Should I let my dog greet other dogs on leash?

On leash greetings with people and dogs are the number one cause of behavioral issues on the walk. They cause reactivity, condition excitement, and put dogs in immensely uncomfortable situations. The number one reason why we discourage on-leash greetings is due to the unnecessary social pressure that it creates for the dog. Being on a leash is very restricting to most dogs, they are stuck within a 4-6 foot radius of you at all times and are very aware of it. This puts them in an innate position to tap into their fight or flight responses. We don't know the other dog, you could have the most social dog in the world but if your social dog says hi to another dog that doesn't like it or isn’t quite as social as the owner may say, you could wind up with your dog being attacked. It just isn't worth taking the chance. By allowing your dog to say hi to every dog or person that they see on the walk we are essentially telling them to get excited every time you see a dog, this shows itself in pulling, barking, and other unwanted behaviors making it difficult for you to keep your dog under control.

I work with dogs who are in fact very friendly and would happily greet almost every dog, and I also work with dogs who would be happy to never meet another dog in their life. Some people are working on walking without stopping to say hi to every dog, some people are trying to help their dog become less scared of other dogs, and some people are trying to teach their dog not to bark and lunge at other dogs. There are about a hundred reasons that I could list that about why your dog should not say hi to other dogs on leash, I could even advise you to never allow this. But, we live in NYC and there are dogs like Fluffy and dogs like Ben everywhere. What we should all aim for are appropriate on-leash greetings with other dogs. For some dogs, it is ok for them to say hi to dogs once in a while. Once in awhile means saying hi to only 1 out of every 10-20 dogs. Not every dog wants to say hi and they need to respect that. If you are unsure if your dog is about to have an appropriate or inappropriate on-leash greeting you should air on the side of caution and opt not to stop and say hi. Remember, just because your dog is friendly does not mean he is being polite. He needs to not only be friendly towards other dogs, but also be respectful of other dogs.