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unleashed dogs are a danger and IN danger!

If you really love your dog you never take them out in public off leash.

I am a dog owner. I have a pug. Where I live the amount of people that walk around with unleashed dogs is ridiculous. Every single one of them says my dog friendly etc. But I’ve literally been attacked by three off leash dogs one of them, trying to get it, my dog who I was holding in my arms.

I have an aggressive tiny dachshund that I keep on a very short leash; if he was bigger, I wouldn't take him out. There are people in my neighborhood who let their dogs go off leash because "they're so friendly" but sooner or later they are going to learn that leashes are for their own protection.

The quality of dog ownership has plummeted since 2020. I’ve lived in the same city neighborhood my whole life and so many people have given up on discipline.

as others have alluded to here, covid scrambled all of our usual norms around these kinds of things, in part by making it really obvious that law enforcement can't be bothered to deal with 99.999% of it. (the one that drives me insane is the people waltzing into the *grocery store* with a dog)

I was in a pub and this guy brought in a German shepherd and said “I’m socializing him” while it lunged at various adults/kids. Even worse than not training your dog is expecting strangers eating their lunch to do it for you

Not just “aggressive” breeds. I’ve had Australian shepherds and other energetic mid-sized dogs chase across a park or a beach towards my kids with the owner trailing behind (or sometimes not caring)

It seems to be a requirement of ownership to say, “They are really gentle dogs - they are so misunderstood.”

My rule of thumb is to never own a pet that could kill me. Or another person. Still leaves a lot of great options.

Pitbulls represent roughly 2/3 of dog-related fatalities and just over half of hospitalizations. It should come as NO surprise to anyone that a dog bred to fight and kill other dogs is also dangerous for humans.

"What's this?" he said when he finally showed up. "Oh, your dog was sick all over the rug, so I knew you would need supplies," I said. He wanted to know why I didn't clean it up! "You know I'm allergic to dogs," I said. "Your dog is not my problem."

And that woman’s name was Amy Cooper, not Karen.

I couldn't imagine letting my Pomeranian off-leash at all much less a larger dog (although granted even for a Pom my dog was pure fur and hatred).

he's violating the law, and you should ring him up for it

lol I replied to the original post in 2024 and just got notifications on it and I was like ?????

absolutely. same phenomenon with cars and city speed limits

This is the problem that, as a dog lover, I can’t refute. Dogs should be on leashes for everyone‘a safety.

Here in British Columbia, the self-entitled anti-leash assholes are effectively showing they do not care at all about the animals they are responsible for caring for, all they care about is convenience and laziness. As a dog owner, allow to say that the majority of dog owners are assholes.

Note, his wife is also named Buckley.

I like dogs, but I was attacked by one once. After that, I totally get why some people are afraid of them and have no patience for people who keep them off leash in public spaces

Had pops not released his dogs those two times, we wouldn’t have to deal with dumb fucks named Tucker and Buckley.

Right, it’s like — you don’t get mad at a dog, even a badly trained one; you get mad at the person who put you in contact with said dog.

WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY

it's also inconsiderate to other people with dogs. "Oh you're incredibly bouncy unleashed dog is 'friendly'? well my leashed dog is reactive and now we've got a SITUATION"

yeah, my dog is not remotely reactive, but anytime someone brings their little kid to the dog park (which they aren't supposed to do) and it looks like they don't know how to behave around strange dogs, I leave. it's not worth the risk.

absolutely. I would have killed that pit without a second's hesitation, if it came to that

[Guy who’s been thinking a lot about dangerous driving lately] Getting a lot of dangerous driving vibes from this

Like I could not be near dogs for years. Even the dogs I knew from my friends I was now afraid of. It was awful.

Also, my dog isn't super dog friendly anymore (he does like dogs he knows and can trust) because people kept bringing un-neutered male dogs to the same dog day care, and they kept attacking my dog.

yeah, like I just don't like dogs very much, not my thing, and that's apparently incomprehensible to some people

People now regularly bring their dogs into supermarkets.

I absolutely feel for you, has to be so much ambient anxiety not knowing which dogs on your route are primed for attack

What's WORSE is the number of owners who proceeded to verbally abuse the mailman because I didn't feel comfortable around their loose dog

We recently adopted an American bully who is sweet and everything but is uncontrollable around our cats. Last week he chomped down on our cats leg and it was horrible mayhem. Kitty went to vet and is mostly ok but I couldnt imagine if a neighbors pet was hurt. I would never let dogs go unleashed!

Recall as a small New England city kid in the 50s. Knew every mean dog between my house, and school, the boys club, church, fav hobby shops, etc. Nobody leased their dog. Bc the didn’t have to

I live in a neighborhood with LOTS of barking dogs that, due to the structure of local ordinances, I can't do a goddamn thing about apparently, so this hits me where I live

Multi-dog owner and foster here: I'm sick of people not having their dog on a rope outdoors. Completely irresponsible to the community and the dog.

I once had my kids at the toddler playground and a guy on a bike with an enormous off-leash dog cycled by, and the dog ran through and almost knocked down my 2 year old. I told the guy his dog should be on a leash and he yelled, “You should teach your kids how to interact with dogs!” Enraging.

This is an absolute Nope. No dogs off leash in public. I love my dogs but unleashed, badly trained dogs & owners are a menace.

This is one ill that I have not had to deal with. There's a family down at the end of the block who have big dogs that they let off leash outside, but they have good control of them and they stay out of other people's faces. The dogs I encounter are almost invariably leashed.

I don't think America ever fully walked off the "we spent 18 months locked indoors and forgot how to live in a society" thing

I once heard that the correct answer to the question "Does your dog bite?" is "not yet".

that's just what it was, idk. never seen someone with an off-leash lab on the street, I suspect the issue is irresponsible jackasses think pit bulls look cool

A relative does dog training and reminds people that dogs can die if they’re off leash. Dogs sometimes run into the street for no apparent reason and can be hit. She walks up to strangers with off leash dogs and reminds them of that.

There is definitely a contingent of people who believe that everyone LOVES dogs and if you don't, that's your problem. Nevermind that some people are genuinely nervous around dogs, especially big dogs or dogs known to be aggressive.

There are few fights more vicious than that between dog people and kid people on your local park's Facebook group

Coyote Panic is a big topic on SF NextDoor and I 100% guarantee the intersection set of people yapping the loudest about coyote danger and people who insist on letting their dogs go off-leash where it's prohibited is a perfect circle.

Toooo many dogs. 8 out of ten dog owners shouldn’t be.

sometimes the venn diagram is a circle www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019...

English man here who walks 6 miles everyday around the same estate in Michigan USA. Every other house I pass have dogs but I only ever see two owners take them for a walk and they are not good at that. Most are allowed to bark their head off. Shite dog owners.

With all 3 (on lead) together, I would also put a muzzle on the reactive one. This is all knowing that they all LOVE people and LOVE attention. The reactive one doesn't like dogs she doesn't know getting too close. But they're perfect with people.

I was walking my corgi this afternoon and a lady with a big lab DROPPED her leash and let her dog come bounding over and almost knocked him over. A little scary

I've never let a dog of mine be outside without a leash since.

Oh, that is heartbreaking. I am so sorry.

People letting their dogs run off-leash in public parks exploded during the pandemic and hasn't reverted back to normal. As a runner and wildlife enjoyer it drives me crazy.

More broadly, people are just bringing dogs into grocery stores and hardware stores and shit now. Just walking up and down the aisles with them. When did we agree to this? We’re trying to have a civilization here.

I love dogs but would never presume other people and their kids are ok with my dogs approaching them off-leash People don’t like confrontation so inconsiderate people assume nobody cares when nobody says something. In reality they shouldn’t have to

I have a really big dog (75 lbs) and it weirds me out when people say he’s so well behaved. He’s not; we just spent a lot of time & money training him.

I started to deeply dislike dogs after living for a year in a “pet-friendly” apartment where the dogs always lunged at me, but then I met a few really well trained dogs that were very well behaved even without leashes which now I think dog ownership should require a license

I, for one, just don’t feel comfortable speaking up when the country is awash in psychos with guns. Who tells them to stop then? Cops don’t do shit.

Yeah that's a fair point, there's a weird inversion to it. But I'd be lying if I didn't find the notion of someone's Wedlock collar going off because they blocked the sidewalk with their trailer hitch too many times appealing.

don't have a decent welfare state, ordinary life full of scams, rich people get away with any crime, at least you can enjoy some good old fashioned anti-social egoism

Add obnoxiously loud cars and trucks, parking in two spaces, speakerphone or FaceTiming in public. The reactionary impulse writ large.

As we walked by, my wife turns to her, and points to the corner of the park and states, "There's a dog park right over there, you know?" The lady goes nuts and tells us to leave, to which we said "no." Finally she yells, "then I will!" She picks up her dog, puts it in the stroller she has and leaves

We live in a society!!!

Oh, you mean you actually love your dogs? It’s baffling to me how many myopic dog owners seem to think leashing is only a decision that only related to their dogs, and not the world around them. I’m sure your dog is friendly, but the world around them might not be.

Thank you from a small dog owner.

Same. I leash Lilliput for myriad reasons, including the social norm where it exists. But those other reasons (eg she would walk through traffic to smell another dog on the other side of the road for 0.5 seconds before getting bored and wandering off) still apply in Lisbon, so the leash stays on.

everyone has to go overboard at times