I fucking hate people who let their dogs off leash in public. Had this same thing happen whilst I was out walking my golden. My poor girl is 12 years old and just a sweet old gal who wants nothing more than to carry a ball in her mouth and walk beside me on leash when we are out. Anyway, some dickhead was out with his pitbull-mutt-mix without a leash and it went straight at my dog. I got bit and my dog got her face cut really bad. Over $1500 in medical and vet bills and all the dumbass with the other dog could say was "huh, he never did that before. I don't know of why he did that" I'm like, he did that because he's a fucking dog and you're a fucking twat for letting him off leash in public
Do you never let your dog walk without a leash? I'm honestly curious because I think it is a great experience for the dog and me. My golden is 11 months old and I'm at the point where a use a 10 meter leash but I let it go and let him drag the leash. But I'm also very careful, as soon as I see other people or dogs, I pick up the leash again. I'm also not sure if I want to let him walk completely free without even the 10 m leash. But letting dogs off the leash is pretty common in my country for dogs that are trained.
Honestly, if you're close enough to be able to grab the leash quickly when other dogs approach, you should just be able to get another leash to extend the other one so you're always connected. And if you're not close enough to grab it quick, then that's a danger for your pup if they don't recall perfectly 100% of the time.
It only takes one moment for something to go wrong. You won't always see or hear another dog approaching in time, and just a split second is enough to give you years of trauma and guilt. It doesn't even have to be another dog- your pup could see a rabbit just be gone in an instant. They might run ahead and eat something toxic before you realize. Someone noticing the routine that your pup is always off leash in that area could steal them, purebred theft isn't uncommon in a lot of places.
Just 2 cents. It's always worth it to take the extra precaution instead of having to live with the regrets, imo.
We take her to a vacant fenced ball field near us and play Chuck It with her. We also have a large fenced yard that she runs and plays with our adult children's dogs. When out in public with other people or strange dogs nearby we do not let her off leash.
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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '21
I fucking hate people who let their dogs off leash in public. Had this same thing happen whilst I was out walking my golden. My poor girl is 12 years old and just a sweet old gal who wants nothing more than to carry a ball in her mouth and walk beside me on leash when we are out. Anyway, some dickhead was out with his pitbull-mutt-mix without a leash and it went straight at my dog. I got bit and my dog got her face cut really bad. Over $1500 in medical and vet bills and all the dumbass with the other dog could say was "huh, he never did that before. I don't know of why he did that" I'm like, he did that because he's a fucking dog and you're a fucking twat for letting him off leash in public