There’s a leash law in almost every city in America. The point of a leash law? So you can keep control of your dog. Right now, the leash law in America has turned into “make sure you can drag your dog away from another dog” law.
Whenever my dogs are off-leash and minding their own business, sometimes I see people with panic in their eyes. Are your dogs going to come over and eat my little dog? Or jump on me? Or harass me? No. They are not. They are 50 feet away sniffing the bushes and fetching their ball. My dogs don’t care about you. No offense, but you’re just not that interesting to them.
The dog I AM afraid of? The one on the leash. The one that is yapping at my heels and pulling so hard that the owner is struggling. People should be afraid of THAT dog. If the owner ever dropped the leash, or the retractable leash extended to where the dogs could reach me…I would be in danger of being hurt.
Leashes are a communication tool. You can use a leash to tell a dog to knock off their bad behavior. Or to give them praise when they do something right. Or just to convey calm, positive energy to your dog to help them calm down.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m GLAD your dog is on a leash. And I’m sure the local cats are glad, too. Thank you for obeying the law.
But there is another way of using the leash. COMMUNICATE with your dog. Don’t just man handle them until the other dog/cat/person has gone beyond the realm of their interest. Have a conversation with your dog. Tell them “Hey, you’re not allowed to bark at everything and drag me down the sidewalk.”
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