Dogs off leash in the East End: The saga continues

[safak]

well i guess we have had different life experiences then.

i can never remember an instance of some stranger coming up to ME and demanding i pet their dog. i seriously doubt you have either. " hey you! stop..come here..see my dog PET HIM NOW !"

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by safak

well i guess we have had different life experiences then.

i can never remember an instance of some stranger coming up to ME and demanding i pet their dog. i seriously doubt you have either. " hey you! stop..come here..see my dog PET HIM NOW !"

Indeed, I suppose that we have had different life experiences, as I didn't concoct the aforementioned story. In fact, I could provide other examples as well, but I'll spare you, as you likely won't believe me anyway.

I can confirm that nobody has ever yelled at me to come over and pet their dog; the requests happen more organically. I live in an area where people are very friendly, and they often stop and chat after being engaged by my child, who is also very friendly.

My point was simply that people shouldn't overstep boundries, be they children petting dogs without asking first, or if they are well meaning people disregarding a parent's wishes. I am confident that even if you choose not to believe me, and my very real life experiences, you can agree with my sentiment.

[safak]

yes that is overstepping bounds now that i think about it.

the same way, every time i meet a guy who is just trying to be friendly..he wants to shake my hand. i'm like..i have my own hands i love, i don't need to be rubbing yours. boundaries dude!
then the kids try to high 5 me or 'pound it out' and i'm like..i got my own kids to high-5, i don't need your kids infringing on me. boundaries children.


anyway off that ridiculous subject onto another. i can admit when i'm wrong, finally i got to frick on a weekend(today). there was one older gentleman proud as a peacock walking his little 4 pound dog down the path without a leash. yes it annoyed me, it probably annoyed the 2 people eating on the bench as well(considering the dog went over to them).
there was another guy reading letting his dog run around as well. on the way in and out(so about 2 hours at least he was there). and down further away were a couple more off leash(way out of the way but still off leash)
the latter wasn't nearly as bad. and neither were as bad as the homeless guy sleeping 3 feet off the path by the picnic table..but i digress. it does seem to be a little bit more of a problem than i notice when its not so busy.

[groar]

my (leashed) dog and i came across a couple of little girls walking an unleashed dog in frick one time and one of them said to the other "see that dog on a leash, only bad dogs have to go on leashes"

the next generation!

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by safak

yes that is overstepping bounds now that i think about it.

the same way, every time i meet a guy who is just trying to be friendly..he wants to shake my hand. i'm like..i have my own hands i love, i don't need to be rubbing yours. boundaries dude!
then the kids try to high 5 me or 'pound it out' and i'm like..i got my own kids to high-5, i don't need your kids infringing on me. boundaries children.


anyway off that ridiculous subject onto another. i can admit when i'm wrong, finally i got to frick on a weekend(today). there was one older gentleman proud as a peacock walking his little 4 pound dog down the path without a leash. yes it annoyed me, it probably annoyed the 2 people eating on the bench as well(considering the dog went over to them).
there was another guy reading letting his dog run around as well. on the way in and out(so about 2 hours at least he was there). and down further away were a couple more off leash(way out of the way but still off leash)
the latter wasn't nearly as bad. and neither were as bad as the homeless guy sleeping 3 feet off the path by the picnic table..but i digress. it does seem to be a little bit more of a problem than i notice when its not so busy.

Okay, final post on this topic. You are really hung up on the "saving our love for our own dog" thing. I have taught my child not to pet a stranger's dog. It doesn't seem all that crazy to me. We don't seek out dogs, rather, we encounter them on walks in various parks and in various neighborhoods when we are sharing a walking path or sidewalk. I tell my child to look but not touch, and if he wants to pet a dog, we have one at home.

We don't approach random dog walkers and flood them with compliments. Usually, it goes something like this:

Toddler points and says, "Big doggie!"

Stranger stops and says, "Hey little one, you can go ahead and pet him."

Parent says, "Oh, that's okay, but it sure is a beautiful dog. What is his name?"

Then the conversation ensues, and for the most part that is it. I enjoy these interactions, as does my child. In general, after exchanging pleasantries with strangers in the park, there is no handshake, but I would not refuse one. People don't tend to bite, knock my kid over, or lick my kid's face. I regularly let my kid shake hands and give fist-bumps, exploding ones even, to people when we are out and about.

On occasion, usually with older people who are very proud of their dog, they do the weird insisting that my kid pet their dog thing. In most cases the dog is very energetic, and it seems almost like they want to prove that it is friendly.

Anyway, we both agree that it is ridiculous.