Reply To: When you walk your dog do you carry a leash?

[seasonsgreetings]

I don’t own a dog, but I do walk them for other people. What I have noticed, in no particular order –

1. Any dog is capable of running under a car if it is not on a leash. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not pretty, and everyone cries.
2. All dogs poop wherever they feel like if they are not on a leash.
3. Carrying a leash doesn’t always mean you can get it on the dog before it causes a problem. This only works in the case of extremely well behaved dogs, and there’s not many of them. And as lk says, just because your dog is nice, doesn’t mean the other one is.
3. People who walk their dogs off leash always have an unwavering belief that it is acceptable for them despite the city bylaws because thier dog is well behaved, doesn’t jump up, doesn’t run off, won’t chase birds, cats, squirrels, won’t bite a child if it pokes it in the eye…

What I know –

1. You can walk your dog off leash in the off-leash dog park, or outside the city boundaries. If you cannot be bothered to go this far, then leash your dog. You have a choice. If you can’t be bothered to do either then you are too damn lazy to have a dog. If you believe that dogs have a right to roam free, then live somewhere that it there is room for them to do so and stop making excuses.
2. Some people are afraid of dogs. If a dog runs up to them, they will be afraid. You may know that your dog just want’s to say hello but they don’t, and if they have a heart attack (it’s possible) or run, fall and break their arm (happend to my sister when she was 10, and chased (in fun) by two of the nicest, friendliest dogs imaginable, she just got spooked by their big teeth, and the fact that they were bigger than her) then it is your fault. Their is a bylaw to protect those people, and if you don’t like it, that is your problem, not theirs.
3. Dog faeces contain bacteria that can cause blindness in children. If you allow your dog to roam wild, and the dog craps in a child’s play area, and a child then, in the course of play, get it in their eyes, they could go blind, or catch all sorts of who knows what illnesses. Also your fault.
4. Roads are for cars. The speed limit is the safe speed to travel on the road. If you are travelling at, say, 60kmph, and a dog runs out in front of you, you may not have time to stop. To travel much less than the speed limit is as dangerous as going over it (you get a ticket in some countries) and to travel way under the speed limit just in case a dog runs out, is damn stupid – I don’t know anyone who does. The speed limit at which a dog can be hit and have any reasonable chance of survival is 20kmph. Are you suggesting we all travel at that speed because you can’t be bothered to walk your dog? Kids need to run free too – but most parents manage to keep them off the highways. Should dog owners have less responsibility for their animals? Or do you just care less?
5. On a dark night in October (hungry bear season) in one of the city parks, a large black animal came racing out of the trees at me. I was so scared I nearly passed out. When I realised that it was a dog, I called to the owner “you should really have your dog on a leash when it is this dark” the response? “So should you!” – mine was.

Angry dog owners with the unwavering belief that they are the exception to the above, please respond here!