I wouldn't worry about it. Given your own admitted trust issues, I would look to your child for guidance about whether or not a dog is friendly. That is unless you have already instilled all of your fears and neurosis and bitterness in your kid.

Anonymous wrote:You are so wrong if you think you can legally spray a dog with pepper spray just because its off leash. That, in fact, is randomly spraying a dog with pepper spray. It is the definition of it. Enjoy the bitterness and violent fantasies which I'm sure dominate your world view.

LOL nope, but have fun pleading your specialness of Fido/Bella/Bailey to Animal Control, park police, or other police, if someone pepper sprays your dog while off leash or bothering them (and yes, your dog going up to people is bothering someone).

Nice try at trying to intimidate people. I feel bad for your dog(s) - they deserve a more caring and responsible owner.

Anonymous wrote:"I'm supposed to be sympathetic to what?" I wonder how many times your spouse and child will be on the other end of that attitude in your lifetime. Aren't you worried that you will end using that pepper spray on a loved one?

By the way, I never said you shouldn't defend yourself from aggressive dogs. It's the rando dog that is just friendly that you should not attack. Remember, it's the owner, not the dog that should be the target your ire.

NP here, the problem is that when your "rando friendly" dog is bounding towards me and my child, I have no way of knowing that he is in fact friendly, until it's too late. In my lifetime, I've seen too many bites from dogs that the owners described as "friendly".

In my experience, the best behaved dogs are those with owners who teach their dogs boundaries, and are willing to invest time in them If you're too lazy to walk with your dog, and have no boundaries yourself, I'm going to be skeptical that you're telling the truth when you yell "Oh, is he bothering you, he just wants you to scratch his ears, don't be silly he's friendly."

"I'm supposed to be sympathetic to what?" I wonder how many times your spouse and child will be on the other end of that attitude in your lifetime. Aren't you worried that you will end using that pepper spray on a loved one?

By the way, I never said you shouldn't defend yourself from aggressive dogs. It's the rando dog that is just friendly that you should not attack. Remember, it's the owner, not the dog that should be the target your ire.

Anonymous wrote:Hey PP: your bitterness is leaking...despite your paen for world peace. It's already pretty clear from your previous posts that you are not a sympathetic person. Thanks for confirming.

I'm supposed to be sympathetic to what? Your need to have your dog run free wherever you want? I'm supposed to hold your hand and assure you that, yes, your dog is more important than anything or anyone else? It's so simple. Keep your dog leashed where you are supposed to have your dog leashed.

I'm not the pp. You are incorrectly assuming there is one person writing the posts disagreeing with yours. Your analytical skills are lacking.

Hey PP: your bitterness is leaking...despite your paen for world peace. It's already pretty clear from your previous posts that you are not a sympathetic person. Thanks for confirming.

Anonymous wrote:You are so wrong if you think you can legally spray a dog with pepper spray just because its off leash. That, in fact, is randomly spraying a dog with pepper spray. It is the definition of it. Enjoy the bitterness and violent fantasies which I'm sure dominate your world view.

I'm not pp but I empathize with him/her. My fantasies are never violent or bitter. I dream about peace and enjoying parks and nature with my family. We've had too many unpleasant encounters with unleashed dogs for me to have any sympathy for your position. This whole post started and has continued because too many dog owners, probably including you, feel the rules apply to someone else and not you. Park police are probably woefully understaffed to do much about the situation. I'm hoping a few dog owners will think about it before putting Fido first before the rest of us.

Anonymous wrote:You are so wrong if you think you can legally spray a dog with pepper spray just because its off leash. That, in fact, is randomly spraying a dog with pepper spray. It is the definition of it. Enjoy the bitterness and violent fantasies which I'm sure dominate your world view.

You are wrong for trying to twist the PPs point. And yes you can legally spray a dog with pepper spray if said dog makes an aggressive and threatening approach. If the dog was "on leash," and not approaching it would be a moot point.

You are so wrong if you think you can legally spray a dog with pepper spray just because its off leash. That, in fact, is randomly spraying a dog with pepper spray. It is the definition of it. Enjoy the bitterness and violent fantasies which I'm sure dominate your world view.

Anonymous wrote:I'm just saying, if you go crazy spraying dogs with pepper spray it's not a free pass. You have to face a legit threat. It's reasonable to expect someone to defend themselves from a hostile dog. But DC law makes it clear that it has to be a defensive move. You can't go spraying random dogs. Animal cruelty is a crime against an animal. Not the animal's owner. You will be prosecuted by the government, not sued by the owner.

Again, nobody's suggesting you just randomly go up to dogs and start spraying them. That would be a crime.

But if a dog comes up to you, "hostile" or not (doesn't matter, because you have no way of knowing which dogs are hostile and which are not), you will NOT face a legal threat if you pepper spray it. To say so, is nothing but straight up intimidation. Shame on you.

One need not wait until a dog displays hostility, before you pepper spray it. If a dog enters your personal space, that's sufficient.

Again, all of this can be avoided by dog owners controlling their dogs. That means keeping them leashed (not a long-ass retractable one either), and by their side, and under command at all times. Everyone wins that way.

I don't like pepper spraying a dog, as it's unfortunate that a dog has an asshole of an owner. But if any party should feel shame about cruelty, it's the irresponsible dog owner.

It would be interesting to see the government prosecute a person defending themselves from an unleashed dog. The press would have a field day. There would be outrage over the waste of tax payer money. The money would be better spent ticketing the entitled dog owners, don't you think pp?

I'm just saying, if you go crazy spraying dogs with pepper spray it's not a free pass. You have to face a legit threat. It's reasonable to expect someone to defend themselves from a hostile dog. But DC law makes it clear that it has to be a defensive move. You can't go spraying random dogs. Animal cruelty is a crime against an animal. Not the animal's owner. You will be prosecuted by the government, not sued by the owner.

Anonymous wrote:Quoting pp.

" The burden is on the owner to have their dog on leash and under their control (which is problem with retractable leashes) at all times. The burden is not on the law abiding person to discern temperament of dog before spraying a harmless spray to keep dog away."

+2

Anonymous wrote:If you pepper spray a non-hostile dog, you may face animal cruelty charges and/or prosecution for the unjustified use of a weapon.

I get why someone would use pepper spay in a hostile situation with a dog. But let's use a little reason.

Plenty of room in rock creek park for people to get along.

How am I supposed to know which dogs are "non-hostile?" I don't know you or your dog. If your dog comes up to me, I will spray it. Period. I have been bitten before, and I will not wait until that happens again.

There is no officer who will take an unleashed dog's "side" over a person just trying to enjoy their walk. This is ridiculous fear mongering. They will laugh at any dog owner that tries to argue such a position.

Be in control of your animal at all times. Really, it's very simple.