“Don’t worry, he’s friendly”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in the PNW in an area that’s very very very dog friendly. There are as many dog parks as their are parks with playgrounds.

There are a few parks near us with really cool playgrounds next to soccer fields with a pathway around it and people will often walk their dogs. They have strict leash laws

There are several other parks where there are no leash laws plus the plethora of dog specific parks.

Yet we (and other parents) had issues with unleashes dogs running up to them and their children while between playground equipment or in the soccer fields.

Yes. 9/10 these dogs are friendly. Some just run up and sniff but others jump up on excitement and have accidentally scratched or gotten clothing dirty or even knocked down smaller kids.

Everyone, the owner comes slowly walking “oh, don’t worry he’s friendly”.

Yes, very clearly friendly and untrained. I do not want a dog jumping up on me. I do not want a dog running after my kids when I have no idea how this dog reacts to children. I do not trust dog owners who can’t follow basic leash laws to also have well-trained dogs. I don’t trust that they’re all friendly.

Thankfully we’ve never had any incidences beyond being knocked down or a scratch but a medium size dog bit an older kid playing soccer off leash and it’s created a Nextdoor debacle.

Dog owners vs. Kid owners. Dog owners feel just as entitled to the same space as kids and families. When we point out the leash laws they huff and basically say they’ll do as they please.

I’m not sure if this is just a very centralized issue or if you’ve experienced something similar?

You leash your soccer players ? To me, this is the more concerning issue.

[Anonymous]

“I’m not friendly. In fact, I’m allergic. Get your dog away from me, and get it on a leash before I report you.”