Whenever I walk my dog, my wife has advanced panic attacks.
She worries, just in case we come across a dog off a leash. Almost every dog we meet is off a leash and badly untrained. In other words, the dog does not respond to its owner's desires to recall it.
Winston, our young pit bull, is a rescued dog. He is friendly and, in fact, his nickname at the kennel he goes to is The Party Animal. He loves playing with other dogs and is energetic. But I always walk him on a leash as I have done with all my dogs.
The problem is that if we are out with him and a dog comes running over, he does not know if it is aggressive and my wife is terrified that he may defend himself and become just another pit bull story.
I don't care when you shout over that “It's OK, my dog is friendly” because at this point, your dog is totally out of control and you are unable to get him or her back.
Now, I have to try to ensure that a fight does not break out because clearly you have no control of your dog while mine is on a leash. Many times, your dog is not as friendly as you thought and Winston would get the blame if something happened.
Aside from making my wife uncomfortable on every walk, it also ruins my dog's walk because I turn around when I see a loose dog to avoid what may turn out to be an out-of-control confrontation.
So stop saying your dog is friendly and start using a leash. Then, we can all relax.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.