How do you handle unleashed dogs at a park?

[Anonymous]

I often go to Rock Creek Park with my young kid and see unleashed dogs. Many kinds of unleashed dogs are fine with me. I don't mind dogs who, when they see other people, stop and look back to their owners to see what they should do. Or dogs who completely ignore people as they wander the woods. Or dogs who stay close to their owners but off leash. Or dogs who instantly obey commands when their owner sees other people and tells the dog to come back.

What really, really bothers me are large dogs bounding all over the place, far from their owners and sometimes out of their owners' sight, who ignore their owners repeated commands to come back and instead run right up to people, including my small preschooler who was once bitten in the face by a "friendly" dog at a friend's house (no they were not roughhousing...my kid surprised the dog by putting its face close to the dog's before I could stop him and the dog just reacted).

I frequently take my preschooler out to Rock Creek Park to enjoy nature, walk the trails, etc. What I frequently want to do is let kid wander a bit up the trail to foster independence (always within my sight, of course!). I *hate* it when a dog, off leash, comes running down the trail and aims for my kid. Often the dog is far, far away from its owner, who may not even see that he dog is headed for a small kid.

Surely the friendly dog just wants to say hi! But my kid's natural instinct, on seeing a large unfamiliar animal with teeth headed its way, is to feel fear.

Often, on seeing my small child, the dog owner will start to call to their dog. But most of the time, the dog just ignores them. Here is my feeling--if you call your dog repeatedly, and it does not immediately come, your dog should not be off a leash in a public place, because you do not control your dog.

I am not going to stop going to Rock Creek Park, and I am not going to stop letting my kid wander, and I don't hate people who keep their dogs off leash. But dog-owners, if you can't control and watch your dog, it has no business being off-leash in a public place, no matter how friendly it seems to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dog owner here. We have two huge German Shepherd Dogs. They were raised around kids and are fantastic with my children and their friends. They have never shown even a hint of aggression towards anyone. My kids play rough with them, chase them, pull sticks out of their mouths..... I can walk up and take food out of their mouths without any resistance.. They are well trained and well socialized.

Having said all that, they are NEVER off leash in public unless we are at the dog park or out in the middle of the country. I am continually amazed at the parents who will allow their toddlers to run up and try to hug my 140 pound German Shepherd. Teach your kids not to do that. My dogs are friendly. Many are not. And it would be really difficult to stop a bite if your child is charging at a scared dog.

Also, the question is always- "Does your dog bite?". My dog is an animal. He does not think or act like a human. He has never bitten anyone before. But he is a dog. Yes, he could bite.

Ditto. My dogs have never bitten anyone nor do I think they would, but my answer to 'do your dogs bite' is always 'well, they have teeth.' ie - a dog COULD bite at any time. Ours are never off leash, and they are the friendliest, dopiest damn dogs you ever met. But it's the law, and they are ANIMALS and you can't predict them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. I guess part of my question was also how other non-dog owner parents feel about the situation and whether I'm overly sensitive, but after what happened in AU Park, I think I'm not nuts if I think there is a risk.

OP, I live in CCDC near Lafayette and recently had a very pleasant email communication with our police commander, asking him to have an officer patrol the upper park duing high kid traffic hours (weekend mornings). The CCDC listserv has the same crazy arguments as this thread about once a year so I didnt bother to post there first. same experience as you - playful dogs chasing balls or sticks, noy looking to eat children, but on the playground where my kids are. They run down from the field where there is sort of a neighborhood truce about off leash dogs, and the owners stand there halfhartedly calling the dogs. I got taken out at the knees once, and we've had plenty of hand sniffers, owner nowhere around. My older kid is afraid of dogs, and while I'm om with the 'truce' on the firle, when the dogs creep down to the swings and climbers, i draw the line.

Dog owners, if you let them run free at Lafayette, Commander Reese is on the task. Oh, and he also told me to all 911 if i see it.

Would be great if Commander Reese could also police Lincoln and Garfield parks in Capitol Hill. PP, you describe Lincoln Park as, "a bit of a de facto dog park", and it is exactly this mushy attitude toward unleashed dogs there that has resulted in many many unleashed dogs there at all times of the day. We just quit going there altogether.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen dogs TEAR out of Lincoln Park across the street. I nearly ran over a woman who ran into the street after her dog (I hadn't seen the dog, so I wan't anticipating an adult to run helter skelter into traffic) I can't understand why people keep their dogs off leash in a space like that. A) there are children B) there are people w/o children who would like to lie on a blanket and read a book, C) you can't predict a dog's behavior and D) IT IS ILLEGAL.

And I'm a dog owner and a parent.

[Anonymous]

PP, I appreciate that you always leash your dog in Lincoln Park. But, do you or don't you believe that dogs should always be leashed there, or do you think it's sometimes okay that dogs are running around off leash there?

I also think off-leash dogs contribute to the dogshit problem. This is especially a problem in Garfield Park. The owners are chatting and the dogs are romping, often far from them. The dog takes a dump and the owner conveniently doesn't notice and doesn't pick it up. I have witnessed this many times and yes, I have said something when an owner doesn't pick up the dog's poop. But, what a pain, how gross.

If you want to have your dog off leash, take it to the dog park. If that space is not big enough, then you have the wrong dog for the city, or you need to move to more space.

It is stressful keeping an eye on the off-leash dogs and wondering what they will do next.

[Anonymous]

Rock Creek Park has a significant number of off leash dogs on the trails. Some attack the ducks, jump on other leashed dogs, and certainly jump on people, including children. It is not unusual to encounter a dog without the owner anywhere in sight. I'm uncomfortable walking with my DD is parts of Rock Creek for this reason. Frankly, as an adult, I don't feel comfortable with these unleashed dogs. It really makes it difficult to enjoy a great part of DC. The park police need to aggressively police this. It's unsafe.

[Anonymous]

I would kindly ask them to please leash their dog.

To be honest, 9 times out of 10 the dog owner just wants to let their dog run and the dog is not a killer. People w/out dogs freak out and think that unleashed dogs will suddenly run off to attach small children. Both the dog owner and the dog less owner are pretty much self absorbed.

As a dog owner AND a parent of small children, there are really two issues here:

1) Dog owners should leash their dogs, it is the safest option for everyone

2) Parents need to "train" their kids not to run up to strange dogs anywhere (yes even leashed one), not just parks

If a dog owner has a dog off leash, tell them.

If a parent lets their kid run up to your dog, tell them too.

[Anonymous]

My dog is leashed 100% when we walk. That said, I do not restrict the places we go while she is leashed. So, to the PPs who think I shouldn't walk her, even leashed, near an elementary school...deal with it and teach your children how to act around leashed dogs.

As for the people all up in arms about the law...yes, of course, letting a dog off leash is against the law. So is speeding and I'm willing to guess all of you posting your outrage has driven at least 5 over the limit in the last week (although I'm sure you won't admit it.) Why do you do this? Why does anyone do this? Because you think the risk is low for something bad happening. So, speeding, rolling through a stop sign, running a left turn signal while the pedestrian walk sign is telling the pedestrians it's safe to walk...all things at least as dangerous, or more dangerous, than allowing a dog off lead.

This doesn't mean that dog owners should ignore the law. Not at all. What it does mean is that everyone needs to respond to each other with respect. Rather than proclaiming you'd kick a dog for being off lead, (something like being punched in the face for your 5miles over speed limit) would be an overreaction, try reminding your neighbors of the law and training your children how to approach unknown dogs, leashed or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody came straight out and said that, but there were several who were trying to shift the blame to the parents, just like you are. Nobody should ever have to approach a dog owner to put their dog on a leash where it's the law. People shouldn't have to deal with this, and they wouldn't if everybody behaved reasonably (i.e. put their dog on a leash). That's why there's dog parks.

I'm one of the PP dog owners. And I do agree with you that dog owners should follow the rules. I wish that all dog owners were responsible, because those that are not give the rest of us a bad name. That being said, these rude people do exist (just like rude people exist in all walks of life, unfortunately), and the OP asked how to approach someone when she encountered the situation. I think there was a great suggestion by another PP with a reasonable response on how to confront someone without looking like a crazy or causing unnecessary trouble. I don't understand why people are getting all riled-up, rather than just helping out OP with her question.

I'll tell you why, I was bitten in the face by "super friendly" dog when I was 5. The dog was off leash and told my parents how "friendly" the dog was. I'm sure she was. However, when I was playing with my ball and the dog wanted to play with it, she went to grab it from me. The dog was off leash and her owner couldn't control her. When I saw what the dog was going for, I grabbed my ball and the dog bit me. In the face.

Sure, the dog was just doing what dogs do.

However, if the owner had the dog on the leash, she could have pulled the dog back. But, no....it was a "friendly" dog who never bit anyone.

Two things I learned:

1. If a dog bites a child you can have that dog "put down" (which means you can have the dog killed)

2. If your dog comes at my child and it's not on a leash I will kick your dog. You are breaking the law and I will be in my rights to protect my child.

I'm sure it would make you very happy if this were true, but it's not. Usually there is a warning and a requirement that the dog be muzzled when going out in public. If the owner cannot satisfy the requirements, then the dog might be put down.

This is true. In Montgomery County, they do not order every dog who bites someone, even a child to be put down. The dog handler, however, will get a rather hefty ticket $500. The biggest problem for a homeowner is that your insurance company will drop you like a rock and you will have a very difficult time getting new home owner's insurance while the dog is in the home.

And kicking or harming a dog that is approaching you in a non-aggressive manner can lead to a ticket for you.

The reason people let their dogs off leash in parks in the AU Park, CC, Berhesda areas is due to the lack of a dog park. The closest one I know about is at Cabin John.

As a dog owner, I agree with all prior posters that dogs should always be on a leash in public. I also think dogs should be on a very short lead when in a crowd, that children should not approach a dog without permission and that no matter how nice, calm and pleasant a dog is, it is an animal and, therefore, the possibility of a bite is always present.

[Anonymous]

I looked up this subject because I take my kids to this park and there is this couple with a PIT BULL off leash and I have asked them to leash their dog and they don't. I called the police but they don't care and never show up. I just feel uncomfortable with an UNLEASHED PIT BULL around kids.

[Anonymous]

I just feel uncomfortable when humans exhibit SMALL-MINDED BIGOTRY around my children and dogs. ALL DOGS CAN BITE, ALL DOGS SHOULD BE LEASHED AND CONTROLLED. Children should be under close parental supervision as well. To propagate the belief that only one type of dog is more likely to bite DECREASES PUBLIC SAFETY because parents will let their guard down and allow their uncontrolled, ill-mannered children to run up to any other breed which you are implying are safe which increases the likelihood they'll be bit.

My goodness, thinking your bigotry was doing parents and children a favor only to find that you are putting more children at risk. Shame on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would ask nicely first. It doesn't have to be confrontational and some dogowners are more oblivious than anything else. "Hey, would you mind leashing your dogs, at least while my toddlers are here? Thanks." If they insist they have nice, boring dogs who would never chase a child, they could be right, but you are still within your rights to explain as you do above. "Sure, it's not that I don't believe you, but I don't know your dogs and my kids don't know how to behave around dogs. It would be safest for everybody - kids and dog - if you would leash your dog." And if that doesn't work or they get nasty, call animal control.

Note, I am a doglover, and I have been known to let my dogs run offleash in empty, enclosed parks and sparsely populated trails at off hours (like 530am), but I never do it when I think we might run into people - especially children, because children pretty much never know how to act around dogs and many adults do not. I would be mortified and apologetic if someone had to ask me to leash the dog.

Those in sparsely populated areas find your unleashed dogs just as annoying especially since there might be no one to rescue them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog owner here. We have two huge German Shepherd Dogs. They were raised around kids and are fantastic with my children and their friends. They have never shown even a hint of aggression towards anyone. My kids play rough with them, chase them, pull sticks out of their mouths..... I can walk up and take food out of their mouths without any resistance.. They are well trained and well socialized.

Having said all that, they are NEVER off leash in public unless we are at the dog park or out in the middle of the country. I am continually amazed at the parents who will allow their toddlers to run up and try to hug my 140 pound German Shepherd. Teach your kids not to do that. My dogs are friendly. Many are not. And it would be really difficult to stop a bite if your child is charging at a scared dog.

Also, the question is always- "Does your dog bite?". My dog is an animal. He does not think or act like a human. He has never bitten anyone before. But he is a dog. Yes, he could bite.

+1

I ADORE dogs, have had them as a child and an adult and I am flabbergasted at the posters who think that dogs should be allowed off-leash where it is not legal (or if not allowed, asked very politely and gently to comply with the law as opposed to threatened) and that parents trying to keep their kids away from dogs are overzealous. WTF. If I was out with my dog and he wasn't on the leash, and a parent yelled "Hey, leash your fucking dog!" I'd do it and they'd be right.

What do posters mean by the country? Land is owned by people in the country. Does this mean you venture out to Great Falls Park or a house in Potomac and let them loose? I've been at the former and seen many large breeds, jack russells etc off leash. If you want a dog to run free get your own fing land. My dogs on my property or at a park on a leash have been attacked by things owned by people like you. I had a stray German Shepherd in my garage - snapped and growled at me when I tried to get it out.

[Anonymous]

I have no worries about walking around with my dog off leash. I hope your kids come up for a big lick ontheir face. You guys are paranoid.