Walking a dog aggressive dog off lead? OPINIONS PLEASE

[ComedyDevil]

I wanted to ask everyone's opinions about something that happened to me yesterday. Comments would be appreciated.

Kya is an 18 month old Lab/Border Collie mix who belongs to my friend. I have known her since she was 18 weeks old. She is extremely high energy and VERY ball/toy motivated. She loves people and especially kids. She is also dog aggressive, but there is a reason for this, as she was attacked by another dog at 12 weeks old (before my friend owned her) and suffered a broken jaw which had to be wired. So you cant blame her for being fear aggressive around other dogs, having suffered such a traumatic experience when she was just a pup.

However, i'd say her fear aggression was mild. She WILL NOT ever run up to another dog or look for a fight. Even if another dog runs up to her she wont react, and its only if a dog gets right in her face that she will snap. (And it is just snapping, not attacking or lunging or anything, just 'im scared, leave me alone' sort of thing). She has 100% recall offlead, and like I said, WILL NOT approach another dog.

So, I was walking her off lead in the park yesterday. There were no other dogs around, and we were playing fetch. Suddenly, a black and white spaniel appeared from nowhere and began to run towards Kya. Its owner ( a woman) was calling it but it was taking no notice. I called Ky straight to me, she came straight away and i grabbed her collar. I called to the woman "Can you call your dog off please, mines not friendly". The woman called her dog again but it ignored her. It came right up to us, got into Kyas face and she snapped at it, didnt actually bite, just snapped, and growled.

The woman ran up to us, grabbed her dog and yelled in my face "you stupid cow, if shes aggressive she should be on a lead" I tried explaining to the woman that Kya wont approach another dog, and would only snap if a dog approached her, and that as Ky comes straight back to me when I call her, the only way she can snap at a dog would be if the dog came upto us, but the woman was having none of it. She kept yelling, calling me a stupid b*tch and telling me i should keep my dog on a lead. She asked for my name and address, and told me she if she saw Kya in that park again she would be calling the police.

Now, honest opinions, was I in the wrong here? I accept that, for MOST dog aggressive dogs, they shouldnt be let off lead where other dogs are about. But for a dog who wont approach another dog, who has a perfect recall and who was no more than 20 feet away from me at any time, surely its different?

As I tried to explain to the woman, the situation wouldve been no different if I HAD've had Kya on a lead, as her dog would've still run upto us, and Kya still wouldve snapped at it. I had hold of Kyas collar long before the dog reached us, and I gave the woman plenty of warning that Kya wasnt friendsly, so, if anything, its the WOMAN who should have her dog off lead, as it completely ignored her when she was calling it. What if id've been the other side of a road and her dog had seen Kya? Would it've ran out into the road to get to her, because it has no recall? Would it still have been my fault then? HER dog was out of control, not mine.

Sorry for such a long rant, it just annoyed me having my details taken and being yelled at, for something I feel wasnt my fault. Am I wrong? Should I not be allowed to let Kya off lead, or was this woman overreacting? The worst part is that she called me irresponsible, which i dont think I am. Opinions please?

Thanks,

Amy.

Ps. Will have some photos of Kya to share soon, she's a great dog!

EDITED TO ADD: To prevent anymore confusion ... This was a public park, not a dog park (we dont have dog parks in the UK) and it is the norm in the UK to walk your dog offlead as long as it is controllable (ie has good recall etc)

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Honestly I don't think she should be in a place where there are other off leash dogs. It's great she has a perfect recall, but that doesn't meant all the other dogs do too.

Now for that exact situation I'd say it was part your fault and part the other woman's. She should've been able to call her dog back to her, but she shouldn't have had to worry about her dog getting snapped at for greeting another dog either. You're right it would have been the same if Kya had been in the park on a leash, but leashed or not she shouldn't have been a park where other dogs are off leash. I think you were asking for trouble.

[Glacier]

Honestly I don't think she should be in a place where there are other off leash dogs. It's great she has a perfect recall, but that doesn't meant all the other dogs do too.

I tend to agree with that statement. I have a dog aggressive dog too. Kayleigh has great recall. I don't let her off leash where other dogs are because I can't control the other dogs. I can control Kayleigh, but you just never know what another dog will do. I've put too much time and effort into saving Kayleigh to have her declared dangerous because of someone else's stupidity. Up here, an off-leash dog involved in a fight, wether she started it or not, can be declared dangerous. Fortunately, I don't have to go very far to get to where there are no other dogs around so she does still get her off-leash time.

[iluvmypets]

personally, I think she was in the wrong for having a dog who ignores her! it probably frightened her and that was the reason for her outburst, but, you *did* warn her, and you *did* have your dog with you...it was her dog who approached and in theory caused the problems.

no matter who's to blame though, there's never any need for being so insulting and rude, and in my opinion gives a good idea of what kind of owner she is.

x

[king2005]

I'd have to say the lady was 100% in the wrong. ALL off leash dogs must have perfect recall & if it runs off & causes problems then the owner of the off leash dog is to blame 100%. What if her dog ran into a yard where an agressive dog lives? whos at fault? the off leashed dog!

If you cannot control your dog keep it on a darn leash & I don't care how friendly it is.

I don't know HOW many times I've yelled at people for allowing their dog to run or charge towards me! My old dog wasn't dog agressive but if that dog jumpped on me, he would rip it off of me & shake it like a rag doll (not hurting the dog, just scaring the living hell out of it, slobbering all over it & then tossing it away & ignoring it if it left). Max knew I would get a little scared of a charging barking dog (not trotting) & thats when not so good things happened. Back home whoevers dog was off leash was at fault 100% no matter what happened. <-- thats the way it should be

[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.

[Alysser]

What a peice of work that women was! I think that a dog aggressive dog CAN be off lead in an unfenced but supervised area.