why do people assume?

Yesterday was a nice warm day so Cassie and I went for a walk along the river,Cassie was really excited because she seemed to realise it had been a while since she had been that way. I never let Cassie off lead and she has already been attacked, anyway this old couple come along with a young jrt it starts jumping on Cassie in a playful way, they said he,s only playing then the pup proceeded to sniff closely behind my ankles making me nervous, I am actually scared of dogs Cassie was never meant to be mine (but she was destined), I hate people assuming 1* Cassie likes other dogs 2* it's ok to let them jump on her 3* assuming I'm ok with their dog but when I say I'm scared of dogs they look at me then the evil Cassie and assume I have just been released from the friendly place where white coats and locked padded cells are all the rage. There are some funny people around that just live in their own little worlds and the rest of us are invaders makes me smile lol

People are idiots. You'll find many people on here also hate other dogs running up to theirs or playing without the owners asking. Loki's bomb-proof, he'll be happy if a Great Dane runs up to him but for dogs that are dog-aggressive, or ones that are easily-frightened and nervous, it can be a disaster waiting to happen. And because our dogs are Staffs, guess what dog will get the blame? Ours, even though we're not at fault. It makes no sense, and it's a shame that some dog owners can lack common sense, but it's an unfortunate reality. Hope you weren't too scared by it my mum loves dogs and she's had them her whole life, but she's scared of dogs she doesn't know, so similar thing.

I completely agree. My dog gets aggressive with other dogs and it's frustrating when owners let their dogs run up to her. Not only could their dog get bitten but I am also trying to make sure all interactions maxi has with dogs are good ones in a controlled environment and everytime someone lets their dog run up to us and maxi gets defensive and aggressive it puts me two step backwards :/

Yes people are idiots, there should be no assumptions, they should have asked all the relevant dog etiquette questions, but as you said they're in their own world

We have only just started walking with Chiquio and I can completely understand your frustration .... people around our house seem to think it is fine to let their dogs run out onto the road to greet/growl/bark at us and then answer my growls at their dog to go home with a casual 'oh he's a cute pup, you need to teach him to settle down and do as he is told though'

Nice to hear from you. People are just silly and don't think, don't let it put you off ><

It's my biggest annoyance with dog ownership. I put a lot of effort into raising Logan well and it was all ruined because some moron let their off lead dog attack him.

Don't be afraid to tell (not ask) them to put their dog on lead, it's not your responsibility to look after their dog too.

Tell me about it! The amount of times people let their dog come barrelling over to Dempsey is unbelievable, and he's an unpredictable bugga!

This kind of thing makes me mad at least once a day. I get all sorts of dogs that just come running up to Rocky barking and growling although he is always on a lead but should he grumble at them it is his fault - according to the other dogs owners not me.

This makes me very frustrated while out for a nice walk, it always gets ruined by someone else s dog.

Some people have no idea of dog etiquette, a loose JRT ran up to Lola who was on a lead and Lola attacked it. She can be a bit shady with other dogs since she was attacked as a pup. My son takes the dogs out but he is scared of big dogs as he was bitten by a GSD when he was little so I know where your coming from

A 'friendly' JRT came up to my parents Dobermann (she was 5 months) and bit her nose aggressively. The owner eventually came up and said 'oh he does that sometimes' this has to be the worst example of loose dogs I've experienced. The Dobes nose was pouring with blood and he just walked off. I was sooooooooo mad.

With Moll I don't like people coming up with their dogs off lead as she gets nervous of big dogs. And I prob get nervous that the other dog could potentially cause problems. I think the easiest method is to have them on lead if there are any probs!

I am socialising her but the fear stemmed from an off lead great dane attempting to play with her, he put his paw down on her and it had alot of force and she wasn't a happy dog. She was on lead when this happened.

Completely understand your frustration! Ebony isn't dog aggressive, but I ALWAYS put her on lead round any dog, or any area I think there might be dogs which could potentially come out at any moment (common dog walking forests ect) but that's purely to stop anything bad generating from Eb running round like a loon to play with a potentially aggressive dog, or a dog that's in training, nervous of whatever else it may be. I just think it's common sense and genuinely polite really. I had a real hard time when I was training Eb with people assuming she was aggressive since she's mainly always on lead around other dogs but that's cause she will bolt from anywhere to play - she's not as bad anymore but just to be on the safe side; but when I said she was okay then they'd take that as a chance to just let their dog run wild round her getting her all worked up and tangled and it was just terrible, that's if their dog was on the lead in the first place since they normally weren't Like Tara said, if she was aggressive or anything escalated our dog would be first to be called out on being wrong even though we were being responsible. I even cross the road when other dogs are walking down head on as they just run all over the place and the owners make no attempt to control their dog and it's just really not worth the hassle.

I love dogs but I hate JRT`s.
I got attacked going to work a few months ago by my neighbours JRT.
She let the dog out to go the toilet and it saw me and attacked.
Gums back, barking and growling it came charging towards me.
I aimed a kick at the dog and it stopped. It jumped at me again and I threw
another kick. My neighbour lost the head and started screaming at me to
leave her dog alone. I said to her that he is attacking me and she replied that he
wont go near you and stop kicking trying to kick. I never kicked the dog and
eventually she called it back in. If this was a child they would have been savaged.. I HATE THEM..lol

Totally understand your frustration, Steff is still only young but can be unpredictable with small jumpy dogs She like to let them know who's boss.. People can be so irresponsible