# Do you meet and greet other dogs on walks?



## Pammie (Jan 22, 2011)

Sometimes, yes. It all depends on the dog and handler. I always observe who else is walking their dog and if the dog seems in control by the person and not excitable I will let them meet my Bryley. They sniff, we chat a bit and then we part. If either dog gets feisty it is an even shorter visit. I want calm and nonchalant!
If the other dog is barking, yapping or lunging like a lunatic and we are asked for a meeting I just say my dog is in training or that he doesn't like other dogs or whatever!! I am not going to expose him to bad energy.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Somewhere between sometimes and rarely.

People I know whose dogs I know - we always seem to stop and chat if we're out the same time. My dogs are trained to be polite and not do anything beyond nose sniffing and waggling at each other.

Puppies and young dogs are reeled in and my hand is on the collar to teach them to be calm and controlled while meeting. As they grow up and mature, this becomes very calm and relaxed greetings whether my dog is on leash or off. 

My Jacks can meet dogs off leash and be trusted to sniff noses and that it. He's more interested in people - which I prefer with dogs. I don't want them thinking "play" when they see other dogs. I want them to be more aloof and ignore unless released to play. And generally with "non-family" dogs, my dogs will never be released to play with others. 

Bertie is still unpredictable so if I see any other dogs while he is off leash, he is called immediately to my side and the leash goes on before I allow meetings. And he meets on short leash. As he matures and calms down, he will definitely becoming like Jacks.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Pammie said:


> Sometimes, yes. It all depends on the dog and handler. I always observe who else is walking their dog and if the dog seems in control by the person and not excitable I will let them meet my Bryley. They sniff, we chat a bit and then we part. If either dog gets feisty it is an even shorter visit. I want calm and nonchalant!
> If the other dog is barking, yapping or lunging like a lunatic and we are asked for a meeting I just say my dog is in training or that he doesn't like other dogs or whatever!! I am not going to expose him to bad energy.


This.
We walk at the park a lot so we see a lot of other dogs - there are some that we go off the path to avoid and some that we just calmly walk past. And some that will want to greet us. I usually let the young ones bounce up to us, because Max is so calm usually that I think it's good for them? And because I remember when he was as bad!

If there's a hint of "I don't like you and will bite you while my owner plays on the phone," we're out of there.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

If I don't know the dog, I pretty much never allow a greeting. Our dogs love to play, but that just means tangled leashes. And if I don't know the other dog, a leashed greeting is not what I want. Too many dogs are fine off-leash but more nervous on-leash, and that's the last thing I want.

If a dog is off-leash and showing friendly body language and my dogs are off-leash, I'll call them to me until we're pretty close and then let them go greet, just so I'm close to the dogs if anything goes badly. But on-leash, I try to avoid in general, or at least only allow a quick sniff-and-pass.


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## Goldylover2 (May 1, 2014)

My golden pup had issues so we sent him to a trainer for a week. He now listens to all commands pretty good. On walks I tell him to sit when another dog is coming the other way down the path. He sits and stays which amazes me. This pup has made great strides since the being with the trainer. Most dogs coming the other way are pulling and out of control for the most part. The owners say why doesn't my dog act like that. They just don't know that my pup was out of control and showing aggression just weeks prior. O


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I walk my dogs off leash 99% of the time. As puppies they are on long lines, so I can reel them in if any issues result. My dogs are able to greet whomever they want whenever they want. Most dogs in my area are off leash, so what I'm doing is not unusual. My dogs are generally more interested in what the other human has in their pockets and if they will share!


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

We walk in the park or somewhere else nearly every day, always on a leash. We never allow a greeting unless we know the owner and the dog. Before we allow selected people to greet Summit, we have him sitting quietly. He's much better now about not getting overexcited than he was before he reached seven months or so. Also, when we're walking fast for exercise and not training him or playing, he wears a lightweight Ruffwear pack, and that has steadied him a lot.


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

We live in an area with lots of dogs and limited places to walk them, so we see dogs frequently. As we approach each other, and if the other dog looks friendly, I always ask, "Can they say hi?" If the owner is receptive, I let the dogs introduce each other on their leads, and if it looks like it is going well, I will let them get to know each other.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

There are doggy neighborhood friends that we greet. Thor goes through this very predictable routine where he will lie down as the other dog approaches. When the other dog sniffs he will then bounce up, sniff and want to play most times, which is when I pull him away and keep walking to avoid the leash tangling issue. Unknown dogs I've learned to walk on and avoid, unless owners ask to meet and their dog is giving unmistakable friendly signals.When he was younger He always wanted to greet everything that moved and most everyone wanted to greet him, too. But after one or two unwelcoming growls I wised up. Off leash I tend to leash him as soon as I become aware of another approaching dog, because he is still rambunctious and I don't know the tolerance level of the other dog. He does the lying down routine, too, which gives me time to react most times.


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

When we first got Ben, he insisted on meeting all new dogs that we encountered while walking. Unfortunately, he got attacked several times when doing so. Now he's the one barking and lunging when dogs pass by. He's usually fine with small dogs, but any large dog sends his adrenaline surging.

Last summer we did some hiking in Washington while on vacation. We ran into a lot of dogs, mostly off leash. Surprisingly, there was very little conflict. The only time Ben got ornery was when meeting northern breeds. (He hates huskies!)


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## name44 (Nov 21, 2014)

My dog is a socialite. Still training him to heel. He sees another dog or person and the leash snaps tight he wants to say "Hi". I don't mind him wanting to meet another people/dogs, I just wish he would contain his enthusiasm to meet them lol.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

My Ben is a social butterfly. He wants to meet people and dogs and leaves and feathers. 

We're learning to sit and wait as people walk past. Most times he will. Most times...


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

We only meet and greet carefully pre-screened dogs of people I know and trust. I live in a very dog friendly area of town and I can count on one hand the number of dogs I will allow my dogs to stop and interact with when we encounter them on walks.


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

Usually no because mine just want to full on play, and I won't allow play when all dogs are leashed. When a dog is coming towards us I make mine sit off to the side, and treat them for focusing on me rather than the passing dog. Off leash they can play all they want. I have had one girl who was walking two mid size dogs bring them right into our space when I was walking mine on leash, and I refused to let mine 'play'. She assumed by this that Bear and Stormy were aggressive, I said no, they can't play on leash, I think it's dangerous for me and the dogs, she looked at me like I was an idiot, and I continued on our walk. In my mind leash time is controlled and training focused, but off leash they can play until they drop!


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Katduf said:


> Usually no because mine just want to full on play, and I won't allow play when all dogs are leashed. *When a dog is coming towards us I make mine sit off to the side, and treat them for focusing on me rather than the passing dog.* Off leash they can play all they want. I have had one girl who was walking two mid size dogs bring them right into our space when I was walking mine on leash, and I refused to let mine 'play'. She assumed by this that Bear and Stormy were aggressive, I said no, they can't play on leash, I think it's dangerous for me and the dogs, she looked at me like I was an idiot, and I continued on our walk. In my mind leash time is controlled and training focused, but off leash they can play until they drop!


That was what I did with Max, gradually decreasing the number of treats he got as he got better at focusing on me. For a while I felt like a pez dispenser, but I can walk him at the park and tell him, "ignore" and he will walk right past most other dogs. (I saw most, because if a Golden is headed our way, he thinks it must be playtime!)


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## Eowyn (Aug 29, 2013)

I train my dogs to ignore all other dogs unless released to play. I'm intentional about socializing them with other dogs (off leash walks and playtime with dogs I know) but when we are out and about I want them to understand it isn't playtime.

^^^ I think it's an overflow from having service dogs. I used to want my dogs to play and meet everyday they see in an attempt to socialize them, but I've come to want my dogs to be able to completely ignore other dogs.


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