I'm really scared of dogs & the only thing that has any hope of working is saying, "and dogs are so perceptive, you know... they pick up on it & it stresses the dog out, which isn't fun. So it's better if we keep our distance" - like basically make it all about the dogs feelings & not mine bc the dog person will have more empathy for the dog than for me.
Re #2... I agree with the advice, but also LW was rude first. Like, YOU are responsible for your dog when you are walking it. If it gets off its leash and rushes someone - especially if it jumps on them up to face level - YOU should apologize & be working to get the dog back under control. (also while the neighbor wasn't kind to the dog, I don't think she was unkind to him? If a dog jumps up on you and you shove it back down, is that hurtful to the dog? I feel like it'd generally be w/in normal bounds of behavior correction, but I'm not really a dog expert.)
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Re #2... I agree with the advice, but also LW was rude first. Like, YOU are responsible for your dog when you are walking it. If it gets off its leash and rushes someone - especially if it jumps on them up to face level - YOU should apologize & be working to get the dog back under control. (also while the neighbor wasn't kind to the dog, I don't think she was unkind to him? If a dog jumps up on you and you shove it back down, is that hurtful to the dog? I feel like it'd generally be w/in normal bounds of behavior correction, but I'm not really a dog expert.)