Loose Dogs

As a tangent to the subject of my previous post, I'm just going to take a moment to rant about people who feel it's okay to let their dog run loose. And by run loose, I mean: not in a secure fence/pen, not on a secure tie-out/chain, not on a leash at your side.

IT'S NOT WISE, PEOPLE!

For a good number of reasons. Let me elaborate...

First of all, not everyone likes your dog as much as you do. Not everyone (in this instance I mean people) likes to be jumped on or be brushed against leaving tufts of hair all over their dress pants when they are just trying to walk from the car to the their door. Yes, your dog is super-friendly and would never bite anyone. But not everyone appreciates unwanted licks on the hand. And contrary to your belief, Mr. Green down the street actually HATES your dog, because it pisses on his hedges and takes off with the throw pillow from his front porch furniture. Mr. Green, unbeknownst to you, actually has an air rifle specially for your dog so that he can pump its rear end full of tiny pellets next time it comes on his property. It also greatly upsets Miss Red to see your dog walking across her front yard, because it antagonizes her aging mastiff as it stumbles to run to the window for a better look and barks loudly interrupting the entire household. And it makes Mrs. Yellow VERY uncomfortable on her daily walk routine to see your dog running free. She was mauled by a dog as a child and has a deathly fear of them.

Secondly, it can be very unhealthy for your beloved Rover himself to run free about the neighborhood. You have no control over what may be in your neighbor's yard or garbage. Rover thinks that Mrs. White's rat poison she set out in her open garage is very tasty. He may also enjoy swallowing that cooked pork bone in Mr. Purple's trash pile, which will later splinter and puncture his intestines or cause a blockage and kill him. Rover may also not realize how far Mr. Blue's "pit bull" can reach on his chain. And lastly, little teenage Molly isn't paying attention while she texts and drives and mows right over your beloved Rover leaving him as a greasy, chunky mess on the road.

Keep your dog at home and secure folks! And no, don't use that crappy excuse that "Fluffy is fine! She doesn't need a leash! She never leaves the yard or my side! She always comes when I call her!" That's bullcrap, people. Fluffy will do whatever she damn well pleases under the right circumstances. I don't care how obedience-trained she is. If for whatever reason Fluffy actually decides to chase that jogger, you're in for it, ESPECIALLY if she's listed as a "dangerous breed". Don't fool yourself into thinking that "My dog would never do such a thing!" We are DOGS, not robots. Even when well-trained, we have our own thinking minds. And if we want the neighbor's cat bad enough, there is nothing you can say to stop us. If we think that political candidate who's campaigning door-to-door is a threat, we WILL take care of it, regardless of whether or not we are a rottweiler or a dachshund. If me and my boerboel sister are walking down the street with mum on our leashes like we are supposed to, and your dog decides to come say "hi" to us, we don't always say "hi" back. Sometimes we try to kill your dog (no matter how friendly he is), especially if we perceive a threat from him. And if we do get in a fight and damage or kill your dog, it's not our nor my mum's fault. It's yours. YOU are responsible for your own dog's demise.

The list of possible scenarios is endless. Please don't set us dogs up for failure. It's not our fault that we act on instinct. It's not our fault that we can't rationalize the consequences to our actions. We don't know that animal control will come pick us up, take us away, and either quarantine us or put us down. We don't understand that Molly was texting when she should have been watching the road.... It's not our fault. We depend on our masters to keep us safe and out of trouble. Please be responsible for us, or just simply don't own a dog.