27 replies to this topic

[Dave Burrell]

True, although I think the sign actually says "worrying" livestock. I think the interpretation is, if your dog is loose and calmly walking along side a fence without a care in the world, but the sheep on the other side of the fence are going bananas anyway, your dog could be shot as the livestock were "worried".

I've gone backpacking with my dogs many times, I have a leash, but prefer to not use it.
I've been told by many rangers, as long as you demonstrate a verbal leash, they won't ticket you for not using a leash. They still want you to have one to tie the animal up when needed, but the rangers aren't going to harrass you if your dog is well behaved and you have control over it. But this is backcountry I'm talking about, i wouldn't expect the same treatment in parks with lots of people present.

you said the key requirements for letting a dog off leash. good note

[Al Waysrite]

Wow, you are just spouting madness here, dude. If a dog is running at you at full speed, I would definietly assume agression. I'm not going to respond with force, but it's better to assume agression and stay safe then assume friendliness when it's the opposite. Most people can tell the difference, but if you can't, assume in the direction that protects. Also, even if the dog is being affectionate, as a person who barely weighs over 100 lbs, if an 80 lbs dog was running at me, I'd be hurt regardless.

And I don't care if you're dog is the friendliest dog in the world, its still an animal that has instincts. You never know when a dog will suddenly go into defense mode. That's why we have leash laws. And I know that my small dog, who is always leashed in public, gets very defensive around larger dogs. It's for the safety of both our animals that we have leash laws. Maybe your dog is great with other dogs, but if mine freaks out because your lab is running at him, and he bites, is that my responsibility then? Are you going to blame me because your dog has been bitten? I'm sure that you will.

You make my point, you're thinking how humans act, not how dogs act. Any animal trainer can tell you how to spot "defense mode." Even I know to look at the dogs tail, if it's down that's defense mode.

[Bill Z]

Wow, you are just spouting madness here, dude. If a dog is running at you at full speed, I would definietly assume agression. I'm not going to respond with force, but it's better to assume agression and stay safe then assume friendliness when it's the opposite. Most people can tell the difference, but if you can't, assume in the direction that protects. Also, even if the dog is being affectionate, as a person who barely weighs over 100 lbs, if an 80 lbs dog was running at me, I'd be hurt regardless.

And I don't care if you're dog is the friendliest dog in the world, its still an animal that has instincts. You never know when a dog will suddenly go into defense mode. That's why we have leash laws. And I know that my small dog, who is always leashed in public, gets very defensive around larger dogs. It's for the safety of both our animals that we have leash laws. Maybe your dog is great with other dogs, but if mine freaks out because your lab is running at him, and he bites, is that my responsibility then? Are you going to blame me because your dog has been bitten? I'm sure that you will.

I tend to agree with little bean here. It's far better to assume the worst and hope for the best, than to assume the best, and be caught off-guard when the worst happens.

I've been bit by a dog before that had shown no sign of aggression. I was working on a friends car, and she had her german sheperd tied up in the front yard. i had already peridically gone over and petted the dog and he had let me, seemingly enjoying the attention. I think it was the 3rd or 4th time I went over to it and as I leaned over to pet him, he lunged up and bit my neck & face. Fortunately, he didn't get a good chomp, more like a glancing blow, so he didn't cut my jugular and the wounds were fairly minor surface scratches, but it really could have turned out far worse than it did.

[camay2327]

Keep them on a leash and keep your cats on one too.

[MrsTuffPaws]

These Folks have a mission to increase off-leash dog recreation in Sacramento County. I don't have dogs, and no idea of they are legit, but if you do your research and care enough, you might want to join them in their efforts.

[chris v]

Had an incident yesterday where I was on the bike trail behing the sake plant... I saw the two people walking, what I didn't see was the dog hiding in the bushes that jumped out right at the last minute in front of me... it scared the crap out of me and almost got kicked until I realized what it was. It meant no harm. But my guard went up right away.

[Andrea V]

We have a long drive way, with the detached garage behind the house. Our kitties like to sit 1/2 way up the driveway and watch... what ever it is they watch... I do not like when people are walking dogs with out a leash, and the dog chases the cats up our driveway and into our backyard! Then we have a stranger in our back yard yelling at their dog to come back...

Get outa my back yard!

[Bill Z]

We have a long drive way, with the detached garage behind the house. Our kitties like to sit 1/2 way up the driveway and watch... what ever it is they watch... I do not like when people are walking dogs with out a leash, and the dog chases the cats up our driveway and into our backyard! Then we have a stranger in our back yard yelling at their dog to come back...

Get outa my back yard!

Put up one of these signs, it may help.

[The Average Joe]

But one should assume the dog is NOT aggressive, and don't react with force or aggression unless the dog actually does something that can cause harm.

This is ridiculous.
While I am a pretty good judge of animal behavior, if a dog is running full speed at me that shows a complete lack of control by it's owner, and I will act appropriately. That means I will protect myself and/or my kids without concern for the safety of the animal. I would have no promblem with using whatever force I deem necessary to control your animal if you cannot keep control of it yourself.

Oh, and as an aside from the leash discussion, I don't think it's "cute" that your dog is jumping up on me or sniffing my parts because he "just wants to get to know me."

If you can control your pet, great, there is no problem...unfortunately, far too many people can't or won't.

What if your well intentioned dog is running with no intent to harm, sees a child running away in fear, and has it's instincts take over? There is far too much of the "my dog wouldn't ever hurt anyone" type of denial. ALL animals can revert to base instinct given the right conditions.

As I had stated in a previous post, I have been nipped several times by "good dogs who don't bite." I have seen a little girl quietly petting a dog (for around 10 minutes) get bit in the face because the placid dog suddenly freaked out. And as posted previously here, I too have had many incidents with unleashed dogs while cycling (a couple times even on a motorcyle!).
I love animals...I just wish their owners would be more responsible (with apologies to those that are).

Keep em leashed in areas where there is a large public presence and let em roam where appropriate.

[Malamute]

Keep em leashed in areas where there is a large public presence and let em roam where appropriate.

I prefer harnesses over leashes.

[Fowler]

I personally don't think we need a law for everything, however, as someone who works with animals for a living, humans are not always very intelligent. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me (while their dog was growling) "he's really nice, he'd never bite!" Dogs are dogs! They will bite. Most are predictable, but some are not. I'm sure those enforcing the leash law take into account the individual circumstance and apply the law accordingly. Someone who is paying no attention and thinks that everyone wants to be approached by their dog and doesn't care who they are bothering is different than someone throwing a stick for their dog into Folsom Lake with no one within a reasonable distance. However, it is safer to have your dog on a leash for multiple reasons. While some dogs really are well trained, most will still chase a creature into a busy street no matter what the owner is yelling. You can also protect yourself legally when your dog is on a leash because if there is a dog fight and only one was leashed, you'll be wishing it was yours. I wish everyone was responsible and intelligent, but we all know that not everyone can be as smart as us...

On a side note - At the clinic where I work we regularly see infectious problems including a variety of intestinal parasites (some of which can be transmitted to humans) While there are locations other than the dog park where these are transmitted, if you were to ask your veterinarian, he/she would probably tell you that the dog park is the top of the list.

[EAH]

What perfect timing!
Let me tell you a story.

My husband has been telling me for YEARS to beware of stray pit bulls while walking my little dogs. He continuously admonishes me to carry mace or a big stick just in case such a situation arises. You can imagine my complete terror when while I was walking my Boston Terrier and French Bulldog (read as shi shi foo foo little dogs) up the trails through the power lines 2 weeks ago I was confronted with a fully intact, large male red pit bull standing about 4 yards away from us with no owner in sight and no one within yelling distance. I stopped and kept my dogs still at my side and carefully watched the dogs behaviour. He was watching us and his tail was up and his ears alert. He would take a few steps toward us, stop, and then take a few more until he was right next to me. I stood stock still. He gingerly sniffed my dogs, and all hell broke loose. They jumped on his back, started play posturing at him and jumping up at his face. There was nothing I could do and I was sure this was it, they would be attacked. This big intact red pit rolled over on his belly and let my dogs jump all over him. He then proceeded to walk home with us. I let him in, gave him some water, and watched him very carefully in the back yard while he let my dogs terrorize him. He never growled, bit or barked. He was very mindful of me. I fed them together, he was not food aggressive nor toy aggressive. I came in and posted on MyFolsom.com about finding him. I brought him down to Blue Ravine Vets to see if he had a microchip (he did not). He had a collar but no tags. I tell you, people avoided us like the plague at the vets, which was quite a reality check because my dogs are so cute that I am constantly being bombarded with people rushing up to me and my dogs wanting to pet them (which I love and needless to say so do they :-). Whole different story with this sweet pit. There was a woman who refused to enter the vet until I moved the pit all the way to the other side of the room.
Cindy Waldon (animal control) got a call from the owner while I was there and brought him back to his owner. I was given no information about the owner.
Fast forward to this last Thursday. Again I was walking my dogs through the power lines up to BT Collins park. As I was trying to give my French bulldog and Boston terrier water, I looked up to see a fully intact male pit bull barrelling towards us full speed. I did not have time to react. He was upon us in seconds. Licking, rolling over, sniffing and playing gently with my dogs. I identified him as the pit who followed us home from the park 2 weeks ago. He again follwed us home and as I was unable to reach animal control and no one answered my craigslist ad for him, he spent the whole day and the night ( slept in the bedroom with all of us) with us until I could reach Cindy the next day and return him to his owner. I have informed the owner that I am thisclose to adopting him should he get out again. I love this dog and am SO scared that someone will OVEREACT and ASSUME that because he is an intact pit that he will attack and someone will overreact defensively and hurt him. (Or worse still that he could be hit by a car) .
The LESSON in all of this is that I was, and still am, wary of pit bulls. However you can't lump them all together. This is a WONDERFUL dog who I would adopt in a New York minute if I could. And if you happen to see him in the park, be nice!

[Inwit]

True, although I think the sign actually says "worrying" livestock. I think the interpretation is, if your dog is loose and calmly walking along side a fence without a care in the world, but the sheep on the other side of the fence are going bananas anyway, your dog could be shot as the livestock were "worried".

I've gone backpacking with my dogs many times, I have a leash, but prefer to not use it.
I've been told by many rangers, as long as you demonstrate a verbal leash, they won't ticket you for not using a leash. They still want you to have one to tie the animal up when needed, but the rangers aren't going to harrass you if your dog is well behaved and you have control over it. But this is backcountry I'm talking about, i wouldn't expect the same treatment in parks with lots of people present.

Hey Bill,

I was reading the Wilderness Rules for Mokelumne Wilderness when I found this. I remembered seeing your post, so I searched for it to reply.

Dogs must be on a leash or under physical control in the Carson Pass, Emigrant Lake, and Fourth of July Lake Management Areas. Elsewhere in the Mokelumne Wilderness, dogs must be on a leash, under physical control or under immediate voice control. Immediate voice control is defined as the dog being within 50' of the owner and the dog immediately obeys voice commands or signals.

Thought you might be interested in that.