Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

It’s not even okay if the dog is small, or the park is otherwise empty.

Saying that type of stuff makes dog owners confused and gives them justification for their obnoxious behavior. “Oh but he could hardly hurt anyone anyway!”, “She’s a small dog, she barks but wouldn’t bite you!”, “Well I saw some loose dogs earlier and thought it was allowed.”, “Oh the park was pretty much empty a few minutes ago, and we’re leaving in a few more minutes anyway” etc.

The fact is that I don’t want your SMALL dog around my kids either, and having my kids play around dog pee or poop smears on the grass near the play equipment isn’t pleasant when it was left by a smaller dog either. Dogs shouldn’t be near the playground equipment even if they’re small and leashed, really. It’s pretty inconsiderate.

Chill.

Leash your dog and learn how to live in society with others.

+1

People could "chill" a lot more if they could actually relax at the park with their families instead of constantly being on the lookout for dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

It’s not even okay if the dog is small, or the park is otherwise empty.

Saying that type of stuff makes dog owners confused and gives them justification for their obnoxious behavior. “Oh but he could hardly hurt anyone anyway!”, “She’s a small dog, she barks but wouldn’t bite you!”, “Well I saw some loose dogs earlier and thought it was allowed.”, “Oh the park was pretty much empty a few minutes ago, and we’re leaving in a few more minutes anyway” etc.

The fact is that I don’t want your SMALL dog around my kids either, and having my kids play around dog pee or poop smears on the grass near the play equipment isn’t pleasant when it was left by a smaller dog either. Dogs shouldn’t be near the playground equipment even if they’re small and leashed, really. It’s pretty inconsiderate.

Chill.

Leash your dog and learn how to live in society with others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

It’s not even okay if the dog is small, or the park is otherwise empty.

Saying that type of stuff makes dog owners confused and gives them justification for their obnoxious behavior. “Oh but he could hardly hurt anyone anyway!”, “She’s a small dog, she barks but wouldn’t bite you!”, “Well I saw some loose dogs earlier and thought it was allowed.”, “Oh the park was pretty much empty a few minutes ago, and we’re leaving in a few more minutes anyway” etc.

The fact is that I don’t want your SMALL dog around my kids either, and having my kids play around dog pee or poop smears on the grass near the play equipment isn’t pleasant when it was left by a smaller dog either. Dogs shouldn’t be near the playground equipment even if they’re small and leashed, really. It’s pretty inconsiderate.

Chill.

I work in a law enforcement field and I’d have no hesitation in calling animal control or a police non emergency line. I love dogs but this irks me to no end. My own dog is a big shepherd mix and he is very calm and friendly with people but he does not like other dogs in his space. I have had instances where someone’s unleashed dog has run up to him and he snapped at them (thankfully never bit, just growled and bared teeth basically). That’s my main concern. Your dog might be friendly all day long but mine is not always friendly and I don’t want to be put in that position. I’ve had to leave the park by my house when I walk my dog and see an unleashed dog running around.

I also post in my local crime watch groups on FB about it. I don’t care if people think I’m annoying. LOL.

We have a dog in our neighborhood that's always unleashed and runs around behind the houses on our block, where at least a dozen little kids play all the time. It's gotten to the point where I totally agree we need to call animal control, especially since the dog has pooped in the playground all the kids use.

It's disgusting and dangerous.

We have a dog, but he's either in our backyard or on a leash.

When dogs are off leash and playgrounds, we leave. We have dogs, and have owned many dog over the years. People know they shouldn't let their dogs be loose and they are looking for a confrontation.

Anonymous wrote:If it's a clean Golden Retriever, King Charles Spaniel, English or French Bulldog, or English Springer Spaniel leave it be.

If it's a scary breed call 9-1-1 or animal control.

This is really bad advice. You can't tell by looking if a dog is dangerous by the breed.

Anonymous wrote:Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

It’s not even okay if the dog is small, or the park is otherwise empty.

Saying that type of stuff makes dog owners confused and gives them justification for their obnoxious behavior. “Oh but he could hardly hurt anyone anyway!”, “She’s a small dog, she barks but wouldn’t bite you!”, “Well I saw some loose dogs earlier and thought it was allowed.”, “Oh the park was pretty much empty a few minutes ago, and we’re leaving in a few more minutes anyway” etc.

The fact is that I don’t want your SMALL dog around my kids either, and having my kids play around dog pee or poop smears on the grass near the play equipment isn’t pleasant when it was left by a smaller dog either. Dogs shouldn’t be near the playground equipment even if they’re small and leashed, really. It’s pretty inconsiderate.

Anonymous wrote:Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

This. No question.

I’ve found whipping out my phone on video record sobers them up.

Call animal control. It’s illegal.

Every dog owner knows the law. It’s one thing if your small dog is off the leash in a large empty park. It another if the dog is in the children’s play area. And of course the dog pees and poops there also. Call animal control. You won’t get anywhere trying to reason with the dog owner.

This is a huge problem and more people in DC are getting bigger dogs and want to exercise them. Leash your dog!
The lower field at Hearst park has become a de facto dog park and it’s adjacent to an elementary school. People want to live it the city
but have all of the benefits of living in the countryside (or just don’t care about others).

Every morning after school drop off a group of people meet with their dogs and let them run around the playground. I wouldn’t have an issue with this if my toddler wasn’t obsessed and too young to understand he can’t go running after dogs (again, they’re at the playground and grounds surrounding it...I’m not taking him to a dog park to play at 9am). I’ve never complained, but there’s always a dog or two that the owners can’t control and I have to pick up my kids as their pets chase a squirrel, sniff in my stroller, etc. The signs state that dogs must be leashed at all times...I have a dog myself and don’t bring him to the playground because I feel it’s unfair to him and children playing. There’s always a group of people with these pets as a play date....maybe I’ll ask them to start holding at a dog park (lord knows there are plenty around) and call if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grow a spine and tell the dog owner the dog needs to be on a leash

This is futile. Selfish dog owners know the law - they just don't care. No ahole dog owner is suddenly going to start leashing the dog just because someone asked, without an actual repercussion.

Pretty much this. I don't even take my dog to our local dog park because of a few a-hole dog owners who don't follow the rules. And when you confront them about the rules they are breaking, they do go from 0 to 100 fast.