[Potter]

I never never off leash my yorkie when we walk to the park each day no matter how empty the park is or how tempting it is to see him have a free run each day because you just never know when a dog will show up when your not paying attention or a loud noise goes off and your dog gets frightened and runs off. Sometimes, you can't really control what other people do but we can always control our own dogs to ensure they are safe.

I bring a walking stick with me and I will protect my dog shall a dog attack us. One of my neighbour, a gentle old lady has also started carrying a hammer around because some offleash dog attacked her so that gave me the idea to start carrying my own protection weapon too. A lot of irresponsible owners here who owns Rotties, German Sheppards, Alaskan Malamute offleash their dogs at the park when the park actually have signs that says all dogs has to be leashed. The Rottie have even tried to charge at kids playing by the street and I no longer see the owner bring him out. I think too many people complained and I am happy to not see it anymore coz he was really mean and pulls so hard on the collar so hard that I thought the collar will break and the owner didn't even muzzle him!!!

I also scan the horizon as if I am driving and when I see a dog far away, I just walk across the street to avoid confrontation. It is also easier to control your dog across the street when he is excited rather than head on to the other dog.

The last thing I do is to control the excitement of my own dog when he sees other dogs and although I walk him every day, he gets excited when he sees another dog. I find that when he is more calm the other dogs, big or small, calm or fierce tend to mellow down and not pull on their owner's leash.