Do people have NOTHING better to do with their time? (Denver: best cities, school)

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by elan

what a crappy ideal.

lol

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by whoisjongalt

Nothing they do in Boulder surprises me. It's almost as much of a nanny state as New York City.

I've actually seen people in Boulder riding bikes pulling those tent-like baby wagons with a dog inside.

That ain't nothing. I have been on the receiving end of fascinating conversations about people planning dog birthday parties with favors and other doggie guests, seen dogs carried in baby carriers regularly, plus the baby strollers with dogs and people being referred to as 'breeders' if they have, you know, human children vs. 'their animal babies'. Oh, and I saw a bumper sticker the other day 'dogs are children too so treat athem well' or something like that. When I use the word insane, though an over used adjective today, I think it's not an exaggeration. There is something truly off in a world that cultivates this mindset.

I've read articles about how dog owners should not train the way one would talk to a human baby/child, b/c it actually reinforces the behavior as desirable instead of comforting the dog-meaning they pick up on the tone as a reinforcement, not comfort. This is basic dog training info on the internet, too, not difficult to access information. And still, some people insist that dogs are similar to children/humans and continue to treat them the same way. Even if it's an actual detriment to the dog. Or better yet, how they prefer their pet b/c he/she is so 'unconditionally loving'. Oh I just love this one. Um, there is nothing unconditional about it. It's the definition of conditional: Your dog relies on you for food. This means it's a power structure with you at the top, actually. What a dog cannot do is talk back to you and have a difference of opinion. So people have transferred their codependent and dysfunctional relationships onto their pets. Yea, that's real evolved. Regardless, there's nothing unconditionally loving about this arrangement. It's pavlovian on their part, really.

I also love the threads regularly found on this forum whining about how they cannot find a landlord who will rent to their pitbull or mix and how they are misunderstood, etc. And there are actually activist groups now working for the rights of the poor, misunderstood pitbull. And people think the city of Boulder is ridiculous? No, it's not just Boulder. And policy to address public animal excrement issues is hardly crazy, when you think about the reason that a policy even has to be developed.

[livecontent]

These dog owners have some real problems in accepting responsibility. Here in Arvada, in 2007, a German Shepard was running loose. It came at a woman and her toddler. The woman grabbed and held the toddler. The dog bit the woman. The woman instituted a complaint.

It went to court. The judge ordered the dog euthanized. These dog owners went crazy and harassed the woman with hate mail. They held protest and said it was the fault of the woman holding her toddler. The judge was forced to change his ruling. The dog owner was fined. The woman was continued to be harassed and she move out of the neighborhood.

Here we are talking about a woman with a toddler walking down the street. A child is threatened and it is the mothers fault that she got bitten. These people make me sick!

You cannot even walk down the street without the threat of dogs running loose. I had a problem when I walked with my walker and the dog came at me, barking and threatening. I was able to put the walker between myself and the dog until the idiot dog owner called his dog. This fat looser low life idea of walking his dog was to open the door and let the dog run loose. I am afraid as a disabled person to walk in my own neighborhood. No use calling pet control, they are staffed by drooling dog faced women who think the dog is always right.

Livecontent

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Lol! Dont' get me started Livecontent..... I have a dog and one of my biggest pet peeves is dogs off leash. There are so many dog parks here in Longmont there is no excuse, and yet, people still do it.

I can't take my dog to a dog park as she doesn't play well with others. So when I'm walking here and have her on a leash and others dogs are off leash and come running up to her, it's a huge problem and rather scary for me.

Once as I approached a guy whose two dogs were off leash I asked him to take control as my dog didn't do well with other dogs. He proceeded to yell at me that maybe I should learn to control MY dog then. He then continue to follow me on purpose to scare me, continuing to yell at me! He stopped when he saw me calling on my phone - animal control is on speed dial.

We recently were walking and my husband said to the lady walking in front of us with her dog off leash, "there is a leash law you know". She turned around and held up the leash that was draped around her neck. I guess since she had it but wasn't using it, she thought that counted.

I could go on and on. Our dog has been attacked a few times by dogs off leash while she is on leash. Which is why I think she has an issue with other dogs now.

[mic111]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

animal control is on speed dial

I also have both Westminster and Broomfield animal control on speed dial. The first time I see a dog off leash I'm pretty pleasant about it and let the owner know my dogs are not friendly to off leash dogs and to please leash up when they see me. Most do after that. But there are a few that curse me out, ignore me or get pretty unpleasant. The next time they pull that I call animal control. I will follow them home if I have to in order to report their address.

Another tactic that works well is I start ordering their dog around. They hate that. My attitude is if they don't train their dog then I have to enforce my personal space by yelling at the dog, kicking it or giving it commands. The off leash people usually love their dog to death so won't come back to an area where someone yells at their dog.

Getting people to leash up and pick up their poop is pretty much a community effort. We dog walkers talk amongst ourselves at parties and the offenders are often present so they hear that we don't like the way they handle their dogs in a less confrontational manner. We do the same thing with the poop offenders. If there is a walker who I never see with a poop bag, especially an off-leash walker, when I do see them I make sure to comment on how disgusting the trail is when people don't pick up their poop. Those of us who do pick it up will discuss amongst ourselves who we think is the problem and then it is up to the individuals if they want to say something. But usually if someone is known as an offender once people start talking about them they start picking it up so it is probably not just me that says something.

As a result, comparatively, our trails are pretty clean. Make a stink at people, run up to them with poop bags and yell at the off leash dogs. It really works.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

It does amaze me how many people with their dogs off leash "think" their dog is under voice command......

Thankfully the poop issue isn't big here either EXCEPT when it snows. Some seem to think it magically "disappears".

[Colorado^]

I few years back I was finishing up a 14er hike. I was out of shape and carrying my daughter in a backpack. It was brutal.

It was all I could manage to put one foot after the other, head down. Then out from behind the bushes I get charged by this f-ing massive St Bearnard - off leash. The owners did the typical, oh he's friendly, it's your fault for looking like a two headed monster (child in backpack).

There are a lot of good dog owners out there, but the amount of aggression I've received from various dogs over the years (just minding my own business) it deplorable. If that level of aggression came from humans instead of dogs, I would have called the cops and/or used mace or drawn a weapon.

I just don't see how they think it's OK for their dog to threaten me and my child.

And don't get me started on dog owners who leave their pets poo for someone else to step in.

Once again I have NO problem with responsible dog owners.

[livecontent]

It is interesting how we have to be so humble in complaining about criminal dog owners and their miserable animals. We have to say, we really love dogs but..groveling, we say...we know there are many responsible dog owners...


Talking to animal control, one has to say...we really do not want to complaint and we really, really love dogs...If you raise your voice, the puppy faced dog control lady reminds you that she has powers of the police and will call a armed officer to put you down!

We are forced to sniff the butts of the dog community; being careful not to say anything that is politically doggy incorrect.

Everybody has to like dogs. Everybody has to live with the problems. If you do not, then you are not an American!

Well, I do like dogs--they are delicious!

Now, I have to go get lunch....HERE DOGGY.

Livecontent

[Colorado^]

Originally Posted by livecontent

Well, I do like dogs--they are delicious!

Now, I have to go get lunch....HERE DOGGY.

Livecontent

I think you took it a little far there.

I'm not groveling when I say I like dogs. Many are very sweet natured. It's when they get aggressive with me or my children I have a BIG problem. I also have a problem with habitual barking, especially those yappy little mutts.

I used to get woken up every morning by my neighbors yappy little dogs. It was so bad, we had to buy a new house and move.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

I think you took it a little far there.

I'm not groveling when I say I like dogs. Many are very sweet natured. It's when they get aggressive with me or my children I have a BIG problem. I also have a problem with habitual barking, especially those yappy little mutts.

I used to get woken up every morning by my neighbors yappy little dogs. It was so bad, we had to buy a new house and move.

I also like many dogs and much more so little dogs but many large dogs have a sweet nature.

My little joke was to "wag the dog" and to get them to understand that it is not those who complain are the problem. It is because many dog owners are too over sensitive about pet ownership and anything said to them to nicely correct the issue causes a worse response than necessary, as you have described. Obviously no one in this country eats dogs--I surely hope not.

To move because of a barking dog should not be necessary in this society. It should be able to be dealt with quickly by the laws in place. Unfortunately it is not as I know very well this issue.

Livecontent