Not that weird, to be honest. Most people assume that if you're in a public space like a store with your dog that your dog is friendly. While it's not a very smart thing to just let your dog walk up and greet any dog without asking, if your dog was reactive or aggressive it probably shouldn't be in that environment to begin with. While Home Depot probably has way less dogs than a pet store, you wouldn't go into Petco or PetSmart expecting every dog owner to be 100% dog savvy with complete control over their dog. He was probably just happy to see another dog, I doubt he was smiling because he was a smug bad dog owner.
Weird Encounter at Home Depot
I took our dog to Home Depot this evening to get some gardening supplies. He's well behaved there, and I also take him there because it brings up some good training opportunities. Anyways, I was walking with my dog heeling beside me down a long aisle, and was about halfway through the aisle. Suddenly, my dog pulled on the leash and turned around, so I looked to see what was going on.
Get this: A guy was standing about 30 ft away at the end of the aisle, holding a retractable lead, and he let his dog come all the way to meet ours! His dog just came up and started sniffing my dog's behind. It was a bit weird (he and his dog are lucky they didn't pick a reactive dog!). The guy was watching and grinning the entire time (from 30 ft away!)...he thought it was hilarious. Strange, right? I've never seen another dog owner pull this stunt using a retractable lead in a store before.
I'm teaching our dog to ignore other dogs when on leash, so I told him to Leave It, and he actually listened (woot! that is a VERY hard thing for him to do, since he loves to play).
Anyways, just wanted to share this weird dog owner story....
Get this: A guy was standing about 30 ft away at the end of the aisle, holding a retractable lead, and he let his dog come all the way to meet ours! His dog just came up and started sniffing my dog's behind. It was a bit weird (he and his dog are lucky they didn't pick a reactive dog!). The guy was watching and grinning the entire time (from 30 ft away!)...he thought it was hilarious. Strange, right? I've never seen another dog owner pull this stunt using a retractable lead in a store before.
I'm teaching our dog to ignore other dogs when on leash, so I told him to Leave It, and he actually listened (woot! that is a VERY hard thing for him to do, since he loves to play).
Anyways, just wanted to share this weird dog owner story....
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I'm not saying it's right, just that it's not "weird" or unusual. There will always be irresponsible dog owners, it's nothing new. And while it isn't responsible to let a dog to the end of its retractable leash to greet another dog, I don't think it should be seen as some heinous crime that a lot of people seem to think it is. Ignorance is not malice. Maybe people should try a little more to educate others instead of tutting and walking away and ranting about what a horrible dog owner that person is.
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