Night time dog walkers, please...

... If you are walking your dog, or a dog for another person, and there is a dog walker who wants to be avoided, the please, STAY AWAY for at least one or to house lengths.

Last night I warned a dog walker who was crossing the street heading straight for me and my older 95 pound female dog, who was sniffing in place, and blissfully unaware of them. "I shouted HELLO!" (tone like, "hello, wtf.."), because last thing I wanted was for my dog to look up and see this particular dog, or type of dog (a long-haired orange--that she tends dislike) right next to us. Thankfully the walker aknowledged us and went back across the street. Phew. BUT, then at max 15 feet later, he proceeded to recross the street to our side. I hastily started to walk us away, but in an instant my dog went into territorial mode, backtracked, barking at the "intruder", and, well, this caused something snap in my hip, and I now apparently have a strained adductor muscle. (And my entire work out routine is hip based, so, yeah. Great.)

It's nice that your dog is calm. You must be very proud. Mine is usually, calm, also. But, she is a hunting dog and is picky about her friends. This is true particularly at night. SO, please, keep your "I have a calm dog" dog-walking demonstration safely away from other dogs, particularly those whose walkers warn you to do so. And "staying away" should mean a clearly unthreatening distance of a house or two.

Thanks.

If your dog is sensitive, it's your obligation to keep her away from other dogs, not other dogs' responsibility to stay away from you. A 2 house length separation is a bit much.

Sorry you were hurt. Hope you feel better soon.

I agree with Oakland. My dog gets territorial with some other dogs and I just make sure I keep a safe distance from other dog walkers. Never I have yelled out to another dog walker to keep away or change their route. Since I tend to walk the same route, I know most of the other dog walkers and we all know how to maneuver to make sure there are no incidents.

no need for the wtf tone. it is normal to be social while walking dogs. you can politely ask them to keep their distance.

Even with the friendliest of dogs on-leash greetings can quickly turn ugly. I have three big friendly dogs and if someone with another dog is approaching us I either cross the street, backtrack down the street or step into someone's driveway to allow the other dog to pass. If we have to wait for another dog to pass us I stand there and pump treats into my dog's mouths. And I'm not afraid to tell a big fat lie and say that my dogs are not friendly on leash if the other person seems insistent on coming up to us. Much easier to manage the situation myself than expect someone else to.

maybe the OP has a sense of humor...

The dog does not like long orange colored hair and says "to" house lengths instead of "two". crossed the street (border) to our side.

Sounds like someone with Trump issues.

Walk your dog during the day.

I walk two and when I see oncoming dog(s), I cross the street or go another way. It's not worth it to me to have my arm pulled out of socket. One of my dogs is very territorial and needs to keep her distance.

The behavior the OP described goes for day walkers as well. Nothing worse than a walker who allows their dog to posture instead of moving along. Dog and owner stare at me and mine from the opposite side of the street, usually with dog going full on nuts. Pull on its leash and keep it moving.

While @oakland2 is right, it's better to assume that your neighbor's dog does NOT want to meet your dog and take it from there. Meeting with dogs was a nice conversation starter when I lived in NJ, and now in NYC, it's not nearly as much, but I see the wisdom in the assumption that we are not going to socialize unless otherwise indicated.

(Personal experience deleted)

Demanding that the world conform to one's expectations is usually a sign of delusion; and only occasionally a sign of brilliance. Demanding that the world to conform to a pet's expectations, is just weird.

Of course, that's just one person's opinion.

TomR

A dog that becomes upset upon seeing long hair or the color orange? This has to be a spoof. If not, the owner clearly has to modify his/her walking routine. It's not the orange dog's issue.

Strained muscles are no fun. Hope it heals quickly for you. I wonder if one of those thick padded yellow "caution" leashes could be helpful on the night walks? If I recall, there are red leashes for the 'very unfriendly' dogs, yellow for the 'sometimes friendly sometimes not friendly' dogs, and green leashes for the 'I'm a friend to all dogs'. Each leash had the appropriate text as well. You would need to keep a light on the leash while walking at night, but along with a no-pull harness, it might give others the heads up without your having to feel uncomfortable or say anything.

If it makes you feel any better, you are not alone. My knee was injured a couple months ago in the reservation. A large sized dog running loose pushed me on a wet rock. Afterwards when the couple showed up and we asked them to leash their dog, they simply responded that he was friendly. He sure was --painfully friendly-- and completely oblivious to voice control or training. They had no leash whatsoever. I agree with above comment stating to just fib and say your dog is unfriendly on the leash. I did that in this situation since we had our leashed dog with us.

most people would have no clue about colored leashes..i sure never heard of it...i wouldn't be looking to read the leash. Most of my neighbors have never even attempted to train their dog. I can think of 1 on my long block that is trained (will actually sit and stay off leash while owner engages with other dogs). 1 tried, but was not very successful. Many others don't even try. One claims it is well trained and let it wander out of sight and voice command. It is now leashed from that incident.

shanabana said:

... If you are walking your dog, or a dog for another person, and there is a dog walker who wants to be avoided, the please, STAY AWAY for at least one or to house lengths.

Last night I warned a dog walker who was crossing the street heading straight for me and my older 95 pound female dog, who was sniffing in place, and blissfully unaware of them. "I shouted HELLO!" (tone like, "hello, wtf.."), because last thing I wanted was for my dog to look up and see this particular dog, or type of dog (a long-haired orange--that she tends dislike) right next to us. Thankfully the walker aknowledged us and went back across the street. Phew. BUT, then at max 15 feet later, he proceeded to recross the street to our side. I hastily started to walk us away, but in an instant my dog went into territorial mode, backtracked, barking at the "intruder", and, well, this caused something snap in my hip, and I now apparently have a strained adductor muscle. (And my entire work out routine is hip based, so, yeah. Great.)

It's nice that your dog is calm. You must be very proud. Mine is usually, calm, also. But, she is a hunting dog and is picky about her friends. This is true particularly at night. SO, please, keep your "I have a calm dog" dog-walking demonstration safely away from other dogs, particularly those whose walkers warn you to do so. And "staying away" should mean a clearly unthreatening distance of a house or two.

Thanks.

Sorry you were injured and I hope you heal swiftly, but you have unreasonable expectations for the behavior of other dog walkers. And it sounds like your tone with them may be a bit confrontational with "hello, wtf" and "warning" people, which I'm sure doesn't help things.

full disclosure: I don't have a dog and have usually only walked dogs that don't pull too hard.

Still, I would suggest being more explicit when you call out to someone you don't know, in the dark.

"Hello," in whatever tone, doesn't tell the person what you want/need him or her to do. Maybe something like "Hold on please. Give me a minute to move my dog farther away. S/he doesn't always get along with others." Followed by turning your dog to face away from the other dog(s), as you did, and rapidly walking away from the other person. That way the other walker at least knows what you're asking for. They still may not be obligated to comply, but at least they have a chance, and a warning.

I hope your pulled muscles will heal soon, so uncomfortable!

I understand and apologize. My example was from my experiences being a rescue volunteer in a different town and different state. I do realize NJ has it's own standards that can be very different from other states and locales. Here is an example (from Amazon) of what I was trying to convey, it might be an option, or not, depending upon the situation. Just wanted to clarify and share.

jmitw said:

most people would have no clue about colored leashes..i sure never heard of it...i wouldn't be looking to read the leash. Most of my neighbors have never even attempted to train their dog. I can think of 1 on my long block that is trained (will actually sit and stay off leash while owner engages with other dogs). 1 tried, but was not very successful. Many others don't even try. One claims it is well trained and let it wander out of sight and voice command. It is now leashed from that incident.