Not Sure Who Was In The Wrong

[Atanquin]

How close did you pass the other dog though? Was it less than 2 metres from the dog? If so, your dog would have been attacked even if the other dog was on leash.

The dog being off leash sort of implies that she has good control over the dog, as long as everyone else gives them reasonable space. Passing within 2 metres of another dog at training is rude, IMO. Even if the dog is perfectly friendly, it's a disturbance to have other dogs walk past really close, and the passing dog may be sniffing or staring at the working dog, which isn't fair on the working dog.

I've noticed at my club, some of the newbies let their dogs walk right up to my dog and then giggle as if it's funny. I know for a fact that they're all told to ask before approaching other dogs at orientation night, yet I still have to tell them to give my dog space, and move out of the way of people who would walk right up to us to get through the gate.

So it works both ways. Her aggressive dog should definitely be on leash when not working, but other people should also be giving her and everyone else enough space to not disturb their dogs (i.e. not be within leash reach).

We are not new to the club just to the next class and we did walk close to her but she was right in the way if I had tried to give her more room I would be tangled in the equipment. :) I allay ask if it's okay for zorro to say hello to dogs first and I warn them he can get over excited.

[megan_]

I'm actually really surprised to hear how common it apparently is for aggressive dogs to be allowed to participate in sports that require them to be off leash. I would have thought clubs would refuse them unless the aggression is under control and the owner can prove they have complete control of the dog in that sort of environment, which I imagine would be very hard to achieve with some dogs.

It's a bit of a balance. There are some reactive dogs that are triggered by movement or a dog being 5m away - they shouldn't be doing agility until this is worked on.

Lucy does agility and works off leash. She would react to a dog getting in her face, however she works beautifully off leash, is totally focused on training and doesn't react to dogs walking past, running past etc.

In the scenario described by the OP, the other person was in the wrong. However, if I was having to walk past someone within greeting distance I'd ask them to move. I never, ever let my dogs get within coo-ee of another dog at training, unless I have their permission (even then, we're not at training to play with other dogs, so my dogs focus on me and don't do the whole "hello" thing).

As the owner of a reactive dog it is my responsibility to inform others of their reactivity and not to inject myself into the middle of a group. However, it is the responsibility of other owners to respect my wishes and not approach my dog either. That goes for all dogs, reactive or not. My girl wears a vest that says "PLEASE GIVE ME SPACE" in bright, bold print and I always stay on the fringes but I can't tell you the number of times I've had to physically block other dogs or people from approaching her. Most of the owners just walk past without a clue as to what their dogs are doing.

[Greytmate]

I'm actually really surprised to hear how common it apparently is for aggressive dogs to be allowed to participate in sports that require them to be off leash. I would have thought clubs would refuse them unless the aggression is under control and the owner can prove they have complete control of the dog in that sort of environment, which I imagine would be very hard to achieve with some dogs.

Many years ago when I was instructing agility, we introduced a simple temperament test for participants. They were not allowed to do agility unless they could handle a dog running past them at close range.

Agility can be an environment that encourages aggression in dogs that have that tendency, lots of excitement and resources to challenge other dogs over. And dogs that feel threatened by other dogs just for being there, they shouldn't be doing work in groups at all.

[JulesP]

Many years ago when I was instructing agility, we introduced a simple temperament test for participants. They were not allowed to do agility unless they could handle a dog running past them at close range.

My dog would pass this test but she would fail in the situation that the OP was talking about.

[fuzzy82]

My dog is dog aggressive, but only if another dog comes up and tries to interact with him, i.e. gets in his face. He's brilliant off leash, he's fine being around other dogs as long as they don't interact and I can call him back from just about anything, and he's not motion reactive and will hold a sit/stay right next to a dog doing jumps and tunnels without any issues.

Because of his little issue he's on leash when he's not working. But the amount of people at my club who will let their dogs wander up to him, or work their dogs off leash when they have very limited recalls amazes me. They're working off leash when they don't need to be (e.g. for flatwork) and the dog is repeatedly leaving them to go say hello to other dogs and not coming when called, and yet they don't put a leash on it. Ridiculous.

I don't have a problem with aggressive dogs training at the club, but I expect them to be properly managed. Motion reactive dogs need to be on leash or a longline at all times. There was an incident at our club a few weeks ago where an aggressive dog chased a dog who was already quite anxious and fearful, which just about broke the fearful dog even though there were no injuries. The guy who owned the reactive dog told everyone very clearly to not approach his dog because he needed space, but then he went and let his dog off leash and it ended up chasing the fearful dog because it was chasing a toy.

If I was running a training club, I would not be allowing things like this to go on. How much would it suck to have put all that effort into training your fearful dog, and then have the dog fall apart because some idiot let his reactive dog chase it.

[Greytmate]

Many years ago when I was instructing agility, we introduced a simple temperament test for participants. They were not allowed to do agility unless they could handle a dog running past them at close range.

My dog would pass this test but she would fail in the situation that the OP was talking about.

Wasn't the OP talking about a situation where a dog went past too closely? It is a usual thing that happens in an agility class, so it sounds like you have a dog not suited to a normal agility class.

In any case, a temperament test will only rule out some dogs and some types of aggression. Of the dogs that passed the test, some went on to behave aggressively in class and their owners were held responsible. I remember one dog was banned because the owners refused to muzzle it or even accept that their dog was at fault.