God, I hate dog people. Arrogant, entitled, and oblivious to the max.

OP, if your dogs are so awesome, and you're such an awesome dog trainer, why don't you just teach your dogs not to trade places with each other?

Anonymous wrote: Leashes are not necessarily fool-proof.

Neither are seatbelts. And yet...

OP, your dogs are probably awesome, but I've seen too many people who aren't responsible dog owners in this area. Leash your dog. If not because it's the law, and because it protects you (at least a small amount) from liability, do it because it might help you protect your dog. I've watched several bungled "introductions" between dogs who got too close. Were it not for their respective leashes, separating them would've been impossible. If they stay by your side anyway, the leash will be easy to ignore.

Anonymous wrote:And what would happen if an aggressive dog pulled the leash out of their owner's hands? Leashes are not necessarily fool-proof.

What if the man with the aggressive dog lunging at your child had not had such good reflexes? I don't buy the "my dog has never done something like that before." As a responsible dog owner, you should be more aware of your dog's tendencies. In my personal opinion, any dog that acts aggressively toward humans in such a way should immediately be put down or walked with a muzzle. Scary.

And if the dog was not on leash the child would have been bitten and maimed for sure.

At least with a leash the kid has a fighting chance.

Duh.

And what would happen if an aggressive dog pulled the leash out of their owner's hands? Leashes are not necessarily fool-proof.

What if the man with the aggressive dog lunging at your child had not had such good reflexes? I don't buy the "my dog has never done something like that before." As a responsible dog owner, you should be more aware of your dog's tendencies. In my personal opinion, any dog that acts aggressively toward humans in such a way should immediately be put down or walked with a muzzle. Scary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, why would you post this here?

You're not going to get a reasonable response.

I seriously doubt that one of your border collies would bite someone. They are sweethearts. One of the loons around here might hurt your dog, though.

+1.

Really, +1? I used to try to walk my first dog off leash all the time. Now I would never do that. We share the world with others. Walk or run your dogs on the leash and let them off leash in the dog park or a secluded park. It's only fair. You don't own the neighborhood and get to decide the laws.

My then three year old were walking dow. The sidewalk whe we passed a medium sized dog on a leash who was stopped to relieve itself.

My three year old did nothing more than smile at the dog. He did not move towards the dog, grab it or run towards it.

The dog growled, lunged at him and tried to bite my kid's face.

Thank God the owner had the dog on a short, non retractable leash. He had good enough reflexes to pull back as his dog was about three inches from my child's face.

The owner apologized and said the dog had never done something like that before. Who knows if he was telling the truth, but if he was that is very terrifying that an unprovoked dog would do such a thing on a whim. Perhaps he didn't like my child's smile?

A dog is still an animal no matter how human you think it is.

Leash your dogs when out.

There is a reason for leash laws.

I am not a suing person but if that dog had not been leashed and had succeeded in biting my child in the face, I would have insisted the dog be put down and then would have sued that homeowner for everything possible under the law for being so irresponsible as to have their dog on a public sidewalk off leash.

Question: If my 4 year old and I are walking by, what would you do to make sure your dog doesn't approach or jump on us?

I did not train my dogs to do a precision "obedience" heel. They are agility dogs. I use the command "with me" and that means stay close to me, pay attention to me, and ignore distractions. Doesn't bother me in the least when they switch from my left side to my right side.

I wouldn't mind at all if you kicked my dog if they approached you. They should know that's a no-no. Humans are still animals and thus unpredictable. They might kick.

if your dogs were trained as well as you claim when on leassh they would not change sides and potentially casue you to get tangled up.

Dogs are still animals and thus unpredictable. I will kick your off leash dog if it comes over to me.

i walk my dogs offleash and I think people who don't shouldn't have dogs.

I don't ever leash my dog. Ever. I have never been ticketed, arrested, pepper sprayed, or "bitched out".

These things only happen to bored losers on anonymous message boards.

I'm jealous. I have a bc and an Aussie, and if I run with them off leash they circle around to try to turn me and I trip over them. I'm too old to fall down!

OP here.

Thanks, 21:20, for one rational answer.

And I'm glad that someone admits to driving faster than the speed limit every now and again. Geez, for a while I thought I was the only dog owner who drives faster than 55mph on I-66. I guess you and I are special snowflakes.

For the record, I have absolutely no problem with people pepper spraying dogs that approach them off-leash. But I would take the bet that it won't be my dogs getting a faceful.