In reply to Jenny C:
> I have a phobia of dogs. Some I'm OK with, but others totally terrify me, even when clearly well controlled and on a lead.
> The behavior you describe is what I would call a "scary dog".
> My reaction would be to look for an escape route (cross a style, stand on a rock, or hide behind a tree, walking partner or random stranger).
> Freeze and hope the owner can take hold of the dogs collar before it gets to me (whilst resisting my natural urge to turn tail and run away screaming).
> If it got the the point of jumping up, I would be screaming at the top of my voice in abject terror and discovering just how fast I can actually run.
> As for the stories of people getting bitten.....
> It has taken 30+ years to get to my current state of self restraint when encountering a "scary dog"
> One bite and I would be back to where I was as a child, unable to leave the house without Mum to protect me and having to cross the road to avoid "scary dogs" even when they are being walked on a lead.
> As for going for a walk on my own...
I can empathise, my earliest memories are being terrified of dogs, if I was walking down the street with my mum (pre school) and I saw someone coming towards us with a dog I'd be begging her to cross the road, I had nightmares about being chased by dogs and would wake up screaming. In my teens I could just about cope with my girlfriend's golden retreiver once I got to know it but it was a long process, when our daghters were little they begged for a dog and we eventually got a puppy from my sister about 20 years ago and Bonnie (a Lab/weimeranner cross) grew up with the girls and I learned to not be scared of dogs (in my 40s by then). Bonnie died when she was over 15 from a twisted stomach about 5 years ago. We got Jack about 2 years ago and his 3/4 sister 9 months later.
When I was in my 20s I used to do a lot of running and being scared of dogs, and being on timed runs , I found nothing more scary/irritating than being bounded up to by a large dog and being told "Its OK , he's harmless."
I've also done my fair share of kicking away annoying dogs (after appropriate warnings to owners).
So I am probably more aware than most of peoples reactions to dogs, hence my amusement at some of the comments on this thread and the assumption by some that I'm an irresponsible dog owner especially when the original enquiry seemed responsible to me (partic after recent walks in the Lake District when the dogs have been on the lead for 7 hours). Resposibility for a dog owner cuts two ways, firstly to ther people and secondly to the dogs themselves. Nothing annoys me more than irresponsible dog owners who give everyone else a bad reputation ... and don't get me started on the poo bag idiots who pick up the poo in a bag and then sling it away ....