I think of every experience with dogs as risk management. There are two labs on our evening walk who I trust with the sausages and they've learned to interact well; there is a German shepherd on our street that I don't trust because I don't think the owner has enough control over the dog. We do the same at dog-friendly parks and talk to the owners about their dogs before we ask for introductions and let ours off leash. I think we have to: we've met dogs that could break B&S's necks in a single snap and that's something I'm not prepared to risk. Having said that, they need socialising so we make the effort to meet other dogs as often as we can.

I've never had success with telling people that their dogs are a risk to society, they should train their dogs etc; they tend to get defensive and ignore the feedback anyway. So we take it upon ourselves to take appropriate action with our dogs - can't change others but we can manage the situation.