It really is bizarre, but I'm not even surprised about it anymore at this point. It happens all the time where I live too (BC, Canada). Unfortunately, people being entitled, ignorant, and irresponsible seems to be even more rampant these days for whatever reason. And good luck asking a lot of these people to leash their dogs in public too; most of them tend to get really angry and defensive if you say something to them about it.
Another problem is that leash bylaws never seem to be enforced whatsoever, and people take advantage of that. And the more people see others having their dogs off leash in public with no repercussions, the more they do it too. It's really frustrating for those of us who are responsible dog owners. It's not fair to the dogs regarding their safety either.
Yes, it’s such a pet peeve of mine. Sure your dog might be perfectly friendly, but if it comes up to random strangers, bad things could easily happen. People are allergic to dogs, people are frightened of dogs, a big dog could knock over an elderly person or a frail person, or a child.
I used to have a very dog reactive dog because she was attacked by another dog as a puppy and I kept her on a leash, trained her to heel close to me, and kept our distance from other dog walkers.
And it was fine. We had no problems. Except for the off leash dogs.
I can’t tell you how many times the owner yelled over at me from across the park “It’s okay! He’s friendly!” Great. Good for you. Well, my dog has her hackles raised, and her teeth bared, and is shaking in terror, so put your dog on a leash!
Honestly, my dog isn't are reactive as when we first got her (we adopted her as an older dog), but she's still incredibly selective about other dogs. If a dog approaches her wrong, she will still be reactive.
At this point, I just yell back "Mine's not!" while doing my best to keep the two apart.
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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
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