"Don't worry, she's friendly!"

Walking Wyatt this morning, I hear, for what has to be the two-hundredth time, "Don't worry, she's friendly!" being shouted from the other side of the park as a wiggly-butt retriever mix comes tearing over to us. "Don't worry, she's friendly" might just be my least favorite combination of words. I don't think people understand why this isn't a sufficient explanation for why they are allowing their off-leash dog to charge my dog, putting both dogs and myself at risk, making my walk ridiculously stressful, and basically being an inexcusably irresponsible dog-owner. I have many a time lost my temper while trying to explain why I don't care if a dog is friendly or not, that I don't want it running up and accosting my dog! I'd like to try to do it calmly now. Here are the problems with a dog approaching uninvited:

• While your dog may be "friendly", mine may not be. Not all dogs like all other dogs. As a responsible dog-owner, I can control my dog, keep him safe and keep him out of trouble. However, I can't control your dog and neither can you if it is bolting away from you and heading straight towards a reactive dog. By not leashing your dog and allowing it to run up to strangers even when that stranger is yelling back "Call your dog!! My dog isn't friendly!" you are asking for another dog to bite your dog. It is completely unfair to impose upon the right of another dog owner to walk her dog safely on leash down the sidewalk or through a park without fear of being accosted. My dog doesn't like other dogs rushing up to him and might snap at one if it does. Can you blame him? I don't want some stranger running up to me full speed and throwing his arms around me, kissing me, scaring me. Why would my dog?
• A lot of people are afraid of dogs. Why should they have to be afraid to walk through a park or down a sidewalk just because you don't think you have to abide by the law and leash your dog? There is a sense of entitlement that some people display that drives me nuts. Everyone should be able to enjoy a walk without fear of being rushed by some strange dog. I have seen more than enough children get knocked down by an off-leash "friendly" dog , only to struggle to get up, crying and terrified. I once saw a small, frail elderly man have his legs swept right out from underneath him. Not okay! Your dog does not have to run loose to enjoy a walk, and if you really think he does, take him to a DOG PARK!! There are "safe" places to run your dog, which leads me to my next point.
  
• Unless you are 100% positive that your dog will turn around and come running back to you when you call him, he shouldn't be off leash in an unfenced area. If you don't have total control of your dog, he is going to get hurt - either by another dog, by a car, collision with a biker, etc. Do you really know that your dog won't dash across the street - into traffic - to chase that squirrel that just ran right in front of her? Are you willing to bet her life on it??
  
• In most urban areas, it is against the law to walk your dog off leash.

Dogs get lost, dogs get stolen, dogs get hit by cars, dogs get in fights, dogs get attacked, dogs hurt people... we can prevent a lot of this by just leashing our dogs. It is the responsible thing to do. I'll leash mine, will you leash yours? Please?

Last night I watched as Barack Obama made history. I listened to him speak with such hope, such eloquence, that tears spilled down my cheeks. YES WE CAN! I also heard him say he was giving his daughters a puppy to take with them to the White House... Oh, if only he had said they were adopting!! (I heard that he is planning on buying a Portuguese Water Dog) Oh well, we can't ask the man to be perfect, can we? It would be so huge for animal rescue if the first family announced that they were going to rescue a dog rather than buy one!

Anyway, this made me think about the integral role dogs play in our lives. The President - elect announces, in his moment of glory, that his daughters will receive a puppy. I mean, here he is, Barack Obama, at a pretty significant moment in history and he's talking about puppies. Kinda funny, if you think about it.

Those of us who share our lives with dogs know how important they can be. According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are 74.8 million owned dogs in our country - 39% of U.S. households own at least one dog... these are big numbers, people!!

And how many of us are actively training our dogs? I live in Chicago which means the dogs I see day in and day out are urban dwellers - dogs that need a lot of exercise to be happy pets! During the winter, I am always blown away by how few people I see out walking and exercising their beloved pooches. What do they do with them? Tell them sorry, it's too cold, wait til Spring? So, I know that if they don't even walk them, they probably aren't training either. One of the leading causes of a dog ending up in a shelter is lack of training. As a dog trainer (in training), I see a lot of behavioral issues that could be fixed with very little effort but am heartbroken to know that the chances of those owners taking them to class, learning how to help and train their dog/puppy, and implementing the strategies in their daily lives is not the most likely scenario. Most likely, as statistics go to show, those improperly trained canines will end up behind bars. Perfectly good, loving, intelligent dogs thrown away because the human didn't take the time to learn how to live with this magnificent creature.

Now, if the Barack Obamas of the world would only lead by example and pull one of those beautiful creatures out of the shelter and plop him gently and lovingly into their homes, this might make some people stop and think, both before buying a pedigree pup and before throwing it away because it didn't come "pre-fab"!!!