angry dog owner

I like the yellow ribbon idea a lot . I shall ask at my vets next time I'm in. My dog has not got aggressive tendencies( we joke he could give you a nasty lick ) but where we often walk there seems to be a large number of dogs who are , mostly the staffie , bull terrier type. Not necessarily their fault more likely to be ignorant owners who are walking a status symbol.

I am not a dog owner but I am a bit nervous when dogs running are free when I am in the park . In answer to the op , the other dog owner sounds very aggressive and I would take the advice of going somewhere else for a while .

Just done a Google search on yellow ribbons on dogs, because I'd really never heard of it before or seen a dog with a yellow ribbon. It's a great idea but seems to need a lot more publicity.I have to go to the vet today to get some tick stuff (off to Forest of Dean on holiday tomorrow) and I shall check whether they know about it.
Our vet is Steve Leonard so any excuse....

I think the yellow ribbon for owners is a good idea. I would give my OH two! He growls when he sees another dog.

Badenkate nice vet. Ours is Paco as on This Farming Life.

Pony clubs had a similar approach to the yellow ribbon. The tied a red ribbon to the tail on ponies who kicked

Dogs run to greet each other all the time when out walking in an open space. And then there is usually a friendly sniffing of various parts to cement the friendship.

If this behaviour spooks your dog enough for him to jump on another dog, you ought to have anticipated this might happen and have recalled him.

I don't agree that the only way to control a dog is by having it on a lead all the time, but I do agree that if your dog isn't 'under control' (i.e. doesn't respond to your commands) then you need to keep in on a lead and do further training.

The owner may be of the opinion that their dog is under voice control, but those sharing the same area will not have the same confidence. I for one would be nervous of any dog off the lead, once bitten, twice shy. I think it reasonable for any dog in a public place to be under obvious and total control.

I'm sorry you've been scared by a dog pompa but that doesn't mean that all dogs should not be allowed to run freely for exercise. I suppose it does depend on what you classify as a public space.

Where I walk my dogs it is 90% at least only dog walkers with very few other people. In the nine years I've been walking them there there has only been one incidence of bad behaviour when my old pooch was attacked by a Labrador and a German Shepherd.

Many, many owners take the time and effort to train their dogs well - which is more than I can say for some parents and their badly behaved children.

I would define a public place as somewhere the public has a right to be, ie Park, playing field etc. Why should users feel threatened by loose dogs.

Most people don't feel threatened as they walk happily past dogs and most dogs are good natured and friendly.

pompa if we pass someone that is not a dog walker when out - not often as on South Downs although there are runners and cyclists, my dog simply trots past and doesn't give the walker a glance, even if they speak to him he might glance and even on extreme rare occasions wag his tail and slow down a tad. You shouldn't feel remotely threatened by that, even though he is off the lead.

pompa what happened to you?

How are those who are fearful of loose dogs supposed to know that about your dog, whitewave? You and Anya are speaking as dog-owners and dog-lovers, but yes, some people do feel threatened by any dog bigger than a chihuahua.

Yes anya I know that ,I have a friend who is also fearful of dogs. But I am simply trying to reassure people like pompa . I do agree though that some breeds are much more keen to say hello than others, Labradors tend to launch themselves at you as they are full of joy 24/7 it seems to me. It should very much then be the owners responsibility to stop this from happening to anyone not just non-dog owners. I object to a large happy Labrador hurling itself at me with a huge grin on its face.

Sorry ana

I was bitten by a Jack Russell type dog, ripped my trousers and punctured my leg. This occurred in a lane as I was cycling home from work, the owner thought it was funny [grr]. Most parks and playing fields have by-laws that require dogs to be on a lead.
Dog owners may be able to read a dogs intention, I can't

Did you report it? My husband was bowled over by a growling staffy really scary. and reported it to the police.

But my point is just like getting knocked down by a car it might happen but you don't go around scared of cars,. Not sure this is a very good example really

Little bugger I would have lost my temper I think!

No not such a good example, cars don't leap from the road to attack you very often (unless you are in Paris -but that's another story). However I think if you had been hit by a car whilst crossing the road, you would be nervous about crossing in future. It's unpredictability of animals that is the problem. BTW, I don't trust cows, horses or pigs, having fallen foul of them previously, and MrsP is frightened of goats.

Just to report that the vets had also not heard of the yellow ribbon marker, but also thought it was a good idea.
I've been reading the latest posts. i agree that in a place where people other than dog walkers commonly go, then dogs should be kept on the lead. Areas which are generally accepted as dog exercise areas are different.
I have had dogs almost all my life, and until 2 to 3 years ago I would have said the same as Anya and Whitewall, that dogs can be trained out of bad behaviour. However, 6 years ago I got a rescue springer, whose background I had no information about, who was a perfect dog until about 3 years ago when he gradually started getting very anxious, reacting to noises, occasionally being aggressive towards our other dog, very concerned about dogs coming close to him etc. There is no apparent medical reason for this, it's something we have learnt to cope with because he's also a very affectionate dog towards people. We have developed a containing strategy. It may be that eventually we will not be able to cope. What I'm trying to say is that it is quite depressing to feel that we are being judged as unable to control a dog when in fact we are giving that dog a chance of a reasonably normal life - and I've learnt a very important lesson. I also used to say to people 'It's alright, he's friendly' as my dog ran up full of fun and ready to play. Well my answer now is, yours might be, but mine isn't!

Yes Mr W is very wary of horses.

You know thinking about the problem a yellow ribbon resolution would be a good idea - something very discrete. The trouble is little s....ts with staffies might cotton on.
But if I was out with my terrier he would be put under close control if you were wearing a warning message. Although he wouldn't really need to be but as you say that is not the point.