Dogs Off-Leash

I live in a townhouse community with a lot of green space. It's one of the great things about our townhouse, all the lovely, large tracts of grass and trees, sort of like having our own private park. Every day I walk our dog, Sophie, around the four internal blocks of our complex and she sniffs, runs off birds, and chases cats if we come across one. We do all this with her on a leash.

I'm pretty sure it's a law that your dog has to be leashed. And I know it's in our HOA CC&Rs that dogs have to be on a leash. And yet....

At least once a week we come across someone who has their dog off-leash, and it really makes me mad. If these dogs were suitably trained perhaps it wouldn't be an issue, but none of them come when called, or sit/stay. Neither does Sophie, but I don't take her off-leash, because I'm not an idiot! I have met great dogs who do brilliantly when off-leash, and who can be trusted not to run up to strange dogs or dash away into traffic. These dogs do not live here.

There's an older man who walks his little, brown dog off-leash. It's a short, little, squat dog that looks like a Chihuahua mix of some sort, with stand-up ears, short legs and a sausage-like body. This little dog does not heel or stay, but waddles up to me and Sophie with hackles raised, growling quietly, and the whole time the owner is saying; "It's ok, he's ok." Um... No sir, he's not. He's quite agitated and if he attacks my dog I'm going to kick him. I keep that thought to myself though, and now when I see them I walk the other way, and if the dog gets too close I pick up Sophie and we skedaddle.

Another dog, a German Shepherd, is walked off-leash by his elderly owner and one evening charged right over to us, causing me to yelp and grab up Sophie as quickly as I could. The Shepherd slid to a stop about 10 feet away and watched us as the owner called for it to come back to her, which of course didn't work. The dog instead charged off towards another couple walking their dog. They ran him off and he came back by us. My husband was walking with us that night and shouted at the woman to please put a leash on her dog. She shouted back that she had special permission to walk her dog off-leash. I told her that wasn't possible. She claimed again that she had special permission. Even if, by some slim chance, the city would allow something like that (and I truly doubt it) she's still within the townhome community, which prohibits dogs from being off-leash. And perhaps someone could get special permission from the HOA Board, but certainly that dog, who charges up to strange dogs rather aggressively and doesn't heel or respond to it's owner, would not be a dog that would receive that sort of special dispensation.

This morning I took Sophie out so she could perform her morning ablutions and we went the same way we always do, out the back gate and around the side of the building towards the front. She's on a flexi-lead a bit in front of me, and she stopped at the corner of our building, tail straight up and on alert. I locked the leash so she couldn't get any further ahead of me, and came up to check out what had her so focused. It was a very large, very scary Rottweiler mix off-leash. I didn't see an owner nearby, but I was pretty focused on the dog. He was standing stiff-legged, and his hackles were up, so I grabbed Sophie and we quickly went the opposite direction. Fortunately he didn't follow. He was wearing a collar so I figured he lived nearby, and a few minutes later I saw a group of 4 guys come from the same direction the dog had been standing, wearing track suits and laughing. I think they were the owners, or one of them was at least, and even through 3 of them were wearing bright red, it's entirely possible they were standing nearby to the dog and I never saw them - my focus was totally on the potential threat to myself and Sophie. I think that's why they were laughing, though I don't find it at all funny. Walking away I knew if it came down to it, I'd grab up Sophie and allow that dog to bite me before I'd let it bite her. And while I love dogs, if a dog were to attack us, I'd lash out in any way I could to protect us both.

There is 1 dog in my complex that goes off-leash that I like. He's an older dog, short and long like some sort of Basset Hound and Labrador mix. It's kind of a big dog but really low to the ground, with a long black coat and gray muzzle. His owner is an old woman who lets him out her front door to do his business, and occasionally walks him off-leash. But he's a good dog, and returns to her when she calls for him. We've run into him a few times and he loves Sophie. We get close and he starts running around like a puppy - it's pretty adorable. Sophie's not quite sure about him, his energy and enthusiasm seem to put her off, but she tolerates him and I'm always right there to intervene if necessary. But it's never been necessary.

As for the others - I think their owners are total idiots, and if I knew where they all lived I'd definitely report them to the HOA to be fined. I don't care if they think their dogs are the sweetest in the world, they don't know MY dog, and to naively allow their dog to wonder around off-leash and approach random dogs is just stupid. What if my dogs rips their dog's face off? Then my dog gets labeled a menace even though I responsibly had her on a leash. This of course has not happened, nor would it, but it could.

I don't know what's wrong with people. These owners put themselves, their dogs, and the community at risk. It's so dumb I can't even fathom it.

And even now as I write this, I can hear someone outside through my open window, whistling to their dog, who is running around off-leash. Idiot.

-A