I just want to walk my dogs in peace. You know....a simple leash-walk around the neighborhood at the beginning or end of the day, a chance for the dogs to sniff around, stretch their legs and enjoy the sights. We live in a lovely area of the city with many side streets jutting off both sides of the busy main road to meander at our leisure, with varied homes and gardens to enjoy along whatever route we choose. My two Labs are finally of an age that they walk nicely on a loose leash without dragging me around as in the past. Should be lovely. The truth is, though, that no matter what route we choose on a given day, our leash walks are anything BUT peaceful and serene....and my experience has left me frustrated, irritated and ready to rant.
My question to my dog-owning neighbors is this: WHY????
Why would you leave your overweight, miserable old Black Lab in your driveway on a chain all day lying in wait for the next “victim” to walk by so he can jump up and scare the wits out of them with his ferocious lunge/bark routine?
Why leave the curtains open with the couch pushed up against the picture window, providing your psychotic Yorkie with the perfect perch from which to launch her screams and howls while clawing the glass with fervor at the tiniest sound of a dog tag jingling on a collar from the street?
Why keep your front door open as an invitation to your two bored Westies to stage a full barking assault on every person making the mistake of walking by?
Why allow your Chihuahua to hang out the window of your truck and scream what sounds like a long string of Spanish obscenities at me and my Labs while you are at the red light?
Why leave the back door to your garage open to your fenced-in back yard so your two under-stimulated, under-exercised Bloodhounds can fly out to rush the fence, stick their noses through the gaps, throw their full weight at it and/or frantically dig at the ground beneath it as they howl and bay at every noise they hear, causing the fence to sway and buckle as if a hurricane is occurring on the inside?
Why put an electronic shock collar on your Labradoodle and toss her in the front yard so she can bark at cars and bikes and people and especially other DOGS while running frantically back and forth along the line of an underground invisible fence?
Why give your ancient Cocker Spaniels full run of the house while you're not home so that they can run from window to window yelling at the top of their hoarse, croaky voices when they hear something outside?
And why oh WHY don’t you shorten the damn rope you tie your rabid Terriers to your front porch with so that they can’t reach the sidewalk in front of your house and strike out at my Black Lab as she’s being leash-walked by, ripping a three-inch gash in her ear?
There’s more...but I think you get the picture. Kind of makes me realize why so many people don’t like dogs. If you know me, you know that it’s not the dogs that I hold responsible. It’s the people. I mean, seriously: WHY??!!! Do these owners think they are giving their dogs some sort of "life" by allowing them to see/hear/interact with what’s happening on the street in front of their homes this way? Do they think that there’s no alternative? I just don’t understand. Close the curtains, shut the door, supervise your dog, put him in a crate or at least in a space where he can’t react to every little sound negatively. Don’t they realize that by turning a blind eye to their dogs’ behavior they are actually reinforcing that behavior....creating a habit? I’ve actually seen some of these owners attempting to leash-walk their dogs. The lady whose Terrier ripped my Lab’s ear to shreds (resulting in a $200 trip to the emergency vet when she developed serious cellulitis and her ear blew up to 3x its size) “walks” her two screaming dogs up and down the streets of our neighborhood daily. We can hear them barking in the distance and if we have the bad fortune to meet them on the street, those little empowered beasts lunge and growl for all they’re worth. And the owner just smiles like this is “normal.” Wow.
People....come on! I’m a dog owner, too. I get it that dog ownership is a huge responsibility and can often feel overwhelming, but that responsibility isn’t somehow magically suspended when you leave your house in the morning to go to work and leave your dog with access to the street....or worse, when you are HOME and invite/allow your dog to harass people. You can’t expect your dog to behave appropriately if you haven’t set him up for success and worked with him consistently and over time to follow the house rules. And...you actually have to HAVE house rules (I’d start with “remain non-reactive to passing attractions or lose your privilege"). You can’t expect your dog to be happy and fulfilled by shoving her out in the yard or posting her in the front doorway for hours on end to howl at every passerby. Your neighbors shouldn’t have to run the gauntlet every time they want to stroll the neighborhood, with or without a canine companion. Namaste.
