Rant Time! Leash your dog!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Yesterday, I went to the park with my two dogs and had just gotten out of our car and making our way down to where we walk and I spotted a woman with a dog. As we walked forward, I could see the dog was not on a leash and it began to approach us.  I told the woman to get her dog as my dogs were not friendly (my standard response in this situation) and of course, she continued to call the dog and the dog wouldn't listen. I am so fed up with people walking their dogs off leash, I could scream. In almost all of the dogs we have encountered off leash, their owners had absolutely no control over them. My favorite thing of all is when the owner yells, "Don't worry, he or she is friendly!" As far as I am concerned, I don't care if your dog is a good will ambassador for the world, put it on a leash. We have leash laws in our state and they apply to everyone!

Vern would probably be fine, but Fudge is not fine and especially not on a leash. Many dogs are leash aggressive and won't care if your dog is friendly as it approaches. I also don't know if your dog has parasites, etc. and I don't want it near my dogs. Once, I turned a corner and coming up the path was an unleashed dog and the owner was a good quarter mile down the road.  The dog would not listen and she apologized profusely and I stated emphatically that her dog should be on a leash and I still see her wandering about with her dog unleashed. Another time I saw a woman with young children and an unleashed dog let her young daughter walk the dog all about the park, across the road, with no leash in hand, and far enough away from the mom that she could not see the daughter or the dog. What are these people thinking? I could go on and on with these stories about rude dog owners and every chance I get I report them to the park ranger.  Oh, and you and I both know that these are the same owners who do not pick up after their dogs, because rules do not apply to them.

Yesterday when I told the woman her dog should be leashed, she said, "oh, your dogs aren't friendly?" as if my dogs were the problem and not hers. I don't even attempt to be friendly in these situations because I have had it. Leash your dog!! It is my job to protect MY dogs and keep them from harm's way.  You are taking a huge risk to allow your dog to walk up to any dog on a leash!  My dogs made me proud yesterday. They reacted a bit initially and then calmed right down, but if that dog had been leashed our encounter could have been avoided. Rant over!

[Miss Ellie]

I couldn't agree more Laurie...as responsible dog owners we should be making sure at all times that they are safe & protected...how can someone do this if they have their dogs unleashed:(

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Michelle!

[Sally S Miles]

Amen to this rant - in order to avoid a tirade, let me say Thanks.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LOL...my poor husband has to listen to this all day when stuff like this happens :)

[Lauren and Kona]

Totally agree with you... In the community where I live, I see more unleashed dogs than I see LEASHED dogs! Before my last dog passed away, when I would walk her, I would see a certain dog running down the apartment stairs and onto the grass, completely by itself as it's owner watched from the second floor of their apartment! The dog was never unfriendly to me or my dog, but that's not the point. And just a few days ago I had a pit bull run up to me, no owner in sight. Not discriminating pit bulls, but I was a little afraid as it kept circling me. We live in a very busy area and all it takes is a split second for a dog to get hit by a car. So upsetting.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Plus, there really are some people that are terrified of dogs and how inconsiderate of these people to let their dogs run wild.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

My family and friends think I am a total nervous nelly when it comes to protecting my children and my dogs. Ya know what? Too bad! I never let the dogs off leash unless we are in a totally confined, fenced area. Tried it at a local dog park but I truly hate dog parks. Never again. Only once did I let Bay off and it was at the beach at 7:00 am and absolutely no one else was there. She was on a long line so i could grab her if i needed to. Even then I was nervous. My name should have been Nelly!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Donna I am so with you!  I hate dog parks, absolutely afraid of letting Libby off leash in any circumstances and so protective of Libby that my "adult" kids think I am nuts!   Oh well, maybe I am, but that is me:)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This just sounds like good sense to me, Donna.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

If I let Fudge off leash I would never see her again :) Better safe than sorry, Nelly :)

[jenn D]

I am in complete with everyone. I always walk with my crew on a leash. Too many variables.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I've noticed that I'm seeing a lot more off leash dogs this past month and here it's because the walking paths through the woods are too snow filled to use and our really large off leash park (state forest) is also closed because there is no access in with the snow.  So these people have nowhere to go and they're deciding to just use the regular parks as their "off leash" walking areas.  We had to leave the Park today after only about 10 minutes because of a woman with two dogs running off leash....Murph just can't handle that.