I get that....that if two people are coming toward each other and both have their dogs on their left side, the dogs are closer together and at more risk of a squabble or other trouble. So, the answer would be to get your dog use to walking on either side, back and forth. That way, if you want to put more space between oncoming dogs, your dog on your right will put you in between them. So, if one of the dogs wants to bite the other, they may miss and get you. LOL! No, seriously, it's good to practice with dogs your dog knows and teach your dog to pay attention to you when another dog is coming and you can make a wide arc to put some distance between, plus that way, the two dogs are not coming straight at each other, face to face, which can be construed as threatening to some dogs if they're not use to it. There are good books out for that too. I think the op has been scared off. So, I hope he/she comes back to find out that she can indeed learn to manage her dog so they can both enjoy walks.