When someone tells you their dog is nice, and won't harm your puppy, don't believe them

One of the things that has surprised me the most as a new dog (puppy) owner is the degree to which people either lie about their dogs, or have simply no clue about their pets' problematic issues.

In the week or so since Sasha finished getting her last immunization, meaning she can meet strange dogs on the street relatively safely, she's been snapped at four times, and bitten in the snout once (it drew blood). All from dogs that the owners first assured me were "very nice" and had no problem at all with a rambunctious puppy who would jump all over them seeking love.

The thing that bothers me is I didn't simply ask "is your dog okay?" I told people that she was a 4 month old puppy who loved everyone and everything and would jump all over their dog in an attempt to play with her, especially jumping at their faces. And I was told "not a problem." Then their dogs snapped at her. And I seriously doubt that it was the first time any of these dogs snapped.

I don't get it. If my dog ever were to snap at another dog, and someone asked me if she was okay with a puppy jumping all over her, I'd say that she's usually very good, but can snap if pushed too far. I'd say it because my dog has never snapped at anyone in her life. She's never even growled - well, only at me once when I tried to get something out of her mouth. It happened once, I corrected it, and it never happened again. So when I say my dog loves everyone, I mean it. Others apparently don't.

So, I'm now triply cautious about my dog meeting other dogs - she's only 5 pounds, and the one dog that drew blood, the mark was about a centimeter from her eye. But it's really frustrating. If you can't trust dog owners to tell you, honestly, whether their dog has any issues with other dogs, then how are you supposed to protect your own dog, when it's much smaller and needs to socialize for its own development?