am i the only one who goes through this

Hi i have a large working dog who is around 5

i like taking her everywhere, i live in toronto, my dog sits at cafes or patios with all my friends and just hangs out with everyone,


BUT some people have dogs off leash, some dogs are good and wiill walk by but not all, my dog can be around dogs, but there are some dogs she might not get along with beccause they are animals, like cats, when on a leash especially we do not know what is g oing through their head. My dog was attacked a few times but showed she can handle herself well and will bite to defend herself.

Me and a groupd of friends were hanging on a patio and someones off leash cute little dog came, but i had my dog around so i said NO! becuase the dog wanted to see us, the good dog listened and went off

Its illegal to have dogs with no leash, well the dogs owner was a big strong looking drunk man, and he started arguing with me while he was walking away saying i own a monster and should be muzzeled, and that leash laws are only meant for dogs like mine and not his, so obv i said how about i call the police and lets find out who is breaking the law? He was so drunk he was stumbling.

Well he ended up telling me i need a muzzle more than my dog and just left.

I am tired of those situations tho, when we yell at another dog or try to shoo it away from us the owners get so angry. But we are only trying to protect the other dog, if it is a small dog.

ANother thing is i saw some huge rotties while walking in that area that poor small dog is going to turn into a snack with no leash . On top of this that same day a few blocks away we saw a pair of coyotes.

I dont know why but there are soooo many coyotes in toronto now.

I like telling people my dog is highly contagious. Nothing usually gets them to act more promptly than that, and it's quick to blurt out and very self explanatory. "My dog is very contagious, she can't say hi. She's still getting over a really bad bug."

People might scold you for having a "sick" dog in public, but better than having a scuffle happen. Once they've safely got a hold of their dog you could even explain that NO she's not sick, but your dog needs space and that's what works to get it.

I know a few people whom live in Toronto that go through this near daily. It's unfortunate that people don't seem to understand that if anything happens THEY (off leash dog owner) are at fault.

We are fortunate here that most people follow the leash laws quite well surprisingly. Or at the very least they are courteous enough to leash their dogs when they see other people walking dogs on leash.

I don't live near you, but we go through the same thing here. I live in a really liberal college town and people LOVE their dogs off leash. My dog is great with other dogs, but he's a puppy and tends to get bouncy and excited when another dog runs up to him. People will have their dogs off leash and their dog will run up to him and then get snarky when he's bouncy and people try to tell ME that my dog is trying to "be dominant." I'm sorry but he's 6 months old and actively doing play bows and awkwardly sticking his tongue out while trying to lick your dogs foot. He's an awkward kid, but your dog snarked and he listened and backed off. End of story. It's a natural part of dog relationships, you don't need to harp on me and tell me my dog reacted inappropriately to your off leash dog barreling up to him.

I love to have our dogs out off-leash but we just can't do it very often. You will run into all kinds of irresponsible dog owners out there and many non-dog risks. Accidents do happen. Dogs need to be leashed regardless of the law or lack of one. We have to be especially careful with our Paps as they are very fragile dogs. That breed gets hurt or killed by other dogs quite frequently. I hate to lift them up every time they might be in danger and I generally try to avoid doing it unless it is absolutely necessary. I don't want them to be afraid all the time. It just comes with owning a dog I guess.

-Mark.