[NAGDU] Off leash dogs! What can I do?

Sun Oct 21 12:43:14 UTC 2018

Andy, I think the advice given you by the manager is good. Here's the deal. All you can do in these situations is control your dog and hope for the best. It is annoying and sometimes even dangerous, but you have to keep moving on, keeping focused on what you are doing with your own dog and get out of the situation as quickly as you can. If there is an opportunity to address dogs on the loose, then do it with authorities. Yelling at or just talking to owners is not going to fix it. This is what my thought on it is.
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Andy Borka via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2018 5:06 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: Andy Borka <sonfire11 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Off leash dogs! What can I do?

Hi,

On occasion, I have to deal with people and their loose dogs. One time, I had to deal with what appeared to be a fake service dog. 
Unfortunately, if we can't see the dog/handler, or we don't know the person who owns the "service dog", we can only assume what it is or isn't.

When I was in Walmart, a huge Shepard twice the size of Alec started barking and causing a fit. Fortunately, Alec kept his cool for the most part. The entire event was caught on security video, and the manager sorted out the problem fairly quickly. He told me that the only thing to do at this point is to give the other handler a warning. The manager also gave me some advice: You handler your dog and not concern yourself with everyone else. If the authorities get involved, let them decide what happens with the other party. It isn't your problem to figure out if the annoying dog on the corner is valid, or the 130LB threatening Sheppard is a service dog. You know your situation, and it is best to keep focus on and control of it.

On 10/20/18 7:35 PM, Sandra Johnson via NAGDU wrote:
> Tara:
>
> First, congratulations on your new dog.  She sounds like a great match 
> for you and your family.
>
> Loose dogs are definitely a problem.  I face it every day too.  I live 
> in a senior housing development made up of 74 duplex houses with front 
> and back yards.  Even though the property management constantly sends 
> out reminders that all dogs must be kept on leash a lot of residents 
> ignore the rules. When I have discussed this problem with management 
> explaining how the loose dogs can distract my guide from doing her 
> work the manager says there isn't anything she can do other than not 
> to renew their lease when it runs out. Her only other suggestion is 
> for me to report it to the police. The problem with that is that the 
> police want to know what house it is and what the dog looks like.  I 
> tell them I cannot know that because I am blind so they say there is 
> nothing they can do.  It is very frustrating.  I get mad when I come 
> across the loose dog and all their owners do is call to their dog from 
> their patio without getting up and actually coming out to the sidewalk 
> to get their dog.  Some tenants do have their dogs on a leash but it 
> is so long that the dog can still reach the sidewalks.  The sighted 
> people can see their dogs interfering with my guide dog and they still 
> sit on their lazy behinds doing nothing to control their dogs.  I have 
> also encountered other residents walking their dogs on a leash.  Their 
> dog will bark and growl at my dog and the people do not do anything to 
> correct and control their dog. Some people say their dog just wants to 
> say hi and play with my dog.  I explain to the dumb person that it is 
> obvious by Eva's harness that she is a guide dog so is not out to play 
> and make friends with their dogs.  It is amazing how stupid some 
> sighted people are.  I recently encountered a couple of fake service 
> dogs in a store that also attempted to distract Eva from her work.
> When I pointed it out to the store manager he said he had to let them 
> in because the dogs were service dogs.  I gave him a copy of the DOJ 
> definition of a service dog and emphasized the point that if the dogs 
> are creating a disturbance he had the right to ask that they be 
> removed from the property.  He told me he is afraid to say anything 
> because he has been threatened with law suits if he does not let them 
> in.  It is very frustrating that we have to deal with out of control 
> dogs everywhere we go. I wish I had some answers for you but from my 
> experience there is not much we can do.
>
> Tara, good luck with your new dog and I hope the loose dog problem 
> gets better in your neighborhood.
>
> Sandra and Eva
> -----Original Message----- From: Tara Briggs via NAGDU
> Sent: Friday, October 19, 2018 6:40 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Tara Briggs
> Subject: [NAGDU] Off leash dogs! What can I do?
>
> Hey all! Do any of you have advice about off leash dogs and what to do 
> about it? In the past two days I have encountered three off leash 
> dogs. I live in a condo complex and there are people around here that 
> aren’t very responsible.   I have sent an email
>
> To the property managers of my condo complex asking them to remind 
> tenants that it is by regulation of the  complex and by law they have 
> to keep the dogs on leash. Today my mom and I went over to a local 
> farmers market. This farmers market is it a playground and we decided 
> we would take my girls over to the playground to play. Somebody 
> thought it would be cute to let their family dog just run around off 
> leash with the kids. Fortunately this dog was friendly and like the 
> two off leash dogs at my complex. Still it was distracting to my 
> seeing-eye dog.  I have to confess I don’t envy the owner of the dog 
> because my mom is able to see and went over to the owner and gave her 
> hell. The owner immediately put her dog unleash. Is there anything 
> that any of you have found it is effective? My current guide and I 
> have been home from the Seeing AI for two weeks on Monday. She’s a 
> black lab named prudence. She is two years old. She’s very sweet and 
> very smart. The thing that is the most hopeful about her is she is 
> able to guide me while I am pulling a wagon with my kids in it behind 
> us. My previous guide was older when I had my kids and she was never 
> able to figure how to do that. This certainly has opened up a lot of 
> Independence for me! But I have to say it’s pretty scary when I’m 
> walking down the sidewalk and all the sudden we are being growled at.
> I can hear the owner calling their dog but the dog is not paying any 
> attention to the owner and is far more interested in  growling at us.
> Fortunately, I have not experienced a dog attacked. But the thought of 
> that happening is pretty darn terrifying!
> Tara
> Sent from my iPhone
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