Quote:
Originally Posted by Dashdog
Sorry I have to vent. If you know me you know I am a huge dog lover and all for off leash exercise for dogs but I also feel dog owners should be considerate of other people and dogs. Years ago I helped out with a local group that is responsible for the leash free areas we have here and we have several including a leash free ocean beach.
That said I had the dogs out at a local small lake that has a nice walking trail around it and is heavily posted that dogs need to be on leashes. My dogs were on leash and we were enjoying a nice relaxing walk, puppy was calm and being a good walker instead of annoying poor Chaos. We were approaching a turn in the trail that leads down to a bridge that goes over the marsh end of the lake and has lots of bushes that makes it difficult to see if others are coming up the trail. Suddenly a large red lab type dog appeared and started coming towards us, no owner in sight yet, then suddenly a whole group of dogs ( 8 total) appeared started barking and running towards us. Chaos has gotten grumpy in old age and does not like off leash dogs getting in her face when she is leashed and Puppy Zephyr gets very excited and crazy. So these dogs are charging us barking and still no human in sight and Chaos is reacting and Zephyr is a bit afraid and suddenly a lady appears at the top of the trail and starts calling dogs but most ignored her so it took lots of calling to get them to come and god forbid she come grab some of them nope she just stayed where she was a called them  . She looks at me and says " Oh do you want to pass?" When I said yes as we are headed that way" she gives me this annoyed look and starts putting leashes on some of the dogs that had finally gone back to her. At that point I had to bite my tongue as there were no nice words wanting to come out of me and I did not want to ruin my walk even further so I walked past and continued my walk.
I am pretty certain this person is a dog walker but wonder do people know these dog walker are walking groups of dogs sometimes even more then the 8 this lady had off leash in areas that require leashes? Do they also know how dangerous that is to have one person responsible for 8 unleashed dogs? Our leash free parks set down rules no more then 3 dogs per person for a reason. I can bet this dog walker as not cleaning up after the dogs as she probably does not even see most of them poop . I am so tired of running into these dog walkers with packs of leash free dogs as they do not have control of them and often when I see them they are looking for a dog that has wandered off. One day the dog the guy was looking for was running down the road a block away! Not safe. We do have leash laws here but not enough animal control workers to be out on the many trails we do have so rarely do these people get caught. ERRR I am asking around to see if I can find out who this dog walkers is but not sure I will have any luck as there are so many here. If I was paying $20 for a dog walk I would not want my dogs being walked like that as I would want the person to be more responsible with my dog...… Ok venting has helped some now it is time to get ready for a crazy night at work. |
LORD, I could go on about this for hours on end. I'm sick to death of these idiots who walk dogs off leash in areas where the dogs are supposed to be leashed. And even if they are allowed off leash, the damn dog should be under their control, not barrelling towards another dog, barking, snarling, carrying on, whatever.
Before I start on my own rant, I would not advise anyone to use a dog walker. Not only do owners not know what other dogs their dog will come in contact with, and what may happen without a proper introduction, they walker who likes to walk them off leash can lose a dog, the dog could drown, the dog could be hit by a car, the dog could get hurt by an animal (if walked in the great outdoors), it could eat something off of the ground (like an old cooked bone - see those on the ground more often than I should), could slip off of an embankment, cliff, whatever because most dog walkers aren't certified in any way, shape, or form regarding training.
Not only that, if you have a way that you want your dog walked, you have certain commands that you're teaching or have taught your dog, you're allowing someone to walk them that probably won't follow what you're doing, and consistency flies right out the window.
Rant:
The other day, I had another beach day with the boy. We were having a great day. Suddenly, all of these idiots started showing up with their dogs, off leash. You're not allowed to have your dogs off leash on this beach. One dog started coming towards us, and I yelled at it that it better back off or I'll attack it myself. Smart dog, Aussie type dog, totally read my body language and decided to go chase another dog on the beach, instead.
I decided our day was over, was walking back towards the car, almost to the steps up to the parking, when a lady came down with 2 of her dogs. They were both on leash. I patiently waited at a distance, about 100 meters away, because my boy is not down with other dogs since other dogs have not treated him well. I was even going to tell her, when she got away from the steps, "thank you" for being courteous and following the fricken law by having her dogs on leash.
But no.
The moment that she stepped off the last step and onto the beach, she bent over and unleashed one of her dogs.
Guess what happened.
Take one wild guess.
The second that dog was off leash, he raced over towards us, barking and carrying on, and my boy went crazy. I knew there was about to be a fight, and my only retreat was into the ocean. Fully fricken clothed, I had to go out into the ocean to keep that damn dog away from my boy.
I said those unkind words that you didn't want to say above. "You stupid B! WT(not H) is wrong with you? How stupid are you? Do you not care about your own dog? Do you not realize that your dog was about to be in a major fight because of your stupidity you dumb (censored)? How is it possible to be that stupid?!"
Yes, I was pissed.
That was just 2 dogs, and apparently her own.
A dog walker is not going to have control over all of those dogs, leashed or not. I don't believe in dog walkers because most of them don't know jack squat about dogs. The very fact that they think that they can walk 8 at a time tells me that they know jack squat about dogs. They put those dogs, other dogs, other animals, children, and adults in danger because all they care about is making as much money with as little effort as possible. THAT is why they walk 8 at a time. "Just do them all at once and then I can go home and sit on my fat butt".
A good dog walker would take one dog at a time, OR, possibly, 2 dogs if the dogs were from the same household and were normally walked together. A good dog walker would NOT take out 8 at a fricken time.
Remember: 3 dogs makes a pack. That dog walker does not have the connection with the dogs to be the leader of that pack - considering that a lot of times, the 'pack' changes from day to day, or time of day. So the dogs will take over - will be the pack, will have a leader, and it won't be the imbecilic dog walker.
I'm seriously going to invest in a GoPro, strap that thing on every time I take the boy out so I have video evidence in the future. Then I can contact the authorities, they can use that video, and then I will sue the snot out of every moronic off leash twit who has no control over their dog until I make a dent, become wealthy...or both.
I am so fricken tired of people who own dogs who know nothing about dogs.
I was asked, "Why are you like this?" Really? REALLY? Did you not just see your dog come after us the moment you let if off leash? Did your dog listen to you when you feebly called its name? Was your dog under your control at all times, allowing others to enjoy the beach, unassaulted?
And you want to know "why am I like this"?
FRICKEN REALLY?!
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