Why, Oh, Why

Sandra, every person like that I've ever encountered just doesn't get it.  They don't get how serious it is.  We've had more dogs come up to us be they friendly or not and the owners either don't understand why I'm so upset about it, or they make excuses for their dogs bad behavior.  

I accidentally dropped Willow's leash one time and I was shaking I was so scared she was going to run into someone. 

Around the bend there is a beautiful golden chow--it is always well groomed.  BUT most of the time it is laying out n the street.  I have almost hit it a couple of times.  I have not seen it in a few weeks and i am o scared it got run over.  I am hopin he owners wised up and are keepingher in. 

Not only do these idiots need to worry about damage their dogs running free could cause- eiter by ttacking another dog, or peson, or even causing a car accident withfolks trying to avoid it-they need to be worried about what could happen to their dogs--hit by car, attacked by a bigger, mean dog, stollen,  I reckon some of us just lov and care for our dogs more than others do. 

It is baffling. Twice when walking Aesop we've run into two girls jogging with their offleash dog. Each time, the minute it sees Aesop (or any other dog) it runs ahead and runs up to whatever dog it sees. It's not at all aggressive, but I do not know the dog and I'd prefer an unrestrained dog whom I don't know not run up out of nowhere. Each time, the girls just grab his collars and scold him about how he's ruining their run. 

maybe they are just behind the times? when I was a kid NO ONE fenced or leashed their dog. All dogs ran free. And well, nothing really bad happened. There was an occasional dog-car interaction the dog lost. No serious dog fights. No leash reactivity. Dogs were well-socialized by default and dogs running around and peacefully meeting other dogs and people was considered normal. Once a lab mix apparently went insane and in its rampage it killed a toy poodle among other damages like smashed down doors but that was clearly very abnormal/ sick behavior and the cops ended up shooting it.

argh! i hate hearing stories like that.... it makes me really upset that people don't understand something so basic!

when will people get it?! unfortunately it seems like they'll just have to keep making mistakes until they learn their lesson- making the innocent dogs the victims *sigh*

That is so sad.  Poor lady.  What's so frustrating is that the situation was completely avoidable, had the offending dogs' owners been more responsible.  So simple a solution to prevent such a tragic incident.

From this and the many other threads about loose dogs, I see we are all in the same boat, here.  I think all of us have experienced loose dogs, friendly or not.  Every time I see a loose dog while I'm out walking Harry, my guard goes up, and I wonder, where are the owners?  Why do they not know the dangers?  Assuming their dog is friendly and wouldn't blindly attack another dog, who's to say another loose dog wouldn't attack their loose dog?  I see no difference in letting a dog roam loose around even the quietest of suburban neighborhoods than letting it loose on a busy highway.  The risks are the same in my mind.

This past Sunday morning on our walk, just as Harry and I were walking past one house, a teenaged boy opened the door to the house and let his dog out in the front yard (the kid never left the house, btw, just opened the door, let the dog out, and closed the door).  Right as we were walking by!  I know he saw me, he looked right at me.  He may know his dog isn't aggressive, but did he know if my dog, leashed or not, would try and attack his dog?  Nope, I've never met this kid or his dog, so he's never met mine.  I couldn't believe it!  As soon as I saw the dog come out the front door, I went to the other side of the street.  The dog still tried to follow us until he got to the end of his yard.  And here's the kicker...their back yard has a 6' privacy fence!  So tell me why this kid felt the need to let his dog out loose in the unfenced front yard?

I don't think I'll ever understand dogs owners like this.

I used to have a neighbor that did that.  All the houses here have 6 ft. privacy fences, yet she always opened  the front door for him ... and of course he trotted right over to someone elses yard to poop. Her excuse was always "he doesn't like to go in his own yard" but I never had a dog that wouldn't go in his own back yard ... because that's where they were trained to go. When you housetrain a dog, don't you usually train them to the backyard if you have one?

Joyce

what i dont like is people letting their dogs loose and then yell at me, or freak out, because THEIR dog comes onto my land and gets chased off by my dogs. i have a territorial breed and if i let them run loose then where ever they set their feet, it belongs to them and they'll guard it.

i rather like that a lot of people are no longer behind the times because, dammit, i live in a place with steep hills and deep ditches. if a dog runs out in front of you, and your reflexes make you swerve, or if you just happen to lost control of the car.... you're going to be in serious pain because of said hills and ditches. its bad enough with deer... and traffic behind you.

if that insane lab had been kept in his fence maybe that persons poodle wouldnt have been savaged and doors would not be broken down.

While growing up our dogs ran loose with other dogs in the area. we didnt have dog fights either, but dogs did die and cars were wrecked.. my grandmother hit a loose labrador (his ten year old owner standing by watching) the dog dented the front of the car so badly that the when she tried to turn the wheel the tire got stuck. there was also news articles of loose dogs chasing cattle and kids on  bikes. not to mention my neighbour's daughter was nearly attacked by a strange black dog - my own dog ran from our yard and chased him off. sure she was loose too! neighbours on the other side of us were chased into their house by their new neighbour's bulldogs and got to watch as those maniac dogs killed every chicken and turkey they had - the birds were penned up! when the woman went to stop them, they chased her back in the house! and even when her husband came home, saw the state of things and shot the dogs... my friends GOT SUED FOR IT!!! and the dog's owners won!

maybe it depends on your area... the fewer houses then yeah sure... dogs can probably run loose and be ok for years.

in the case of Skip, i feel bad for her.... but whats the rest of the story? even dogs that are contained can escape. does anyone know who owned those terriers and if they were always loose? Regardless, and sorry if it sounds barbaric, but i would have stomped on them both before they got that close to my little dog. i admit i have the disposition of an angry elephant where the safety of my family and dogs are concerned.... you dont want your loose dog running up to me.... i'll take the fall before my dog will.

Bottom Line-People are stupid.

A lady on my pit bull forum has a pit bull and two toddlers at home. She is not the most educated person I've convered with and says they dont have money to fix their fence and her dog keeps getting out. Her ONLY reply to this is "if she gets hit by a car she'll learn her lesson"..........UGH, to say the least. Needless to say the dog does not get sufficient exercise.

1-if you dont have money to fix your fence I'm sure she disnt have money to fix her dog if hit by a car......so why does she have the dog

So I broached the subject about her dog attacking another dog and was given the answer......(you guessed it) "Oh my dog would never do that". I told her NOBODY every assumes their dog is going to attack. How many dog attacks have you seen on the news where the owner says " I knew he'd attack someday", LOL?

I told her people are scared of these dogs regardless of their individual nature. I told her what if her dog came across a service dog trying to do its job and distracted it?

What if her dog approached a fearful, leash reactive or protective dog?

All ths makes me want to spew but the most horrific thing......AC has brought her dog back to her on several occasions!!!!!!

How many times have we heard this on the news? A LOT, AC fails to take the dog away. Even if the dog isnt vicious wouldnt shoulgnt they take it away for its own safety?

I have not talked to her and all the info I had was in my post. But, she is 70 years old, not in the best health and maybe 5'1" tall.  I am not sure she could have done much to protect that tiny dog of hers   I have never owned a terrier--only setters and goldens, but i know they can be quite fiesty and determined.  A good friend 3 houses up has a fox terrier and Prissy is a push over--was a great friend to our cat we lost 2 two years ago.    I think she has much prey dreve as the bottle of lotion on my desk.  But i would say the two dogs that attacked Sips little dog was in kill mode.

mudpuppy

Once a lab mix apparently went insane and in its rampage it killed a toy poodle among other damages like smashed down doors but that was clearly very abnormal/ sick behavior and the cops ended up shooting it.

That's the answer, right there. I'm sure there's always a percentage of the population that have aggression problems, maybe more with unchecked breeding but the practical part of it is that aggressive dogs were not tolerated. They were shot or euth'd. Only the sweet, tolerant ones were left.

Please believe that I am not saying we need to go around shooting dogs with problems. Now, those problems are managable with equipment, training, and meds. Back in the "good ole days" of free-running dogs, the tools were the needle or the .38.

We had an incident tonight!  My husband was just walking Willow around the block, it's been so hot here for days and he just wanted to get out it wasn't a big walk for exercise or anything.  Anyway, the firehouse on the next street over has a dog, a black lab.  Well, DH didn't see him coming and next thing he and Willow are fighting.  Willow's ear is a mess. 

I mean even the fire men don't obey the leash laws???  That makes two dogs she's bitten now and both times she was on leash and the dogs came at her.

willowchow

We had an incident tonight!  My husband was just walking Willow around the block, it's been so hot here for days and he just wanted to get out it wasn't a big walk for exercise or anything.  Anyway, the firehouse on the next street over has a dog, a black lab.  Well, DH didn't see him coming and next thing he and Willow are fighting.  Willow's ear is a mess. 

I mean even the fire men don't obey the leash laws???  That makes two dogs she's bitten now and both times she was on leash and the dogs came at her.

 

Poor Willow! 

We had a similar incident a couple years ago on a hiking trail.  It was toward the end of the hike and Sally had passed lots of dogs and been *really* good about it.  Then the last dog we saw was an off leash black lab and he was *not* responding to his owner.  he came right up to Sally, they sniffed each other tensely, and when I tried to get Sally to move along a fight broke out.  Nobody was hurt but I was so shaken that I wouldn't take her hiking for months....

I hope Willow has a quick recovery and this does not set her back to much.  Did she need to go to the vet?  

Couple of weeks ago i stopped at the mail box (we have cluster boxes at the end of the street) and there was a beautiful half grown GSD puppy there.  He came up to me, tail just a going.  Across thestreet i saw a HUGE Rottie coming down the side walk and when it started acros the street i admit I was scared.   Was it a friendly dog or was a mean one and going to attack that pup. 

The pup ran to met him, tail going and they just sniff ed noses and came on right by me.  The pup didn' have a collar on, but the rottie had a beautful embossed leather collar.  i have no idea if they belonged to same person or the pup just took up with the rottie.  i had never seen either of them before, nor since. Both looked so well cared for.  But it ws sad to think of them running loose.  Anytthing c ould happen.