Washington DC needs places for dogs to run off leash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dog lover but I've recently encountered several awful dog owners with off leash dogs at city parks. What's going on? Or you guys staging some kind of protest? Just for the record, letting your poorly trained dogs assault people and other dogs at the park and then getting defensive when people yell at you for not putting your dog on a leash is not the way to get what you want.

I also see off leash dogs all the time that don't bother me, because they are well behaved and can obviously handle being off leash while in mixed company with kids, other dogs, etc. It's only the people with out of control dogs who run off constantly and get aggressive with other people who get yelled at for letting their dog off leash. The problem isn't the leash laws, it's that you have a dog that you haven't invested enough time or energy in to acclimate them to these environments, or your dog simply does not have the personality for being off leash in busy public areas. If your off leash dog will bound up to strangers uninvited, get aggressive with other dogs, and won't heed your commands, then honestly, your dog should never be off leash in an urban setting. This is why people in cities or dense neighborhoods should be thoughtful about adopting a dog. Some dogs are just not suited to city life, full stop.

This is just not true. And you would not know that unless you owned a dog. My dogs are old and slow and don't care about other people. Their only interest in the woods are odors of all kinds. It's not the behavior of my dogs that results in hostility. Some officious and angry people take it upon themselves to enforce laws and decide they can yell at dog owners merely because their dogs are off leash. Of course, there are bad dogs and bad dog owners. Personally, i can't stand the idea of pit buils walking off leash. They are aggressive and unpredictable. They are responsible for a majority of dog bites. I put my dog on a leash if i see anyone approaching - including if i see another dog that is on leash. But this city needs to catch up with the modern times and set aside several sites of several acres for the thousands of dogs that live in every quadrant. It's a little like having bike lanes. If there is a bike lane available and I still insist in biking down the middle of Rock Creek Parkway, I'm an obnoxious, self important biker - deserving of being honked at. But if there is no bike lane, maybe I don't have a choice - and I do have an absolute right to ride my bike in Washington DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that's cool--you should definitely buy some land in DC and make it happen! you can get almost an acre on Linnean St. NW for about $3.6 million, or this in upper NW https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/5738-Oregon-Ave-NW-20015/home/9993474

Or there are two smaller parcels in Lily Ponds for a total of $185k--if you got 200 dog owners to chip in $1000 each you'd be set including transfer and property taxes.

OR we can keep doing what we are doing and use every park in the city as a place to walk off leash. I'm trying to acknowledge reality. There are several parks that are defacto dog parks where dogs run off leash. Im' just suggesting that some order be brought to the situation. but what ever, if nobody wants to have a rational discussion, I will keep letting my dogs off leash where they will freak you all out. Because 90 percent of you all don't even go outside and are terrified of the animals of all kinds including squirrels and turtles.

Oh, we see you now, OP. You are already an owner who doesn’t use a leash. Why does that not surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that's cool--you should definitely buy some land in DC and make it happen! you can get almost an acre on Linnean St. NW for about $3.6 million, or this in upper NW https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/5738-Oregon-Ave-NW-20015/home/9993474

Or there are two smaller parcels in Lily Ponds for a total of $185k--if you got 200 dog owners to chip in $1000 each you'd be set including transfer and property taxes.

OR we can keep doing what we are doing and use every park in the city as a place to walk off leash. I'm trying to acknowledge reality. There are several parks that are defacto dog parks where dogs run off leash. Im' just suggesting that some order be brought to the situation. but what ever, if nobody wants to have a rational discussion, I will keep letting my dogs off leash where they will freak you all out. Because 90 percent of you all don't even go outside and are terrified of the animals of all kinds including squirrels and turtles.

Oh, we see you now, OP. You are already an owner who doesn’t use a leash. Why does that not surprise.

I called OP out in the first post can’t stand these people. And turtles and squirrels didn’t bite me and send me to ER or jumped on my toddler, but nasty mutts did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that's cool--you should definitely buy some land in DC and make it happen! you can get almost an acre on Linnean St. NW for about $3.6 million, or this in upper NW https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/5738-Oregon-Ave-NW-20015/home/9993474

Or there are two smaller parcels in Lily Ponds for a total of $185k--if you got 200 dog owners to chip in $1000 each you'd be set including transfer and property taxes.

OR we can keep doing what we are doing and use every park in the city as a place to walk off leash. I'm trying to acknowledge reality. There are several parks that are defacto dog parks where dogs run off leash. Im' just suggesting that some order be brought to the situation. but what ever, if nobody wants to have a rational discussion, I will keep letting my dogs off leash where they will freak you all out. Because 90 percent of you all don't even go outside and are terrified of the animals of all kinds including squirrels and turtles.

Oh, we see you now, OP. You are already an owner who doesn’t use a leash. Why does that not surprise.

Yep. And since the city won't buy you a backyard, you're threatening to break the law even more, and insulting people who think you should follow the leash laws. Definitely a persuasive argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can let your pitbull rescue run off leash as soon as the rest of us are carrying a suitable handgun. Until that happens, keep your murderdog on a leash.

Slander! Golden retrivers have the most bites. I will find your statistics later. And no I dont let my dog off leash except my backyard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I love all the people who think I moved to dc. I was born and raised in this city and lived here my whole life. I walk my dog off leash and always will. And thanks for all the insufferable responses. Now when someone yells at me to put my dog on a leash, I’ll feel more comfortable telling them/you to stfu.

Sorry, OP, fellow DC native and dog owner and you could not be more wrong.

But you already know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can let your pitbull rescue run off leash as soon as the rest of us are carrying a suitable handgun. Until that happens, keep your murderdog on a leash.

Slander! Golden retrivers have the most bites. I will find your statistics later. And no I dont let my dog off leash except my backyard.

to be clear, Pitbulls are responsible for the majority of fatal bites. More than 66 percent of fatal bites - in fact. Other breeds may have a higher rate of biting, but pitbulls are the dogs that mame and kill.


.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can let your pitbull rescue run off leash as soon as the rest of us are carrying a suitable handgun. Until that happens, keep your murderdog on a leash.

Slander! Golden retrivers have the most bites. I will find your statistics later. And no I dont let my dog off leash except my backyard.

If you have a yard, why do you think you also need a 20-acre dog park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I love all the people who think I moved to dc. I was born and raised in this city and lived here my whole life. I walk my dog off leash and always will. And thanks for all the insufferable responses. Now when someone yells at me to put my dog on a leash, I’ll feel more comfortable telling them/you to stfu.

And who is breaking the law in this scenario? Who's insurance won't cover damages from a lawsuit in the event of injury in this scenario?

Have at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dog lover but I've recently encountered several awful dog owners with off leash dogs at city parks. What's going on? Or you guys staging some kind of protest? Just for the record, letting your poorly trained dogs assault people and other dogs at the park and then getting defensive when people yell at you for not putting your dog on a leash is not the way to get what you want.

I also see off leash dogs all the time that don't bother me, because they are well behaved and can obviously handle being off leash while in mixed company with kids, other dogs, etc. It's only the people with out of control dogs who run off constantly and get aggressive with other people who get yelled at for letting their dog off leash. The problem isn't the leash laws, it's that you have a dog that you haven't invested enough time or energy in to acclimate them to these environments, or your dog simply does not have the personality for being off leash in busy public areas. If your off leash dog will bound up to strangers uninvited, get aggressive with other dogs, and won't heed your commands, then honestly, your dog should never be off leash in an urban setting. This is why people in cities or dense neighborhoods should be thoughtful about adopting a dog. Some dogs are just not suited to city life, full stop.

This is just not true. And you would not know that unless you owned a dog. My dogs are old and slow and don't care about other people. Their only interest in the woods are odors of all kinds. It's not the behavior of my dogs that results in hostility. Some officious and angry people take it upon themselves to enforce laws and decide they can yell at dog owners merely because their dogs are off leash. Of course, there are bad dogs and bad dog owners. Personally, i can't stand the idea of pit buils walking off leash. They are aggressive and unpredictable. They are responsible for a majority of dog bites. I put my dog on a leash if i see anyone approaching - including if i see another dog that is on leash. But this city needs to catch up with the modern times and set aside several sites of several acres for the thousands of dogs that live in every quadrant. It's a little like having bike lanes. If there is a bike lane available and I still insist in biking down the middle of Rock Creek Parkway, I'm an obnoxious, self important biker - deserving of being honked at. But if there is no bike lane, maybe I don't have a choice - and I do have an absolute right to ride my bike in Washington DC.

So you are telling one person that their anecdotal observations are not true by replacing it with your personal anecdotal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The chain fence dog parks don’t work. Other big cities like New York and San Francisco have places where dogs can run free. Central Park is open to dogs off leash in the morning and the evening. There are tens of thousands of dog owners in dc and they deserve a place to legally run their dogs. I wish someone in dc government would coordinate with the feds to set aside a 10 or 20 acres somewhere in this green city

No. What Washington NEEDS is a safe, decent place for human beings to need. An off-leash dog park is a luxury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s called a backyard

Exactly.

Maybe the OP should go complain to Bowser about the inadequacy of area parks after a decade of saying yes to every developer fantasy.

A little planning could have resulted in more dog parks, but that’s NIMBYism according to the psycho GGW propagandists.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of places for off leash dogs. There is an app/website now to rent out large areas to run your dog if you don't have your own - SniffSpot.

Please please please do not walk your dog off leash or let your dog off leash in non off leash areas. I am a dog owner of two dogs. We were attacked by an off leash dog while walking in our neighborhood. There was no provocation, it was not territorial, purely prey drive. It is irresponsible to walk your dog off leash unless you have an amazing recall on your dog - spoiler alert: 90% of owners that I've seen can not call their dog off a squirrel/bunny/etc.

Setting aside other dogs, a lot of children are afraid of dogs. If the dog, friendly even, approaches them and they scream - what will your dog do? We are a young couple with no kids - I couldn't tell you what my dogs would do if off leash going to smell a child as they have never been around children without my supervision. We do not need privileges for our dogs - they have space to walk, dog parks to run (or the outdoors, to run with you while leashed), and can be mentally stimulated through training and puzzles. PLEASE follow the laws so the rest of us can have access to nice things - like restaurant patios and beautiful parks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. I have a big dog and live in an apartment. I bring him to the dog park and walk/run him. He gets plenty of exercise.

+1

What's wrong with the dog parks?

Dog parks can be dangerous and not every dog does well in them. These issues can develop later in life and are not always known when the dog is adopted/purchased.

So "not every dog does well in dog parks" translates to the city should set aside 10-20 acres for dogs to run off leash?

That's idiotic.

[Anonymous]

lol at all the complaints about people letting their dog off leash anyways. sure, some people will be assholes either way. but many dog owners would appreciate a safe dedicated grassy area for dogs to run and would choose to use that vs a random public park where the dog could run into the street.