It was a beautiful day on Mt. Doug, and it was the perfect day to walk my dog, Sid. Sid is a German Shepherd who weighs 100 pounds; he loves Mt. Doug Park and all the animals and humans in it.
That day, when Sid and I were in the park, we saw an older gentleman who had his Jack Russell cross off leash. Whenever I see a dog, on or off leash, and I’m with my dog, I ask, “Is your dog friendly?” This older gentleman said that his dog was friendly, but she was scared of German Shepherds. I tried to keep Sid to myself; however, the strange dog came up to us and eyed us nervously. I guess Sid isn’t good with body language, because he still wanted to play with the little devil of a dog.
Right after Sid tried to smell this little dog, the thing decided that we were not going to pass. It circled us and started barking and snapping at us. When we tried to pass the dog, it cut us off. I can’t say the owner was a bad person, because he tried to call his little dog off of us, but I don’t think he should have a dog.
I mean, this guy got up in the morning, decided to walk a dog who has a Shepherd phobia in a large area that has a high possibility of having Shepherds in it, and figured that a leash was not a good idea.
The fact that he didn’t come up to his dog and put a leash on it and drag it off is some pretty strong evidence saying that this man, in fact, did not have a leash.
When the dog decided we weren’t worth it anymore, I ran away from there with Sid in case this dog changed its mind.
The rules of walking your dog aren’t that complicated. There is the spoken rule: if your dog goes to the bathroom, clean it up. Then there are the unspoken, common-sense rules: if your dog is not friendly, put him on a leash; if your dog is not well trained, put him on a leash; if your dog is friendly to some creatures but not all, put him on a leash, or at least have a leash on hand.
Maybe common sense isn’t that common after all.