Why can't people follow the rules

Funnymu,
 I use a training lead when I want to give my dogs more "freedom" when walking or at parks. They come in various langths from 20' to 50' I persoanlly use a 30 and a 50 foot lead for my guys. I know they are in control and they are good on a recall...actually I taught them the re-call on the lead. Worse case you can reel them in if they don't respond to your calling them back
[linkhttp://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=320603+706&Cat]http://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=320603+706&Cat[/link]=
 

yeah, i got a 30 ftr, and i take off her sporn for it, and just use her collar, she likes that... and at my parents, they have a huge yard so i take her off there, and discovered she likes to catch frisbees(no return, just chews on them after they are caught)...
 
 

ORIGINAL: funnymu

i didn't expect this conversation to go this far... wow, i was just complaining...
But, i do wish i could find more places to play off leash with my dog, since she isn't great with other dogs, and she is a bully breed... But the reality is i will always be on lead when walking her, if not for my safety, but for other dogs. Also, i can see some neighbors who haven't met her before be a little scared about seeing her, so it just helps to be on lead...

 
Funnymu, since we're almost neighbors I can understand your predicament.  My best suggestion to you is to scout a local dog park and see what the peak and non-peak times are.  I know of one that's a bit closer to you, PM me and I'll give you more info.  I've found that before you actually go into the park, it's a good idea to go a few days or even weeks before and try to desensitize her to the goings on inside the park.  Dogs get overwhelmed at off leash dog areas...there's literally thousands of smells, a new environment, dogs they don't know, people they don't know, etc.   I spent about 2 months going to the park every day, staying outside the fence and letting X just lay there and get bored. 
 
I know this may not be the answer to you, especially if your dog is a reactive dog, but I think you could gradually work up to incidental dog contact with no reaction.  And then maybe during non-peak hours you could enter the park.  The other option is a fenced in baseball field with you and a friend or someone else by the gate.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Olinda, what a dreadful thing to happen!  And what a bizzare accident.  My heart goes out to that mans poor family.

Lori, the "fear" of german shepherds is not quite so bad as it is of the man eating pits, BUT, many, many people ARE afraid of big dogs and unless they are covered in long hair (like a golden) eople can freak.  My dogs right to walk off lead doesn't preclude a humans right to walk without fear of attack.  Now I'd say that my dogs are 99.9999% "safe" with just about anyone, however it's that miniscule chance that they *might* not like someone (as Sheba HATED the drunk) and gosh darn it they ARE dogs.  No matter how well trained, no matter how good their temperment, they are STILL dogs and I can't pretend to totally, 200% understand all their "triggers".

And FEAR of dogs, well, that truely is something that they can SMELL.  *I* smelled it when a furnace repair guy came to the first house we lived in up here.....the pups were under 8 weeks old and just cute, but he was sooooo afraid of them that *I* could smell the fear.  I'd never smelled it before and it was interesting to me to actually be able to.

It's simply not fair to the rest of the world, non dog lovers, fearful folks, whoever, to insist on breaking the law.  I can always find someplace for the crew to romp off lead if it comes to that. But human beings get enough respect from me to snap the leads on.

 
I completely agree.  My mom is afraid of any dog larger than a mini dachshund.  Although she was raised with large dogs, I was badly biten as a child and that has stuck with her I guess.  She doesn't dislike dogs, she just fears them.  I know that if she saw the WORLD'S best behaved large dog off-leash she would be very frightened.  People like her have rights too.
 
 

Ya gotta love 'em! (ok, no, you don't, i'd hate 'em too).

 
I'm with ya, sister. My dog is better company than most people.
 

Some people just don't think about it, either.  We were at a function where we took some of our Saints to a furniture store for advertising, and the owner wanted to walk one of the dogs around the open warehouse to meet people.  After awhile he just decided he was done, and dropped the leash.  I immediately sprinted around couches and end tables to reach the dog and reclaim him, despite the fact that he immediately laid down after the leash was dropped.  He wasn't going to go anywhere that I knew, because he was too lazy to, but there's always that chance.