Walk-By Etiquette

Airn

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#1
I've been curious about this for a while and I'm sure there's no 'right' answer. How do you react when you are walking your dog and another dog walks by? )Assume it's on a leash held by a human.) Do you let the dogs greet, ignore the dog and keep walking, what?
I always find myself in this odd position of wanting to let them greet and not wanting to upset the owner. I find it hard to tell if someone wants my dog to meet their's or if they want to get from point A to point B without having to deal with anyone else. Usually I'm in doggy areas when this happens, but some dog people are very.....particular. (Trying not to rag on you small dog people, but...some people.... geeze!)
 
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#2
I give a quick "with me" which is their cue to get to my side and keep walking. I don't typically let the dogs meet on leash. It's easier than trying to go through the "do they want them to meet? Is their dog friendly? Is it too tense? Is my dog too tense?"

But to be honest normally I'm biking or at the dog park so the choices in each situation are taken out of my hands.
 

JessLough

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#3
Rosey's generally on my right hand side, and I'm walking on the right side of the sidewalk, so I'm always inbetween her and other people/dogs.

As a general rule, I don't let her interact with anybody, human or dog, unless that person asks or makes it obvious they want to say hi. Whether that be they put out a hand, say hello to Rosey, or they let their dog come up towards her, which I find people do to kind of let you know their dog could say hi.

Honestly though, Rosey couldn't care less about other dogs, so it's not a problem for her. I have had a few people ask if their dog could say hi to Rosey, to which I tell them sure, if Rosey wants to, as long as I'm not on a schedule. Otherwise, I leave it. Usually tell them something like "oh, she can be a snob and doesn't always want to say hi to people or other dogs, but you can certainly try!"

What I hate is when I'm obviously trying to get her to the side/away from your dog, and you try and force the issue.
 

DenoLo

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#4
I think it's usually good to say "Hey do you mind if they meet?" first. As far as the small dog people goes, My little one really doesn't care to greet any dog bigger than 30 pounds or so, so when I'm walking her I usually tend to try and avoid most other dogs.
 

Saeleofu

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#5
I move my dog to the side farthest from the other dog, tell them "leave it" just in case, and carry on. I will not let my dog greet some random dog we pass by.
 

PWCorgi

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#6
I cross the street if possible. If other people cross the street I smile at them in thanks. If I had enough money I would totally give out dollar bills to people who cross the street to increase the chance they would do it again! lol

If we are on a path or something I ask for Frodo's attention and reinforce heavily as we pass. If the other person's dog seems out of control I will pull Frodo off to the side and do LAT so that I can keep an eye on the other dog and deal with it accordingly.
 

Southpaw

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#7
We don't do on leash greetings.
If someone asks me if our dogs can meet (which is super rare...), I'll think about it and see if Juno seems willing and how the other dog is acting. But I will never initiate it.

If we are walking through the neighborhood, I will cross to the other side of the street so that there's distance between us and the other person/dog. On a path, I have Juno move over to my right side so that I am between her and the other dog, and I keep her on a super short leash as we go by. She is reactive though so this is mostly just so she doesn't lunge at the other dog.

At pet stores I just want to slap people, because they don't seem to notice that I am trying to stay away from them and their dog. If I keep backing away from you, or putting my body between your dog and mine.... this does not mean I want our dog to say hi. So please respect our space and be mindful of your dog and keep the leash reeled in a bit. Siiiiiiigh.
 

MericoX

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#9
I switch dog to opposite side that the oncoming person's dog is on. If I have multiples we stop, and work on LAT.
 

adojrts

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#10
My dogs know a side switch and do not move forward to greet another dog unless given permission and no rushing is allow either. I try to keep myself between my dog and a strange dog. I don't allow on leash greetings unless I know the dog and owner VERY well.
 

crazedACD

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#11
If I really don't want to meet someone while walking by on the street, I try to keep my dog in heel and avoid eye contact. Usually body language works, and generally my dogs are more interested in the walk than the other dog.

If I'm at a store I guess I don't really care as I only bring good dogs with me, heh. I don't love the on leash meeting thing though as plenty of dogs snark pretty badly. I'd actually prefer not to meet any dog as I don't want my dogs anticipating that (okay it sounds good in my head).
 

Fran101

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#12
Keep walking.
We live in a city full of dogs and if I started on-leash greetings we would never get anywhere.
The rule of the regular every-day walk is basically straight ahead by my side walking. playing, greeting other dogs, going to the bathroom etc... are for after you are released (usually this happens at the park or somewhere less hectic than the busy sidewalk) although I also have a cue for "go say hi" to greet people :) because yea, I am always happy to let PEOPLE come say hi.

Side-walks are hectic..lots of people, dogs, food, garbage, pigeons, cars in close proximity, noise etc.. so I prefer to just teach that sidewalks are for calmly walking instead of creating even more chaos by teaching that sidewalks are also ok for playing/going to go see other dogs.
I will either have my dog sit on the other side of me/go as far away from the person and dog as possible/yell something like "OH HE HAS KENNEL COUGH, IT'S CONTAGIOUS!" if they are really persistent

I don't know what I'm going to do with new puppy once he/she gets older..I've never had a dog that when faced with annoying out of control dogs I couldn't just pick up! lol
 

Catsi

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#13
I give a quick "with me" which is their cue to get to my side and keep walking. I don't typically let the dogs meet on leash. It's easier than trying to go through the "do they want them to meet? Is their dog friendly? Is it too tense? Is my dog too tense?"
^This with Grace (my friendly and very confident girl) but with Abby I usually cross the street if possible. If this is impossible, I give as wide a berth as I can manage. She is reactive and although there are times where I can keep her focused on me and it works out just fine - I like to keep my distance. For everybody's stress levels.
 

Catsi

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#14
I cross the street if possible. If other people cross the street I smile at them in thanks. If I had enough money I would totally give out dollar bills to people who cross the street to increase the chance they would do it again! lol

If we are on a path or something I ask for Frodo's attention and reinforce heavily as we pass. If the other person's dog seems out of control I will pull Frodo off to the side and do LAT so that I can keep an eye on the other dog and deal with it accordingly.
Lol... I should've read further. This is so what happens when I'm with Abby!
 

Lyzelle

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#17
Depends. If we are sitting there and talking, I might leave Zander open for a greeting, but otherwise I try to keep him by me. He can get over-zealous and rude when it comes to other dogs because he wants to PLAY. And not all dogs like that.

Nor does it appeal to me to watch my dog happily shoving his head practically in the jaws of another dog like a complete idiot.

So we have to keep our walks some what idiot-proof. For Zander and other people.
 

spiffy

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#18
Rosey's generally on my right hand side, and I'm walking on the right side of the sidewalk, so I'm always inbetween her and other people/dogs.
I do that too. My Poochi is very well behaved. She thinks all dogs are her friends but you would never know what kind of temperament the other dog has. I only allow leash greetings if my dog is already acquainted with the other dog.
 

stardogs

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#19
I also put my dog in heel and pass by. If their dog has already rushed into my dog's space, I'll immediately step back and loosen the leash to allow for a more natural greeting, but quickly ask my dog for attention and heel after the greeting is over.
 

JacksonsMom

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#20
I always find this kind of awkward too. Because sometimes people have that look, like, they want our dogs to greet, but don't actually SAY anything, so sometimes we'll give the awkward looks to each other and decide last minute if I'm just going to keep going, or what not. Nowadays, typically, I just keep going. But I used to let Jackson say hi to most dogs that ever walked by us, if the people were also initiating it, but now I've turned into a snob and don't feel like small talk, LOL
 

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