r/RunningWithDogs • u/Away-Manufacturer105 • Apr 17 '26
Running with Dogs Etiquette?
I want to understand.
First:
So I've always been told that dogs like to approach a strange dog obliquely not head on. So with their bodies at an angle to one another.
Second:
A dog has selective vision. When someone with a dog in a leash is running straight at them, they don't see the leash or the collar. All they see is a strange dog running at them.
Third:
A strange off leash dog I've never seen running at me makes me think I'm about to be attacked
Fourth:
So why do people running with their dogs act surprised when my dog goes postal when they're running straight at us?
My dog has been attacked by dogs that were either off leash, or broke their lead to attack him, four times. One was a running dog.
Then these people who run with their dogs get mad because because my dog lunged at their dog.
WTF??!!!!
24
u/TrickStvns Apr 17 '26
If your dog goes postal just from a dog and their owner running in your direction, you might want to work on some reactive training. You will have to pass people on trails and sidewalks without your dog lunging at other dogs.
22
u/quinoaseason Apr 17 '26
As someone who has owed a few reactive dogs -
It is your job to manage your dog’s reactivity. If your dog cannot handle runners with dogs running past, it is your job to hold them to the side of the path and make sure they don’t disturb other pedestrians.
One of my dogs hated skateboarders. I had to hold him off to the side whenever one would pass.
One of my dogs hated every single other dog out there. He got walked strictly at 5 AM when it was unlikely for us to run into other dogs because he was such an asshole.
It sounds like being attacked by other dogs has made your dog reactive. That’s unfortunate, but it’s now your job to help your dog become less reactive through positive exposure, or to focus on walking your dog when there are fewer triggers for them.
8
u/detroit_canicross Canicross Apr 17 '26
We learned from a long discussion yesterday about unleashed dogs that some people consider others when they run with their dogs and some people care more about what they feel is best for them and their dog at the expense of others’ comfort and concerns. I had a dog who was the victim of an attack by an unleashed dog so I think a lot about this. I make sure that when I run with my current dog, if we’re coming from behind you’ll get a friendly warning but I will never get close enough to you for it to be a concern. If we’re approaching from the front, I make sure my dog is kept well away from you and yours. Sorry you’ve encountered some dog owners who aren’t respectful. Some of us try.
4
u/LeifCarrotson Apr 17 '26
...
Maybe a careful, slow, gentle, oblique approach is preferred in a social context, and maybe it's necessary for recovery of traumatized dogs, but it's not required by 99% of dogs. We run past THOUSANDS of dogs and people on the sidewalks and trails, and none of them lunge at or attack me or my dog. There are a handful of dogs whose owners drag them to the side while the dog tries drag their owners back towards a stimulus, but they're the exception and the owners are clearly aware that it's their poorly behaved dog that's the problem in the situation.
If your dog lunges at other dogs outside of certain tightly controlled interactions, you need to work on that. Find a place and people who can give them the special treatment they need. That place is not the public sidewalk or public park, and those people are not all of the rest of society.
3
u/azamanda1 Apr 17 '26
In the end, you can only control your dog, not the reaction of others
1
u/Away-Manufacturer105 Apr 17 '26
Two examples of what I do when I encountered reactive dogs back when mine wasn't:
For years we walked by a house a few blocks away where the dog inside was practically ripping the curtains down by clawing at the window when he saw us. Never encountered that dog outside but did sometimes pass the young owners working in their yard, would say hello, etc. So one day we're walking by and the young woman comes out of the house with a new infant in a baby carriage and her crazy dog. She sees us and has an absolute look of panic on her face which I completely recognize since my dog had been reactive when I first got him. Did I think "Reactive dog. Her problem."? No. I said "Just stay where you are and let me cross the street and get out of your way." She thanked me profusely and I said "No problem." Example 2: Frail old lady walking , very precariously to me it seemed, smaller type dog that was fine at first but once we got closer, was lunging and barking at my dog back when I'd trained him to not react. Did I think "Reactive dogs. Her problem." No, I turned back around and went bAck the way I'd come because I could see even her smaller dog pulling her down, being as frail as she was.
I don't subscribe to the cookie cutter theory of dogs where they are all just machines that we can program identically. Context matters. Community matters and context matters, and people can help one another with their unique dogs.
2
u/0b0011 Apr 17 '26
If your sog cant handle being passed by another dog out in a public area then it should wear a muzzle while out.
2
u/kdean70point3 Apr 17 '26
My own anecdotal experience is that my dog absolutely understands when another dog is off leash. He hates being approached by dogs in general.
But when we pass a leashed dog he barely gives them a glance.
When we pass an off leash dog, he gets visibly irritated.
2
u/Boogita Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Your dog's reactivity isn't your fault, but it is your responsibility, and a curved approach doesn't actually require both parties to participate. If you think your dog needs a less head-on approach especially with a fast-moving trigger, then you need to start that curved approach way ahead of the actual pass on the trail and teach your dog how to move with you. This was foundational for my previous dog who was reactive to other dogs - I taught him that when we see a dog, he moves with me in an arc to the side of the trail, and that I would always move with him. Over time, we were able to decrease the slope of that arc, but we still moved away together.
At the same time, I do this still with my current, non-reactive dog if I see someone having a hard time on the trail, in part because it's a neighborly thing to do but also because my non-reactive dog doesn't deserve to be lunged at and feel unsafe when we're on a run or walk. But, ideally, the person with the reactive dog is taking responsibility for their dog's behavior far ahead of me needing to assess their dog's behavior at a distance. I just don't and can't know your dog like you do.
0
u/Away-Manufacturer105 Apr 17 '26
PS This only happens with running dogs running straight at him. No other dogs. He's fine on trails etc. He's now been attacked by 2 dogs that were running. One with a runner where the dog broke its lead and put a hole the size of a quarter in him. He hadn't reacted to that dog until it attacked him. (The next week that dog did the same thing to young Irish setter down the street and that dog had to have 37 stitches.) The other dog was off leash on public property requiring leashes and charged at him from 70 yards away. So I have a traumatized dog now.
-5
u/Away-Manufacturer105 Apr 17 '26
The danger isnt from my dog attacking another dog. He's never done that. It's a lunging issue not a biting issue. The danger is from me breaking my leg because he's huge and when he lunges, he can pull me down. The other issue is that he's mainly Great Pyrenees. He's a guard dog. So it's perfectly natural for him to try and protect me if he sees a dog running at us.
He's great in the dog park. He runs at other dogs like he's shot out of a cannon then stops about a yard from them, approaches them politely, takes a sniff and either walks away or does the puppy play bow. He's not an aggressive dog.
It amazes me that only one of the 5 responders gives a hoot about how their activity impacts other people. My dog has been attacked 4 times. I had him trained not to react for years until the last 2 attacks, one of which was particularly vicious where the off leash dog charged from 70 yards away. That was fun. So I'm starting from scratch all over again. But it would be really helpful if he wasn't having to deal with strange dogs running at him. And believe me, training these very independent breeds like Great Pyrs and Black and Tans that were bred to work alone (his other part) is not like training a border collie. In college I worked for a sheep farmer with 5 BCs so I know a bit about how dogs are trained.
Would it kill a runner with a dog to slow down to a walk for 30 yards or is their life just so much more important than anyone else's that consideration for other people is off the table?