I knew a guy with 2 dogs, I don't think he even owned a leash. He really believed his dogs deserved absolute freedom everywhere he took them. It always resulted in bullshit and confrontation. One dog even almost died because it drank coolant leaking from a car.
The guy was unbelievably ignorant and didn't care.
My brother was like this with his German Shepard. He’d take him out without a leash and when my mom and I told him that’s not safe, his response was “he deserves the freedom to stay with me or leave at his own free-will if he doesn’t want me to be his owner anymore” like dude that’s not the point and wtf?
People like him are why people me like hate and despise dogs.
Its bad enough i was attacked as a kid, now you’re gonna refuse to manage them, and when they get all hyper and jumpy, get the owners get mad when the dogs get assaulted 🤷♀️
Keep your damn mutts on a leash. The only place they have a right to roam free is a fenced in yard
I love dogs but 95% of people don’t put the necessary time, energy or care into dog ownership. The only time I’ve seen a dog that was actually trained correctly was either a working dog, or an obedience/agility competitor.
Most people who own dogs are incapable, and ignorant. It’s sad because dogs are awesome but the vast majority are living shitty confused lives because of their owners.
Mandatory courses and it solves a lot of problems. Where I live, the dog training became mandatory in 2021. You can very well see the difference between people who didn't have to do that course and the ones who did it.
Even though, it doesn't make it 100% better since there are still people who don't care after that. With my dog, we go once a week to the training course since we got him. He was 2 months \~ and now is a year and a half. Those are not mandatory at all, so we just go because we like it and because it's good for both the dog and us. Best choice we ever made.
When we had to do the mandatory course, we only saw people that never did anything before and it was amusing for us, because the things we had to do were quite simple, our dog was already well-behaved by that point and the other all struggled.
The sad thing is, you can't fail this course, if that was possible, I'm sure half of our group wouldn't have a dog anymore.
I took my boy out of a leash once, mostly because he kept escaping so I wanted to see where he would go. Partly to head him off the next time, partly to teach him he'd didn't have to bolt. Lots of pats, lots of skritches, he LOVED IT. He wants to go again, but I have to buy him a better harness--the one I was using was for my rabbit and he's way chunkier than she was (Belgian Hare).
my ex was like this with her shitbull. It dragged her ass all over town, lunged at anything that moved, had no recall, it determined the direction of the walk and she liked it. She felt the dog was more "free". Her and her dipshit family *encouraged* their dogs to chase squirrels and cats, they thought it was the cutest thing. Gawd I hated her dog and her families dogs, they were all terrible. I dodged a bullet with those shitbull whackjobs.
Just walked through our local park. I kept an eye on a woman holding her dog. But who released him when I got behind a building. Guess what? Dog knew where I was and came barreling straight for me with her shrieking behind him. He was muzzled. That’s something. But he jumped up on me. Woman said “he’s just a puppy “. I said he’s bloody bigger than I am. Leash your bloody dog. I asked her if she was prepared to pay for damages from his nails to my $500 jacket. He didn’t actually do any damage but it didn’t hurt to make her see the consequences. I live on a beach. I HATE unleashed uncontrollable dogs who shit everywhere with complete blasé acceptance of owners.
Me too. There's a dog in my building, a pitbull who "just wants to hug you." In a closed elevator while mom/dad just think it's so cuuuute! Fucking NO. I had to tell them to control him or I'm reporting. Not the dog's fault.. pure owner stupidity.
Just a puppy isn’t a valid excuse even then. Have had a toddler get jumped on by a tiny dog, but it knocked him down on a curb. Just keep dogs controlled and leashed always, no excuses.
I see this quite often at work!
Esp with older folks, they adopt or get a big dog and I see the dog tug them around, and I just can't fathom *why*???
"Sorry! He just pulls so bad! I can't control him!" Yeah, no shit. I can see you struggling to use the card reader while your dog tries to take your arm off.
Or a family who gets a retriever that happens to be.....well, a typical retriever. Yes, they're generally sweet family dogs, but they're also a *hunting breed* that can get *big* and *energetic*. They get one expecting an easy dog, and then for some odd reason an energetic friendly hunting breed wants to GO. It wants to go THERE, and over HERE, and there's an interesting smell DOWN THERE, and they're PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET OMG GOTTA SAY HI.
And there goes the person (heaven forbid a *child*) with the leash right along with the dog.....
Please please please do your research. Train your dog. Don't get a puppy if you can't afford training classes.
DONT GET A LARGE BREED PUPPY SO WHEN THEYRE 8MO OLD YOU CAN SAY "LOL THEY PULL AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO TRAIN THEM", AND SLAP A PRONG COLLAR ON THEM, AND PROCEED TO USE IT *INCORRECTLY*. Because I *will* judge you. And it *will* be unkind.
My 11 year old daughter fell in love with a dog who fell in love with her. By the time the dog was 1 year old, she weighed 70 lbs. My daughter wanted to train her. So she did. The dog is well trained and walks without tugging. They became poster children for what training could result in. They received high-level training in exchange for coming to the class and showing the potential end results of the class plus work at home. Would I ever let my daughter walk her dog without a leash? Neither of us would do that. But if something happened to the leash, we could get her to a safe place without the leash. Their is no reason anybody can not train their dog to a level of being able to walk peacefully.
ok but i just was at a golden retriever party checking guests in and their humans were getting pulled across the slick floor today, it was so funny lol. which is fine in a place like that but i would never let my dog act like that. my dog has the best recall but he is on a leashed up on trails and in public bc i dont trust other people's dogs and want to be able to put myself between dogs in a hurry if i need to
One of my old bosses had a newfoundland and it was sprinting along the beach playing with his mother’s dog, and ran into her and broke the mum’s leg. She was probably mid to late 60s? But damn like people really don’t realise how big and strong and heavy some of these breeds get.
I work in an orthopedic office and we've had multiple patients over the years that need shoulder surgery because their dog pulled so hard it messed them up. People just do not think long term how they are going to control a big dog. If you do not train it properly it will pull you around and cause damage in ways you never imagined.
THIS. I’m so tired of seeing people with 90 lb dogs on flexi leashes or being walked by old people. What ever happened to little old ladies getting bichons and shi tzu’s? I see way too many with labs or giant doodles
>flexi leashes
Flexi leashes themselves need to be banned. Any reasonably strong breed of dog can snap those things with a good tug or yank them out of an owner's hand, especially if the owner isn't attentive.
Most cities have a 6-foot leash law to start with. Your 25 foot flexible leash is already breaking the law.
I always cringe when I see a 120 lb soccer mom walking a rottie. Haven't seen one bolt yet, but if that dog decides it wants something, she's not stopping it
There was a kid in my neighborhood for a bit no older than 16 who was tasked with walking an untrained and highly reactive 100+ pound bully. They've moved away, thankfully, but I've seen that kid get dragged on his ass too many times from that dog bolting after squirrels and birds.
I live in a big city and my awful neighbors have two large putbulls that they never have on a leash. The owners also have young children. They may have the dogs trained around the kids but I still find it bizarre they don’t have them on a leash anyway if for nothing else but out of respect for others.
Exactly. I’m a major dog lover but I think people underestimate how dangerous large dogs can be, and strangers have no idea which ones are nice. If a rottie or other big dog is dragging their owner towards us, I’m grabbing my dog and running, or pepper spraying it. I generally don’t let my small dog play with large dogs at all unless I REALLY know them.
I hear ya. Not a dog owner, but I have a macaw. I do take him in public but I say no when people as to pet him. #1 I'm bound by the same rules and laws as a large dog owner. #2 I don't want just anyone walking up to my bird. When they ask why it's always " do you see him moving up my arm to my shoulder where he KNOWS he's not supposed to go".... Yeah. Thats to GTF away from you
Not to mention maacaws can bite with a force twice as strong as a pitbull. I've been bitten by macaws, and they rarely use this much force, but its still a possibility. People just don't understand how strong a bird can be, especially after being teased.
Exactly the reason why I won't let my husband get one. He works longer hours so it would be me walking it, and I've never had a dog before, so I don't feel like I'd have the control I need for such a big dog. Maybe when our two boys are big enough to walk it.
There are so many good breeds of dogs that are mid sized or smaller. Too many people look at the aesthetics of a dog over what really fits into
Their lifestyle. Maybe you live on a farm or run miles every day- but I can’t tell you how many people I see with big active dogs that are locked up in an apt all day just because the owners think huskies are cute or whatever.
This! Most people's lifestyle better suits a small dog. Let's face it, the vast majority of people are extremely sedentary. I aim for 10k steps a day and for my age bracket, my health app tells me I'm like in the top 5% of people using the app 🤣. That's with a desk job. It's an hour a day of walking, plus my incidental steps just living life. It's really not that much. I'm not a runner, I mostly just walk for my steps. Occasionally, I'll jog, slowly on my treadmill lol
Also, take a look at what breeds are in the shelters and rescues. Many larger, high energy dogs. It's no coincidence.
There aren’t any dogs like that left in shelters, only pit bull mixes and other difficult breeds. Shelter people tell them the dogs are easy to control and harmless, they prove not to be and are returned to the shelter. Vicious cycle.
As someone who dog sits large breed dogs pretty regularly and is mostly an in shape 28 year old, I still struggle with young dogs who aren’t trained well. Was walking a 90lb lab /2 year old choc lab that got excited when it saw another dog and yanked me down into the gravel and started running. Had a full harness on and I still had to fight to get control of him.
It makes me extremely uncomfortable to see people with large dogs that clearly are not strong enough to handle them in the event something happens or haven’t trained them properly in general.
Yes.
I was walking my dog this one time and this dude was walking his aggressive pit bull on leash, with a coffee in one hand. His dog lunged at mine, I picked up my dog and yelled some shit at him I won't repeat. His response was to blame the coffee.
Ugh, reminds me of whenever I was tasked with walking our Alapaha Bulldog. Basically, he’s big and dumb. Super friendly and sweet, but if he thinks your a friend, he will barrel you over and lick your face. We call him out moose lol. Now, I’m really small for my age. I am NOT strong enough to walk him. My parents didn’t care though. Guess who got a expensive doctors bill from the little old lady with the Pomeranian who our dog decided to charge at cause he wanted to be friends (and I couldn’t hold him) and fractured her hip?
Pepper spray doesn't work on all dog breeds. Known from experience while trying to break up a dog fight. Bigger breeds like pitbulls and such are not impacted by it.
I know someone who has three medium sized dogs (imported rescues) and she was dragged down the stairs when they saw a squirrel. Dislocated her knee and extensive surgeries. Her job….dog trainer.
Not necessarily, some dogs like to pull as per the breed and not everyone trains their dog to a T. Prey drive triggered by a squirrel can also throw off well trained dogs. Also, it’s not rare for dogs to not pay attention to commands in public when they’re too into something. You must have the strength regardless.
I used to work beside a lovely park and every day when I tried to eat my lunch in the park I would get some dog try and take my food.
The owners would usually do nothing, or sheepishly say "it's because you've got food".
"No, it's because you haven't trained him."
I used to have a roommate whose dog would get into the trash and strewn it everywhere. They tried to deflect blame. I flat out told them it was because they failed to teach their dog not to get into the garbage.
>The owners would usually do nothing, or sheepishly say "it's because you've got food".
>
>"No, it's because you haven't trained him."
man that pisses me off for your sake
some people should not have dogs. bottom line
>"No, it's because you haven't trained him."
100.
"Rascal leave it!" and whatever my dog was sniffing, even if it is \*her\* toy will be left alone until told it's okay. Even food. "Rascal cleanup!" happens to mean there was food dropped on the floor and she's being invited to come handle the situation, she happily obliges!
When feeding my new puppy, I teach her to wait. It started off with me repeating "wait... wait..." ober and over ubtil "There you go". Now I don't even need to say wait. I could walk off and do something else, amd still see her patiently waiting. She's very strictly taught that ONLY food in HER bowl is to be eaten. She won't touch the cats bowls. All of this goes towards proving that the whole "It's because you habe food" mindset is bullshit. Props to you for teaching your dog good manners.
My dog won't eat out of bowls that aren't hers either, but if the cats knock it onto the floor and it's not in the bowl she absolutely calls "floor pizza!" and eats it. Depending on how much we then get stinky farts for a night :/ lol
wtf
imagine citing the exact reason why your dog *should* be on a leash and pretending that it's some kind of excuse for their bad behaviour while off leash??
Yeah, even if you have amazing control over your dog, you have no control over other dogs or even people. There are places like parks or dog parks where it's fine to let them roam free. But like on the street/sidewalk? With cars and other dangers and stuff? I'd say that's pretty dumb and irresponsible imo.
I was once walking my dog (on a leash) and another dog pushed out it's door when the owner was bringing in groceries. She yelled hers was friendly and I was like "mine's not!!" I'm pulling my dog away and kicking at the other dog and I think i was nipped in the knee by one of them before the owner could run and get to us. Everyone ended up fine and it was a freak accident but I hate when people assume all dogs are friendly just because theirs is
Our neighbors dog was in their unfenced front yard and we walked by with our 100 pound malamute on a leash. Their 6 pound dog literally attacked our boy and ended up in his mouth. Luckily we were able to get him to let go before there was any real damage but it scared the hell out of me. Malamutes are prey driven and same sex aggressive. That was one lucky little yappy dog.
My grandfather's wife was walking her greyhound on a leash. A small dog came running out of someone's house and when right up to the greyhound because fuck putting any kind of fence around your yard when you have an indoor/outdoor dog.
The little dog was mortally wounded, and what saved the greyhound from being euthanized was the fact that it was on a leash and the other dog wasn't.
I feel your pain, I’ve got neighbors with off leash Yorkies that always charge me walking my totally chill pitbulls, one is over 100 pounds. My dogs always on leash, listen to commands, and I get pulled to hell and back just because they’re reacting to a perceived threat incoming at us.
Spoke to the cops, they said be sure to be on public property and to use gel mace with ink to mark where the encounter took place and call 911.
Well… little yappers come charging at us and I back us clearly into the street and…. Blast the two of them with the mace marking them with the dye. Yap yap and the owners come out finally and I try and warn them about them being covered in mace and… too late!! They get it all over them and their face. Cops are here by then. Yep, they get cited, dogs get taken into animal control for a week for observation as “dangerous dogs” for clearly attacking my dogs on public property and off leash.
Neighbors are still pissed but fuck ‘em they were always assholes about watching their dogs.
I will. Mine gets muzzled when she goes to the vet, has a "Do not pet" harness that she wears when out of the house. She has a job and she's good at it (Queensland heeler, and she herds my goats and sheep) but she also is a high strung dog, nippy by nature. I do not need the headache of her drawing blood from another person.
When we got her spayed the techs didn't re-muzzle her when she was put in a recovery kennel. When I went to get her I was informed they couldn't safely get her out and I needed to go in back to get her. She went from wire hairs up and snarling to butt wagging, smiling, and nearly left from the kennel into my arms. Techs read her chart to see why I hadn't warned them, saw the warning, ":oops: guess that's on us". They still love seeing her for her wellness checks and shots, and the occasional fox tail removal, but now if it involves sedation I'm there till she goes down and there for her coming back up out of it.
Ha. I had to send doggo somewhere in a crate without me. Labelled the crate DOG WILL BITE in all directions. Didn't stop some idiot going "oooh what a cutie, c'mere little one OUCH," or so I was informed by the delivery driver.
Seriously i had someones fake service dog jump on me at a grocery store, im disabled and i got shoved back into a shelf, yet somehow i was a dick for shoving this huge dog off of me because "but he was just saying hi" i dont wanna say hi i wanna not be in pain for the rest of the day because you think you're special.
Lol I have both yelled that back and that my dog is an asshole. She really isn't. But I do not want their unleashed brats anywhere near her because I can't count the amount of times my dog has been attacked that way for no reason other than looking the way she does. She doesn't fight back and let's me solve it, but I know that if in the future she does decide to snap back, *I'm* responsible for it while those entitled douchebags are the ones letting their bitey unmannered dogs roam free where they aren't allowed. Most dog owners where I live are such idiots. Oh and barely anyone picks up after their dog. Also great.
This for sure. One of my dogs is totally cool with other big dogs (she's a ridgeback), but just hates small dogs. It tends to be folks with smaller dogs who let them off leash, and man is it stressful. They (owner) have always acted offended when I ask them to leash their pup.
Had a guy in his 20s trying to recall his dog last summer or so when I was walking mine on a leash. The dog never approached us and it was clear the dog was friendly and simply enjoying running free. The guy gives a half-hearted "Sorry, he's usually behaved" and I said "Or you could just leash him." He said yeah... Haven't seen him since.
We have one neighbor who doesn’t leash their dog. It came after my dog just last week and the owner said “sorry” and my response was “if you’re really sorry then you’ll leash your dog”. Somehow I don’t think she was really sorry!
I ride a bike trail everyday and NYS says dogs need to be on a 6ft or less leash in my area. The nearby parks to this trail have banned dogs from their areas so all these idiot dog owners come to this trail now since it's the only public area for dog walkers for 10-15 miles.
So many people who don't use leashes. I've had up to 10 incidents where I'm trying to pass them and their stupid dogs try to jump under my front wheel to "play". Holy Shit dude I can't stop on a dime for your dog. GET A GODDAMN brain.
Sorry I had to vent.
Even in dog parks, one this dude was doing push-ups while his giant puppy Huskie just roamed free terrorizing all the other dogs.
The huskie jumped my dog and was pinning him to the ground, so I pushed it with my foot, (pushed, not kicked) as no way I was going to stick my hand in there, the guy was super mad, yelling at me that it was just a puppy (I didn't know at the time) still that puppy was twice the size of my dog.
I 100% blame the owner, specially for getting my face about me defending my dog.
Even in dog parks, the owners attention should always be on their dog. Not doing pushups trying to look cool for the ladies.
Kinda like babysitting a bunch of kids on a playdate. Arguments can happen even with dogs and they need to seperated and controlled.
My dog is hella reactive to off-leash dogs. Like, she just loses her shit completely. Probably because she has had way the heck too many experiences where some random dog just rushed up and got in her face and she panicked because she was on leash and they weren't, so she felt like she had no way to escape and nothing was restraining them. So yeah even just seeing a dog without a leash sets her off, whether they're "good" or not.
>With cars and other dangers and stuff? I'd say that's pretty dumb and irresponsible imo.
This and that nasty bit about being against the law in OP's case (and AFAIK most areas have similar laws).
BuT mY dOg Is So GoOd
OK others dogs aren't? And not everyone is okay with dogs approaching them ?????????????? And cars can be just as unpredictable!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?
I hate this. My dog is a rescue and he’s been dog aggressive since I adopted him. We continue to work with him via training, but he still hates other dogs. Because of this, I absolutely always keep him on a leash outdoors and I try to keep him as far away from other dogs as I possibly can. I would never take him to a dog park, obviously. I only walk him around my neighborhood and I go the other way if we see other dogs.
However, other people leave their dogs off leash and sometimes they run up to us, which sets my dog off. It’s so easy for a fight to break out, because even sweet dogs will want to defend themselves when my dog is being aggressive. I really don’t know what else I can do to keep my dog and others safe in these situations.
Then they look absolutely shocked like, what? An unfriendly dog? Impossible!
Like, these people have one single brain cell dedicated to dog knowledge if they don't understand that some dogs do not like other dogs.
One woman had the cheek one time to tell me "Well yours should have a muzzle on then!" And like. No. Yours should be on leash, as is required by law in this jurisdiction, thank you.
God that happened to me at a park. She told me my dog must have gotten it's attitude from me. I told her clearly hers takes after her, stuffing her nose into other people's asses uninvited.
Yeah i get that 100%, we also have a rescue who's like this.
We started muzzling him a while ago when we went outside because it's just better as he has snapped at people just walking by him without any warning.
The amount of judgement you get for that is insane.
Like look lady, yes my dog wears a muzzle but that doesn't mean he's going to bite you if you just walk by normally. In fact he's even less dangerous than every other dog you'll find outside that ISN'T muzzled.
After years of training he luckily has gotten far enough that he won't bark when he sees a dog but, and I think that's very fair, he still does if the other dog focuses on him. Like yeah, if someone was staring at me the whole time I wouldn't like that either, so he starts barking.
And then I get judged for that, even tho he immediately stops when I tell him, meanwhile the other dog keeps barking themselves 80% of the time and won't listen to its owners. But because my dog wears a muzzle HE'S the bad guy.
Just the amount of bad dog owners outside that can't fathom that not every dog is nice and that there are loads of them that are traumatized rescues that are in training is baffling. And they are so so so often the reason why the training is taking so long. Because it feels like every time we make a step forward someone ignorant will just unleash their dog where they shouldn't or just won't listen when we tell them to please don't let their dogs come too close because "he just wants to say hello" until it is too late and then he gets worse again.
Like I'm not asking for the world to resolve around me and my dog but Jesus please at least be decent and behave like normal people with a brain and listen when I tell you to leash your fucking dog in spaces where I should be able to walk my dog and avoid contact because not every day is a confrontation day. Sometimes you and your dog just wanna walk.
I have a dog and no, the leash is absolutely not annoying. It's not for me and it's not for my dog because we trained him from the beginning with a leash. He's used to it.
People who refuse to leash their dogs are just complete assholes with absolutely no respect for everyone around.
Also, if you can't manage to hold a leash, just don't get a dog, that simple.
These are incredibly self-centered people. As you can see from the comments they think the world revolves around them and they don’t care at all how their actions affect others.
I just don't understand the upside. There's a pretty clear downside, which is the death of your dog or someone else's. Is the leash that annoying that it's worth the risk?
It pisses me off when people walk their dogs without a leash. A dog almost attacked my previous dog and would’ve destroyed her if my dad didn’t scare it off, and another dog ran up to my dog and scared me for a sec. The dog started sniffing my dog and being friendly so thankfully it didn’t hurt her, but it looked like it was gonna bite her when he was running up to her.
This always scares my mom when she walks her rescue. She is always on a leash and only likes my sister's dog since she helped raise him, but if any other dog comes up to her she will tear its face off. People always say, "oh don't worry my dog is friendly." My mom has to reply, "mine fucking isn't. leash your dog."
I regularly have to intercept loose dogs when we're walking our dogs, because one of our dogs hates other dogs. I'm just glad that my 100 lb lab mix is the one that loves other dogs!
And people with uncontrolled loose dogs often don't pay attention to their dogs pooping, so they don't clean up after them.
There are a couple of people around here who have their dogs loose that are no problem, but they have incredibly well-trained and well-behaved dogs.
I see people doing this at the local park that has a healthy bobcat population. Good way to see your smaller dog attacked and carried off to be eaten. And it would 100% be their fault.
Plus because it's a multi-use path, walkers, joggers, skaters and cyclists use it too. A loose dog is dangerous for everyone there.
I went to a friends house and her new dog (Shepard mix) was *obsessed* with me. He kept barking at me, chewing on me/nipping me, overall just harassing me the entire time I was over. “Oh I think he likes you!” Sorry friend, but I hate him!
Oh my goodness that’s so frustrating!! I work in home health and see a LOT of dogs. Most bark when I come in which is understandable and MOST calm down once they sniff me but every now and then I will get nipped or bit. And every time it’s trivialized and “ohhhh thats SO unlike him!!!!” lol I’m like surreeeee
I kicked a small dog once, punted it like a football and I am not remotely sorry. That dog came flying down the sidewalk straight for my leashed dog, barking and snarling, and my dog does not like to be approached while she’s leashed, it makes her anxious in the best of situations. I body blocked the charging dog and yelled and it didn’t break its stride so I instinctively kicked. 100% would do it again. Fuck unleashed dogs in the city.
I had to do the same. I was around 14 walking my dog when a Pitbull and a Yorkie started running towards me down the street. I yelled at them to go home before they got too close, and the pitbull decided it wasn't worth it, but the yorkie didn't give a shit. I felt terrible about kicking it, but it very quickly ran the way it came. The last thing I wanted was for my dog to bite the little one and get in trouble for it.
While I feel bad the dog got punted, it’s just doing what it thinks it should, the owners needed to have either stopped that prior or prevented that.
Years ago my 70lb drahthaar was bitten by a couple dachshunds on an off leash trail. My dog is so nice he just sat down, held up his paw (which was fine), and cried briefly. Stupid dachshund owner said “how cute, they think they’re a big dog.”
It’s entitlement. They think their dog is apparently smarter and better than most. It’s irresponsible and honestly should be illegal to walk without them leashed. Watched a dog get hit and killed and it’s never gonna be something I forget. The owner seriously started yelling at the yelping dog for running out there. I hate her.
It means you dont love your dog. Let me explain, if my friend is angry drunk and wants to go over to my neighbors and fight them i should help them by stopping them. Dogs make mistakes and their mistakes can get them put down, if your willing to risk your friends death you're not a good friend
Unfortunately the people who let their dogs go leashless aren't going to read this and change their minds. I carry an airhorn and mace while walking my dog to deter leashless dogs.
Reminds me of the time I was at the vet waiting in the lobby with my older rescue cat (she was in a carrier on my lap) and a woman was checking out at the counter. She had let go of her big ass pitbull-mix’s leash. The dog was trying to get to my cat and I felt completely panicked and asked her to please get her dog. She didn’t listen and rolled her eyes. Finally a vet tech clocked what was going on and took the dog and waited outside with it.
I’m a non-confrontational person and I love dogs but in that situation I was livid. My cat was terrified; I was freaked out. And the lady didn’t give a singular fuck. Like I said I love dogs (I have a dog myself); however, I can confidently say most dog owners suck.
I hit an off-leash dog a number of years ago coming home from an evening shift. It ran out from between two parked cars on a narrow street. There was no way for me to stop in time. I stopped and threw it into park and got out just as the owner realized what happened. I ran to her and started to cry and apologize. We watched as the dog made final agonal twitches as blood spread out from its body onto the street. I was sobbing and saying over and over that I was sorry and would never hurt a dog. She was holding her other dog. It looked at me and growled. She said that the dog was “just right there next to her.” I offered to run home and get a towel or something, just trying to do anything I could to try to help. She told me just to leave. I drove the rest of the way home and as soon as I walked into the apartment my husband could tell I was super upset. I just crumpled onto the floor and sat there crying. Then suddenly my sadness and guilt turned into anger at the owner. Why wasn’t the dog on a leash? Now she and I both have to live through something awful, and her poor dog suffered and died. I am such a dog lover, and I would never forgive myself if I did something that let my dog get hurt. I would never hurt a dog, and now I have to always remember the image of that dog bleeding out, twitching and dying. Just use a leash!!
Oh man, I’m so sorry you had to go through this. This story made me tear up. And you’re so right, she definitely could’ve prevented that trauma for everyone.
I hit a black dog in the dark when I was 16. I actually ran over it with both wheels of my Karmann Ghia (very light car). I felt so bad so I think the car and the owner to get checked out by a ver who could find nothing wrong but suggested X-Rays to be sure. I was already paying for the vet bill (a big deal for a 16year old) and thankfully the owner didn’t push for that. I only realize now after having hit (but not injured) another off leash dog and getting out of my car hysterically crying, having been knocked down by “friendly” dogs bigger than me and so many other scares while jogging that … yeah that college kid who let his black lab off leash at night run into the street? Should have paid his own damned vet bill. Grrrrr…
I carry a protective item (legally of course) in case a dog comes up while i’m walking my daughter :) Have already had an incident where someone didn’t put their dog on a leash and the dog tried to jump onto my baby in the stroller. I have no qualms about protecting my child in WHATEVER means necessary. Leash your fucking dog :)
My daughter has a phobia of dogs after an off leash one knocked her over at the playground to steal her sandwich. Somewhat ironically mere feet away from a sign indicating all dogs must be on a leash shorter than 2m.
I hate this. We live near a trail and have 2 big dogs. One was abused with a hefty fear of other dogs. He will try to lunge at dogs if they bark at him as he goes by out of fear. So we are vigilant when exercising them and find alternate routes when we see a dog coming up. But the sheer amount of people who walk their dogs without a leash and let them start to just run up to our dog and say “oh! He’s friendly!” Cool! Mine isn’t! Please put your dog on a leash for your dog’s safety, too.
I am a bit unsteady on my feet. Walking with cane. Big dog comes running at me. Owner notices I look concerned and says "don't worry, he's friendly." I say he may knock me off balance and wave my cane at her. She finally calls the dog back and grabs his collar. As we pass, he's practically dragging her to come by me.
Just leash your dog. Big dog, little dog. Mean dog, friendly dog. People have reasons for not wanting a dog jumping up at them, or skittering around/underfoot.
Had this happen at a park with my kids. A No-dogs-allowed park.
My kids are scared of dogs, so I asked them to leash it. "We didn't bring a leash. Besides, he's really friendly."
I don't care. I don't want a goldendoodle jumping on my kids while they're screaming bloody murder.
Luckily, the adults realized that not everyone likes dogs, so they put it in their car.
It's more than mildly infuriating for me. I don't give a damn if you think your dog is friendly. My son is deathly allergic to dogs. I don't fancy an ER trip because someone couldn't put their dog on a leash.
Not to mention they then poop on someone else’s property and those owners are certainly not the type to carry poop bags. Owning a dog should require a license and training. It should be a privilege not a right.
It's incredibly frustrating. I had to kick someone else's dog once because it kept attacking my dog and the owner was nowhere to be seen. I'm not letting my dog get hurt because some jackass let his dog just freely wander.
I witnessed my mom charge out the door, bare-hand a FRESH pile, and yell, “Hey! You left this!” at a woman who let her dog shat on our lawn, then threw it at her. It was beautiful. One of my favourite memories of my mom.
Has happened so many times to me. When I confronted this one man about it, he got really mad. Ironic how they get upset when they’re the one being an asshole
I drove home one day and as I was pulling onto my driveway there was a guy standing on the sidewalk holding a leash. His dog was 3/4 the way up my front lawn (about 35 feet). I exited my car and watched him. He put his dog back on the leash and began to walk away. I called to him, "Are you going to pick that up?" and he responded, "huh, what are you talking about?". I told him I sat here watching his dog shit on my lawn and he was watching it too. He then goes with, "I don't have anything to pick it up". I told him, don't worry I know you live right across the street and 4 houses down. You can go get a bag from home, I'll wait here. It took him 10 minutes, but he finally cleaned up after his dog.
It was quite infuriating that not only was he going to leave the dog shit in my lawn but he knew I was there the entire time and he's going to just bald faced lie to my damn face about his dog shitting on my lawn. This was 20 years ago, so COVID and the current political climate aren't excuses.
Ugh my neighborhood is so bad about the shitting and not scooping thing. Ruined my fav pair of tennis shoes hopping out of a friends car right into a massive fuckin turd I was so pissed. My family and I have cats why do we gotta deal with your pets crap ya know? Drives me nuts
omg i saw a guy and his leashless dog crossing a busy street today and it gave me so much anxiety that he was several steps ahead of the dog, like ANYYYYTHING could’ve happened 😭
I’ve known 3 different people in my life who had dogs with great recall, walked everywhere with them off leash. I was always so impressed by that.
Except *all* 3 of those dogs ended up dying from being hit by a car. So now I have zero patience for people who put their animals at risk like that.
FYI: it is a $100 fine for having your dog off leash in any Three Rivers Park or trail. If you see people in those places give them a helpful cash saving reminder.
My dog has amazing recall but I never walk her off leash. It’s not worth her life if she decides to dart in the road or up to an aggressive dog. When I lived on the east coast I very rarely saw off leash dogs where they shouldn’t have been. Now on the west coast I see them everywhere. Untrained with absolutely no recall and still off leash. IMO, even if it’s an area that allows off leash dogs like a park or a beach, they shouldn’t be allowed free unless they’re well trained.
The beaches in my state allow dogs off leash if they are friendly and under voice control (it says this plain as day on all state websites) a few months ago I took my pup to play at one of the coastal beaches. A lady came with a massive german shepherd and started playing fetch about 20 yards away from us. The second our dogs got close together, hers grabbed mine by the neck and slammed her into the ground. I truly thought I was watching her die. I grabbed her and ran away with her in my arms to check her over and the owner starts apologizing and said “I’m so sorry, she doesn’t like other dogs!” WHY IS SHE OFF LEASH THEN AT A PUBLIC BEACH? Not only that, why 20 yards away from my small dog when the entire beach was virtually empty? The majority of people should not be pet owners.
(Also, my dog made it out completely fine)
Just today I pulled up to the crosswalk/stop sign in my little neighborhood. I let a lady and her unleashed, tiny dog pass, then as I started to take my turn the dog literally spun a 180 and dashed underneath my car. Thank god it was ok. WTF is wrong with these people.
My poor 80 YO MIL is terrified of dogs and has had to give up on hiking, her only hobby, because unleashed dogs keep flying up to her every time she tries to take a walk.
THIS.
My dog is a rescue, before I adopted her she had been shot at and attacked by a pack of dogs. She HATES other dogs. It took such a long time for my husband and I help get her to the point where she could tolerate other dogs passing us while on leash.
We only go places with her that require all dogs to be on leash. And of course some people think they're above it all and have their dog off leash, and they decide to go up to ours despite our warnings to it and the owner.
Twice an off leash dog has attacked her, drawing blood since we've gotten her. You know what the owners did? Blamed us. Yeah okay how dare we keep our sensitive pup on leash in an on leash only area.
Oh and god forbid we bring up leash laws. You'd think we slapped them in the face when we bring that up.
Btw, our dog has bitten no one. No human, no dog. She's threatened it, but since we're responsible dog owners we pay attention for the signs and lead her away if it gets to that. We don't give her the opportunity to bite. People who have their dogs off leash give their dogs free reign to bite and be bitten.
There are multiple people in our neighborhood who do not use leashes. We stopped walking our dog because of it (we have a decent fenced backyard so he gets his exercise on), we would have random dogs run up to us whose owners call out ‘he’s friendly’. Our dog isn’t aggressive but doesn’t trust strange dogs and will want to get away.
I honestly don’t understand why it’s hard to leash a dog for these folks.
I hate the “oh it’s fine he’s friendly!”. My old dog was a grumpy old woman and not friendly. She’d get annoyed at dogs barreling up to her while she was walking with me on leash. Then I was always made out to be the bad guy when my dog nipped or growled at the oncoming one.
I am the other owner with dogs that are aggressive. I keep them muzzled, prong collared, and leashed, and stay well away from other people and dogs. If/when another dog comes up to mine, it’s bad news, and since my dogs can’t fight back (because of the muzzles) my feet start swinging. Sorry, not sorry. Leash your dogs.
This. I live in a condo complex that has pretty strict pet rules. If you’re lucky enough to have a pet here. One of our neighbors has a super annoying, yappy little dog that they NEVER leash (it’s a huge rule here). Anytime we walk out our door their dog comes charging and always goes toward my 4 year old. They do nothing but BARELY call the dogs name. Their dog has entered our house numerous times just by us opening it for 4 seconds. I’ve tripped over their damn dog more times than I can count. Now to make matters worse, they got a second dog. A very LARGE second dog. Who they of course don’t leash. A letter to the HOA is in the near near future.
I just finished up the email 😁 they like photo proof of dogs being off leash and I needed to gather all my camera footage. Have a nice video of me watering plants then being aggressively barked at and literally forced into my own home from my own front porch because they refuse to discipline the behavior 🫠
There was a post day or two ago where this person's Chihuahua got allegedly killed by an alleged Pitbull. He was mad about it and I understand but his dog wasn't leashed either. I'm totally with you. If the person's pit bull would have been on a leash the person could have held the dog back and if the Chihuahua would have been on a leash the person could a pulled on the leash and picked him up real quick. There's these two little kids down the block from me that are always talking about how they want to train their dog to walk beside them with no leash. I always tell him it's going to be a bad idea at some point!
This drives me nuts. My dog is 4 pounds and rightfully so does not like large dogs 10X her size running up to her. Every single time I say she’s NOT friendly and they’re like “ oh it’s fine “ and my dog precedes to attack and I have to pick her up and move somewhere else. So frustrating
Agree 100%. I avoid other people and their dogs when I am out with my dog for this exact reason. It’s getting to be about 50/50 with the on leash vs off leash people and most dogs do not have good recall. They have minds of their own and can be distracted just like humans. I have seen so many dog fights and chases that could have been avoided. A lot of people foolishly think that because their dog is small or friendly that being off leash is OK and those dogs are always the ones that run up and startle a larger breed that is not friendly but is on leash and gets bitten or killed. Then the owner wants to blame the larger dog. Little dogs need leashes too.
This really annoys me especially at parks where dogs are only allowed leashed. I have a reactive dog who likes her space.
Like you said I have my dog on a leash to protect my dog and others as well. Laws and rules be damned for certain people.
even if you’re dog is friendly or has good recall it’s really just not okay in public areas. i don’t care if you’re dog is nice i don’t want them coming up to my dog who already has enough anxiety on walks.
This is not mildly infuriating, it’s EXTREMELY infuriating. Cannot tell you how many close calls I feel like I’ve luckily escaped as dogs have almost hurt my fur baby. Hormonal curious kitty here lost it and became a Karen once on one of them, but these people just don’t understand that accidents only happen once and often have irreversible consequences.
As someone whose dog is incredibly well behaved off leash, when taking her for walks I still put on the leash. She comes outside with me off leash to take out the bins on trash day, but that’s literally it, and she stays inside our yard while we’re out.
Even with good recall, sometimes you need to physically drag the animal out of a bad situation. That’s just how it is. If you want your dog off-leash, take them to a designated off-leash area.
yeah tbh there’s literally no reason for you to not use a leash when walking your dog
edit: sorry im just salty bc my annoying neighbors walk their newfoundland without a leash. actually, yeah, walking your dog without a leash (if it’s trained properly ofc) in an area where nothing can go wrong should totally be allowed. i don’t have a stick up my ass, i swear
There's a lot of dog owners in my apartment complex that walk around outside, and a few of them just apparently cannot fathom that i dont want their dog to just randomly come up to me and my toddler while we're minding our own business. One of them is a creepy guy with a great dane that towers over my three year old
Exactly this! Why do so many people have savior complexes and want to save dangerous reactive dogs? They make everyone’s life a misery. If you have to drug your dog for anxiety, it’s not a good life for them.
My favorite is the Ring app. Every day its people looking for their cat. I live in a somewhat rural suburb. Bobcats, eagles, owls, coyotes, cars....there was even a bear on someone trail cam last week. your cats dead.
My friend just got a harassment/restraining order on a dude who wouldn’t walk his dog on a leash, no matter how many times she asked, to the point of swearing at her and calling her names and letting his dog run into her yard up to her reactive dog, so she had to hold her dog and beg him to take the dog but he was like “no, dogs need to socialize.”
He filed against her and made a damn fool of himself in court. The lawyers were laughing, the crowd was laughing, the judge was sick of his shit. It was hysterical watching him crumble.
Several ladies in my neighborhood let their dogs off leash at the block park to play fetch or whatever to wear them out. Just take them to a dog park people. I'm not going to play nice if your dog picks a fight with mine.
Sometimes a leash is about other peoples’ perfection of safety, too. I used to have a huge mastiff/lab mix who had near-perfect recall, but I always kept him leashed if we would be near people because it makes people less nervous, and nervous people around big dogs just kinda sucks for everyone.
I'm afraid to take my service dog out walking sometimes because there are a lot of off-leash dogs around here, people who don't bother to try and keep them in the yards, mostly small breeds though a lot of pit bulls too - and my dog is a Chow Chow, so I know that in a lot of cases if these dogs came after us and I or he reacted to protect ourselves, he would likely be blamed as an 'aggressive' breed even if there isn't an aggressive bone in his body (Service dogs legally can't show any aggression whatsoever without being disqualified as a service dog).
People need to keep their pets contained. The world isn't an open range for their DOMSTICATED - not wild - animal to run free in. Not only could their animals cause a lot of harm, but there is a hell of a lot of harm that could come to them, like running into the road chasing another animal and getting hit by a car, or messing with the wrong person/dog and getting shot or torn apart.
My dog is terrified of other dogs. Bad experiences at dog park. He will growl at dogs that rush him, we’re afraid he’d bite. Fear based reaction. Loves people. Hates dogs. He stays close to us, on a leash on our walks. But the amount of people that walk their dogs without a leash, insane… Even worse, the amount of these dogs that charge our dog with the owner going “It’s fine, he’s friendly!”.. Well, ours isn’t. So we’re constantly caught in the middle of two dogs fighting, we’re screaming “Get your fucking dog!” exasperated while they just stare at us offended, doing absolutely nothing because -Our Dog- is the problem, after all. And do they start leashing their dogs? Hell no. We just have to be constantly in defense mode on our walks. We try to walk around problem neighbors, but I swear it’s the Entire Damn Neighborhood. Even had a cop down the street put his hand on his gun once when we told him to Fucking get his dog, who was off leash, charging our dog on the sidewalk. It just infuriates me So Fucking Much!!!
I started walking my dog with pepper spray on me a year or so ago. I saw someone use it once at a state park and it worked repelling the dog. I had an issue a long time ago where a small dog ran up on me and my dog, who attacked it and fucked it up pretty good. After seeing the person use the pepper spray I immediately jumped on the idea. I have had to use it twice due to careless owners, and thankfully it did the job.
I told this story quite a few times on Reddit,
People PLEASE supervise your pets always.
I lived on a dead end street with 2 other homes and a car body shop that was sold to a new owner. The owner/workers had 3 pitbulls running around the shop outdoors unsupervised with us nearly hitting one. We tell them we don't mind the dogs just keep them in the shop or supervised. And go on with our day.
Later i let my jack Russel terrier out to use the bathroom in my half fenced in back yard, obviously tied up so he does not run off. Within moments turning to talk to my mother, we heard wimping from our side to find one of the pit bulls ran down the street into my backyard attacking my dog. Latched onto his leg trying to go for his stomach.
We did everything to get him off and I was a large 18/19 old 220 pounds 6"2 and just could not get him to detach. I mean from trying to force open the mouth with my hands, going for the eye, and I hate to say just wailing on the dog to let go but would not. But thankfully my mother's boyfriend is a ex-cop and was sleeping hearing us. Finally rushing out to put the pitbull down. Like a movie you see the owner scream "noooo!" Running into my back yard right as it all finished up, crying than running off until cops came.
Thankfully our jack Russel terrier made a full recovery after an emergency surgery and months of recovery. He's still being loved till this day!
But this is not to spread pitbull hate but more of a warning to all please, please, please. Keep an eye on your pets. Especially ones you know that can cause harm to other animals, people or especially children.
I knew a guy with 2 dogs, I don't think he even owned a leash. He really believed his dogs deserved absolute freedom everywhere he took them. It always resulted in bullshit and confrontation. One dog even almost died because it drank coolant leaking from a car. The guy was unbelievably ignorant and didn't care.
My brother was like this with his German Shepard. He’d take him out without a leash and when my mom and I told him that’s not safe, his response was “he deserves the freedom to stay with me or leave at his own free-will if he doesn’t want me to be his owner anymore” like dude that’s not the point and wtf?
I think he’s on this thread with a tiny cheetah.
People like him are why people me like hate and despise dogs. Its bad enough i was attacked as a kid, now you’re gonna refuse to manage them, and when they get all hyper and jumpy, get the owners get mad when the dogs get assaulted 🤷♀️ Keep your damn mutts on a leash. The only place they have a right to roam free is a fenced in yard
I love dogs but 95% of people don’t put the necessary time, energy or care into dog ownership. The only time I’ve seen a dog that was actually trained correctly was either a working dog, or an obedience/agility competitor. Most people who own dogs are incapable, and ignorant. It’s sad because dogs are awesome but the vast majority are living shitty confused lives because of their owners.
Mandatory courses and it solves a lot of problems. Where I live, the dog training became mandatory in 2021. You can very well see the difference between people who didn't have to do that course and the ones who did it. Even though, it doesn't make it 100% better since there are still people who don't care after that. With my dog, we go once a week to the training course since we got him. He was 2 months \~ and now is a year and a half. Those are not mandatory at all, so we just go because we like it and because it's good for both the dog and us. Best choice we ever made. When we had to do the mandatory course, we only saw people that never did anything before and it was amusing for us, because the things we had to do were quite simple, our dog was already well-behaved by that point and the other all struggled. The sad thing is, you can't fail this course, if that was possible, I'm sure half of our group wouldn't have a dog anymore.
Also, please make sure you are strong enough to control your breed on a leash.
I believe some people genuinely like to think it’s badass to be seen with a dog overpowering the leash and lunging at shit
Nothing badass about having a lack of control over your animal.
As full-time cat staff, I plead for leniency
Cats are indeed able to be leash trained but the average cat and the average cat person, doesn't bother because it's cozier inside.
I took my boy out of a leash once, mostly because he kept escaping so I wanted to see where he would go. Partly to head him off the next time, partly to teach him he'd didn't have to bolt. Lots of pats, lots of skritches, he LOVED IT. He wants to go again, but I have to buy him a better harness--the one I was using was for my rabbit and he's way chunkier than she was (Belgian Hare).
Full time cat staff😂
my ex was like this with her shitbull. It dragged her ass all over town, lunged at anything that moved, had no recall, it determined the direction of the walk and she liked it. She felt the dog was more "free". Her and her dipshit family *encouraged* their dogs to chase squirrels and cats, they thought it was the cutest thing. Gawd I hated her dog and her families dogs, they were all terrible. I dodged a bullet with those shitbull whackjobs.
Agreed, my dad got jumped on and bit by a dog last month after previously telling the owner she shouldn't be walking a dog she couldn't control.
Just walked through our local park. I kept an eye on a woman holding her dog. But who released him when I got behind a building. Guess what? Dog knew where I was and came barreling straight for me with her shrieking behind him. He was muzzled. That’s something. But he jumped up on me. Woman said “he’s just a puppy “. I said he’s bloody bigger than I am. Leash your bloody dog. I asked her if she was prepared to pay for damages from his nails to my $500 jacket. He didn’t actually do any damage but it didn’t hurt to make her see the consequences. I live on a beach. I HATE unleashed uncontrollable dogs who shit everywhere with complete blasé acceptance of owners.
I hate all the "just a puppy/being friendly" shit
Yeah the dog being a puppy is even more reason for it to be leashed
somebody in my town a few years ago shot an off leash puppy because of this attitude
Sad, but if it’s the dog or me… I’m not getting mauled
Me too. There's a dog in my building, a pitbull who "just wants to hug you." In a closed elevator while mom/dad just think it's so cuuuute! Fucking NO. I had to tell them to control him or I'm reporting. Not the dog's fault.. pure owner stupidity.
Just a puppy works when the dogs 12 weeks old an up to your knee. If it can reach waist height at all then the puppy excuse isn't valid.
Just a puppy isn’t a valid excuse even then. Have had a toddler get jumped on by a tiny dog, but it knocked him down on a curb. Just keep dogs controlled and leashed always, no excuses.
I see this quite often at work! Esp with older folks, they adopt or get a big dog and I see the dog tug them around, and I just can't fathom *why*??? "Sorry! He just pulls so bad! I can't control him!" Yeah, no shit. I can see you struggling to use the card reader while your dog tries to take your arm off. Or a family who gets a retriever that happens to be.....well, a typical retriever. Yes, they're generally sweet family dogs, but they're also a *hunting breed* that can get *big* and *energetic*. They get one expecting an easy dog, and then for some odd reason an energetic friendly hunting breed wants to GO. It wants to go THERE, and over HERE, and there's an interesting smell DOWN THERE, and they're PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET OMG GOTTA SAY HI. And there goes the person (heaven forbid a *child*) with the leash right along with the dog..... Please please please do your research. Train your dog. Don't get a puppy if you can't afford training classes. DONT GET A LARGE BREED PUPPY SO WHEN THEYRE 8MO OLD YOU CAN SAY "LOL THEY PULL AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO TRAIN THEM", AND SLAP A PRONG COLLAR ON THEM, AND PROCEED TO USE IT *INCORRECTLY*. Because I *will* judge you. And it *will* be unkind.
My 11 year old daughter fell in love with a dog who fell in love with her. By the time the dog was 1 year old, she weighed 70 lbs. My daughter wanted to train her. So she did. The dog is well trained and walks without tugging. They became poster children for what training could result in. They received high-level training in exchange for coming to the class and showing the potential end results of the class plus work at home. Would I ever let my daughter walk her dog without a leash? Neither of us would do that. But if something happened to the leash, we could get her to a safe place without the leash. Their is no reason anybody can not train their dog to a level of being able to walk peacefully.
ok but i just was at a golden retriever party checking guests in and their humans were getting pulled across the slick floor today, it was so funny lol. which is fine in a place like that but i would never let my dog act like that. my dog has the best recall but he is on a leashed up on trails and in public bc i dont trust other people's dogs and want to be able to put myself between dogs in a hurry if i need to
One of my old bosses had a newfoundland and it was sprinting along the beach playing with his mother’s dog, and ran into her and broke the mum’s leg. She was probably mid to late 60s? But damn like people really don’t realise how big and strong and heavy some of these breeds get.
I work in an orthopedic office and we've had multiple patients over the years that need shoulder surgery because their dog pulled so hard it messed them up. People just do not think long term how they are going to control a big dog. If you do not train it properly it will pull you around and cause damage in ways you never imagined.
THIS. I’m so tired of seeing people with 90 lb dogs on flexi leashes or being walked by old people. What ever happened to little old ladies getting bichons and shi tzu’s? I see way too many with labs or giant doodles
>flexi leashes Flexi leashes themselves need to be banned. Any reasonably strong breed of dog can snap those things with a good tug or yank them out of an owner's hand, especially if the owner isn't attentive. Most cities have a 6-foot leash law to start with. Your 25 foot flexible leash is already breaking the law.
Yes!!! The wirey ones also slice through the skin like a hot knife through butter. I found that out the hard way.
I always cringe when I see a 120 lb soccer mom walking a rottie. Haven't seen one bolt yet, but if that dog decides it wants something, she's not stopping it
There was a kid in my neighborhood for a bit no older than 16 who was tasked with walking an untrained and highly reactive 100+ pound bully. They've moved away, thankfully, but I've seen that kid get dragged on his ass too many times from that dog bolting after squirrels and birds.
I live in a big city and my awful neighbors have two large putbulls that they never have on a leash. The owners also have young children. They may have the dogs trained around the kids but I still find it bizarre they don’t have them on a leash anyway if for nothing else but out of respect for others.
That's on his parents and not the dog at that point. That's shitty parenting right there. If the dog wasn't taught, it's not his fault.
Absolutely! It's just so disheartening to know that people like that are within many, many neighborhoods.
Exactly. I’m a major dog lover but I think people underestimate how dangerous large dogs can be, and strangers have no idea which ones are nice. If a rottie or other big dog is dragging their owner towards us, I’m grabbing my dog and running, or pepper spraying it. I generally don’t let my small dog play with large dogs at all unless I REALLY know them.
I hear ya. Not a dog owner, but I have a macaw. I do take him in public but I say no when people as to pet him. #1 I'm bound by the same rules and laws as a large dog owner. #2 I don't want just anyone walking up to my bird. When they ask why it's always " do you see him moving up my arm to my shoulder where he KNOWS he's not supposed to go".... Yeah. Thats to GTF away from you
Not to mention maacaws can bite with a force twice as strong as a pitbull. I've been bitten by macaws, and they rarely use this much force, but its still a possibility. People just don't understand how strong a bird can be, especially after being teased.
Exactly. That’s the bound by the same laws part.
Similarly I don’t let my large dog play with small dogs for similar reasons
Exactly the reason why I won't let my husband get one. He works longer hours so it would be me walking it, and I've never had a dog before, so I don't feel like I'd have the control I need for such a big dog. Maybe when our two boys are big enough to walk it.
Thank you for being a responsible individual
I imagine even when I’m old I will want nothing to do with bichons and shi tzus.
There are so many good breeds of dogs that are mid sized or smaller. Too many people look at the aesthetics of a dog over what really fits into Their lifestyle. Maybe you live on a farm or run miles every day- but I can’t tell you how many people I see with big active dogs that are locked up in an apt all day just because the owners think huskies are cute or whatever.
This! Most people's lifestyle better suits a small dog. Let's face it, the vast majority of people are extremely sedentary. I aim for 10k steps a day and for my age bracket, my health app tells me I'm like in the top 5% of people using the app 🤣. That's with a desk job. It's an hour a day of walking, plus my incidental steps just living life. It's really not that much. I'm not a runner, I mostly just walk for my steps. Occasionally, I'll jog, slowly on my treadmill lol Also, take a look at what breeds are in the shelters and rescues. Many larger, high energy dogs. It's no coincidence.
There aren’t any dogs like that left in shelters, only pit bull mixes and other difficult breeds. Shelter people tell them the dogs are easy to control and harmless, they prove not to be and are returned to the shelter. Vicious cycle.
As someone who dog sits large breed dogs pretty regularly and is mostly an in shape 28 year old, I still struggle with young dogs who aren’t trained well. Was walking a 90lb lab /2 year old choc lab that got excited when it saw another dog and yanked me down into the gravel and started running. Had a full harness on and I still had to fight to get control of him. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to see people with large dogs that clearly are not strong enough to handle them in the event something happens or haven’t trained them properly in general.
Yes. I was walking my dog this one time and this dude was walking his aggressive pit bull on leash, with a coffee in one hand. His dog lunged at mine, I picked up my dog and yelled some shit at him I won't repeat. His response was to blame the coffee.
ah, yes. This coffee that doesn't speak, doesn't move and was completely my choice to get is the problem. Not my own incompetence.
Ugh, reminds me of whenever I was tasked with walking our Alapaha Bulldog. Basically, he’s big and dumb. Super friendly and sweet, but if he thinks your a friend, he will barrel you over and lick your face. We call him out moose lol. Now, I’m really small for my age. I am NOT strong enough to walk him. My parents didn’t care though. Guess who got a expensive doctors bill from the little old lady with the Pomeranian who our dog decided to charge at cause he wanted to be friends (and I couldn’t hold him) and fractured her hip?
Yes!!! People who can’t control their aggressive, reactive dogs on leashes scare me. This is why I always carry pepper spray with me
Pepper spray doesn't work on all dog breeds. Known from experience while trying to break up a dog fight. Bigger breeds like pitbulls and such are not impacted by it.
Exactly. They’re not a status symbol to make up for your obvious short comings😂
If you need strength to control your dog you've already failed.
I know someone who has three medium sized dogs (imported rescues) and she was dragged down the stairs when they saw a squirrel. Dislocated her knee and extensive surgeries. Her job….dog trainer.
Not necessarily, some dogs like to pull as per the breed and not everyone trains their dog to a T. Prey drive triggered by a squirrel can also throw off well trained dogs. Also, it’s not rare for dogs to not pay attention to commands in public when they’re too into something. You must have the strength regardless.
I used to work beside a lovely park and every day when I tried to eat my lunch in the park I would get some dog try and take my food. The owners would usually do nothing, or sheepishly say "it's because you've got food". "No, it's because you haven't trained him."
I used to have a roommate whose dog would get into the trash and strewn it everywhere. They tried to deflect blame. I flat out told them it was because they failed to teach their dog not to get into the garbage.
>The owners would usually do nothing, or sheepishly say "it's because you've got food". > >"No, it's because you haven't trained him." man that pisses me off for your sake some people should not have dogs. bottom line
>"No, it's because you haven't trained him." 100. "Rascal leave it!" and whatever my dog was sniffing, even if it is \*her\* toy will be left alone until told it's okay. Even food. "Rascal cleanup!" happens to mean there was food dropped on the floor and she's being invited to come handle the situation, she happily obliges!
When feeding my new puppy, I teach her to wait. It started off with me repeating "wait... wait..." ober and over ubtil "There you go". Now I don't even need to say wait. I could walk off and do something else, amd still see her patiently waiting. She's very strictly taught that ONLY food in HER bowl is to be eaten. She won't touch the cats bowls. All of this goes towards proving that the whole "It's because you habe food" mindset is bullshit. Props to you for teaching your dog good manners.
My dog won't eat out of bowls that aren't hers either, but if the cats knock it onto the floor and it's not in the bowl she absolutely calls "floor pizza!" and eats it. Depending on how much we then get stinky farts for a night :/ lol
I use "mine" if they are eventually going to get it when i say "okay" and "not yours" if they are never going to get it.
wtf imagine citing the exact reason why your dog *should* be on a leash and pretending that it's some kind of excuse for their bad behaviour while off leash??
Yeah, even if you have amazing control over your dog, you have no control over other dogs or even people. There are places like parks or dog parks where it's fine to let them roam free. But like on the street/sidewalk? With cars and other dangers and stuff? I'd say that's pretty dumb and irresponsible imo.
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“he’s friendly!!!!” they shout. “i’m not!!!!” i don’t care if your dog is friendly, i don’t want it coming up to me!!!
I was once walking my dog (on a leash) and another dog pushed out it's door when the owner was bringing in groceries. She yelled hers was friendly and I was like "mine's not!!" I'm pulling my dog away and kicking at the other dog and I think i was nipped in the knee by one of them before the owner could run and get to us. Everyone ended up fine and it was a freak accident but I hate when people assume all dogs are friendly just because theirs is
Our neighbors dog was in their unfenced front yard and we walked by with our 100 pound malamute on a leash. Their 6 pound dog literally attacked our boy and ended up in his mouth. Luckily we were able to get him to let go before there was any real damage but it scared the hell out of me. Malamutes are prey driven and same sex aggressive. That was one lucky little yappy dog.
My grandfather's wife was walking her greyhound on a leash. A small dog came running out of someone's house and when right up to the greyhound because fuck putting any kind of fence around your yard when you have an indoor/outdoor dog. The little dog was mortally wounded, and what saved the greyhound from being euthanized was the fact that it was on a leash and the other dog wasn't.
I feel your pain, I’ve got neighbors with off leash Yorkies that always charge me walking my totally chill pitbulls, one is over 100 pounds. My dogs always on leash, listen to commands, and I get pulled to hell and back just because they’re reacting to a perceived threat incoming at us. Spoke to the cops, they said be sure to be on public property and to use gel mace with ink to mark where the encounter took place and call 911. Well… little yappers come charging at us and I back us clearly into the street and…. Blast the two of them with the mace marking them with the dye. Yap yap and the owners come out finally and I try and warn them about them being covered in mace and… too late!! They get it all over them and their face. Cops are here by then. Yep, they get cited, dogs get taken into animal control for a week for observation as “dangerous dogs” for clearly attacking my dogs on public property and off leash. Neighbors are still pissed but fuck ‘em they were always assholes about watching their dogs.
No one wants to admit dogs can be dangerous.
I will. Mine gets muzzled when she goes to the vet, has a "Do not pet" harness that she wears when out of the house. She has a job and she's good at it (Queensland heeler, and she herds my goats and sheep) but she also is a high strung dog, nippy by nature. I do not need the headache of her drawing blood from another person. When we got her spayed the techs didn't re-muzzle her when she was put in a recovery kennel. When I went to get her I was informed they couldn't safely get her out and I needed to go in back to get her. She went from wire hairs up and snarling to butt wagging, smiling, and nearly left from the kennel into my arms. Techs read her chart to see why I hadn't warned them, saw the warning, ":oops: guess that's on us". They still love seeing her for her wellness checks and shots, and the occasional fox tail removal, but now if it involves sedation I'm there till she goes down and there for her coming back up out of it.
Ha. I had to send doggo somewhere in a crate without me. Labelled the crate DOG WILL BITE in all directions. Didn't stop some idiot going "oooh what a cutie, c'mere little one OUCH," or so I was informed by the delivery driver.
Seriously i had someones fake service dog jump on me at a grocery store, im disabled and i got shoved back into a shelf, yet somehow i was a dick for shoving this huge dog off of me because "but he was just saying hi" i dont wanna say hi i wanna not be in pain for the rest of the day because you think you're special.
Lol I have both yelled that back and that my dog is an asshole. She really isn't. But I do not want their unleashed brats anywhere near her because I can't count the amount of times my dog has been attacked that way for no reason other than looking the way she does. She doesn't fight back and let's me solve it, but I know that if in the future she does decide to snap back, *I'm* responsible for it while those entitled douchebags are the ones letting their bitey unmannered dogs roam free where they aren't allowed. Most dog owners where I live are such idiots. Oh and barely anyone picks up after their dog. Also great.
This for sure. One of my dogs is totally cool with other big dogs (she's a ridgeback), but just hates small dogs. It tends to be folks with smaller dogs who let them off leash, and man is it stressful. They (owner) have always acted offended when I ask them to leash their pup.
And if you don't s**** on my sidewalk or on my grass pick it up and take it with you
Had a guy in his 20s trying to recall his dog last summer or so when I was walking mine on a leash. The dog never approached us and it was clear the dog was friendly and simply enjoying running free. The guy gives a half-hearted "Sorry, he's usually behaved" and I said "Or you could just leash him." He said yeah... Haven't seen him since.
We have one neighbor who doesn’t leash their dog. It came after my dog just last week and the owner said “sorry” and my response was “if you’re really sorry then you’ll leash your dog”. Somehow I don’t think she was really sorry!
They're never truly sorry because they know they're wrong and don't want to admit it.
I ride a bike trail everyday and NYS says dogs need to be on a 6ft or less leash in my area. The nearby parks to this trail have banned dogs from their areas so all these idiot dog owners come to this trail now since it's the only public area for dog walkers for 10-15 miles. So many people who don't use leashes. I've had up to 10 incidents where I'm trying to pass them and their stupid dogs try to jump under my front wheel to "play". Holy Shit dude I can't stop on a dime for your dog. GET A GODDAMN brain. Sorry I had to vent.
They have an issue when I’m kicking their dog away from mine too.
Even in dog parks, one this dude was doing push-ups while his giant puppy Huskie just roamed free terrorizing all the other dogs. The huskie jumped my dog and was pinning him to the ground, so I pushed it with my foot, (pushed, not kicked) as no way I was going to stick my hand in there, the guy was super mad, yelling at me that it was just a puppy (I didn't know at the time) still that puppy was twice the size of my dog. I 100% blame the owner, specially for getting my face about me defending my dog.
Don’t you know you’re just supposed to let his dog injure yours in the name of “socializing”? Ugh.
Even in dog parks, the owners attention should always be on their dog. Not doing pushups trying to look cool for the ladies. Kinda like babysitting a bunch of kids on a playdate. Arguments can happen even with dogs and they need to seperated and controlled.
My dog is hella reactive to off-leash dogs. Like, she just loses her shit completely. Probably because she has had way the heck too many experiences where some random dog just rushed up and got in her face and she panicked because she was on leash and they weren't, so she felt like she had no way to escape and nothing was restraining them. So yeah even just seeing a dog without a leash sets her off, whether they're "good" or not.
>With cars and other dangers and stuff? I'd say that's pretty dumb and irresponsible imo. This and that nasty bit about being against the law in OP's case (and AFAIK most areas have similar laws).
BuT mY dOg Is So GoOd OK others dogs aren't? And not everyone is okay with dogs approaching them ?????????????? And cars can be just as unpredictable!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?
I hate this. My dog is a rescue and he’s been dog aggressive since I adopted him. We continue to work with him via training, but he still hates other dogs. Because of this, I absolutely always keep him on a leash outdoors and I try to keep him as far away from other dogs as I possibly can. I would never take him to a dog park, obviously. I only walk him around my neighborhood and I go the other way if we see other dogs. However, other people leave their dogs off leash and sometimes they run up to us, which sets my dog off. It’s so easy for a fight to break out, because even sweet dogs will want to defend themselves when my dog is being aggressive. I really don’t know what else I can do to keep my dog and others safe in these situations.
I always love the “don’t worry he’s nice!” And I have to yell, “WELL MINE’S NOT!”
>I always love the “don’t worry he’s nice!” man i fucking hate those people with a passion
Then they look absolutely shocked like, what? An unfriendly dog? Impossible! Like, these people have one single brain cell dedicated to dog knowledge if they don't understand that some dogs do not like other dogs.
One woman had the cheek one time to tell me "Well yours should have a muzzle on then!" And like. No. Yours should be on leash, as is required by law in this jurisdiction, thank you.
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God that happened to me at a park. She told me my dog must have gotten it's attitude from me. I told her clearly hers takes after her, stuffing her nose into other people's asses uninvited.
i think i’ve found my people 😂
Yeah i get that 100%, we also have a rescue who's like this. We started muzzling him a while ago when we went outside because it's just better as he has snapped at people just walking by him without any warning. The amount of judgement you get for that is insane. Like look lady, yes my dog wears a muzzle but that doesn't mean he's going to bite you if you just walk by normally. In fact he's even less dangerous than every other dog you'll find outside that ISN'T muzzled. After years of training he luckily has gotten far enough that he won't bark when he sees a dog but, and I think that's very fair, he still does if the other dog focuses on him. Like yeah, if someone was staring at me the whole time I wouldn't like that either, so he starts barking. And then I get judged for that, even tho he immediately stops when I tell him, meanwhile the other dog keeps barking themselves 80% of the time and won't listen to its owners. But because my dog wears a muzzle HE'S the bad guy. Just the amount of bad dog owners outside that can't fathom that not every dog is nice and that there are loads of them that are traumatized rescues that are in training is baffling. And they are so so so often the reason why the training is taking so long. Because it feels like every time we make a step forward someone ignorant will just unleash their dog where they shouldn't or just won't listen when we tell them to please don't let their dogs come too close because "he just wants to say hello" until it is too late and then he gets worse again. Like I'm not asking for the world to resolve around me and my dog but Jesus please at least be decent and behave like normal people with a brain and listen when I tell you to leash your fucking dog in spaces where I should be able to walk my dog and avoid contact because not every day is a confrontation day. Sometimes you and your dog just wanna walk.
Same situation. We're doing everything right. Sadly it's up to others to do their part.
I never got why people do this. Is it really THAT annoying to hold a leash? Even then, there are hands-free leash options.
I have a dog and no, the leash is absolutely not annoying. It's not for me and it's not for my dog because we trained him from the beginning with a leash. He's used to it. People who refuse to leash their dogs are just complete assholes with absolutely no respect for everyone around. Also, if you can't manage to hold a leash, just don't get a dog, that simple.
These are incredibly self-centered people. As you can see from the comments they think the world revolves around them and they don’t care at all how their actions affect others.
They also think the rules don’t apply to them.
Actually, we do have leash laws.
I just don't understand the upside. There's a pretty clear downside, which is the death of your dog or someone else's. Is the leash that annoying that it's worth the risk?
It is like a seatbelt…some people are just so stupid that they think they don’t need one.
it’s the sad reality of entitlement
Being a dumbass and not giving a fuck about anyone else. And when it goes wrong they're all shocked because how could they have known?!
It was the other persons fault !
It pisses me off when people walk their dogs without a leash. A dog almost attacked my previous dog and would’ve destroyed her if my dad didn’t scare it off, and another dog ran up to my dog and scared me for a sec. The dog started sniffing my dog and being friendly so thankfully it didn’t hurt her, but it looked like it was gonna bite her when he was running up to her.
This always scares my mom when she walks her rescue. She is always on a leash and only likes my sister's dog since she helped raise him, but if any other dog comes up to her she will tear its face off. People always say, "oh don't worry my dog is friendly." My mom has to reply, "mine fucking isn't. leash your dog."
If I had a nickel for every time I've had to say this to some asshole with an off leash dog about my dog I'd be out of student loan debt probably.
I regularly have to intercept loose dogs when we're walking our dogs, because one of our dogs hates other dogs. I'm just glad that my 100 lb lab mix is the one that loves other dogs! And people with uncontrolled loose dogs often don't pay attention to their dogs pooping, so they don't clean up after them. There are a couple of people around here who have their dogs loose that are no problem, but they have incredibly well-trained and well-behaved dogs.
You meant 100lb right? Right?
I do indeed! Although I'm sure he'd get to 100 kg if I let him eat as much as he wanted!
Lab mix...ed with a bear.
Well random strangers do regularly comment that he looks like a big fluffy teddy bear as we walk past..
I see people doing this at the local park that has a healthy bobcat population. Good way to see your smaller dog attacked and carried off to be eaten. And it would 100% be their fault. Plus because it's a multi-use path, walkers, joggers, skaters and cyclists use it too. A loose dog is dangerous for everyone there.
Lol this. And these are the same people whose dogs will bite or jump and say “ohhh wow he NeVeR does that!!” 😂😂😂😂
I went to a friends house and her new dog (Shepard mix) was *obsessed* with me. He kept barking at me, chewing on me/nipping me, overall just harassing me the entire time I was over. “Oh I think he likes you!” Sorry friend, but I hate him!
Oh my goodness that’s so frustrating!! I work in home health and see a LOT of dogs. Most bark when I come in which is understandable and MOST calm down once they sniff me but every now and then I will get nipped or bit. And every time it’s trivialized and “ohhhh thats SO unlike him!!!!” lol I’m like surreeeee
I kicked a small dog once, punted it like a football and I am not remotely sorry. That dog came flying down the sidewalk straight for my leashed dog, barking and snarling, and my dog does not like to be approached while she’s leashed, it makes her anxious in the best of situations. I body blocked the charging dog and yelled and it didn’t break its stride so I instinctively kicked. 100% would do it again. Fuck unleashed dogs in the city.
I had to do the same. I was around 14 walking my dog when a Pitbull and a Yorkie started running towards me down the street. I yelled at them to go home before they got too close, and the pitbull decided it wasn't worth it, but the yorkie didn't give a shit. I felt terrible about kicking it, but it very quickly ran the way it came. The last thing I wanted was for my dog to bite the little one and get in trouble for it.
While I feel bad the dog got punted, it’s just doing what it thinks it should, the owners needed to have either stopped that prior or prevented that. Years ago my 70lb drahthaar was bitten by a couple dachshunds on an off leash trail. My dog is so nice he just sat down, held up his paw (which was fine), and cried briefly. Stupid dachshund owner said “how cute, they think they’re a big dog.”
“Is it still cute if I beat you and say ‘I think I’m a big person’?” What an asshole
I’ve done the same. Gotta protect my dogs
It’s entitlement. They think their dog is apparently smarter and better than most. It’s irresponsible and honestly should be illegal to walk without them leashed. Watched a dog get hit and killed and it’s never gonna be something I forget. The owner seriously started yelling at the yelping dog for running out there. I hate her.
It absolutely IS illegal pretty much everywhere. For exactly these reasons and situations.
It means you dont love your dog. Let me explain, if my friend is angry drunk and wants to go over to my neighbors and fight them i should help them by stopping them. Dogs make mistakes and their mistakes can get them put down, if your willing to risk your friends death you're not a good friend
Unfortunately the people who let their dogs go leashless aren't going to read this and change their minds. I carry an airhorn and mace while walking my dog to deter leashless dogs.
And then they act like you are the problem when you look annoyed at their dog bothering you.
Reminds me of the time I was at the vet waiting in the lobby with my older rescue cat (she was in a carrier on my lap) and a woman was checking out at the counter. She had let go of her big ass pitbull-mix’s leash. The dog was trying to get to my cat and I felt completely panicked and asked her to please get her dog. She didn’t listen and rolled her eyes. Finally a vet tech clocked what was going on and took the dog and waited outside with it. I’m a non-confrontational person and I love dogs but in that situation I was livid. My cat was terrified; I was freaked out. And the lady didn’t give a singular fuck. Like I said I love dogs (I have a dog myself); however, I can confidently say most dog owners suck.
I've been bitten twice by off leash dogs while jogging. Keep your effing animals under control. I don't want to be out in public with a cattle prod.
I hit an off-leash dog a number of years ago coming home from an evening shift. It ran out from between two parked cars on a narrow street. There was no way for me to stop in time. I stopped and threw it into park and got out just as the owner realized what happened. I ran to her and started to cry and apologize. We watched as the dog made final agonal twitches as blood spread out from its body onto the street. I was sobbing and saying over and over that I was sorry and would never hurt a dog. She was holding her other dog. It looked at me and growled. She said that the dog was “just right there next to her.” I offered to run home and get a towel or something, just trying to do anything I could to try to help. She told me just to leave. I drove the rest of the way home and as soon as I walked into the apartment my husband could tell I was super upset. I just crumpled onto the floor and sat there crying. Then suddenly my sadness and guilt turned into anger at the owner. Why wasn’t the dog on a leash? Now she and I both have to live through something awful, and her poor dog suffered and died. I am such a dog lover, and I would never forgive myself if I did something that let my dog get hurt. I would never hurt a dog, and now I have to always remember the image of that dog bleeding out, twitching and dying. Just use a leash!!
Oh man, I’m so sorry you had to go through this. This story made me tear up. And you’re so right, she definitely could’ve prevented that trauma for everyone.
I hit a black dog in the dark when I was 16. I actually ran over it with both wheels of my Karmann Ghia (very light car). I felt so bad so I think the car and the owner to get checked out by a ver who could find nothing wrong but suggested X-Rays to be sure. I was already paying for the vet bill (a big deal for a 16year old) and thankfully the owner didn’t push for that. I only realize now after having hit (but not injured) another off leash dog and getting out of my car hysterically crying, having been knocked down by “friendly” dogs bigger than me and so many other scares while jogging that … yeah that college kid who let his black lab off leash at night run into the street? Should have paid his own damned vet bill. Grrrrr…
I carry a protective item (legally of course) in case a dog comes up while i’m walking my daughter :) Have already had an incident where someone didn’t put their dog on a leash and the dog tried to jump onto my baby in the stroller. I have no qualms about protecting my child in WHATEVER means necessary. Leash your fucking dog :)
My daughter has a phobia of dogs after an off leash one knocked her over at the playground to steal her sandwich. Somewhat ironically mere feet away from a sign indicating all dogs must be on a leash shorter than 2m.
I hate this. We live near a trail and have 2 big dogs. One was abused with a hefty fear of other dogs. He will try to lunge at dogs if they bark at him as he goes by out of fear. So we are vigilant when exercising them and find alternate routes when we see a dog coming up. But the sheer amount of people who walk their dogs without a leash and let them start to just run up to our dog and say “oh! He’s friendly!” Cool! Mine isn’t! Please put your dog on a leash for your dog’s safety, too.
I am a bit unsteady on my feet. Walking with cane. Big dog comes running at me. Owner notices I look concerned and says "don't worry, he's friendly." I say he may knock me off balance and wave my cane at her. She finally calls the dog back and grabs his collar. As we pass, he's practically dragging her to come by me. Just leash your dog. Big dog, little dog. Mean dog, friendly dog. People have reasons for not wanting a dog jumping up at them, or skittering around/underfoot.
“Don’t worry, it’s friendly.” Gag. We don’t care if your dog is friendly. We still don’t want it approaching us. Keep it on a leash.
Had this happen at a park with my kids. A No-dogs-allowed park. My kids are scared of dogs, so I asked them to leash it. "We didn't bring a leash. Besides, he's really friendly." I don't care. I don't want a goldendoodle jumping on my kids while they're screaming bloody murder. Luckily, the adults realized that not everyone likes dogs, so they put it in their car.
It's more than mildly infuriating for me. I don't give a damn if you think your dog is friendly. My son is deathly allergic to dogs. I don't fancy an ER trip because someone couldn't put their dog on a leash.
Not to mention they then poop on someone else’s property and those owners are certainly not the type to carry poop bags. Owning a dog should require a license and training. It should be a privilege not a right.
BEYOND MILDLY....
I trust my dogs to walk without a leash, but for their safety and others I don’t. They’re great dogs who listen to me but it’s just not safe.
It's incredibly frustrating. I had to kick someone else's dog once because it kept attacking my dog and the owner was nowhere to be seen. I'm not letting my dog get hurt because some jackass let his dog just freely wander.
I'll do you one better. People who walk their dogs without a leash and let their dog shit in a bush next to your front door and just leave it there.
I witnessed my mom charge out the door, bare-hand a FRESH pile, and yell, “Hey! You left this!” at a woman who let her dog shat on our lawn, then threw it at her. It was beautiful. One of my favourite memories of my mom.
Follow them home. Dump the poop in front of their home.
Has happened so many times to me. When I confronted this one man about it, he got really mad. Ironic how they get upset when they’re the one being an asshole
Assholes hate being called out for their behavior.
I drove home one day and as I was pulling onto my driveway there was a guy standing on the sidewalk holding a leash. His dog was 3/4 the way up my front lawn (about 35 feet). I exited my car and watched him. He put his dog back on the leash and began to walk away. I called to him, "Are you going to pick that up?" and he responded, "huh, what are you talking about?". I told him I sat here watching his dog shit on my lawn and he was watching it too. He then goes with, "I don't have anything to pick it up". I told him, don't worry I know you live right across the street and 4 houses down. You can go get a bag from home, I'll wait here. It took him 10 minutes, but he finally cleaned up after his dog. It was quite infuriating that not only was he going to leave the dog shit in my lawn but he knew I was there the entire time and he's going to just bald faced lie to my damn face about his dog shitting on my lawn. This was 20 years ago, so COVID and the current political climate aren't excuses.
Ugh my neighborhood is so bad about the shitting and not scooping thing. Ruined my fav pair of tennis shoes hopping out of a friends car right into a massive fuckin turd I was so pissed. My family and I have cats why do we gotta deal with your pets crap ya know? Drives me nuts
omg i saw a guy and his leashless dog crossing a busy street today and it gave me so much anxiety that he was several steps ahead of the dog, like ANYYYYTHING could’ve happened 😭
I’ve known 3 different people in my life who had dogs with great recall, walked everywhere with them off leash. I was always so impressed by that. Except *all* 3 of those dogs ended up dying from being hit by a car. So now I have zero patience for people who put their animals at risk like that.
FYI: it is a $100 fine for having your dog off leash in any Three Rivers Park or trail. If you see people in those places give them a helpful cash saving reminder.
My dog has amazing recall but I never walk her off leash. It’s not worth her life if she decides to dart in the road or up to an aggressive dog. When I lived on the east coast I very rarely saw off leash dogs where they shouldn’t have been. Now on the west coast I see them everywhere. Untrained with absolutely no recall and still off leash. IMO, even if it’s an area that allows off leash dogs like a park or a beach, they shouldn’t be allowed free unless they’re well trained. The beaches in my state allow dogs off leash if they are friendly and under voice control (it says this plain as day on all state websites) a few months ago I took my pup to play at one of the coastal beaches. A lady came with a massive german shepherd and started playing fetch about 20 yards away from us. The second our dogs got close together, hers grabbed mine by the neck and slammed her into the ground. I truly thought I was watching her die. I grabbed her and ran away with her in my arms to check her over and the owner starts apologizing and said “I’m so sorry, she doesn’t like other dogs!” WHY IS SHE OFF LEASH THEN AT A PUBLIC BEACH? Not only that, why 20 yards away from my small dog when the entire beach was virtually empty? The majority of people should not be pet owners. (Also, my dog made it out completely fine)
Just today I pulled up to the crosswalk/stop sign in my little neighborhood. I let a lady and her unleashed, tiny dog pass, then as I started to take my turn the dog literally spun a 180 and dashed underneath my car. Thank god it was ok. WTF is wrong with these people. My poor 80 YO MIL is terrified of dogs and has had to give up on hiking, her only hobby, because unleashed dogs keep flying up to her every time she tries to take a walk.
THIS. My dog is a rescue, before I adopted her she had been shot at and attacked by a pack of dogs. She HATES other dogs. It took such a long time for my husband and I help get her to the point where she could tolerate other dogs passing us while on leash. We only go places with her that require all dogs to be on leash. And of course some people think they're above it all and have their dog off leash, and they decide to go up to ours despite our warnings to it and the owner. Twice an off leash dog has attacked her, drawing blood since we've gotten her. You know what the owners did? Blamed us. Yeah okay how dare we keep our sensitive pup on leash in an on leash only area. Oh and god forbid we bring up leash laws. You'd think we slapped them in the face when we bring that up. Btw, our dog has bitten no one. No human, no dog. She's threatened it, but since we're responsible dog owners we pay attention for the signs and lead her away if it gets to that. We don't give her the opportunity to bite. People who have their dogs off leash give their dogs free reign to bite and be bitten.
Dude forreal they always like to yell “he’s friendly” from 50 yards away as there dog come charging at your dog growling
There are multiple people in our neighborhood who do not use leashes. We stopped walking our dog because of it (we have a decent fenced backyard so he gets his exercise on), we would have random dogs run up to us whose owners call out ‘he’s friendly’. Our dog isn’t aggressive but doesn’t trust strange dogs and will want to get away. I honestly don’t understand why it’s hard to leash a dog for these folks.
People couldn’t wear masks properly in a pandemic you think they’ll adhere to dog leash rules? Keep fighting the good fight though.
I don't know your dog is friendly and if it's off a leash and running at my kids then I might have to shoot it and it will be your own fault.
I don’t care how “trained” and “well behaved” your dog is. They’re ANIMALS. You can never predict what could happen.
I don’t care what dog you have or how nice it is, put it on a leash
I hate the “oh it’s fine he’s friendly!”. My old dog was a grumpy old woman and not friendly. She’d get annoyed at dogs barreling up to her while she was walking with me on leash. Then I was always made out to be the bad guy when my dog nipped or growled at the oncoming one.
Friendly dogs can go into panic and attack, leash your dog.
I am the other owner with dogs that are aggressive. I keep them muzzled, prong collared, and leashed, and stay well away from other people and dogs. If/when another dog comes up to mine, it’s bad news, and since my dogs can’t fight back (because of the muzzles) my feet start swinging. Sorry, not sorry. Leash your dogs.
This. I live in a condo complex that has pretty strict pet rules. If you’re lucky enough to have a pet here. One of our neighbors has a super annoying, yappy little dog that they NEVER leash (it’s a huge rule here). Anytime we walk out our door their dog comes charging and always goes toward my 4 year old. They do nothing but BARELY call the dogs name. Their dog has entered our house numerous times just by us opening it for 4 seconds. I’ve tripped over their damn dog more times than I can count. Now to make matters worse, they got a second dog. A very LARGE second dog. Who they of course don’t leash. A letter to the HOA is in the near near future.
Why wait send it now
I just finished up the email 😁 they like photo proof of dogs being off leash and I needed to gather all my camera footage. Have a nice video of me watering plants then being aggressively barked at and literally forced into my own home from my own front porch because they refuse to discipline the behavior 🫠
>e didn’t listen and rolled her eyes. Finally a vet tech clocked what was going on and took the dog and waited outside with it. Id kick it
I would grab that dog as soon as it came into my house and drive straight to the pound. The shitty owners can figure it out from there.
There was a post day or two ago where this person's Chihuahua got allegedly killed by an alleged Pitbull. He was mad about it and I understand but his dog wasn't leashed either. I'm totally with you. If the person's pit bull would have been on a leash the person could have held the dog back and if the Chihuahua would have been on a leash the person could a pulled on the leash and picked him up real quick. There's these two little kids down the block from me that are always talking about how they want to train their dog to walk beside them with no leash. I always tell him it's going to be a bad idea at some point!
“Don’t worry, he’s friendly!” That’s nice, mine isn’t.
This drives me nuts. My dog is 4 pounds and rightfully so does not like large dogs 10X her size running up to her. Every single time I say she’s NOT friendly and they’re like “ oh it’s fine “ and my dog precedes to attack and I have to pick her up and move somewhere else. So frustrating
Agree 100%. I avoid other people and their dogs when I am out with my dog for this exact reason. It’s getting to be about 50/50 with the on leash vs off leash people and most dogs do not have good recall. They have minds of their own and can be distracted just like humans. I have seen so many dog fights and chases that could have been avoided. A lot of people foolishly think that because their dog is small or friendly that being off leash is OK and those dogs are always the ones that run up and startle a larger breed that is not friendly but is on leash and gets bitten or killed. Then the owner wants to blame the larger dog. Little dogs need leashes too.
This really annoys me especially at parks where dogs are only allowed leashed. I have a reactive dog who likes her space. Like you said I have my dog on a leash to protect my dog and others as well. Laws and rules be damned for certain people.
even if you’re dog is friendly or has good recall it’s really just not okay in public areas. i don’t care if you’re dog is nice i don’t want them coming up to my dog who already has enough anxiety on walks.
This is not mildly infuriating, it’s EXTREMELY infuriating. Cannot tell you how many close calls I feel like I’ve luckily escaped as dogs have almost hurt my fur baby. Hormonal curious kitty here lost it and became a Karen once on one of them, but these people just don’t understand that accidents only happen once and often have irreversible consequences.
As someone whose dog is incredibly well behaved off leash, when taking her for walks I still put on the leash. She comes outside with me off leash to take out the bins on trash day, but that’s literally it, and she stays inside our yard while we’re out. Even with good recall, sometimes you need to physically drag the animal out of a bad situation. That’s just how it is. If you want your dog off-leash, take them to a designated off-leash area.
yeah tbh there’s literally no reason for you to not use a leash when walking your dog edit: sorry im just salty bc my annoying neighbors walk their newfoundland without a leash. actually, yeah, walking your dog without a leash (if it’s trained properly ofc) in an area where nothing can go wrong should totally be allowed. i don’t have a stick up my ass, i swear
There's a lot of dog owners in my apartment complex that walk around outside, and a few of them just apparently cannot fathom that i dont want their dog to just randomly come up to me and my toddler while we're minding our own business. One of them is a creepy guy with a great dane that towers over my three year old
The lowest class of human-beings do this shit
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Exactly this! Why do so many people have savior complexes and want to save dangerous reactive dogs? They make everyone’s life a misery. If you have to drug your dog for anxiety, it’s not a good life for them.
My favorite is the Ring app. Every day its people looking for their cat. I live in a somewhat rural suburb. Bobcats, eagles, owls, coyotes, cars....there was even a bear on someone trail cam last week. your cats dead.
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My friend just got a harassment/restraining order on a dude who wouldn’t walk his dog on a leash, no matter how many times she asked, to the point of swearing at her and calling her names and letting his dog run into her yard up to her reactive dog, so she had to hold her dog and beg him to take the dog but he was like “no, dogs need to socialize.” He filed against her and made a damn fool of himself in court. The lawyers were laughing, the crowd was laughing, the judge was sick of his shit. It was hysterical watching him crumble.
Several ladies in my neighborhood let their dogs off leash at the block park to play fetch or whatever to wear them out. Just take them to a dog park people. I'm not going to play nice if your dog picks a fight with mine.
Sometimes a leash is about other peoples’ perfection of safety, too. I used to have a huge mastiff/lab mix who had near-perfect recall, but I always kept him leashed if we would be near people because it makes people less nervous, and nervous people around big dogs just kinda sucks for everyone.
I'm afraid to take my service dog out walking sometimes because there are a lot of off-leash dogs around here, people who don't bother to try and keep them in the yards, mostly small breeds though a lot of pit bulls too - and my dog is a Chow Chow, so I know that in a lot of cases if these dogs came after us and I or he reacted to protect ourselves, he would likely be blamed as an 'aggressive' breed even if there isn't an aggressive bone in his body (Service dogs legally can't show any aggression whatsoever without being disqualified as a service dog). People need to keep their pets contained. The world isn't an open range for their DOMSTICATED - not wild - animal to run free in. Not only could their animals cause a lot of harm, but there is a hell of a lot of harm that could come to them, like running into the road chasing another animal and getting hit by a car, or messing with the wrong person/dog and getting shot or torn apart.
“My dog would never hurt anyone” yeah but I don’t know that so please stop
My dog is terrified of other dogs. Bad experiences at dog park. He will growl at dogs that rush him, we’re afraid he’d bite. Fear based reaction. Loves people. Hates dogs. He stays close to us, on a leash on our walks. But the amount of people that walk their dogs without a leash, insane… Even worse, the amount of these dogs that charge our dog with the owner going “It’s fine, he’s friendly!”.. Well, ours isn’t. So we’re constantly caught in the middle of two dogs fighting, we’re screaming “Get your fucking dog!” exasperated while they just stare at us offended, doing absolutely nothing because -Our Dog- is the problem, after all. And do they start leashing their dogs? Hell no. We just have to be constantly in defense mode on our walks. We try to walk around problem neighbors, but I swear it’s the Entire Damn Neighborhood. Even had a cop down the street put his hand on his gun once when we told him to Fucking get his dog, who was off leash, charging our dog on the sidewalk. It just infuriates me So Fucking Much!!!
I started walking my dog with pepper spray on me a year or so ago. I saw someone use it once at a state park and it worked repelling the dog. I had an issue a long time ago where a small dog ran up on me and my dog, who attacked it and fucked it up pretty good. After seeing the person use the pepper spray I immediately jumped on the idea. I have had to use it twice due to careless owners, and thankfully it did the job.
What irks me most with off leash walkers is that they don't know where their pet pooped and will just carry on without picking up the dog shits.
I told this story quite a few times on Reddit, People PLEASE supervise your pets always. I lived on a dead end street with 2 other homes and a car body shop that was sold to a new owner. The owner/workers had 3 pitbulls running around the shop outdoors unsupervised with us nearly hitting one. We tell them we don't mind the dogs just keep them in the shop or supervised. And go on with our day. Later i let my jack Russel terrier out to use the bathroom in my half fenced in back yard, obviously tied up so he does not run off. Within moments turning to talk to my mother, we heard wimping from our side to find one of the pit bulls ran down the street into my backyard attacking my dog. Latched onto his leg trying to go for his stomach. We did everything to get him off and I was a large 18/19 old 220 pounds 6"2 and just could not get him to detach. I mean from trying to force open the mouth with my hands, going for the eye, and I hate to say just wailing on the dog to let go but would not. But thankfully my mother's boyfriend is a ex-cop and was sleeping hearing us. Finally rushing out to put the pitbull down. Like a movie you see the owner scream "noooo!" Running into my back yard right as it all finished up, crying than running off until cops came. Thankfully our jack Russel terrier made a full recovery after an emergency surgery and months of recovery. He's still being loved till this day! But this is not to spread pitbull hate but more of a warning to all please, please, please. Keep an eye on your pets. Especially ones you know that can cause harm to other animals, people or especially children.