I was at my father's this afternoon and decided to go for a walk around the neighbor while he napped. I was walking on the sidewalk and all of a sudden this Golden Retriever comes charging at me. The owner was about 20 feet away and had a leash in their hand. I yelled at the dog and then at the owner and said "Leash you dog!". They did nothing nothing. So I yelled "You irresponsible jerk!" Then yelled it again and made a left turn and got out of there.
This is a neighbor of my father's and I have seen them before. Now I feel bad about I yelled at them. Should I? I mean the law is that in public all dogs should be leased and under control. This dog was neither. It was not an aggressive breed but still this particular dog was coming after me and barking. What do you think?
And maybe the guy with the dog was confused because you told him to lease his dog. And he was like WTF are you talking about?
A woman walking across the street started yelling at me about leash laws and get my dog. She could clearly see me running after him and calling him. I was so panicked he would get hit by a car right in front of me, or take off to look for his last owners and be gone for weeks. Or the aspca finding out he got loose and get mad at me or fine me. These thoughts were flashing before my eyes. And then I had this woman yelling at me about leash laws like I let him loose on purpose. He never went near her.
Maybe the dog escaped. If a dog wants to get past you, they can. The person probably went to the door and had it opened and reached down to leash them not thinking. The dog saw you and bolted to you. They probably did it that way Fifty times before and the dog stood there to be leashed. Now they know the person knows they cant do that any more. Maybe they felt their was no point arguing with someone who was mad. Nor in this climate. You never know.
A woman walking across the street started yelling at me about leash laws and get my dog. She could clearly see me running after him and calling him. I was so panicked he would get hit by a car right in front of me, or take off to look for his last owners and be gone for weeks. Or the aspca finding out he got loose and get mad at me or fine me. These thoughts were flashing before my eyes. And then I had this woman wanting to lecture me on leash laws like I let him loose on purpose.
Maybe the dog escaped. Maybe they felt their was no point arguing with someone who was mad. Nor in this climate. You never know.
My sister used a citronella collar on her dog that sprayed when the dog barked. It was effective to the point that just showing the dog the collar would make it shut up.
But yeah. You can’t go spraying chemicals at other peoples pets when they’re not doing anything.
What I will say is that I’ve noticed cattle dog owners, in particular, to be extra law abiding and not thinking people will love their dog. They are a personal breed favorite of mine. I can’t imagine the work though.
#1 Yelling at a dog rarely makes it less aggressive, if it's being aggressive. Evidently this dog wasn't being aggressive, it was being sociable, and as it was a retriever you can be sure that if it had been really coming after you it would have got you. That's its job.
#2 Yelling at people rarely makes them think you were right and they were wrong. Saying "shouldn't your dog be on a leash on the sidewalk?" would have reminded him of any applicable bylaws and allowed you to express appropriate disapproval, but instead you just insulted him. Twice. All he'll take away from that is that you're a rude and unpleasant person who's mean to friendly dogs. He won't have thought "my bad, I should have kept the dog on a leash."
Does this man live very close to your Dad's house? Are you likely to bump into him often?
That said, if you feel it might make you feel better with this neighbor, you could leave a friendly card or note apologizing for yelling and explaining that you were startled and would greatly appreciate it if they would leash their dog in the neighborhood.
The neighbor may not comply but it couldn’t hurt! 😊
Any responsible owner keeps their pet on leash while around the public. Not one of them can use the excuse that their dog is nice. Maybe toward them, maybe toward everyone but me. I don’t really care, there’s a leash law for a reason.
That said, what does this topic have to do with agingcare? Did that dog threaten your dad?
Then there are others in the neighborhood who are leashed but aggressive and these could get loose from their owners and harm my father. I let him him know the dangers of dogs and falling. In fact dogs and cats account for over 50% or more of falls in the US!