4 with, 2 without, all good and polite. met a gentleman with a lab who was working, as are we, on not letting his dog run up to everyone. and all dogs & people did really well!
thinking more about why people are so passionate about letting their dogs off leash. as you have probably guessed, i do not subscribe to the theory that dogs need to be free to roam and do as they please or they are somehow "unfulfilled" (for lack of a better word). i worry about my dogs' safety too much to ever allow them to roam freely. i am also concerned about their impact on other people who may not find them as wonderful as i do.
that said, i do want to allow them to be dogs. that's part of what the off leash walks/hikes/runs are about- they can go at their own pace, they can sniff and play and run within my sight but are not bound to my pace. and watching them gives me joy and reminds me to appreciate my life.
yesterday, leashed walk through neighborhood- steve, carolyn, me, both dogs. carolyn had echo, i had halle, steve was behind us. 3 people with 3 leashed dogs across the street. dogs at ends of leashes, pulling the people this way and that. midsized- 40 to 60 lb dogs.
we're all thinking stay far far away. next thing we know, they are running up behind us in the crosswalk. steve actually grabbed one dogs' leash (its owner still had a hold too) as the dog prepared to charge into echo. when he said "control your dogs" they actually replied "we can't help it". and we, in unison, said "yes, you can". both halle & echo were very good- we kept walking and so did they.
same walk, 2 loose dogs trotting thru hyde park, down alleys across streets, ending up in the playing field at north jr. high. where i hope they didn't feel the need to poop. if i hadn't had our dogs, i would have checked collars & called the humane society.
we have lots of opportunity for education- hopefully we get some carryover from our trails efforts.
anyway- happy friday!
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