I walk Rupert on a leash. For most of the year, we are walking city sidewalks in a busy part of the city early in the morning when there’s often a school bus stopping at one corner and folks who are late for work rolling through stop signs at other corners. When we walk later in the day, the streets are full of office workers racing back home.
Rupert walks well. He’s on a retractable leash and has been trained to sit whenever we say “wait”. He also does this without any verbal command at any corner; sometimes he does it when he sees someone coming at us that he’s not too sure about. He’s a wonderful judge of character.
He is very aware of other dogs, particularly those who are not on a leash. He immediately goes into protective mode, baring his teeth, barking at them, placing himself between me and the loose dog. These dogs, at least in our neighborhood, are often smaller dogs. One neighbor has three of them and often walks them on the same path I walk Rupert, all at the same time, all off leash. Another neighbor has two small dogs she lets out in her front yard without a leash. Her yard is somewhat hidden so we often come upon them and do not know they are out there doing their business. (Rupert isn’t fond of surprise encounters, either.)
Here’s my problem. These dog owners have an issue with me. The woman with the two yippy dogs snapped at me this week that I needed to get my dog under control (he was sitting and barking at her dogs at the time) and the man with the three dogs off leash yelled at me this morning that I should walk on the other side of the street because one of HIS dogs might run into the street to get away from my dog.
There are leash laws for reasons. I obey them. Rupert loves to be off his leash and would no doubt walk by my side, do his business and we’d have few problems. But I wouldn’t want to chance his running into the street after a cat or his chasing after another dog or doing anything dogs are apt to do. Why don’t other dog owners feel that way? It’s not “mean” to keep a dog on a leash. I think it’s lazy on these other dog owners’ part NOT to follow the leash laws. And I am never going to alter my route because someone can’t be bothered to teach his three dogs to walk on a leash. In fact, I’m going to report him. It just might save the life of one of his little poochies.
Rupert walks well. He’s on a retractable leash and has been trained to sit whenever we say “wait”. He also does this without any verbal command at any corner; sometimes he does it when he sees someone coming at us that he’s not too sure about. He’s a wonderful judge of character.
He is very aware of other dogs, particularly those who are not on a leash. He immediately goes into protective mode, baring his teeth, barking at them, placing himself between me and the loose dog. These dogs, at least in our neighborhood, are often smaller dogs. One neighbor has three of them and often walks them on the same path I walk Rupert, all at the same time, all off leash. Another neighbor has two small dogs she lets out in her front yard without a leash. Her yard is somewhat hidden so we often come upon them and do not know they are out there doing their business. (Rupert isn’t fond of surprise encounters, either.)
Here’s my problem. These dog owners have an issue with me. The woman with the two yippy dogs snapped at me this week that I needed to get my dog under control (he was sitting and barking at her dogs at the time) and the man with the three dogs off leash yelled at me this morning that I should walk on the other side of the street because one of HIS dogs might run into the street to get away from my dog.
There are leash laws for reasons. I obey them. Rupert loves to be off his leash and would no doubt walk by my side, do his business and we’d have few problems. But I wouldn’t want to chance his running into the street after a cat or his chasing after another dog or doing anything dogs are apt to do. Why don’t other dog owners feel that way? It’s not “mean” to keep a dog on a leash. I think it’s lazy on these other dog owners’ part NOT to follow the leash laws. And I am never going to alter my route because someone can’t be bothered to teach his three dogs to walk on a leash. In fact, I’m going to report him. It just might save the life of one of his little poochies.
2 comments:
just keep doing what you are doing , you are in the right!
Hey Garnett....Nice to hear from you again! Thanks for the encouragement, too! I will keep on doing what I'm doing. It's best for me, Rupert and the neighborhood dogs. Thanks for dropping by!
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