Return of the Tiny Dogs
Last night, the woman with multiple tiny dogs returned to the bike path. (I mentioned her in a previous post.) I was taking Dante out for his last walk in our yard when I heard a burst of high-pitched barking. Next thing I know there's a little dog in my yard barking it's head off at my leashed dog. Another dog shortly joins it. I yell at them to scram, I hear someone on the bike path yell "No!" and the dogs head back to the bike path. I head down to the bike path and see the woman walking away with her five unleashed dogs (possibly one more than last time?), who turn around and run towards us barking as soon as they are aware of Dante. The woman yells "No!" repeatedly and the dogs turn around.
I don't need this crap. I was already in a bad mood and the return of this irresponsible idiot is the last thing I need. I yell after her to leash her dogs and remind her at the same volume that this is the second time they've been on my property. She says nothing.
I love dogs. Lexington had leash laws, but if a dog is well behaved and under the owner's control while off leash, chances are I won't care. What makes me angry is when people let their dogs off leash and clearly do not have sufficient control over them. And on the bike path no less. I've had another situation where an unleashed dog ran across the pike path and over to Dante while his owner explained, "Oh he's friendly." Firstly, that does not excuse this kind of behavior. Additionally, there is no guarantee that MY dog is friendly. Do you really want to risk it? Is it really worth a little additional freedom for your dog to let the dog try to figure out whether the other dog on the bike path is going to play with him or bite him in the face? And of course, this particular woman isn't satisfied with one out of control dog; she has to have four or five. I would not be surprised if that's he excuse for not leashing them; because the leashes all get tangled up. Boo hoo. The bike path isn't that busy between 8 and 9 at night, but all it takes is one cyclist either having and accident swerving to avoid tiny dogs all over the bike path and suing her into poverty or failing to stop and pancaking a dog or two. Or maybe the dogs end up on someone else's lawn, someone who'd rather kick dogs in the face instead of chase them off. Or maybe the wander onto the wrong dog's yard and get bitten. I'd feel sorry for the dogs, but not the woman.
I cannot stand irresponsible dog owners. It's their bad behavior that makes the rest of us look bad and necessitates things like leash laws. Next time one of her dogs shows up in my yard and starts harassing my dog, I will call the police. That's going to mean a fine and I seriously hope it is per dog. And if I ever even think that any of these dogs might hurt Dante, they are getting punted back to the bike path. I love dogs, but not enough to allow other dogs to hurt mine.
I don't need this crap. I was already in a bad mood and the return of this irresponsible idiot is the last thing I need. I yell after her to leash her dogs and remind her at the same volume that this is the second time they've been on my property. She says nothing.
I love dogs. Lexington had leash laws, but if a dog is well behaved and under the owner's control while off leash, chances are I won't care. What makes me angry is when people let their dogs off leash and clearly do not have sufficient control over them. And on the bike path no less. I've had another situation where an unleashed dog ran across the pike path and over to Dante while his owner explained, "Oh he's friendly." Firstly, that does not excuse this kind of behavior. Additionally, there is no guarantee that MY dog is friendly. Do you really want to risk it? Is it really worth a little additional freedom for your dog to let the dog try to figure out whether the other dog on the bike path is going to play with him or bite him in the face? And of course, this particular woman isn't satisfied with one out of control dog; she has to have four or five. I would not be surprised if that's he excuse for not leashing them; because the leashes all get tangled up. Boo hoo. The bike path isn't that busy between 8 and 9 at night, but all it takes is one cyclist either having and accident swerving to avoid tiny dogs all over the bike path and suing her into poverty or failing to stop and pancaking a dog or two. Or maybe the dogs end up on someone else's lawn, someone who'd rather kick dogs in the face instead of chase them off. Or maybe the wander onto the wrong dog's yard and get bitten. I'd feel sorry for the dogs, but not the woman.
I cannot stand irresponsible dog owners. It's their bad behavior that makes the rest of us look bad and necessitates things like leash laws. Next time one of her dogs shows up in my yard and starts harassing my dog, I will call the police. That's going to mean a fine and I seriously hope it is per dog. And if I ever even think that any of these dogs might hurt Dante, they are getting punted back to the bike path. I love dogs, but not enough to allow other dogs to hurt mine.