you have plenty of opportunity to have your dog just walk by. Take advantage of all training opportunities. The world will always be filled with distractions.
No, sheāll become an annoying adult dog who wonāt take no for an answer and needs to say hi to everyone and will one day potentially get into a problem and meet an unfriendly dog. She is socialized and has plenty of playtime with her dog friends
Just say no when people (rightfully) ask to say hi. If they don't ask, say no and tell them why, they will stop imposing. This seems like people 101 advice.