Barking up the wrong tree
There was an article in today's Wall Street Journal (not available online without $$) about how many dog owners in San Francisco are aggressively and self-righteously ignoring that city's leash laws by allowing their dogs to roam free in city parks and streets. The attitude of some of the pet owners interviewed for the story is quite annoying, along the lines of "my Muffy needs to run free to get her exercise" and so forth. First of all, that is not true. If your dog isn't getting enough exercise, then you probably aren't either and it would do you both some good to extend that daily walk a bit further. And, if Muffy really does need to run free, take her to one of the off-leash parks.
It's also amusing to see some dog owners talk about how much their pets enjoy roaming free. Well, most kids enjoy bounding around the backseat of a car without wearing a seat belt, but decent parents make the kids wear seatbelts because that is how you protect them. Same goes with dogs. Your dog might be the best behaved hound in the history of the canine race, but none of the other dogs are, to say nothing of stray cars...or teenagers.
Finally, one of the interviewees was complaining because her border collie needed to run free after being cooped up all day in her tiny San Francisco apartment. What kind of idiot owns a border collie in a city, especially with a small apartment? Tak about cruelty...the poor dog, which was bred to herd sheep in open fields, confined to a 10 by 10 living room for 12 hours a day! Fifteen minutes off-leash or not, it won't make a difference...you will have one unhappy dog. If you want a breed designed to live in the county, move to the damn country (or at least the suburbs). If you choose to live in a city, get a small, relatively sedentary breed.
And use a leash. Or at least a muzzle (for you, not your poor dog).
There was an article in today's Wall Street Journal (not available online without $$) about how many dog owners in San Francisco are aggressively and self-righteously ignoring that city's leash laws by allowing their dogs to roam free in city parks and streets. The attitude of some of the pet owners interviewed for the story is quite annoying, along the lines of "my Muffy needs to run free to get her exercise" and so forth. First of all, that is not true. If your dog isn't getting enough exercise, then you probably aren't either and it would do you both some good to extend that daily walk a bit further. And, if Muffy really does need to run free, take her to one of the off-leash parks.
It's also amusing to see some dog owners talk about how much their pets enjoy roaming free. Well, most kids enjoy bounding around the backseat of a car without wearing a seat belt, but decent parents make the kids wear seatbelts because that is how you protect them. Same goes with dogs. Your dog might be the best behaved hound in the history of the canine race, but none of the other dogs are, to say nothing of stray cars...or teenagers.
Finally, one of the interviewees was complaining because her border collie needed to run free after being cooped up all day in her tiny San Francisco apartment. What kind of idiot owns a border collie in a city, especially with a small apartment? Tak about cruelty...the poor dog, which was bred to herd sheep in open fields, confined to a 10 by 10 living room for 12 hours a day! Fifteen minutes off-leash or not, it won't make a difference...you will have one unhappy dog. If you want a breed designed to live in the county, move to the damn country (or at least the suburbs). If you choose to live in a city, get a small, relatively sedentary breed.
And use a leash. Or at least a muzzle (for you, not your poor dog).
posted by Mike at
8:12 PM
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