I think dogs should always be on a leash unless in the confines of their own home or a fenced in yard. I've oly known two dogs who knew where their property line ended and who knew not to go beyond it. They live across the street from me and they are very well trained. One of the owners has come across the street to say high on more than one occasion and all she has to do is tell them to stay and they will. It's amazing how well they listen. Once in a while I've taken them out during the day when. They had to go away and couldn't bring the dogs with them. I open the door and they go out and they stay with in sight and then you tell them after a while to go inside and they go. The only issued I had was the fact that they wouldn't leave leave when I brought them inside.
Every other dog I know cant resist the temptation of going off and exploring. This past weekend I was next door at my grandparents house and three huge dogs (one possible two were labs and another breed) were just having a blast walking through people's yards and playing. I am one of those people who if they see a dog wandering I am will call the dog officer.
I have a 30 pound beagle. He is always on a leash or a runner. Always. Only when he is inside is he off one. He was trained to hunt so his instincts are to find the scent of a rabbit and round it in. Just today when I took him out I was down in the way back of the yard and it's a bit wooded and my back was to my neighbors yard and Lucas (at 12 years old) almost pulled my arm off going after a squirrel. It's a dogs instincts.
Yesterday my neighbors dog got loose and it's a big chocolate lab and it immediately went across the street and luckily my neighbor was outside and held the dog for him. We live near a busy road and if you don't keep track of doors/leashes your dog could easily get hit by a car. I've seen it happen. My dog was in his old kennel/fenced in area out back and I came inside to do or get something and all of a sudden I hear barking. At first I thought maybe he had heard my mom come home or something and I look out back and there is a huge massive dog just doing his own thing in my yard. I went outside to try and see what I could do and the neighbor was walking to my backyard to get his dog. He apologized and it was fine. I went to get my dog and bring him up on the porch since he was excited/bit frazzled since he doesn't get to play with dogs often. The guy didn't have a leash for his dog and nice he got close to his yard wasn't paying attention and the dog came back over and some kid flying down our road hit it. Luckily he was only a bit bruised.
I lived in Newport, RI for a little while and if any of you are familiar with the area you probably know about the cliff walk. On the cliff walk there are people there every day with their dogs walking and jogging. I never met an aggressive dog while walking their almost daily but many let their dogs run free. That's fine for the dogs who stay close to the owner and don't go ahead/lag behind and go up to people and other dogs. I grew up with my cousin having a Rottweiler who I loved and it was well trained and never once was aggressive toward me so I don't have a fear of big dogs but I felt bad bringing my grandmother who is scared of big dogs on the cliff walk. She would have been uncomfortable with the dogs that are let loose.
Overall I think in public places dog should be on a leash and owners need to be a bit more thoughtful and toward others.
The last thing I will go off about are those people who have leashes but ey are the ones that are 20 feet and they don't control how much the dog gets. I've had a guy walk by our house his dog was half way between the street and the house. My house is very set back to the point that most people miss it when driving by. Not to mention if my dog is outside and going crazy then keep walking. Don't just stand there like an idiot. Obviously my dog is going to start barking and trying to get to the dog if there I another dog on his property. There is another woman who walks her dog around here and she was in front of my neighbors house letting her dog go to the bathroom and everything and my neighbor comes out and was like I hope your cleaning that and basically said she wasn't. And was very rude and he was like if I wanted to clean up after a dog I would get one etc.
I really think that people need better manners when walking their dogs. I could keep going on about dogs who need to be on leashes and aren't. It's a subject that annoys me. My uncle in Italy owns a huge vineyard with acres and acres of land. I only remember one of his dogs not being in fenced in area/on a runner and that dog ended up getting hit by a car. |