Walking a dog aggressive dog off lead? OPINIONS PLEASE

[IRescue452]

In my opinion your dog isn't very aggressive at all. An agressive dog is unpredictable and would overcorrect an excited dog by attacking. Your dog snapped but did not injure. This is a proper command for "back off". Sure she's scared of other dogs and needs some working with, but I don't consider her aggressive. Normal people who don't know how to speak dog, like this lady, would blame the wrong dog for what happens. You need to calmly explain to people that your dog is performing a perfectly acceptable command and that their dogs need to be socialized more so that the dogs can learn to recognize signals from other dogs. You are in the right in this situation.

[dab_20]

In my opinion your dog isn't very aggressive at all. An agressive dog is unpredictable and would overcorrect an excited dog by attacking. Your dog snapped but did not injure. This is a proper command for "back off". Sure she's scared of other dogs and needs some working with, but I don't consider her aggressive. Normal people who don't know how to speak dog, like this lady, would blame the wrong dog for what happens. You need to calmly explain to people that your dog is performing a perfectly acceptable command and that their dogs need to be socialized more so that the dogs can learn to recognize signals from other dogs. You are in the right in this situation.

I completely agree. Every dog can snap, it's just dog language. It doesn't mean they are dangerous.

That lady was 100 percent wrong in my opinion.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Fear aggression is still aggression. If Kya is snapping at other dogs she should not be in a dog park. The snapping could've evolved into a more serious situation. Any dog that shows any signs of aggression, even minor aggression, should not be at a dog park. It's not fair to the other dogs or their owners.

The other lady wasn't too nice and shouldn't have threatened to call the police, but she was mad and overreacted. I would've been mad too if I was in a dog park and another dog was snapping at my dog when all my dog did was greet the other.

[bckrazy]

To my understanding, it was a public park not a dog park, where dogs shouldn't be uncontrollably running all over the place.

[ChrisH]

I just want to point out a couple of things. Firstly, I believe the dog Comedy Devil wrote about is not her dog but belongs to a friend (very well trained by her by the sound of it) and secondly that we do not have dog parks here in the UK nor are there leash laws as in the US.

Now my opinion, for what it's worth.
In a similar situation the spaniel dog that ran up to Kya would have been my Bob because he, like that dog, would not have come back to me when I called. If, as happened with Kya, the person with the dog had grabbed it and said the dog was not friendly, would I have shouted and threatened the person? Would I heck, I would just be so glad that person had control over their dog, unlike me, and what could become a nasty situation was avoided.

(p.s. I never let my Bob off the leash because he completely ignores me ... all that is in his head are the enticing smells and sounds around him, nothing else exists.)

[ComedyDevil]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

Just to clarify, as ChrisH said, I live in the UK, and we don't have dog parks. It was a public park where the incident happened, and it is the norm to let your dogs off lead as long as they are controllable, which in my opinion, Kya is.

I'm glad that people agree I had control of Kya, but I can also understand what some other people are saying about assuming an offleash dog is friendly. I always try and find a place with no other dogs before I let her offlead, as I said, this was a BIG park and the spaniel really did come from nowhere, but obviously, Kya needs to run and, as she IS controllable, i dont see why she shouldnt be allowed off lead when its safe to do so.

IMO, people who's dogs have no recall are FAR more dangerous than a dog who snaps if approached, as i said, I can call my dog back, they cant.

Thanks for all the advice.

[Lori Jordan]

I'm going through the same thing with my Newf she took off for half an hour yesterday..Thing that frustrates me the most is when you call your dog,they look at you then turn and run..I was a mess yesterday i went after her,did not chase her but she had led me through fields swamped ditches finally i got a hold of her and we came home so now i will be having to take her back to obedience,or something i will not have a dog that runs!!!! So as a reponsible pet owner i have to take action in getting this fixed!!!,