CSDB: This was posted on another blog by a friend, CharlieDog. I was told I could share this, I have a DR dog myself, and I KNOW the pain of other people not obeying the leash laws. I don't care if your dog is friendly. What I want to know is how friendly he is with my dog hanging off his lips!
Stupid Dog Owners
This has been bothering me for the past week. Mostly because it is me and MY dog that have suffered for it. And we do not suffer fools gladly.
Walking your dog is usually seen as an enjoyable affair, provided your dog is well behaved and doesn't enjoy trying to yank your arm out of its socket (that's another rant). Not that dog, I'm talking about a dog you can take a leisurely stroll around the block with, and not have to worry about whether or not he uses the bathroom on the walk, because he's already done it at home. Nope, you're out for a nice mosey around town time.
Well, if you live in my neighborhood you are S.O.L. Not only because people drive fifty miles an hour down the sidewalk, but because your neighbors let their dogs run loose in their yards. And these are the same neighbors who don't have really any control to speak of over their offleash (or onleash!!) dog.
My dog, Oz, is DA (dog aggressive, for those who don't know). He used to be merely reactive. But, thanks to a couple lovely neighbors, who let their Siberian Husky out, and who proceeded to attack me and my dog on the sidewalk despite my screaming at them to grab him and that Oz doesn't do well meeting other dogs on the street, and the one lady who let her Chihuahua charge at us from across his lawn, I'm positive he has developed full blown dog aggression. (On the same walk!!! [I had to drag Ozzy away from the Chi, he was making noises I've never even heard from a DOG, let alone him, and I'm sure he would have attacked and killed the little dog])
I don't even know if I trust him to meet other dogs offleash now. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.
This is why there are leash laws. Because of the over enthusiastic Lab who gets attacked for running up to a DA dog being walked safely and under control, the lab gets away scot free, with maybe a few stitches, and the other dog gets the blame. "Oh she KNEW her dog was dangerous!!" or "HIS dog is the one who attacked first!!!" "My dog would NEVER start a fight!", is a common mantra, yeah, right, okay. YOUR dog JUST did lady!! Get your pretty little head out of your ASS. And never freaking mind that the other dog WAS ON A LEASH, HE is CLEARLY the aggressive one, and the problem. Just because he doesn't appreciate RUDE dogs in his face or space.
THERE ARE LEASH LAWS PEOPLE!!! OBEY THEM!!
And the other person is the bad guy. Its even worse if the other dog is a pit bull. And I don't even want to go into the problems pit bulls are facing.
MY dog is on a leash. YOUR dog charged US. I yelled to you to keep your dog under control, my dog didn't like other dogs. And now I'M the bad guy, because my dog caused damage to yours. Never mind that YOU are the one breaking the law, and I am on the sidewalk, which, by the way, IS PUBLIC PROPERTY.
And, by the way, if your dog is attacking mine, and you are standing there and making no move to get your dog, I am going to defend MY dog. With any means possible. So therefore, if I start kicking your dog, please do not scream at me that I'm HURTING HIM, OH NOES!!! That, is precisely the point. HELLO.
I have a right to defend my dog against your stupid monster. So unless you want both my dog and myself attacking your dog, come do something about yours. As long as you do that, I can pick my dog up and get him out of the situation. But if you just stand there gawping at me, you'd better believe I'm wading in the fray.
Control your dog. Then I'm might have an easier time of it trying to help MY dog get through his problems. Unfortunately, you, in your ignorance and ineptitude have cost me MONTHS of work. And whereas before I could have fixed it so that he had no problems, your stupid ways have exacerbated it, and I have an even bigger problem on my hands.
Thank you, retards of the dog owning world. Having a dog is a privilage, not a right, or even something required of you. And if you are going to allow your dog to run loose, PLEASE train it, so that you have AT LEAST a recall or a down that is reliable on it. Wait. Scratch that. Keep him confined. Don't even THINK about letting your dog loose anywhere but in your backyard or at a dog park.
Or is that to hard for you? If it is keep your blasted dog in a fence, or on a leash. If you don't have a fence, stake him out somewhere. Or keep the bugger in the house. I'm sure he is a great dog, but keep him away from me AND my dog.
Whatever, my dog and I are going for a walk. Woe betide any offleash dog we run into. I told you we do not suffer fools gladly.
30 comments:
I so have to agree with this! My dog is 8 yrs old and has a genetic disorder that affects her physically and neurologically (sidenote: Her breeders imported her mother from Germany and were not told that she might carry this defect - it did not appear until after her litter of pups, and once diagnosed her and the four pups were all fixed). Due to this and having been beat up by a larger dog at a young age she is very defensive. I cannot stand when people will just let their loose dog approach and then glare at US when my dog growls or gets her hackles up! Sorry, she is on leash in a public area. Have some courtesy and control your own dog.
BTW Found you through FHOTD!
This reminds me, my coming 2 y/o Irish Terrier bitch, makes a point of defending our FENCED property against passing dogs. However there is the Mastiff older bitch whom Geisha loathes with absolute passion. Why the mastiff? I will never know... But the guy who owns her, always makes a point to go through the alley way stay there and smoke a cig, taking his SWEET ASS TIME while letting hi dog practically climb the fence. Meanwhile Geisha barks like all hell broke loose and our maniac of a neighbor comes up to our door practically with a knife in hand ready to call the police while yelling "J'VAI LUI FERMER SA GUEULE A TON CRISS DE CHIEN!" (I'M GONNA SHUT YOUR GODDAMN DOG'S MOUTH).
We've tried to nicely tell the mastiff owner not to stall in the alley way since it would be better for everyone, the dogs, the neighbor, us and him, if he didn't purposedly provoke Geisha by letting his bitch tease her. Didn't want to listen to a goddamn word we said and this winter having had a lot of snow in our backyard and on the outside, our 8ft fence was now... a 2ft fence. And one night the mastiff climbed the snowbank outside and stuck her head in to our garden. Geisha broke loose before we could put her husher on and she went straight for the other dog. She tore out a chunk of the mastiff's lips and if the guy hadn't pulled at his dog's collar and we hadn't pinned Geisha down, I'm sure much blood would have been shed. I had never seen so much hatred in an animal's eyes...
To this day when the guy walks by, he gives us dirty looks if he sees us and he tells everyone how we should put our dog to sleep. Asshat WE TOLD YOU SO!
THANK YOU!! I live in a rural area and people let their dogs roam. When I take my dog (who's on a leash) for a walk around the block, there is one house that an ancient Beagle lives at. He has rushed out at me numerous times and usually right out in front of a car. Once the idiot owner stood in the driveway and watched as I screamed my head off at her dog.
I have debated bringing Mace with me, but keep forgetting to buy some. Some might think that's cruel, but is it better to let my 85lb Chesapeake kill her eldery Beagle?
Another FHOTD person here :D
So much agreement from me!
I have one of those 'has no concept of other dog's space' dogs, and I just don't completely trust that'll he'll listen if he thinks he has found a new friend - so when we go walkies he stays on the leash.
I used to work in a vet clinic (before I went back to uni) and the amount of people who bring the dogs in off leash, with no collars, completely uncontrollable is astounding! I've heard the 'but my dog won't do anything' so many times, and these people just look at me blankly when I walk out with a chain and leash because the dog is tearing around and peeing on stuff. And the entire male Rottie (who really is a lovely dog) about to walk of the consult is so not going to appreciate being jumped on by your mutt.
I'm mixed on this - my dogs are allowed in my yard (they don't leave the yard), but there are people with DA dogs who will let their dogs walk on our lawn (their territory) with 30ft. flexi-leashes.
I'd also like to point out that sidewalk and city swale are public property, but having an unleashed dog on my part of the property is not illegal. I'm on the other side of this -- I don't want DA dogs coming onto my property and attacking my dogs, even if they're on-leash.
I don't agree with dogs roaming, but if there is a controlled dog in a yard, I think DA dog owners would be wiser to pick their battles and cross the street, rather than stand on the sidewalk and say, "WHY AREN'T YOUR DOGS ON A LEASH?". Well, they're under voice control, on my property and know much better to leave it - why don't you take preventative measures?
I wish you the best of luck training your dog, though - have you consulted with anyone about it, yet?
*i'm an FHOTD acolyte, too*
i'm mixed on this as well. on the one hand, i agree. it drives me NUTS when unleashed dogs (or uncontrolled kids - perhaps an even bigger pet peeve) come running up to my 1 yr old Sheltie. although he is not DA, he is extremely excitable when provoked, and will begin to bark/play growl (which sounds very fierce)/jump/etc. these are NOT things he does when approached by another leashed dog, btw, or things that he does when he is also off leash, a la at the dog park. so i agree with you mostly....
....but also feel compelled to add this: if someone TRULY has a dog that is DA enough that it will attack another dog on the street unprovoked, leash or no (i'm not saying that's what happened in this case), then i think they should take extra precautions and even walk their dog in a muzzle if need be. ALL parties should do their part to prevent altercations, that's sort of my take on it.
love the blog!
Yup, I SO agree! I've already put this in my blog, too. We were minding our own business at a "dog fair" in Dallas when a HUGE (I mean 100 lbs or so) dog dragged his owner over to bully my dog (65 lb. Aussie). When I yelled at the other dog, the owner said, "Oh, he just wants to be friends." I told the owner he needed to get some control over that dog, that it was dangerous, and rude of him to let it act that way. You would've thought I'd cussed him AND his mother the way he got all offended... Asshat...
Kim
http://www.barkingatwindmills.blogspot.com
"I'd also like to point out that sidewalk and city swale are public property"
It depends where you live. In many places the sidewalk is public property. Though I totally agree with flexi leads (could have a good rant just on those, and the idiots who seem to LOVE them) If your dog is on your lawn and doesn't bother my dog walking past there is no issue. My DR dog competes in agility and obedience, she doesn't go looking for a fight but if your dog gets in her face she will growl snap and make horrid noises (she has been attacked before).
My dog was on the sidewalk... On a leash, and under control. He may have been acting a fool, but I had him under control and he wasn't going anywhere. The other dog (the Sibe) is the one who came onto the sidewalk and who initiated the first physical attack. Only he just nipped, my dog wasn't playing the scruff biting game, he was going for the throat.
The sidewalks here ARE public property. I called and found out. So he was completely in the wrong. These are my next door neighbors, mind you, and the only fence they have up is the one WE put up in between our propertys.
It depends where you live. In many places the sidewalk is public property.
I agreed with you here. (:
Though I totally agree with flexi leads (could have a good rant just on those, and the idiots who seem to LOVE them)
Ugh, there is nothing worse than the people who have their dogs on flexi leashes and allow them to wrap around your legs and then just laugh and say, "Oh, he needs his freedom."
lythinae- I work at a vet clinic too and you're right, I'm amazed how often people let their dogs off leash! Don't they understand, it's not just about how good their dog is, it's about other dogs which they have no control over.
On Halloween a client was dropping off their JRT for a dental, and kept refusing to hold onto the leash in spite of us politely asking him to. The little dog suddenly charged our clinic parrot's cage, climbing to the top and grabbing Steadman - one tech that was right there pulled him off immediately.
Steadman, our African Grey, was left in a puddle of blood, going into shock and had a puncture through the top of his skull. The good news is after months of hospitalization and tender loving care, he's back to his old self. You can bet we enforce the leash rule more seriously in our clinic these days. The only acknowledgment by the owner was blandly saying that he hoped our bird would be OK.
BTW, this was a mature, well behaved JRT who had no history of such behavior - maybe because he's never been around birds - but it goes to show that you can't assume you know how even your own dog will behave when "free".
And Kerri, thanks for this blog... and please do flexi-leads sometime - I hate them with a passion and believe they are of the devil, lol!
Flexi leashes...
I tried it once and let's just say I burnt it afterwards T_T;
Yeah that should be an interesting rant :p
As for people ignoring leash laws - I work in a large shelter, and one day a guy walked in with a springer, off leash. He gets asked to leash his dog, or leave it in his car. He replies "but she doesn't need one" Long story short, his dog got kicked out of the shelter (well-behaved, yes, but what idiot walks their dog through an adoption floor, much less off lead? Does he have any kind of CLUE what germs abound there?)
hey canvas jockey - your vet clinic doesn't happen to be in Eagan, MN, does it? ;)
re: flexi-leashes .... in the hands of a knowledgeable dog owner, they can be a useful tool. i like the fact that, when we're on sidewalks, in crowded areas, etc., i can keep my dog on a shorter leash for additional control, but if we're in a more open area like a city park, and there's no one nearby, my dog can have a bit more room to stretch his legs. however, i have also TAUGHT my dog to understand the difference between being on a short lead and getting more freedom, and he behaves accordingly. people who let their dogs run about on a long leash without controlling them...that's a whole different story!
I also found you through FHOTD. :D So glad to see a dog related blog!
I fully agree with you. While my dog is not dog aggressive, there seems to be an abundance of dogs loose that are. It's very frustrating! There is a park across a very quiet street in front of my house. Since my dog and I participate in flyball, agility, frisbee and travel around doing demos, it's a great thing to have a park right there to practice in! However, it makes it very frustrating when someone's aggressive dog comes barging over to my dog. To top it off, most of the time there isn't an owner in sight. Thankfully my dog has no interest in seeing other dogs when he is working, however he can get snappy if the other dog gets in his face while he's working.
Why can't people just keep their dogs confined? Sure my dog is loose. However he is completely under control. He doesn't go over to visit other dogs unless we are walking there and I let him. If I don't know the owner/dog or the owner seems concerned, I simply call my dog away and continue doing what I'm doing.
Is it really that hard to teach your dog the words, "down" and "come"? Those two words can save every dog's life! I wish it was mandatory to take your dog to puppy classes and learn those things. Even better, you should have to pass an IQ test to own a dog.
An ad that I found on Facebook...
www.barkcollars.ca/nobark6_eng.html
There was another one advertising puppies. It was Sparkle Puppies or something. I can't find it now. Thought it might be an interesting topic.
(Another FHOTD person here :D)
Ugh, you mentioned pit bulls... sore subject. Our pit bull/mastiff cross was put down four days ago; he was ALWAYS on a leash and not dog-aggressive (or person-aggressive) at all; he was the sweetest, most docile dog I've ever met. But in the THREE different neighborhoods he lived in with our family, ALL of the neighbors had a problem with him. We would frequently come home to animal control warnings on our fence (yes, the dog was behind a fence). We ended up with a lawsuit in our faces when a neighborhood maintenance guy WENT INTO OUR YARD and claims that our dog bit him. We even had a "beware of dog" sign on the gate for good measure even though the dog had never bitten anyone in his life. We couldn't afford the lawsuit and we were ordered to have the dog put down.
That said, I used to take our boy for walks in the park a lot. There were TONS of unleashed, STUPID dogs that would run up to him and want to play or pick fights - a stupid black lab charged up snarling and snapping at him one time. They're extremely lucky our 135-pound guy WASN'T dog-aggressive at all. There usually weren't owners around at all, I always ended up yelling/running at the dogs to get them away. I hate stupid dog owners and annoying untrained dogs.
I also am mixed on this, I live in an area where people let their dogs run free all the time, and I carry dog mace because of a few incidents where me and my dogs have been attacked. However I do think that (and particularly since you know your dog is DA) you should be walking them with a muzzle or something of the like on, to protect him and other dogs.
This very thing is somthing that drives me crazy! I have 2 dobermans, and when I am walking them on leash and we are accosted by loose dogs, people start yelling that I better not let my dobermans hurt their dogs! On more than one occasion, it has almost went to blows, because I will protect my Doberkids with my life. I truly do hate stupid people!!
horseloverelisha-
OMG that is the most horrible thing i've ever heard. you had to put down a dog that had done nothing because people were *scared*? that is a true outrage. you & your family are in my thoughts. :(
and on a broader level - what is it with poorly behaved labs? i'd love to see a blog on this. no offense to the *responsible* lab owners out there (i know you must exist!!!) but why does it seem like every dumb fuck has to buy a lab? and then, you know, NOT TRAIN IT? it's bad enough when they're out of control but essentially friendly, but i have run across far too many DA labs (or even ones with aggression issues toward people). i'll never forget the afternoon i was walking my sheltie - some desperate housewife has a monstrous black lab (on a flexi-lead, of course, not reined in, of course) and he was lunging and snapping at my dog and nearly bit him. the lady wasn't doing anything about it, i had to drag MY dog (who had a very clear, what the fuck? look on his face) off the sidewalk and had to use every ounce of willpower not to duck the woman myself. she's lucky she escaped with nothing but a whispered obscenity; had her beast actually done something to me or my dog, a tongue-lashing would have been the least of her concerns. ARRGH!
you know Zhyna, the only dog at a class to ever go to bite me as a black lab.
As a not to people with DA dogs being muzzled: If the person is trying to work through this it can be counter productive to muzzle the dog. It tends to make the dog more nervous and more DA. Also if a loose dog attacks yours, you dog is now helpless. If your DA dog is on leash, and everyone else trains and leashes their dogs-there is no issue at all.
I don't feel a DA dog needs to be muzzled if it is leashed and common sense is used. (no flexi leads, don't let your DA run up to other dogs etc) A HA should be muzzled at all times in public as children are not leashed.
zhenya - not quite, Tucson, AZ. I wish it was Eagan, though - I grew up in Minnetonka and it would be fun to live in MN again!
I do agree that in the right hands flexi-leads can be useful. It just seems that 95% are in the hands of owners who think that it's somehow more humane because gives their dog more freedom, er.. illusion of freedom. Freedom to wrap around your owners legs, freedom to run into the street in front of a car, freedom to get tangled up with another dog on a regular leash - hopefully it's friendly, etc. Most people use it in place of having their dog trained to heel on a leash.
I go everyday to the off leash park with two Ridgebacks and a Puli. The Ridgebacks are not altered and the Puli is a long suffering 12 year old spayed dog. The ONLY time I have ever had problems is with other dogs coming up and getting in the male RRs face - he gets startled and goes WTF? - at which time his mom rushes in to tell the other dog to eff off. My dogs have never started an altercation and because I am very good at reading dog body language I back them out STAT if I see any kind of posturing, eyeballing, harrassment or aggression. My dogs have a 99% recall in situations not involving chasing a rabbit and I have avoided serious trouble.
I know for a fact that if my bitch RR got into it there is no backing down. The male would turn tail looking for me but that bitch would see it to the bitter end.
I have also noticed that neutered males seem to think they need to 'prove' something to my intact male. He just looks confused and backs out right away.
That you so much for writing this! We have had two wonderful dogs in my family. However, both have been attacked by idiot people who don't use any common sense. I, myself, have been chased and have had my jeans bit (thankfully not my leg) by an aggressive dog.
Our greyhound (poor old girl that she was) used to be dog reactive to dogs that were above her in the hierarchy. She bit a dog that bit her, which is why her idiot owner sent her back to the rescue and how we got her. Well, she was out walking with my mother and was attacked by a DA dog loose.
It was a lab mix that wasn't properly restrained. My dog narrowly made it out alive and did recover, but was never the same after that.
Our shih-tzu was attacked at a dog park by people who had no freaking idea what their dogs were capable of. The labs got in a pack and attacked our boy, who my mom was HOLDING in her arms at the time. They dragged him down and would not get off. They tried to attack my mother, so my Dad (being a Dad with only one son of the canine type) jumped in and pulled him away while my mother shot at the dogs with a water bottle.
The resulting wounds were numerous puncture wounds on our dog, the destruction of months of work on a show coat, and 18 stitches on my Dad's hands. Not cool.
The people had just let the dogs go, not knowing how they were in a dog park. I was always under the impression that many people socialize their dogs on a leash first? At least that is what our obedience trainer taught us?
Perhaps you can't avoid it in certain situations, but the problem with our greyhound was CERTAINLY avoidable. And because of it, their dog, unfortunately, was sent to the pound. I didn't think it was the best situation for the dog (obviously), but the people should have never had one in the first place. They wouldn't teach their dog basic obedience, wouldn't walk it, and wouldn't put up a fence.
I too found you through FHoTD!
I will have to look in to the local laws here, as to what sort of defensive I can take against loose dogs... I know in some places, you are allowed to physically beat off an attacking dog, but you must say you feared for your own safety, not your dogs.
My dog is very dog aggressive, and can be human aggressive depending on the person/situation. And he is not reliable with children. BUT, he is very well trained, and is 98% reliable on his recall. If I am at a park with him off leash, and I see another dog/person approaching or within sight distance, then I will call him back and put him on his leash. But then you always have the people that don't do the same thing and I have to tell them that is probably not the best idea to have the dogs meet.
Another thing that really irritates me is people who pet your dog without asking. I hate that! I was always taught to ask permission of the dog's owner. But parents let their kids run up to dogs they don't know. I had a couple of kids at the pet store pet mine, and I asked them not to. The mother asked why, and got very upset when I told her that her kids didn't ask permission!
I HATE that!
Comeing over here from FHOTD, I have to say my pet peeve is the loose dog who goes after my horse while I am riding.
Not only will my horse try to kick your dog, BUT, I WILL HIT YOUR DOG with the riding whip I am carrying. I can handle the commotion of a dog attack, but if I am riding with my neices and their pony (see my picture) and they are threatened or hurt....heads will roll.
We live on a recreational trail that is open to walking, bicycling and horses. I an continually amazed at how many people disreguard the leash (and clean up after your pet) rules.
I have my animal under control, and when I walk the trail with my dog he is always on a leash. My neieghbor, who's dog has multiple Machs in agility (he is one dog who is completly always under voice control) is also always on his leash, partly to protect him from all the other idiots who have their dogs off leash.
Final fun story....one day while out riding, a friend and I, encountered the neighborhood noise mennace (and always off leash)....Barkly the Beagle. He of course was off leash, and rushed our horses. We asked them to call their dog, and of course he did not listen.
So we started our horses into a slow trot, trying to get some distance, hoping he would give up the chase....with his owners (who are NOT jogging types) giving pursuit. At this point we were about a mile from home, and just decided to continue slow trotting, with a barking Beagle following us, and his huffing, puffing owners further behind.
When we got to our property, we went straight to the barn, corraled the Beagle, and put him in a stall to wait fo his owners. Twenty minutes later they showed up, wanted to know if we had seen their dog. I said yes we had him caught and we going to call animal control, we really wern't going to, just wanted to scare them.
We explained the damage a horse could do to a dog, reminded them about the local leash law, and let them have him. That was six years ago, and Barkly has never been seen off leash again!!
I have the opposite problem - our six month old Cavalier puppy is very shy around strange dogs. It's something we're working on - she attends socialisation classes (the trainer has said she can attend until she starts playing with the others) and we introduce her to other dogs if they're friendly.
She is good at recall, we don't let her approach another dog without asking the owner if their dog is friendly, we don't let her approach another dog if it's on a lead in the park (figuring there's usually a good reason for that) and she's getting more confident.
The LAST thing we need is for some dog with no manners to bound up to her and bowl her over (or worse).
It takes less than 30 seconds to call "is your dog friendly?" to another dog walker and come up with a suitable response. In some cases, the suitable response is "okay, thanks for warning me, nice meeting you" and walking away.
As someone who frequently walks a dog off-leash, I'm a bit mixed about this- because I don't think that it's really a case of off-leash or on-leash so much a case of just being in control of your dog. I've seen plenty of people WITH leashes who are completely not the ones in control, also.
That said, when we train dogs to walk off-leash, they start by learning good leash behavior, and then by walking on very long leashes (10 ft plus training leashes) so that we can apply a correction when necessary until the dog learns appropriate off-leash behavior. Which includes not rushing up to other dogs unless given the go-ahead to do so. (In a situation where the dogs are meant to interact, such as a dog park.)
The training also includes things like stopping at street corners and learning to watch for cars. If the dog fails at any point (one of our cocker spaniels never got the hang of the whole thing) then they're doomed to a life of being on a training lead on walks. (I like them to have a good length of leash so they can go and smell without dragging me along.)
And even with that, I TAKE a leash (or leash substitute- I have in the past used a scarf) with me on walks, so that I have it should I need it. And I use it. I put my dog on a leash today while we were at a park because, even though she knows about cars, there was a nasty corner and I wanted to be sure I could physically prevent her from jumping out into the street if something startled her. (I have never actually seen her startle from anything, nor has anyone reported that she does so- but I'd hate the first time be right into the path of a car.)
So yeah. I don't think off-leash is necessarily wrong, but out-of-control ALWAYS is. And the owner should take the steps necessary, given the dog and the situation, to maintain a reasonable level of control.
I wanted to chime in on my hatred of flexi-leads, also. Yes, it's a pain to coil up 10 ft of leash when I want to keep the dog closer, but on the other hand- I know the training leash isn't going to let out suddenly, or teach my dog to pull on the leash, plus I personally feel the flexi-lead handle interferes with communicating with the dog. (It may be my riding experience here, but I regard a leash as kind of like reins- except in special situations, it's not there to PHYSICALLY restrain the animal, it's there to reinforce my verbal commands. So when I say 'pay attention to me' and the dog doesn't, I can reinforce that by taking up the slack in the leash and giving a brief tug. Like a half-halt in riding. Flexi-lead handles totally mess me up in terms of feeling like I have control over how hard that tug is.)
Plus, with the stupid handles they're a lot harder to untangle if they do get twisted around something, and if the dog gets away from you with the leash still on, then they've got a lovely clattering plastic thing CHASING them. Great plan! I have seen dogs TOTALLY FREAKED OUT by this.
Also agree with the people-approaching-dogs thing. It isn't rocket science, and yet people let their little kids toddle up to strange dogs all the time, and then you as the owner get the nasty look when you tell them no an explain how they SHOULD approach a strange dog. (I met a guy today who did not do this- when his kid came up to my dog, he stopped her and made her back up and ask and then offer her hand and do everything right. Strangely enough, he was at a dog park! Although he didn't seem to have a dog with him.)
WORD.
Two stories, not quite about walking dogs without leashes but has to do with loose dogs (dogs who escape when the front door opens).
My neighborhood (aka subdivision) is pretty good about following the dog leash law (however, the "pick up after your dog" rule is apparently much harder to follow). However, there was one time when I was walking my younger dog and we were just having a nice jaunt. We were passing one house when its front door open and a big dog came flying out toward me and my dog. Now, the dog wasn't a monster or anything, but frick. My dog is a Yorkie. He is not DA. But! How am I supposed to know about this much larger dog who is aiming right for my boy? My dog did not respond aggressively but he did look alarmed. I put myself between my dog and the other dog and was prepared to kick the shit out of this other dog if it showed aggression.
Thankfully, the big dog was friendly and he and my dog just did some butt sniffing. The dog's owner came out to collect him and I must have given her a "are you KIDDING me?" look, because she apologized and said that her dog would never attack another. I asked her then, "yeah, but what if MY dog was aggressive?" No reply and she and her dog went inside.
One of my neighbors has a Pom that she and her family didn't bother to train. The Pom has come over on "play dates" with my younger dog. The Pom likes to escape his house and come over to my parents', where my dogs live. It's just down the street and it's a cul-de-sac so we have very little traffic. HOWEVER. On our street lives the meanest Chow I've ever seen. This dog is walked with a muzzle, but I'm just waiting for the day with this untrained Pom escapes and runs into the Chow, who just happens to be muzzleless on that day. The owners of the Pom will be devestated but it'll be their own fault.
First - I hate offleash dogs and do not appreciate gormless owners claiming "My Buddykissyluv would never bite/attack/run away/ignore my commands/etc." So many people, so many delusions.
But dog-aggression is a vicious problem for any dog owner. Severe dog-aggression (dog will attack and try to maim/kill another dog unprovoked) should be an automatic cause for euthanization. It's just too dangerous. People with reactive or aggressive dogs should not complain that other people should be more vigilant so that, essentially, they don't have to. My last dog was mildly human-aggressive and my current dog is reactive (to the entire world, thank you, she's a herding breed) so I know all about being alert and the frustration of kids running up suddenly screaming and waving their hands like pinwheels, and how there's always a jerk who like to provoke the barking yard dog by liiiiingering on the sidewalk outside the fence. But you can't make the whole world be considerate or neighborly or sensible, and resenting the hell out of people for being inconsiderate or thoughtless is not helping.
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