It was a beautiful day to go to WWU. A day for the dogs to be off-duty, sunny and 70. For those who don't know Bellingham dog culture, it's one of those perfect "dog" towns. Water sources in the summer, outdoor dining for doggies, dog parks, lots of off-leash areas, and the lax leash laws. I've never been asked to leash my dog. I spoke to a city park official once about it, and he said that "no dog" and leash laws are there in case they need to enforce them, but that they prefer to leave responsible owners be.
I saw a few responsible owners at WWU today. Leashed or not, their dogs were under control. However, two oblivious owners stood out to me for two different types of people who can't be off-leash. The dogs would probably be fine, if they were given direction.
Attack-pug, as the first dog became known, attacked our dogs at every chance. The owner didn't show up until I allowed Nibbler to return fire, so to speak. She came out of a crowd that had been watching her dog accost us and ask where the dog's owner was, picked him up, and carried him away. She asked, "What are you doing?" Not really sure if it was to us or her dog, but there was no reprimand for trying to bite Nibbler's face off. No sorry, no notion she'd done anything wrong, but to her credit, she kept him closer to her and moved across the fountain so it wouldn't happen again.
The second sort of owner can be covered by the "my dog is friendly" or MDIF sort... sort of. He was skateboarding around the campus, his dog 100 yards away at times, and he wasn't looking. We had to tell him once that his dog had gotten LOST and needed to be called, since they'd lost sight of their owner and ran down another path. On another pass, this dog came rushing up at us, sniffing our dogs and jumping up on our legs. We screamed at him to leave after gentle nudges didn't work, and finally yelled loudly enough for the man to hear us. He came back and actually got angry at us for having our dogs off-leash, but saying his couldn't be. He left with his dog leashed, muttering about double standards.
These owners both had one thing in common. They didn't understand that part of being off-leash is ensuring that your dog doesn't interfere with others. They ignored their dogs and seem to fall under the sort of person who thinks a dog is trained for off-leash if it won't run off. This sort of training is good enough for people on large properties, but simply not okay for public spaces. Part of being a responsible dog owner is ensuring that you take necessary measures to keep your dog from putting itself in danger as well as not impacting others. Leashes are the most common tool for this, but aren't foolproof. I've had plenty of leashed dogs (don't get me started on flexis) rush my dogs to start something. Nothing is ever a substitute for training a recall, leave-it, and good old fashioned supervision.
A dog ready to be off-leash in a public area not only needs to be capable of a good recall and leave-it. Those things can be top-notch and the dog can poop rainbows, but it still won't be ready. The owner has to WATCH their dog. Dogs on leashes longer than 4-6' should be considered off-leash for supervision purposes. Leave it can result in the dog putting the item in an incinerator, but it's not going to do any good unless the owner USES it.
People unwilling to do these things either shouldn't have their dogs out in public or just plain shouldn't own dogs. They require training and attention, especially when they interact with a world outside their home. When I see an out of control dog, I don't get mad at the dog. I just wish they'd put their owner on a leash.
No comments:
Post a Comment