A question that comes up fairly frequently whenever I am working with my training clients is “What about letting my dog meet other dogs on the walk?”
Naturally, we all want to take our dogs out on adventures, let them meet new friends and people, and just have a great time. But in reality, on-leash greetings during the walk are often times not great time for dogs. This is because on-leash meetings often times create tension and stress for many dogs.
Think of it like this…The fact that leashes restrain dogs can cause many of them to feel trapped and unable to act naturally in the presence of other dogs. This is a big reason many dogs that are normally well-mannered develop reactivity and aggression issues when on-leash.
Now, perhaps you have the type of dog that loves to meet other dogs regardless of whether or not he or she is on leash. Personally, I would still recommend keeping distance from other dogs passing by. I just think it is the safest practice. The reality is often times it is difficult to determined how another will react to your dog, even if the dog looks friendly (or even if the owner says that he or she is friendly).
While my goal is not to persuade people that on-leash greetings will always end disaster, I do want people to be informed of the potential risks. Unfortunately, I have just heard too many stories of dogs having bad encounters on walks to not mention anything about it.
It is my belief that socializing should always be done in a controlled, supervised environment. For this reason, I would also like to add that I am not a fan of using dog parks either. If you would like to learn some more about dog parks and socialization, make sure to check out these posts, as well: