How should I react? Meeting an off-lead dog while mine is on a lead

And to prevent any encounters turning nasty because of communication issues between the two dogs: socialise your girl as much as possible :)

Go on walks with friendly dogs of all shapes and sizes, and with all sorts of energy levels, so she learns not to be afraid of those bigger than her!

It’s quite normal for a small dog to be intimidated by bigger ones, but it’s definitely something you can work on.

Obviously, you should do this with dogs that are well-managed by their owners and that you know are calm with smaller dogs.

As for everything else, it all depends on what the other dog is showing you, and what your own dog is doing.

For instance, in my case: my dogs are a decent size, quite comfortable meeting strange dogs, and are pretty good at handling all sorts of situations without needing my help. When they get the feeling that the dog approaching is a bit sketchy, they tend to just avoid them; they don't look for trouble, they just keep on walking.

So, here’s what I do if an off-lead dog approaches mine while they're on-lead...

- I give them as much slack as possible, or even drop the lead entirely.

- I WARN them that another dog is coming (in a calm voice, mind!), to avoid them being startled and to show them that I’ve got things under control (I usually say, "have you seen the pup?", and if I say that in the middle of a walk, they’ll start looking all over the place to find where the dog is!).

- By default, I let them interact, but as soon as they've had a sniff, I keep walking at a brisk pace and encourage them to follow me. I make a habit of not letting encounters with unknown dogs drag on, especially when the owners don’t look like they know what they’re doing; we say a quick hello and part ways calmly :)

- If I don’t like the look of the other dog, then yes, I try to step in to at least lower the tension (as if to say, "OI, I'm 5'7" so you’d better pack it in if you want to say hello to the little one I’m with"), or even calmly shoo it away. There’s no secret to it—to make it work, you have to be assertive: stand up straight, move towards the other dog, and shout "HEY!" in a deep voice, for example. I did exactly that a few days ago with a Pointer that was starting to pick a fight with my entire male; there was no owner in sight, and he soon calmed down and went on his way. Now, if the other dog is truly determined and aggressive, well... you just have to hope the owner turns up quickly to get their beast back on a lead, because you won't be able to keep that up for long. Basically, other than hoping you never cross paths with a dog that’s genuinely intent on mauling yours, there isn’t much else you can do—when that happens, whether you’ve got a small dog or a big one, you soon find yourself feeling pretty helpless.

Cheers for the advice. I also felt like letting the lead go slack was a good move because we both just went our separate ways afterwards. Actually, mine used to do the same when she was off-lead, like heading over to say hello to other dogs, but generally, when we pass other dogs, we just give the other owner a nod to let them know she’s off-lead, and so far it’s all gone smoothly. She’s very sociable and loves a good play, but I think big dogs just intimidate her. I've noticed she’s not at all scared of dogs of a similar size and she’ll start playing with them straight away. That said, big dogs don't actually bother her; it’s just that their way of saying hello is a bit boisterous LOL.

I’m usually quite careful. If the other dog is on a lead, I’ll pop her back on hers when we pass them.

Up until now, we’ve never had to deal with an aggressive dog. Usually, the owners give us a heads-up. Once we came across a GSD and she wanted to go over to him, but his owner told us not to get too close as he wasn't sure how the dog would react. I think that’s brilliant. As owners, we know our dogs and it’s all about being responsible.

👌