Hi doggie!

[Mr Hero]

This wasn't intentional, but it still affected me. Woman comes through the lobby with her leashless dog. Dog starts wandering over to the breakfast area where I was setting up a few things. I firmly tell the lady that the dog needs to be on a leash. The dog is a good size, and is a breed known for its aggressiveness, though this dog didn't really get all that aggressive. Still, I panic because I've had a fear of dogs my whole life. Now I'm scared to wander the halls in case she ever leaves her room without her dog on the leash.

[RootedPhoenix]

Erk. Why is her dog leashless... That'd scare me too! And I'm not so much scared of dogs, but dogs that aren't near their humans/under their human's control.

Also, I know dogs LOVE human food. And that pet animals cannot be near food service areas.

Sh\e's a fun one. Were I scared of dogs, she'd get an earful of screaming from me.

[greek_jester]

Personally, I absolutely adore dogs. That does not, however, mean that I would ever appear in public without my dog being on a lead (and, in the case of our deceased German Shepherd, muzzled, since he was very protective of us).


While we could be certain of the behaviour of most of our dogs over the years, we would still only let them off the lead in public on deserted beaches or in parks which had boundary fencing. This was to protect the dogs as much as the general public.

[scorpionf]

Why was her dog in a food service area?!?! Surely they must be on a leash to be kept away from the food!! That would be common sense!

My 2 dogs are always on leashes in public... One is a right wuss and if someone tried to pat him, he would take off like a rocket in a panic if he was not on a leash, and the other is overly friendly and jumps on everyone he encounters and tries to lick them to death, so needs to be held back!

[jedimaster91]

I know dogs LOVE human food.

Dogs don't care so much how something tastes; smell is waaaaaaaaay more important since for most dogs, their strongest sense is their sense of smell. Some breeds can smell hundreds of times better than humans. Think how good our food smells to us and then imagine having a sense of smell a hundred times stronger. Compared to that dry, dusty kibble they usually eat, our food is far more interesting.

There are very few places my dogs are allowed to be off-leash. Generally only at home, though one of them goes to the puppy training class and plays with the puppies. She's a good, neutral adult dog and helps teach the young 'uns how to be polite. Even there, the dogs are only off-leash for play time.

I am a firm believer that dogs should always be under their handlers' control. Even if that control is holding a dog back that's trying real hard to get somewhere else--either to play or to bite. It's called defensive dog ownership and being an advocate for your own dog while recognizing every person and every dog is different. Your dog may be perfectly well-behaved and friendly, but that doesn't mean the other dog is. One of mine is a bit skittish around other dogs and she needs a little more space. At one time I had a dog that would bite if strangers got too close. Even though I would warn people, hey, he might bite please stay over there, they wouldn't listen. Part of what makes it so difficult to rehabilitate a dog like that is other people undoing the training. I wanted for him to learn that it was safe to be out in public and around new people. That no one was going to bother him if he didn't want to be bothered. And here come the neighborhood kids getting right up in his face with him growling and me screaming at them to back up before they got their faces mauled off. In that split second, they undid weeks of training.

So yeah, leash your dogs in public and listen to their owners.

[earl colby pottinger]

Two words

Dogs don't care so much how something tastes; smell is waaaaaaaaay more important since for most dogs, their strongest sense is their sense of smell. Some breeds can smell hundreds of times better than humans. Think how good our food smells to us and then imagine having a sense of smell a hundred times stronger. Compared to that dry, dusty kibble they usually eat, our food is far more interesting.

Breakfast Bacon!

Dogs like people will wake-up hunger and there is the smell of bacon in the air.

What dog can resist!

[Mr Hero]

There wasn't any food out. I was just setting up some of the equipment so I didn't have to do it this morning.

[XCashier]

Some breeds can smell hundreds of times better than humans.

That doesn't take much, considering how awful some people smell.

Oh wait, you're talking about smelling with the nose.

"Never mind!"

[jedimaster91]

^ I was waiting for someone to say that. There have been some days my dogs stink to high heaven but still smelled better than people I'd dealt with that day.

Breakfast Bacon!

Dogs like people will wake-up hunger and there is the smell of bacon in the air.

What dog can resist!

A trainer I work with once brought leftover turkey (might have been chicken) she'd cooked in the crockpot and some turkey bacon as training treats. Every dog in the class was following her around like she was the Pied Piper. We all thought it was hilarious.

[An Haddock]

o hai mark!

[WishfulSpirit]

Another hotel / dog story: the hotel I work in doesn't allow pets. On Tuesday, a Jack Russell terrier the size of my dog (about 14 lbs) ran in off the street and parked himself in the end of a hallway. We got him contained by putting a box in the hall and called the local non-emergency police (no collar on the dog, so no tag).

Turns out the owner had called the same dispatch department looking for reports of said dog's whereabouts at the same time we called, so we were able to put two and two together. A friend of the owner came and got him (owner was at work, her realtor had apparently left a gate open). Doggie went home to his family without having to spend any time at the shelter (yea!).

Sweet little thing. Turned out his name was Niles. A Jack Russell. Oy.

[Gilhelmi]

I would be getting a new realtor if that was my dog. First rule of realty is to lock everything.

[EricKei]

I am a firm believer that dogs should always be under their handlers' control. Even if that control is holding a dog back that's trying real hard to get somewhere else--either to play or to bite... Your dog may be perfectly well-behaved and friendly, but that doesn't mean the other dog is

Thank you! ^_^

I wish more people in general would understand that, controlling your own pets makes things safer for the people/animals around them AND for their own pets!

[katzklaw]

my pet peeve is flexi-leashes and people who don't know/don't care how to use them properly. most people with one just let their dog run around willy nilly out at the end of a 15 foot leash with no control... the dog may as well not be on a leash for all the control you have over it... and worse, your dog is uncontrolled, but also it has a narrow tape or cord attached to it that can wrap around and burn a person, or get tangled in another dog's leash... LEARN WHAT THE DAM BRAKE BUTTON IS FOR!!!!!!!!!

i have 2 dogs (one of which is a breed frequently (mistakenly) considered "aggressive", but she's a total sweetheart and always has been), and a DO use a flexi for each one of them... but when i walk, if there's no one around, yeah, sure, enjoy 15 feet to go sniff and pee on everything, but when i'm approaching another dog, or a person, or i need to walk near a road, or i need them close to me for ANY reason... i reel 'em in and lock it short!

[jedimaster91]

my pet peeve is flexi-leashes and people who don't know/don't care how to use them properly.

As a dog trainer, I hate those things with a fiery passion. They encourage your dog to pull because what happens every time they pull? They get more leash which is exactly what they want. They can also be dangerous. The line will slice right through your hand (or your dog's leg) if for some reason you have to grab it. They do have their uses, but for every day walks, they're awful.