From One Dog Owner to Another

By Sarah Pugh

Hi! That's a beautiful dog you've got there. So energetic! Yes it IS a lovely day, isn't it? I like sharing nice spring days like this with my dog, too. Yeah, she's friendly - but it's hard for dogs to socialize appropriately when one of them is on a leash and the other is bouncing around. You know this isn't an off-leash area? 

Yes I can see your dog is well-behaved. He's very handsome, and obviously friendly - he's trying to give me kisses! Adorable. Oh, look there he goes! Wow he runs fast.

You know, you might want to leash him up - he's headed for that man with a cane. Yes I'm sure he doesn't intend to do anything, but that man doesn't know that. He looks a little scared. 

Did you know that even in the off-leash areas, your dog is still supposed to come within three calls? Oh, it's good you're still working on that. Well, have fun trying to catch him!

I've had this conversation - or a variant of it - with many other dog owners along the lovely seaside walk that parallels Dallas Rd. between the breakwater and Douglas St. (Holland Point.) It's not an off-leash area, but I frequently see dogs romping unfettered through the open fields. I wish I could let my dog do that - she's a very good dog, comes when she's called, doesn't approach people she doesn't know and has never jumped up on anyone (and yes, those fields look like they were put on the planet just for dogs to romp through them) - but I don't.

The reason? It's not fear of Bylaw Enforcement. It's not a blind adherence to The Law - I'm perfectly capable of ignoring stupid, pointless bylaws. The reason I don't let my dog off-leash until we get to the off-leash zone is that I respect my neighbours, and I don't want to set a problematic precedent.

I know that many of my neighbours are elderly, and have problems with balance. I know that some of them just don't like dogs. I know that some are parents with toddlers just learning to walk or ride a bike.  I know that some have mobility issues. And I know that ALL of them want a safe, beautiful place to walk.  Some choose the Holland Point walk and come here from elsewhere in the city, but others - especially those who live in the seniors' residences nearby - have no choice. If they want to walk away from traffic and noise, that's the only place they have to go. If there are dogs running free, it doesn't matter if they're the best dogs on the planet and have won multiple obedience awards. They're still scary animals running around, and if that's YOUR scary animal, you're probably deterring someone who could really use a nice stroll from actually venturing out.  Even little dogs running around are a biting and tripping hazard.

And, when dog owners see dogs running free, if they don't know any better, they usually assume that it IS an off-leash area and they let their dogs run free. So even if your dog is amazingly well-behaved and not a problem off-leash, keep in mind that you're tacitly giving every other dog owner permission to let his or her dog off-leash there too.  And you don't want to vouch for them, behaviour-wise, do you?

It's not like there isn't a perfectly good off-leash area not five minutes' walk away. If you seriously can't manage to walk your dog there from Holland Point, you need help walking your dog. Yes, really. It's too bad you only have 15 minutes/don't like the dog park/can't walk that far. Get someone else to walk your dog, or just walk him on a leash. And if you can't do either one, why do you have a dog? I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but owning a pet isn't a right, it's a responsibility. Dogs need walks - I'm not arguing that - but they don't need to be off-leash every day, and if you can't give your dog the exercise he needs without breaking some laws, then you need to re-think your dog ownership.

If I sound cranky, it's because every time I've gently reminded another dog owner that Holland Point isn't an off-leash area, I've received either verbal abuse or some form of the I'm-a-special-snowflake-and-rules-don't-apply-to-me talk. I'm kind of done with it, and I've put the Bylaw Enforcement phone number in my cell phone contacts. From now on, I'm just going to narc on the bad owners.

And for heaven's sake, pick up the damn poop, people.