It is not just dogs, but also children...

Not all parts of America are like this, but the more liberal parts are, unfortunately. (Note, I'm not conservative or liberal, I consider myself to be an independent thinker, but this is just my own observation.)

When I've lived in more conservative parts of America, such as South Carolina, I routinely went to state parks with my dogs and let them run off leash. I ignored the leash rules and no one cared. (In these same areas, children also routinely say "yes ma'am" and "thank you" and "please".)

Now that I live in Austin, which is liberal, when I do the same, I get people yelling at me to put my dog on leash. Even though my dog is very well behaved. Fortunately, there are a couple of parks with off-leash trails where I can give him proper exercise.

Now, he is still relatively young. He is a 20 month old male German Shepherd, and they aren't fully mature until they are about 2 years old. Nevertheless, he has learned to ignore bikes, he gives children a wide berth, though if they insist on petting him he tolerates it calmly; he generally ignores people. However, if we are walking on a trail and a strange man walks by, I suddenly find him staying very close to me. I think that is his protective instinct coming out. He doesn't growl or bark, just stays near me. In fact, he is mostly silent.

He also has good recall - once when he saw a squirrel and started to chase it, I called him to me. He stopped in his tracks and came trotting back to me. I was very impressed, especially since he was only 15 months at the time.

The only issue I am still working on - he wants to greet other dogs. If they are on leash, I call him to me, put him on leash and have him sit, since there is a chance the other dog is skittish or aggressive. If the other dog is off leash and with his owner, I don't worry about it. My dog will want to say hello, but then he'll come back to me. Every once in a while he and the other dog will play together, which is fine with me.

The other issue we are still working on is his manners when we sit at an outdoor cafe. Thanks to Covid, I haven't been able to do this as much as I would have liked when he was younger, but he's doing OK, though still needs a little more work.

Unfortunately, since I got cancer, I have had to let a friend dog sit him since my energy levels are low and I'm quite weak. I do have weekly visits with my dog. But I've noticed that my friend treats his dogs (and now mine) in the "American" manner - only on-leash walks, not enough discipline, etc. What is highly amusing to me, though it probably shouldn't be - when I give my dog a command he immediately obeys. When my friend does, the dogs (his and mine) all ignore him.

At any rate, sorry for the long response, but this is an issue I am passionate about. Dogs have been our companions for thousands of years, of course they know how to behave, they just need consistent training and some leadership. They are much happier and more content when they know they are trusted and they have their job to do.