Wow, thanks for all the replies. It's always interesting to read the different opinions and see the discussion happening.
Just for the record, I wasn't mad at the guy with the retractable lead. I guess I have gotten used to it -- my dog and I are constantly approached by people and their dogs (sometimes they ask first...but, mostly not!). I find many people are not aware of "dog etiquette", but want a social connection with other dog owners and their dogs. So, to an extent, I understand their want of a 'connection' and some interaction to brighten their day, so I try to not let things annoy me for the most part...there is no way I can avoid all these situations. It does make training harder because I am still trying to work on him ignoring dogs and people that greet him with exciting voices and vigorous pats. He's an adolescent and can become a bouncing monkey at the end of the lead. To top it off, he's 95 pds and strong, so I work that much harder in getting him trained.
That said, I think the most annoyed I ever got with unwanted interaction -- one time, my dog and I were waiting outside a store for a guy and his huge poodle to finish going through the door. But instead of leaving, he saw us and approached for a dog greeting. He was blocking me from entering the store, but I was an idiot and didn't say anything. Suddenly, his dog snapped and lunged, and almost got a piece of my dog's nose. Did the guy not know his dog was even remotely reactive?
Anyways, to continue with the first paragraph, another reason I try not to judge others for lack of dog etiquette - while I am aware of 'etiquette', I do stupid things. For eg, one time I was working in the front yard and my dog was being a good boy and ignoring passerby, so I relaxed control of his leash. Then my neighbour's 4 year old kid walks out. My adolescent dog takes off and starts running at her to play. Kid sees a dog twice her size running towards her, starts screaming and runs, and of course my dog chases her. Kid's grandma watches in horror. My dog quickly and thankfully stopped. Yes, I was THAT owner who made a kid scream.
Just for the record, I wasn't mad at the guy with the retractable lead. I guess I have gotten used to it -- my dog and I are constantly approached by people and their dogs (sometimes they ask first...but, mostly not!). I find many people are not aware of "dog etiquette", but want a social connection with other dog owners and their dogs. So, to an extent, I understand their want of a 'connection' and some interaction to brighten their day, so I try to not let things annoy me for the most part...there is no way I can avoid all these situations. It does make training harder because I am still trying to work on him ignoring dogs and people that greet him with exciting voices and vigorous pats. He's an adolescent and can become a bouncing monkey at the end of the lead. To top it off, he's 95 pds and strong, so I work that much harder in getting him trained.
That said, I think the most annoyed I ever got with unwanted interaction -- one time, my dog and I were waiting outside a store for a guy and his huge poodle to finish going through the door. But instead of leaving, he saw us and approached for a dog greeting. He was blocking me from entering the store, but I was an idiot and didn't say anything. Suddenly, his dog snapped and lunged, and almost got a piece of my dog's nose. Did the guy not know his dog was even remotely reactive?
Anyways, to continue with the first paragraph, another reason I try not to judge others for lack of dog etiquette - while I am aware of 'etiquette', I do stupid things. For eg, one time I was working in the front yard and my dog was being a good boy and ignoring passerby, so I relaxed control of his leash. Then my neighbour's 4 year old kid walks out. My adolescent dog takes off and starts running at her to play. Kid sees a dog twice her size running towards her, starts screaming and runs, and of course my dog chases her. Kid's grandma watches in horror. My dog quickly and thankfully stopped. Yes, I was THAT owner who made a kid scream.
