Thursday, May 1, 2008

May Day


on this morning's walk/run:

near the pond in the on leash area:
  • one half hearted barking charge by an off leash dog whose owner quickly called him off

  • one owner hear calling- augie! augie! and standing looking perplexed near the trees by the creek with a leash around their neck (the calling started, near as i can tell, by the lower parking lot- so that whole area would be on leash)

  • another off leash dog trotting in front of walkers- who called him back as i turned around and went the other way

on chickadee ridge:

  • one man digging up phlox from behind sagebrush (at least he wasn't upset when halle started barking at him- seemed to understand that she was just doing her job)

at 10th st entrance (also on leash area):

  • woman walking in with 2 loose dogs. when i asked her not to let them run up to us, she immediately put them in a heel and it was all good
so- 4 groups with off leash dogs in the on leash area, but 3 of the 4 had their dogs controlled. unfortunately, it's still the on leash area. i don't understand why, if i can walk dogs through that part to get to where they can be off leash, others can't as well.

here's the thing- most leashed dogs do not react well to being approached by loose dogs. so the best thing to do is not let your dog run up to another dog (or person) without asking permission. period. i have started asking people not to let their dogs run up to us. it's just easier.

when i want my dogs to be social, we go to the dog park, or doggy day care, or training class. when we are in the foothills, we are there for different reasons. it is just common courtesy to respect other people, and for me, that includes not intruding (or letting our dogs intrude).

anyway- that's today's soapbox. i know that suggesting enforcement of the current rules is probably not a popular idea, but i would really like to see it happen until we can get some sort of certification program for people like the woman i met going out who truly have dogs under control.

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