[nagdu] offleash dogs

[Applebutter Hill]

Danielle,
You're right; you only have full control of your own dog,, and off-leash
dogs are a problem in several ways. It is also illegal to have one's dog off
leash and not under voice control. Furthermore, more and more states have
laws making it a crime when a dog attacks a service dog.

I've had a lot of problems with this over the 43 years I've used guide dogs.
The stupidest reaction from an owner whose off-leash dog actually attacked
my guide dog was, "Well, it's not my fault. I wasn't even home at the time."

A couple thoughts ... First, if you are having problems with a particular
dog and you know who owns the dog, call the police/dog warden and let them
know what's going on and that it is interfering with your ability to go
about your life and endangering you and your dog. I would also proactively
right letters to the editors of your local papers about the issue and even
make a story suggestion for them to do an article about how this illegal,
irresponsible  behavior is endangering people who use service dogs.

Good luck. I'm sorry we live in this kind of world, but it's just one more
thing we need to deal with.
Donna & Hunter

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Danielle Sykora
via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 10:19 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Danielle Sykora
Subject: [nagdu] offleash dogs

Hi all,

I posted not too long ago about my dog's reactivity toward other dogs.
Although he is definitely improving, the problem has not entirely gone away.
In the past few months, I have encountered many offleash dogs who were not
under control, something I experienced only extremely rarely in previous
years. Obviously, this is dangerous for not only my dog who has grown
suspicious of offleash dogs, but the loose dogs themselves can be seriously
injured. The owners of these dogs have reactions ranging from being
oblivious that there dog is gone, watching their dog growl and show its
teeth inches from my dogs face, to coming over and getting their animal.

I'm really not completely sure how to prevent this from happening.
Obviously, I only have complete control of my own dog, but I would like to
find a way to make these dog owners more responsible. I'm interested to see
what others have done in similar situations.

Danielle and Thai

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