Thursday, December 11, 2008

what's the answer?

how can 30 degrees in boise seem so much warmer than 40 in dallas? maybe the lack of that damp, cutting wind?

anyway- beautiful frosty morning, and i was so glad to be outside and walking after hours in airports & on planes yesterday.



watched these folks running with their dogs from chickadee. the dogs both stayed close, probably don't bother other people or other dogs. this dog was behind the runners the whole time i was watching. maybe these folks make sure the dogs poop before they let them off leash, or maybe they go back & pick up once a week if they don't while they're running. i don't know, i don't know them.
i do know that the poop situation is getting worse and everyone who does not pick up ruins it for the rest of us. and those people will probably not start picking up, but the rest of us will lose access.
then there's toby's owner. toby running ahead of him loose on the on leash trail. i wasn't sure there was a person with toby for a minute. when i did see the owner, i called "please get your dog". we sat off the trail, he called toby, leashed him up and walked by us. no problem- until i mentioned that the off leash section started over the hill and he said "i know". at which point i sort of yelled after him "this will all be on leash if we can't follow the rules"
which is ridiculous, because i will still be following the rules and he will still be disregarding them unless we can get some more consistent enforcement.
then there's this guy, hiking up the hill- on the on leash trails above camel's back. dog bounding all over- up over the hill out of sight, back down to the trail.

my question is what exactly the fcac thinks they will accomplish by making more trails on leash when the city cannot even enforce the rules we have. i don't understand why the officers are sent to green parks to write tickets when we asked for enforcement in the foothills to help us make this work.
i don't understand how, when people currently flaunt the rules by having dogs off leash on polecat and on the trails above camel's back and around the pond and near the foothills learning center, making more trails on leash with the same amount of enforcement is going to work.
and i don't understand the dog owners who don't pick up after their dogs or follow the leash rules and who let dogs chase bikes, runners and wildlife and jump up on people. those people are not the majority, and i am certain that we can change behavior over time, but it sure gets frustrating when i hear stories about dogs knocking down kids or chasing bikes.
and of course, after all of that, i met 2 groups of well behaved people with well behaved (and leashed) dogs on the way out of the park to remind me that there are people who get it and who care.

6 with, 4 without

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