Not off leash, NEVER


This male Lab was extremely aggressive.  Elsa got away with her interaction because she was a young female.  Other dogs were not so lucky when they approached him.  The owner had him at a public beach off leash.  He did not play well with others and should not have been off leash.  If no one was at the beach he could have gotten away with it as the dog was completely focused on his balls unless another dog entered his circle.  


We were enjoying ourselves at the park.  Luke and Elsa had met up with a friend and were romping around when a car pulled up.  As the car pulled to the curb I got the "heads up" that I never want to hear.  "That's the guy with the aggressive dog;" my friend said.  The dog is so aggressive that if the dog bites another dog he will be euthanized.  But the kicker is that he lets the dog off leash; that's right, off leash.  As we head to the car quickly I am ranting.  My head is spinning with thoughts of allowing a known biter off leash "really?"  The whole scenario played out in my head as I picked up my pace to get to the car.  Thinking about the dog charging us and going after Luke, I opened the pocket in my bag that holds my pepper spray.  I was not going to allow some stupid guy with an aggressive dog to injure one of my guys.  Once we reached the safety of my xterra we chatted and the owner of the aggressive dog waited.  He finally left seeing that we weren't leaving right away.

Another day, another walk and Elsa and I were coming around a corner at the park.  We were just about to head past the children's play area when I spotted a Weimaraner.  The owner panicked and screamed for his dog making a dash to grab her.  I stopped in my tracks seeing that it was not an okay situation.  My job is to protect my dogs and I take this job seriously.  Once he had her hooked up he moved far off the path as we walked by very cautiously.  The dog lunged out going crazy at Elsa.  Really?  He'd had this dog off leash in a public park.  I truly don't get it.

IT IS NOT OKAY TO HAVE AGGRESSIVE DOGS OFF LEASH.

Yet another time as Elsa and I were out at the park a woman entered with her very large black dog.  She let it off leash right away and I got an uneasy feeling.  I called across the park to her "your dog friendly?"  She looked to locate where the call had come from and panicked when she saw us.  She scrambled to get her dog and hook her up.  She had obviously not seen us but still let this dog off leash.  It makes me crazy.  My own dogs are extremely friendly but I am still very cautious about when and where they are let off leash.  AGGRESSIVE DOGS SHOULD NEVER BE OFF LEASH.  Not in public.

There is a time and place when aggressive dogs should be off leash and that is ONLY when they are in a 100% securely fenced area like a backyard.  That or when and if they are being rehabilitated by a trained professional but still in a 100% secure area.

If you even think for a moment that your dog may attack another; KEEP YOUR LEASH ON.  I hear stories all the time of dogs attacking other dogs or people because they were out for an off leash run.  There are no acceptable explanations for allowing an aggressive dog off leash.  If you have an aggressive dog, it is your job to keep that dog safely contained.  It is your job to make sure that your dog does not hurt anyone; not another dog or person.

In life there are consequences.  Attacking another dog or person is just cause for a loss of freedom.  It is sad that we have to be so aware; due to those who are careless and stupid.  I for one am always aware of my surroundings; always watching other dog's body posture.  Having had several of my dogs attacked on a street walk and ended walking in the street for us.  We only walk in parks, beaches and fields where I can see well ahead of us.

There is NEVER a justified reason to allow an aggressive dog off leash.  NEVER.


16 comments:

  1. This is the exact reason I will never bring my (non aggressive) dog to any off leash areas. It started at the local (Huntington Beach) off leash dog beach where a man actually yelled to me "Watch out for my dog! He's not friendly!" and his dog was off leash, and staring at me and my dog. Whenever we enter a dog park I stand outside the gate first to check if the dogs look OK because I've had people tell me more than once "My dog hates other dogs" or "My dog (who is like 12 years old) has never been around another dog", etc (who knows WHY they have them at an off leash dog park) but one time a new dog came in after we were already inside and just gave me a bad feeling so I got my dog and as we were walking to the exit gate this new dog charged from the other side of the park and attacked my dog from behind. The owner did not leave the park and said "Oh he hasn't been around dogs much so he gets a little 'bossy'". Yeah. We left and as we were walking away I heard that dog attack another dog inside the park. We've never been back to that or any other off leash area. My dog plays off leash at his trainer's house with friendly dogs who are also under the supervision of dog trainers. It's sad, but I feel like it's necessary to protect my dog (and myself) from people who have NO idea about dog behavior, socialization, etc.

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  2. Can't even walk in my own neighborhood for fear of all the loose dogs. Have called By Law so many times, I can't even count. In order to have the dogs removed from the streets, I MUST provide my name which will also be provided to the offending "parents" of the aggressive dog. Unbelievable.

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  3. I also never would take mine off leash because of the possibility of agressive dogs off lead . Sad isnt it. We no longer play at the dog park for the same reason. Unfortunatelty some people are always gong to be like this. We also had the opposite pproblem. I have a dog that doesnt like other dogs in her space and so we dont take her to off lead areas but have people with off lead dogs running up to her with the ownes screaming ahead "hes friendly" and me screaming back "mine isnt!!! "

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  4. We had just got a poodle.Only had her for a week. The little one was leashed and walking on the beach splashing in the water.A huge lab came up from behind,grabbed her by the neck and she was dead.Broke her neck! Rest in peace little Roxie!

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  5. unfortunately these owners are clueless and untrainable. They may be the reason their pet is aggressive. My walks on Oso trail have been cancelled because of aggressive, offleash dogs. :(

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  6. The aggressive dog isn't always the problem. The problem lies with the out of control dogs that run up to other dogs. Friendly or not. If you have a dog that can be aggressive, yet is completely under your control, this dog is not a problem. The problem stems with the dogs that comes running up to it with no boundaries. The one with that owner that yells, "It's OK, he's friendly". There will be an issue whether the aggressive dog is on leash or not. ALL dogs need to be under complete control, not just the "aggressive" ones. If I take my dogs to the beach, it is so they can play and run in the surf. NOT to interact with other dogs. I have cattle dogs. Not always the best with strangers or other dogs. BUT, MY dogs will never approach anyone. I am fortunate that they will also not react to other dogs, but they definitely do not LIKE other dogs to approach them. So, with that being said, please, all you folks with those "He's friendly" dogs, if he doesn't stay with you when you call him, keep HIM on a leash.

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  7. Gina B. I have to agree and disagree. I agree that if you cannot control your dog whether it is friendly or not it should not be off leash. It is very annoying to have "friendly" dogs run up to someone with a non friendly dog. I dealt with this with my JRT.

    As far as bringing your dogs who are not dog friendly to a dog beach, big mistake. I agree you should be able to enjoy the beach with your dogs but not at a dog beach. Dog beaches and parks are specifically for that and keeping other dogs from saying hi to yours is not easy. People expect your dogs to be dog friendly if they are there; and they should be.

    Find yourself a nice secluded beach to let your dogs indulge at. But do not expect people with dog friendly dogs to stay away from you at a dog beach.

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  8. I have been fortunate that we have never come across an aggressive dog at the off leash parks in our areas. I do have a spoo that is just so excited to see everyone and say hi he does the zoomies. He still has a great recall but not before he zooms past the dogs. Agressive dogs should not be at the park but I do take my dog to socialize and play with other dogs. If he gets tuned by another dog for being inappropriate, he is very respectful. Not sure how i feel about the comment of not allowing dogs to come and say hi - if the body language is correct, it should be an issue

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  9. What Sherri said, Gina

    If your dogs can't play nice, they shouldn't be at a dog park (or off leash where they can be near dogs).

    But likewise, if your dogs don't like playing with other dogs, don't bring them to a dog park either. Or just let them speak for themselves (e.g. ignoring the other dogs is ample communication between dogs that they don't want to play).



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  10. I'm with Gina B. Caesar appears to be aggressive when he is on leash and is approached by other dogs. He's fine and has never been aggressive OFF leash. The "It's OK My dog is friendly" people shouldn't allow their dog to approach unless without the OK of the other owner. Caesar has also been attacked several times while he is on leash which doesn't help his on leash approachability. Luckily, we're not "dog beach/park" people as we have easy access to secluded trails and beaches. I think the cattledogs have just as much right to be there for exercise is everyone elses dogs do for social time.

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  11. My dobe Tanzeer spent the first year and half in a kennel before we adopted him. Although he has some dog friends, small and large he is a nervous dominant dog that can be very reactive around strange dogs. We don't ever put him in the situation of being off leash where there is any possibility of his running into a strange dog. We take him and Bella to a secure baseball field where they can both run free. Both gates supervised by my husband and myself so no one can enter with their dog without us knowing and being given time to leash them up. I have to say it infuriates me when I am walking my dogs on a leash and someone allows there unleashed dog to come charging over. Tanzeer of course begins lunging and barking while the oblivious owner says things like" He just loves other dogs". Seriously..is it not obvious that my lunging snarling dogs(by this point Bella will join in the fracas)are not happy to make your dog's acquaintance? I have noticed that many of these owners of "friendly" dogs seem to have no ability to recall their dogs. As I know that when presented with certain stimuli Tanzeer is not going to obey my recall I don't ever put him in the position to fail. Seems to me calling your dog to come 15 times as you follow him around in hopes of snagging his collar isn't only teaches your dog to ignore you.

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  12. DeAnn; I am not saying that dogs should be allowed to run up to leashed dogs. If you cannot control your dog then don't take it off leash. Bottom line.

    But, if you frequent a dog park/beach then it is expected that your dog is dog friendly. It is a place for dogs to interact and not the place for dogs who are not dog friendly.

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  13. My Standard poodle is friendly, but he is also very good at reading other dogs. He will cautiously (not fearfully) approach another unleashed dog, not bound up like he's just met his new best friend. He is rarely on leash in our little village, but i will never let him approach a leashed dog! We also have lots of deer running around, so the most important commands I've taught is "Leave it" and "Heel". He is near 100 % with both.Our village is full of city people during the summer and most of the leashed dogs that accompany the renters seem to be not friendly. They deserve a holiday too. And I feel it's very important to respect an unfriendly LEASHED dog's space. But I absolutely do NOT tolerate people with unleashed non-friendly dogs!!! I tend to be very outspoken regarding this! A public beach or community is not the place to test your aggressive dog.

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  14. Dogs shouldn't be at off leash parks with other off leash dogs if they can't interact effectively with other dogs. That means one's who are aggressive, and ones who don't want to play with other dogs or can not play nicely with other dogs. It shouldn't require human hyper-monitoring. That is the whole point of an off-leash park. Dogs like to run and play-- how on earth can humans do that with them?

    Dogs shouldn't be free to approach dogs on leash, I totally agree with that. But off leash park? I can't be running beside my dog and yelling commands at them at an off leash park because some dog might be aggressive towards them. Those dogs shouldn't be there. Dogs should be allowed to run and play if they are non-aggressive and social dogs in an off leash park and not have to worry about other dogs.

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  15. Anonymous; that is exactly what I was saying.

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  16. I tend to agree with a little of both sides. I go to a open space area to walk/hike. My spoo is leashed, he is also young, 16 months. He is dog friendly but with all the stimuli his recall is not 100% yet. He also doesn't 't like strangers running up to him and reaching over his head to pet him. I can control that with him on leash. Lots of unleashed dogs. Probably at least 60% of which have a bad recall. We have had dogs come around curves with no owners in sight, they are 100 to 200 feet behind them chatting away. Not ok. If your dog is unleashed, keep him in view. I have taken to carrying a walking stick because you just never know.

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