Jenny Ling and her dog had an unfortunate encounter with a so called ' friendly' dog and its aggressive owners.

OPINION: 'It's OK, my dog is friendly'.

As a dog owner that's the phrase that really gets my hackles up.

I've heard it so many times. This is how it goes.

We're out for a walk, my dog on a lead, and we're approached by people whose dogs are off leash.

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Usually the dog comes rushing over accompanied by calls of 'it's OK, my dog is friendly!'

Sometimes it is OK; the dogs have a quick sniff of each other and we carry on.

This time it didn't work out so well.

My scruffy friend and I were out walking at a popular spot on the weekend, when the usual 'my dog is friendly' calls wafted over from a couple approaching us with their off-lead dog.

The track was narrow so to give my dog some space, I moved over to let them pass.

But the curious canine bowled straight up to us.

My dog gave a warning growl that she wasn't comfortable, and within a split second, the other dog was ripping into her.

John Selkirk Face to face greetings among dogs are a recipe for disaster.

I reacted the only way I could think of among the snarling chaos and kicked out at the attacking dog to try and get it off.

The male owner - who is obviously as bad mannered as his animal - then rushed over to me and gave me a hard shove and he and his wife started screaming at me.

So let's get this straight - my dog was on a lead and I had courteously moved out of the way to let them pass.

They didn't have any control over their 'friendly' dog, which attacked mine, then its owners lashed out at me verbally and physically.

Nice one.

Luckily we were both unharmed, though it sure did upset us.

If you're going to have a dog off lead you should be able to call it back.

Here's why.

A dog on a lead is always on the back foot. There's nowhere for them to run - so they sometimes get defensive.

A dog owner may have their dog on a lead for many different reasons; it may be unwell, it may be shy, it may be old, it may not have good recall, or it may be frightened of bigger dogs.

Some, like humans, just like their own space.

SUPPLIED If you don't have control over your dog, put it on a leash.

Not many dogs on a lead are very tolerant of others rushing at them.

Dogs that charge up to others is considered extremely rude behaviour among dogs.

And newsflash - even though your dog might be friendly, the one on the lead might not be.

In a natural environment dogs greet each other from the side then sniff each other's rear ends.

When they're on lead - or when a dog rushes up to one on a lead - they're meeting head on with full eye contact which indicates a fight is about to break out.

My dog is sometimes reactive.

She's from the SPCA and didn't have the best start in life. She's wary of strange dogs and sometimes reacts out of fear.

I've done my best to socialise her and she's doing really well.

She gets on with other dogs during weekly sessions at doggie day care, she plays with the neighbour's dogs, and has lots of other canine friends.

So next time your dog is off leash and you see someone coming, please do the courtesy of putting him on leash while you pass.

And to the couple who I had the unfortunate encounter with - guess what - your dog is not friendly.