I actually agree with a lot you are saying btw, When I say I'm sympathetic towards dogs with issues, I mean it.. I would absolutely get my dog immediately on the lead should anyone request it, in fact that's exactly what I do, not only that but we have some rescue dogs that can't be within 10M of another dog, they are constantly changing direction everytime they see another dog (on the lead or not) so I actually help them out by immediately changing direction and getting our dog out the way so they can enjoy their walk.
And yet you seem very
unsympathetic toward Honey and his GSD clearly advertising that they need space... Maybe you're just missing a crucial point?
He's
shouting a warning, because the owners are not within normal conversational distance, obviously. Their dog is off lead and already ahead, so he shouts
from a distance so they have time to do something about it.
If he sauntered over, all gentleman-like, and offered a pleasant, non-violent, non-threatening, "Good day to you old bean. I say, would you mind awfully keeping your delightful young pup a respectful distance from my grizzly old lad, here? Not to be too much trouble, but he's a frightful chap and rather unnerved by the presence of your fabulous companion, you see...", then it'd be over before the first sentence was even half-delivered.
I don't find the method he chooses to deal with the situation is remotely reasonable..
Why not?
Keep away - What is so unreasonable about that? It's for your safety and for his legal responsibility that he's asking you to keep away, so why the **** would you so recklessly take both those things away?
Presumably you've heard of asking the owner if it's OK to stroke their dog? What would you do if they ever said No?
I bet pretty much any dog owner, who'd already said No, would get quite confrontational if you then deliberately (and very rudely) ignored that...
This situation is exactly the same, except it includes your dog and you're being told No before you even need to ask.
the vast majority of dogs I come across are well behaved, they come over for a sniff and that's it
Irrelevant.
You have been SPECIFICALLY ASKED to keep yourself and your dog away from that guy's dog.
Your opinion of your dog or anyone else's is not even a factor in this. You are invading that dog's safe space and deliberately putting the owner in a very difficult situation. Anyone with an ounce of sense would be very ****** off with you doing that.
I would not expect they deserve violent behaviour from another dog or it's owner just because they approached that dog innocently.
And THAT attitude is precisely the reason why half the dog bites happen, why people get trampled by cattle, why people get kicked by horses, and so many other things... It's also why farmers have the right to shoot your dog, however innocently you assert that it is bothering his livestock.
For someone so sympathetic to dogs with issues, you seem quite ignorant of the distress you might be causing a dog that needs space... even more so if it's muzzled and leashed - Do I
need to explain the likely results of deliberately distressing a captive dog?
I personally have the attitude that if it's my dog that has the problem that I wouldn't expect others to behave anything other than normally around me and take precautions such as a muzzle if I was worried my dog could react badly even if the other dog was not remotely agressive, I do not think just shouting at someone and then blaming them if my dog mauled theirs is acceptable.
What would you do if
you saw a dog that you really didn't like the look of?
Would you bound up to it and expect it to suddenly be all nice, or would you keep your distance and let it go about its business?
This is the same thing, except you can't see what the dog is like... but it's owner can, and he's asking you to keep your distance.
It was the big male Karabash... It's idiots like that guy that make me despair for the world. No wonder few people stop for blokes thumbing a lift these days.
. Given how some idiots have brought dog ownership into such disrepute I never let any of my dogs off the lead in public places, but I am very fortunate in having the space to let them run free here at home, out in the sticks. Pre Covid most went in turn, twice a week to the pub, often I would take 2 at a time. So they were well socialized. The ones I bred from pups went out as soon as their vaccines allowed. The rescues as soon as they were deemed trustworthy.