I just want to walk my dogs without worry.. another off leash rant. General Chat

You’ve no idea what’s really in store for you.. rotflmao.... . Although every dog is different so who knows how yours will interact with other dogs, and how they interact will likely change as they get older.

Is the 20m lead for training? You will have no real control of them that far away and if they are running they will come to a quick and uncomfortable halt when they reach the end of that line. Mine sometimes take a leap at a lizard and jar my shoulders, and that’s on a 6 ft lead. Wish you luck, you will need it

I use 4ft leads for walking I feel that it gives me more control plus it gives them just enough room to walk a- head or on the grass but stick to one side and not get tangled and its easier to maneuver them without too much slack just in case of an emergency and I need to be able to get them out of the way as quickly as possible.
I only use long lines for training.

Tikva is on a 12m lead when she is in the yard - it gives her plenty of room to race about, a total of 24m side to side, but not get up to the pavement. As it is fixed just inside the front door, she also has 12m inside..

When Pereg used to be able to go out on The Silver Monster, my really big road scooter, and I could take her off road, I changed her lead to a 30m lead to let her wander wherever she wanted.

Tikki will not go out on The Silver Monster.

There just isn't a lot of space in these places. Dogs walk by one another in aisles. One dog looks over and gets snarled at. They're both leashed on normal 6 foot leads. I am breaking no laws or rules.

My dog shouldn't be allowed to sniff a dog who is super close and just about touching him without being snarled at inside a store? He does not jump or get boisterous at all in stores. I should teach him to never sniff or look another dogs way because the other dog might react? I think that's just... Wow.

I used to assume that dogs in public areas are decent dogs who won't react to normal dog behavior, but I have since stopped assuming that.

I guess people who own unfriendly dogs have the right to get mad that their dog made a scene and whatnot, but I don't think it's fair to me.

I hardly want to bring my boy anywhere because people and their unfriendly dogs are a threat. He is a decent dude and unfriendly dogs IMO don't belong in pet stores at all.

What is normal dog behavior???? Is there such a thing? I don’t consider my dogs unfriendly, they like some people (myself included) like a certain amount of personal space. I really think it’s just common courtesy, and common sense to give any and all dogs a little space, as well as good dog owner edict. You certainly should be able to bring your dog into the pet store w/o worry, but a dog snarling is part of how they communicate. It’s saying “give me some space”. And yes your dog should never be sniffing another dog w/o first asking it’s owner if it’s ok, IMO. Our pet stores are not as crowded as yours sound. I try and always manage dog interactions, it’s unfortunate that it sounds as if people where you are do not, you included. It is not about teaching your dog not to sniff, it’s about you not putting him in that situation w/o asking first. If you’re in line at a register waiting to pay, don’t push up next to the person in front (like driving, don’t ride someone’s tailgate...). When my girl dog jumped on a dog a while back when we were on a walk I felt terrible, but that dog was off leash and got within a foot of her, and I should have been paying better attention, I forget what distracted me (maybe I was watching the surfers) but if that dog had been leashed it most likely wouldn’t have gotten so close. I often wave people off who try and let their dogs come say hello to mine. I think those people are stupid. I’ll say it once more and then I’m done, “no dog should ever approach another dog without first asking it’s owner if that’s ok”. This applies to leashed dogs, not dogs running free in off leash dog parks. Sorry if you think I sound like a jerk.

I understand your points and I guess I do agree.

In the stores the close quarters can't often be avoided and shouting across the store to ask if my dog can pass another dog closely isn't realistic. I rarely take him there but sometimes. Other dogs sniff him and whatnot as well. He doesn't react. And if he did and I KNEW he would, I wouldn't bring him into those situations. Or I would muzzle him like I did Jade. I still think that unfriendly dogs simply don't belong in areas where there are high chances for them to be unfriendly. Why bring them? I don't understand.



I took this video today. This is my neighbors dog. She's in MY yard, nobody is out watching her, and she's barking and growling at ME. My dog doesn't go into her yard. He doesn't bark at HER owners. I never ever leave him outside without watching him.

I have to deal with unfriendly and invasive dogs all the time. It bugs me and I guess I merely got defensive of my dog, who isn't a mean or grumpy dog and who stays in his lane.

The dogs that cause all the problems here where I live are the unfriendly dogs. They aren't the dogs that won't bite or hurt anybody or anything like my dog. And as you can see... People DO NOT manage dog interactions here AT ALL. The culture and the way dogs are handled is VERY different.

What a drag that you have to deal with that. Have you tried talking with your neighbors about it? I had (and still have) a neighbor who’s previous dogs roamed all over the place. It was eventually the end of one of them. They’d follow her up to the top of the road (for her dogs probably 3/4 mile) and wait there by the mailboxes or at a neighbors until she came home from work. These dogs had to run thru my property to follow her. I complained some but also felt bad as she was a single mom, as her husband (who was my friend) had died very young. I was for a time the person the school called if her kids were sick and needed to be picked up, if they couldn’t get a hold of her. Anytime I got something new like a toolbox or a garden gnome (not like 6jrts, I’ll try and take a pic tomorrow) or anything that was left outside these dogs would sneak up and crap on it. Pissed me off to no end. Well eventually I got my first Akita and they learned to take a longer route usually, but still going thru my property, and it totally irritated my dog on a daily basis, and thus me too. Back then I didn’t have my dog fenced in and he wasn’t a roamer, he stayed near where I was and knew the property borders. When he got a hold of one of her dogs (the one who wouldn’t be submissive) the first time I had my dog lifted by his collar as high as I could get him trying to get him to release the dog. Eventually I kicked him in the head and he finally let it go. There was no bloodshed. Another time he got it (by its throat) and held it down for quite awhile (don’t remember how long) until it had no choice but to submit. Eventually he let it go and it ran off. She did tell me that her dog didn’t breath properly for a few months, but she didn’t take him to the vets. She also didn’t blame me. Sad thing is she never connected that it was her fault the dog got injured, she should have fenced or kenneled or trained them to not chase after her. Her other dog would be submissive so it never got attacked. Both of these happened in the middle of my property (5 acres, mostly all very steep and wooded) and I told her that if my dog kills your dog in the middle of my property it’s your fault. Her dog had no business running through my place, she was incredibly irresponsible. My other former neighbor had 5 wolf hybrids.. those dogs were a nightmare to live next too. So my neighbor with the roaming dogs eventually lost her dog because it teased the wolf dogs, daily, running outside their fence. One night he jumped on their fence and got his foot through... the wolves got hold of that leg, it wasn’t pretty. Instead of taking her dog to the emergency vet for surgery or to be put down her new partner drowned it.. They saw nothing wrong with this (it was a lot faster way to relieve the dogs suffering than driving 20 minutes into town). She even said her dog had it coming for all the teasing. She has trained her current dogs to not follow her and they don’t come up here, plus I do now have fencing. Sorry for the long and intense story but it’s my way of trying to say I sympathize with your situation. Rude and irresponsible neighbors are a drag, and a roaming dog might just get what’s coming to it...... My dog new his territory and protected it and I was ok with this, nobody else’s dog belongs on someone else’s property

I’ve tried posting videos but had no luck. Any tips? Keep them under a minute? Or was yours loaded onto YouTube?

And this is not uncommon here. My other neighbors dogs come here too. This dog chased away my cat. This dog drinks from my porch fish pond. She takes HUGE dumps all over the side of our yard, pees and marks everything, etc. And she barks and growls at ME in my own yard. Talking to them does nothing. They say she just wants to see her "boyfriend". They find it funny.

As you can see, my dog doesn't truly mind her intrusion. He was SLIGHTLY worked up because she was growling and barking at me and it IS his yard, but he came along like a good dude, as he always does. If he were unfriendly or territorial, I am sure they wouldn't find it funny or cute.

I am nice to her because she's just being a dog. She won't bite. She just barks and growls at me and then goes home. She's no threat to my dog either. I won't call animal control because she doesn't deserve to be put down for this. She looks close enough to a pit bull that if seized, she would probably just be put down. I think she's an American Bulldog mix but still. They don't care about pit bulls here because they cause so many issues. They put so many of them down.

My video is on YouTube BTW. Just an example of an unfriendly dog not under control. Common occurrence here. I rarely take my boy anywhere anymore. Even walks around the neighborhood aren't safe because people have their unsupervised dogs just roaming around and many are REALLY unfriendly and may attack.

There are no fences on this block. There are too many boulders under the ground and just nobody can build a proper fence. Electric fences do not work at all. It is illegal to chain dogs, but people do it anyway. They break etc etc.

The leashes I use have the usual loop on the end but also have a loop just above where you clip them onto the dogs so that I can have tight control if needed. I also have two foot leashes.

Well I think you could probably build a fence but it would likely be expensive. Your house must have some type of foundation and there were probably boulders there too. You might need to hire someone with equipment to drill holes for fence posts (or rent the equipment) but if the houses have foundations you could build a fence, IMO. Where there’s a will there a way,..

So yesterday I saw 4 unleashed dogs on our walk (just Katie Mae) and two of them approached her. The first one to approach I said who’s dog is this.. no response, I yelled at it to go away (and would have kicked it if it hadn’t listened because I’m just over this). Nobody responded but I asked someone who was watching if it was his dog. He ignored me but tried calling his dog.. eventually it went near him and he told it that my dog didn’t want to play, but never said a darn thing to me.. when I passed him again 10 minutes later his dog was leashed... then we came upon two off leash dogs and once again I asked (loudly) who’s dogs are these while one approached.. the owners held their collars while we passed, at which point I said there is a leash law, the response I got was “freedom”.. I said you’re free to have your dog off leash in your yard, he said tiny yard.. I just kept waking away... All these dogs were within 15 ft of a road... Of these four dogs only one was in full voice/signal control of its owner. I don’t get as worked up anymore because I just except it now but I will not bite my tongue... We had a pleasant walk today with no encounters because I just walked my dirt road..

Yes huge machines made spots for the houses. Not realistic to bring in such machinery when the houses are already here and of course way beyond what we can pay since this is a lower class area. There may be a way, but it would be very hard. And dogs easily get past fences when the owners of the fences are the same types of people who just let their dog wander around. The dogs would get over, under, around, or through the fence if they wanted to.

In any case, my dog won't hurt anybody or anybody's pet. He is not allowed to approach leashed dogs because they're usually unfriendly and I don't take him to areas where legally unleashed dogs are all over. He doesn't cause the problems, other people and their unfriendly dogs do.

Where are you walking your dogs where all these people walk dogs? I take my dog to an area where nobody is. I can't imagine being forced to walk my dog around a bunch of these people I live around and their dogs. I'm SURE a fight or something very ugly would happen.

I try hard to not put my dog in a position to have to defend himself or me in a position where I have to raise my voice or argue with people. It is unsafe to do that here anyway, people can be crazy and will kill or hurt you for the DUMBEST reasons.

Above the beach. I live a 20 minute drive from there and do most of my shopping less than 5 minutes from there. My dogs enjoy going for rides so when I do errands I take them with me and go for a walk when I’m done. I rarely take them onto the beach as most dogs are off leash (despite the fact they’re supposed to be) and it’s way too much for me to manage, but I like to walk above the beach and the dogs enjoy the attention they get from people, some of whom I now know and most of whom I don’t. The smell of the ocean and the sounds are very relaxing, when I’m not frustrated with the off leash dogs. I’m pretty busy and don’t generally make the time to go there on my own. Today our evening walk will be at a Xmas tree farm, odds 50-50 we see an off leash dog there.

Has anyone ever had any trouble with their Pomeranian getting stuck on their back? Mine panics when this happens and I'm afraid it's going to give him a heart attack if I'm not there to hurry up and get him upright. Thanks