Dog-Walking Etiquette

[LianneCatherine]

I have a REALLY amateur question, well because, that's what I am! I'm 24 with my first puppy ever, and I've found in the past 7 months that there are many MANY things I still don't know about dogs and "dog people."

For instance, when walking your dog and you see someone else on the street - how do you react? Should I move the pup over so that person can get by? Do I wait for a response from them, in case they want to pet her? If someone says "aww" should I let Audrie go up to them?

I don't want to offend anyone by either pulling her away or NOT pulling her away...what's the rule?

Then the situation is further complicated if the person has a dog too. The dogs will naturally check each other out and pull/bark,etc. if you don't let them sniff each other. I am terrified of anything happening to Audrie though, and I don't really trust other dogs. How do you know if another dog is going to be nasty? Do Yorkies have natural breed adversaries? How will I know if another dog is about to "snap?"

I guess the main question is: how do I walk her without 1) offending others, and 2) risking an attack?

[jawert1]

My rule of thumb is giving a wide berth period (tho I have a leash aggressive Peach). We walk a specific route every day, one that is fairly open and gives me room to maneuver both dogs in the event another person or person w/ dog come our way. Personally, even if Peaches weren't leash aggressive, I'd still move as far off as possible, simply because one never knows *who* is a dog person and who is not, and with my 2 topping out at 60lbs, that could really freak someone out. Since you have a wee doggy, and a cute one at that, it comes down to what you feel are her best interests. If someone wants to pet her, you may want to insist on them asking first, which means keeping her closer, especially if you're on a walking path. That too means she's closer to you in the event someone else with a dog comes by, and more in your control. Honestly, I've had too many ppl let their dogs out on leash and get VERY close to us, thinking that my 2 are friendly because they're good together. I've also had kids run right up to us and not ask, which Simon is no good with children at all and Peaches just loves on them. I guess I look at it as I know my dogs are MUCH different than their outward appearance would deem, and so I treat others the same way, and if it comes across rudely, then oh well. Not to frighten you (or ramble), but I had a small Bichon Frise puppy charge us last Thanksgiving, barking and growling and trailing his leash (owner was a twit kid who just let him run without looking in the courtyard first). Peaches and Simon both were in a sit, and while Peaches is the one that worries me, Simon was the one that jumped and grabbed the puppy and proceeded to shake it violently (Simon is an English Pointer). Prior to and after this, Simon never again did anything like that and gets along wonderfully on leash with other dogs, and even plays (as best he knows how). You can never tell 100% all the time if another dog is going to react badly, and so it's generally best to socialize your puppy (through obedience classes - petsmart offers nice lower cost ones which I've taken Simon to) and make sure she knows her commands. You can't trust that other owners have done their homework, but if you've done yours, the chance of incident is decreased.

[lewisw]

Originally Posted by LianneCatherine

Then the situation is further complicated if the person has a dog too. The dogs will naturally check each other out and pull/bark,etc. if you don't let them sniff each other. I am terrified of anything happening to Audrie though, and I don't really trust other dogs. How do you know if another dog is going to be nasty? Do Yorkies have natural breed adversaries? How will I know if another dog is about to "snap?"
I guess the main question is: how do I walk her without 1) offending others, and 2) risking an attack?

That was a GREAT question. I was wondering the same . When I walk my Dani she LOVES to go up to people and jump up on them and kiss them (More so to strangers then us as far as jumping goes but that's another thread)

Okay people is no problem you can see they want her to come up to them but the question was good with other dogs as I am always wondering when I walk Dani and someone is walking the other way she wants to go see and smell the other dog. So far it has NEVER hapened that someone said please don;t let your dog come to mine other then once when two girsl were walking there dogs together and one said don;t let her go to mine as she is a real bitch . A small Bson Frise as well. The other dog that looked like a pit mix was so happy to get to smell Dani and I could see she was happy as her tail was going a mile a minute.

Best
Lewis

[pitgrrl]

I think it's unfair to assume that every other person with a dog wants to allow them to meet, for a few reasons.
The person may be working on training, may be in a rush, or may have a dog aggressive dog. For example, I've worked really hard to get my dog aggressive dog to ignore any dogs we pass on our walks, but every dog that is allowed to run up to us makes this training harder.
I always give other people and their dogs lots of space and really appreciate it when others do the same.
If you want your dogs to meet, just ask while still at a distance. This gives the other person an opportunity to just say yes or no, rather than having to look like a bit of a freak when they say "stop, do not come any closer" or whatever.

[Puppyluv]

I tend to watch how the other owner reacts as we approach. I watch their hands and their face, to see if they are reeling their dog in, or loosening their hold. Depending on what I see, I either let Layla go sniff around, or else tighten Layla's lead. Usually, when they find out she's a female, they let them sniff around, but not always. One thing I have to say is, if a dog is approaching, or if they are sniffing and you don't feel comfortable,. DON"T PICK UP YOUR DOG! Back away, reel her in, but don't pick her up. It screws up the pecking order completely. It drives me nuts when people do this.

[Dogastrophe]

Regardless of whether the ppl coming towards me are "dog friendly" ppl or if they have a dog with them, I will tend to move mine over to the right hand side of the sidewalk / grass area off the sidewalk giving the person coming sufficient room to walk right past with no dog obstruction. How far to the right I move them depends on which dog or dogs I am walking at the time. My oldest will walk along the edge and, other than glance up, will not pay much attention to ppl (other dogs is another matter as he tends to pull toward them, which results in him being on a short lead tucked right next to my right leg).

My middle dog, while she is quite friendly with most ppl, is a natural born jumper. Given the opportunity, particularily if the person stops to say hi, she will attempt to jump. As a result, she gets put on a short lead when ppl are approaching.

My youngest one loves ppl and other dogs but tends to get under foot if left to the farthest reach of his lead. To avoid tripping anyone he gets pulled to the side.

[Melei'sMom]

Originally Posted by Puppyluv

One thing I have to say is, if a dog is approaching, or if they are sniffing and you don't feel comfortable,. DON"T PICK UP YOUR DOG! Back away, reel her in, but don't pick her up. It screws up the pecking order completely. It drives me nuts when people do this.

Why? I would really like to know as I am one of those who will pickup my dog if a big one is too curious. she is very scared around big dogs.

[kaytris]

a few reasons:

-the dog in your arms is confined and unable to retreat or greet in a normal manner (dogs meeting for the first time curve in and sniff butts, not faces) Thus, it may feel no choice but to defend itself from unwanted advances with growls and snaps

-the dogs on the ground can't sniff to say hello , so they will have no recourse but to jump up - which is unpleasant for the person being jumped on, and leads again to more defensive posturing by the dog in arms, as owner tenses up and gets upset

[dogmelissa]

Originally Posted by Melei'sMom

Why? I would really like to know as I am one of those who will pickup my dog if a big one is too curious. she is very scared around big dogs.

If your dog acts scared around things (big dogs, cars, motorscycles, etc) and you pick her up, you're reinforcing that this is something she needs to be afraid of and that you are "protecting" her from that thing. If you want her to be unafraid of things, you must not coddle her. Don't pick her up, don't say "it's ok punkin" or react in anyway. All of those actions/sounds tell her it's *ok* to be scared, and you don't want that. You want to completely ignore her reaction (unless she's running for her life, obviously) and do your best not to be nervous either. If you tense up with the approach of a big dog, she reads in your body language that *you* are scared, and so she gets scared too. Then you pick her up and she will end up being so scared of big dogs (or whatever her fear is) that she may resort to fear-biting or fear-aggression later.
Whatever the fear is, you have to do everything in your power to not get tense when you see it. Don't reel her leash in (unless you do this for *all* dogs), don't say anything to her, don't pick her up. Step off the path if you need to let the other dog go by or whatever. Best if you find a neighbour or friend who has a large dog that is good with small dogs and have them visit. Set up a "meeting" on a walk. If you have a happy conversation with your friend, and your dog has a happy meeting with the big dog, then she will be less afraid next time she sees a big dog. Let her play with big dogs whenever possible (under supervision so the big dogs don't accidentally hurt her).

It is very important that you do this now, before this problem gets worse. My dog used to be afraid of men, and walking him was very stressful for me, as he'd bark and growl and worse, lunge at men. Now, he's not very big, but if he were to do this to a child, or an elderly man, who then fell down and got hurt, I'd feel horrible, plus I could be sued! Or if he did connect with the person and they reacted by kicking, then my dog gets hurt. I've had to work on this for a very long time (over a year), and he isn't perfect yet, which is probably a lot to do with things that are my fault (I start thinking about how he's badly behaved as soon as I see a man ahead). But he no longer lunges at them. He will stop barking a lot faster now, and sometimes doesn't even bark at all, just growls when he sees a man. My dog was abused, so I don't want him to totally forget what kind of person abused him, but I don't want him to hurt innocent people, or make people scared of him either. So I'm doing everything I can to prevent that.
I worked at the local Humane Society for 3 years, and honestly the scariest dogs were the ones that were small and who had been coddled (ie picked up or removed from situations they found scary). They were the ones who were most fear-aggressive in the shelter. So please don't coddle your dog!

Sorry for the length of this,
Melissa