When we lived in Indiana, we couldn’t walk the dogs outside because loose dogs in the neighborhood would approach us – even chased us a couple times. Luckily, we had a HUGE backyard to play in there. When we got ready to move to Mississippi, I made a point to find an apartment complex that was all fenced in and has strict leash rules (in addition to the town leash laws). We can only walk around on the grounds of our apartment complex and very nearby though, because there aren’t any sidewalks going anywhere else. Can you say BORING??? Poor Snick – who grew up walking 2 miles a night around midtown Manhattan – is bored out of his mind.
There is a college campus directly across the street from my job. There is a beautifully manicured road leading to a lake on campus with a gazebo. I’ve been eagerly awaiting non-brutal temps so Snick and I could go walk there. Today, after work, we took off. Snick was SO EXCITED to be walking somewhere new. I was too. Yaaaaay! So, here we go…
You can see the shop behind us…
And the road stretched out ahead of us…
The weather was beautiful, Snick was happy, we were walking. THEN what did I see???? Right after taking the photo above, I saw a loose dog, Lab sized, come out of the woods ahead of us. Then a few seconds later, I saw another one, Beagle sized, come out behind him. They both crossed to our side of the road and were headed our way, but they didn’t see us yet. *sigh* Poor Snick. We had to turn around and rush back to the office. Snick was obviously upset and confused by the abrupt about face and now we’re both back in the office, sad and disappointed.
Phooey!
Bummer!
Where I grew up it was totally rural, hunting woods. There were always off leash dogs and I grew up with one of the most dog reactive Rat Terriers to ever lived! I’ll never forget when she threw herself at a Malamute and held on to his throat like there was no tomorrow!!!
So, yeah. I totally get the stress and unfairness of off leash dogs.
Does Snick react? Or are you afraid of what the off leash punks might do?
awww~ I got all sad reading the ending. lol. what a kill joy!
Oh dear – if we had to avoid off-leash dogs Zuko would never get out. What is your concern? Does Snick react bad or are you afraid the other dogs will react and w/o an owner nearby you are left to your own to protect Snick?
I’m worried about Snick’s reaction and THEN what the other dogs will do. More than likely the other dogs will run up like “hey, we’re out having fun! wanna come?!” and then Snick will do what he does when he meets other dogs and he’s on leash. He’ll get very defensive.
He’s GREAT with most other dogs in when he’s in a dog park or other off leash situation, like daycare. He grew up playing with other dogs all the time! He’s very reactive when he’s on his leash though, even if the other dogs are leashed, but worse if they aren’t.
Snickers was attacked by two huge off-leash mixes right in midtown Manhattan one morning a couple years ago. Their owner was in the deli getting coffee and hadn’t tied them to anything other than each other. Snickers, Shayna (my foster at the time) and I were walking and I didn’t realize they were loose until it was too late. In addition to Snick and Shay, I was rolling a suitcase. Shayna was trying to run away and I couldn’t position myself between them and Snickers. They came after us, Snick got defensive, they ended up backing me into oncoming traffic and pinning Snick on his side to the street. I was SCREAMING “come get your dogs, come get your dogs” the whole time and this woman finally came out of the deli looking all surprised while construction workers were running into the street to help me. Luckily the dog with Snick in his mouth responded when the owner got there and Snickers was just slobbered up, not injured. It was a terrifying experience to say the least. The part that REALLY made me angry though? After she retrieved her dogs she simply walked away with her dogs and her coffee while the construction workers and I were still holding up traffic checking Snickers for wounds! She didn’t even apologize or ask how he was!!!
So, I know Snick will react badly to off leash dogs and I also know that even if the owner is nearby, it could be too late by the time they get to us.
Hi Jenna – Thanks for the info! Zuko has also gotten growly on leash over the past few months but is fine off leash. I keep asking his daycare how he is doing expecting the “he’s being a monster” response and nothing. He’s great. We take him to the off-leash beach and he’s awesome. We start “Leash Monsters” classes this Thursday for just this type of behavior: good off-leash, growly on-leash. We can’t avoid those charging-up-all-excited dogs in SF so I want to see if I can learn how to handle it better. I read in an article online (which I can’t find now) that leashes interfere with the way dogs greet each other and limit their body language so a leashed dog may need to posture to say “I’m tuff, don’t mess with me”. I’ve also read it is frustration that makes them growly. I’ll update the blog with what we learn in class with Zuko – maybe it will help some other Shiba owners!!
Are you thinking of ‘He Just Wants To Say “Hi!”‘ by Suzanne Clothier?
Oh – and hating that other dog owner. Seriously, who leaves dogs off-leash in NYC???
Yikes… that would be scary!
Snick’s boredom was cured for the day yesterday. We went to a friend’s house who has dogs, cats, horses, and fenced land for running around. He was finally off leash for the first time since we moved here. He was very happy, made friends with a new playmate and even managed to roll in horse poop. (He was obviously pleased with himself about his pungent new scent, but he was NOT pleased when it resulted in an IMMEDIATE bath.)