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Dogs are great and all, but I am very not into meeting dogs that are off-leash in random places, like the street outside my house. Please, please, please leash your dogs. Not everyone loves your dog as much as you do. —Big dogs freak me out
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2015.
15 Comments
My dog thinks you’re a pussy.
Legit bitch. I love dogs but having one you don’t know run up and jump on you isn’t fun.
Your fear is irrational, and sounds to me like it’s a personal problem. The fact that you’re afraid of something will not dictate how I conduct my life. If my dog is friendly, well behaved and under control at all times, I will absolutely not put him/her on a leash. When will people stop with the forcing other people to tip-toe around their delicate asses. Just fuck off!
It’s like this, Taint; if that dog is off a leash anywhere but in an off-leash park and I encounter it, the owner’s getting one warning before I call Animal Control. Not only are dogs supposed to be on a leash in this city when not on their owners’ property, they’re supposed to be muzzled.
Wanna bet Taint is a a pitbull owner?
I don’t own a pitbull, and I fail to see the significance if I did. Do all pitbull owners have well behaved animals that don’t require leashes?
My problem is with people who think it’s ok to hassle dog owners whose dogs are not a problem. Why would you call animal control if someone’s well behaved dog is walking at the owners feet and ignoring everything around them? I know why, because you are fucking twat! You can do this because, no matter what happens to the owner or the dog, you get to wrap yourself in a warm blanket of being “right”, so you don’t have to give a shit. If a dog is being a problem, by all means, call animal control. But if they aren’t, why would you do such a shitty thing? Just because you’re technically “right” doesn’t mean you’re not an asshole.
I fucking hate this shitty place, the vocal minority on these non-issues seem to always get the upper hand, because some shitty councilor gets to wave a banner to the entitled twats of this city (which greatly outnumber the normal people, thanks to the gentrification of the city’s downtown) to ensure their re-election. When has this even been a problem? Where are the articles in the news about people being attacked by off leash dogs? This cranking out of shitty bylaws that “protect” everyone is just the new “cause dejour” and needs to stop. It’s mostly just annoying, but most of this shit is unenforceable and a complete waste of expensive resources.
I agree with the bitcher. I was attacked by a St. Bernard 5 years ago. I literally quake when I see a large dog unleashed. And all because some idiot decided to let his huge beast roam the neighbourhood.
I owned dogs when I was younger, grew up in a neighbourhood where there were a lot of dogs around, and was never the least bit afraid of them – until recent years.
I was walking in an on-leash park one day and was confronted by three very large snarling dogs running loose. They were some sort of aggressive guard dog type. Their owners were nowhere to be seen. The dogs were snarling and inching toward me and looked ready to attack at any moment.
Luckily the owners showed up and put their leashes back on. But they didn’t even bother to say “sorry” or ask if I was okay. They just scurried off like “human rats” with their so-called “pets”. Meanwhile, I was so upset I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
There are many levels of problem here. Why do people feel the need for dogs that are bred for aggression and have the potential to inflict serious harm or even death? Why would two people need three of them when they can’t even control one of them? How could they feel that they were “special” and entitled to ignore the leash laws – especially with such a large aggressive dog breed?
And that’s why we have rules. Rules aren’t made just to inconvenience people. They are there so we all know what to expect. A dog owner may think they “know” their pet and have it under control but it’s still just an animal. The morons whose dogs came after me probably still think they are harmless. And even a smallish dog can knock over and injure person like my elderly and frail neighbour. So, follow the rules dog owners. You are not special.
Doesn’t matter if the fear is irrational. Dogs must be tethered unless in a designated off-leash space or park (even then they must be well-behaved and under the owner’s control, i.e. they must have good recall). I have a dog that I take everywhere and even I’m sensible enough to follow the rules. The more people flout HRM bylaws the more likely we dog owners lose the privileges we have. OB, please speak up to the dog owner next time.
I agree with the OB. I have a large dog that I keep on leash at all times for many reasons, one of them because he isn’t overly friendly to other dogs. I find it infuriating when I am walking with my dog in a ‘leashed required’ area and an unleashed dog decides to interact with my tethered dog. And despite my warnings to the dog owner that my fella isn’t friendly to other dogs, and a request for them to get their dog, I am met with a “Oh, that’s OK, mine is friendly.”
One day, your friendly dog is going to be my dog’s lunch!
Sir Meow said “The more people flout HRM bylaws the more likely we dog owners lose the privileges we have.”
That’s really the issue with a lot of things. If there weren’t so many people who thought that rules don’t apply to them (leash laws, stop signs, red lights, cycle lanes, cross walks, don’t walk signals, etc.) then we wouldn’t be in this cycle of escalating punishments and restrictions.
I thought it was illegal to not have your mutt leashed.
However, it seems like one poster on here needs to be leashed, not his poor pup.
Yeesh.
Not using a leash in required areas shows a lack of love and respect for your own dog other dogs and people.
Smokers are great and all, but I am not very into passing by smokers that blow smoke in random places, like the street outside my house. Please, please, please stop smoking. Not everyone loves smoking at much as you do – Smokers Give Me Cancer