Your Opinion Is Wanted!

I have two dogs whom I adore, Tori a wonderful 3 1/2 year old yellow English Labrador Retriever and Claire a meddlesome, mischievous but completely adorable basset hound.  (You can check out their photos in the slide-show in the green sidebar on your right).   When I first adopted Tori, she was not leash-friendly.  In fact, she ripped my arm nearly completely out of the socket when I would walk her.  With training classes, growing up and the aid of a GentleLeader collar, we came to be terrific walking buddies.  But, as she is adopted, if she escapes off the leash she just runs and runs and doesn’t know to come back.  In fact, one time she was hit by a car because of it.  Luckily, she was young and suffered only minor injuries. 

We’ve tried to let Tori “off-leash” at the dog beach.  My sweet baby still takes off… running for the jetties at a pace that nobody can catch her at (imagine scene from Marley & Me).  Lesson learned there, I tell you!  We have taken her to the dog park in our city.  It is an enclosed park where all of the dogs may run off-leash as it is completely fenced in.  We’ve gone, but it doesn’t seem that Tori likes it much.  She tends to shy away from other dogs, especially the large, aggressive ones.  When these “bullies” approach Tori and start playing roughly, I tend to want to take her away from that situation to avoid her getting hurt and me incurring non-budgeted vet bills.  The other reas0n is that many of the bully mommies and daddies seem to think that their dog’s behavior is completely acceptable.  Imagine: unruly child at the park and the parents think their child is an angel.   Out of these two “off-leash” dog spots, we really only visit the beach and I do keep her on-leash (and, yes, it’s a long one so that she can run and swim, etc.).

Moving onto my little Hellion, Claire, aka “The Pups” and “Princess Paddywaddle.”  She is the sweetest, funniest, and most expressive dog around.  We love her to pieces!  She is our baby.  But, she’s a major P.I.T.A.!  Being a hound dog, she thinks it is her job to deputize the entire neighborhood and be the voice of a nation, literally.  Claire has had a few incidences of trying to fight with other dogs.  One with a visiting dog and the others with Tori.  What she only fights over is food.  Claire has food aggression… and not with humans, only other dogs.  We’ve hired trainers, done the “buzzer/sprayer” collar, tried a muzzle, but nothing helps.  Claire’s only option is to be on estrogen to the point where she will get fat and very lazy (plus, not good on her heart).  I’m just not ready to do that to a 2-year old, fit and trim pup.  I’d rather continue to work with her on behavioral training and avoid situations that trigger her.  Now, she only has very rare instances where she will go after Tori and they have all been due to our human error by leaving food behind.  The good thing is, we’ve learned that Claire gives the “intimidation stare” to Tori before she freaks out.  We stop her stare with the command “LOOK” in which she will look at us and her temporary psychosis is forgotten.  It’s very manageable in our home and we understand that it is a condition of loving her.  If she ever does freak out, we grab a light throw rug and toss it over her.  She suddenly stops and all is okay.  It seems to freak her out more than any of the rest of us.   Like she temporarily goes cuckoo or something.  Because of her anxiety and past issues, we never take her off leash in a park or at the dog beach.  Although, if we did, she would return promptly and understands that we are her humans.

As you can see, I have two very solid reasons to keep my dogs “on-leash” when we walk.  We do go on walks often and visit the park frequently.   Both of my “babies” are very sweet and friendly dogs to humans.  They are kind to everybody who wants to pet them, even the little ones.  Claire doesn’t like men very much and I attribute that to the fact that she’s grown up without one around… only women.  So, she’ll “whoof” under her breath when we pass by some men working in their driveway or whatever.  I keep my dogs “on-leash” for their protection as well for the potential protection of any other human or animal we encounter.  If I have full command over their physical prowess, then I’ve done my best to ensure safety for the community. 

Now to the point of my post… PEOPLE DISOBEYING THE LAW!  In the area where I live, we have leash law in our local parks.  Signs are clearly posted at the park entrances.  NO dogs are to be allowed off-leash.  I am sure that these laws are in place for the safety of the citizens.  I get SOOO angry when I see 70% of the people at the parks (not the dog park) with their dogs off-leash.  They are playing fetch, frisbee or whatever.  And, because they are taking up the majority of the park, I have been squeezed into the remaining 25% of the park.  Because, God Forbid that their dog ran up to mine and started something.  If that animal is not on a leash, I have no ability to pull it back to restrain it.  What if my dogs defended themselves and a fight erupted?  How fast could that owner get to me to get control of their dog?  I know these people think, “My dog is trained… my dog won’t cause any harm… my dog will retreat at the sound of my voice.”  I say, “Horsepoop!  This is an animal and thereby unpredictable.  You are putting people at risk by not obeying the law!”  Parks are public places for us all to enjoy, not just for you to enjoy to your desire.  Why are you above the law?  What makes you so special that you don’t have to abide by the rules set forth for all of us?  Don’t you realize how uncomfortable you make the people who retain their dogs on-leash?

I recognize that perhaps all states/areas have different laws regarding leashes.  If you are not a part of a community that has does not have leash laws, you have the right to do as you wish.  No criticism here.  I also understand that some people don’t live in urban areas like mine.  Some of you have woods for your backyards and much different surroundings.  I get that there are certain situations that it is safe and permissible to let dogs off leash in public.  Take for example, the seeing-eye dog.  I don’t see them starting some big fight with a Chiwawa (sp?).  For those of you who fall into these categories, I see how this is not applicable.   But, what about the others?  In areas where leash-laws are in place, should citizens obey these laws and ordinances?

Even good dogs attack.  I was attacked as a child and still have the canine marks in the back of my calf, extremely visible today.  This dog was a good dog and the family had no reason to think it would cause harm.  My sister-in-law’s father was just hospitalized from a dog attack… different situation, but the underlying cause is the same.  The owners of this dog should have taken greater measures to keep this dog secured in it’s “area” and not permit it to run loose and out into the front yard the way it did.   My point is… why don’t some people take their dog ownership responsibilities more seriously?  Do they not realize that they are liable for the actions of the dog?    I’ll tell you what, if either of my dogs, my children or myself are a victim of an incident in which a dog was off-leash in public, you better be damn sure that I’m holding the owner of that animal 100% accountable. 

So… tell me your opinion… should citizens obey the leash law regardless of how “well-trained” their dog is?  Or, are the leash laws just “ridiculous?”  If a dog owner is certain that his the animal is acting in a way that the safety of others is not compromised, then it is fine to let them off-leash?  Am I over-reacting?  If I am… why do I get so angry at the people in the park who are park-hogging with their dogs running all over the place?  Why am I not tolerant of it?  Why do I focus on them not obeying the law so much when I sometimes break the law by speeding sometimes?  Isn’t that the same thing?  That infringes on public safety.

THANK YOU… I REALLY WANT TO KNOW!

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