It’s a Dog’s Life

Gordon Kubanek, CACOR board of Directors, presents:

It’s a Dog’s Life

To Leash or Not to Leash, that is the question 

Last week I was walking my daughter’s dog at the cottage on a private gravel road with nobody around me and no houses. A car came up behind the dog and I both went to the side of the road, the dog sat as trained to do, to wait for the car to pass. The driver stopped and politely said:

“You should keep that dog leashed at all times. It is the safe and polite thing to do, especially if you encounter another dog. Being on a leash could prevent a fight and injury of a dog. As a matter of fact, I walk my Husky here once a day and would not want your dog to attack mine and possibly injuring it.”

I was in shock and did not know how to respond. My daughter’s dog is a smallish Australian sheep dog who is about as threatening a chihuahua. In spite of what he said about walking there every day I had seldom met dogs on that road [I had perhaps met 3 in 15 years], few people and those that I had encountered were ‘dog friendly’ and on most of the road there are no houses that my dog could possibly bother. Unfortunately, I did not respond in the proper Canadian way and just be ‘nice’ by agreeing with him [but actually thinking otherwise] – I actually said what I thought, which is this:

“Thanks for your advice but I am not going to leash my dog on a mostly deserted country road. Of course I would leash my dog in the city where there are lots of people and cars. To alleviate your concern, I will bring a leash with me and if I meet you put my dog on leash, however I believe that dogs are better behaved if off leash so they can explore and sniff – assuming, of course, that they have been properly trained and disciplined and walked several times a day so that their energy can be directed in a healthy fashion.”

Read the story on the Full PDF…