I have neighbors who walk their small dogs off leash. I know what their line of thinking is: "My dog is well-behaved and small, what can possibly happen?"

I have a 75 pound dog that is always on leash. I have had, on multiple occasions, small dogs race away from their owners, sprint at my dog, and bark aggressively at max volume. Needless to say, my dog doesn't take terribly kindly to this behavior. I am *always* afraid in these scenarios-- always-- that the wrong dog will catch my dog by surprise on the wrong day, and my dog will critically injure the aggressive off-leash smaller dog.

The owners of the off-leash dogs are always oblivious, and they always say the same thing: "My dog never does this, that's so weird!" There is never-- *ever*-- an apology from owners who walk their dogs off-leash. I have had countless apologies from owners whose on-leash dogs have barked or acted aggressive. That's because on-leash owners are smart and considerate. They realize that you can't accurately predict how every dog will react around every other dog on every singly day.

Now, there is a fine for walking your dog off-leash-- $50-- but in my neighborhood, for the owners of these small dogs, this is akin to the law forcing them to eat Sugarfish for lunch instead of Katsuya. I know what it'll take for them to walk their dog on a lunch. It will take their dog getting critically injured or killed when it acts out of line.

I once had a dog race across the street to bark at my dog, and it launched itself in front of a car barreling down the road. Thank God that car's brakes were on point and the driver was attentive, because this dog was millimeters from death. All because its dumb fucking owners were too fucking dumb to put their dog on a leash.

I don't blame the dog for running up on my dog. That's nature. That dog saw a bigger dog, and he wanted to attempt to stake a claim on the territory or what-the-fuck-ever. That's some typical dog shit. I can't blame a dog for doing some dog shit. I *can* blame the humans for being asshole dog owners.

I haven't even brought up off-leash dogs that bite or attack humans. That's a totally different post. While I'm sure that happens, it's not nearly as frequent as off-leash dogs sprinting from their owners to bark at and run up on other dogs.

I don't want my dog to get upset. I don't want your dog to get hurt. I don't want you, the other owner, to yell at me. I don't want any unpleasant interactions to possibly occur when I'm simply trying to give my dog some exercise and let him take a shit in peace.

If you want your dog off-leash, cool. Go to a designated off-leash dog park. Some dogs are into that. Others aren't. By going to an off-leash dog park, you have a far better chance of guaranteeing your dog only interacts with others that are cool with being run up on by fellow off-leash dogs. In public, you get no guarantees. You have your dog loose in an uncontrolled environment fraught with risk. Which makes you a shitty dog owner.

FOR THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF YOU, YOUR DOG, ME, AND MY DOG, WHEN WALKING YOUR DOG IN PUBLIC, PUT YOUR DOG ON A FUCKING LEASH.

This has been a public service announcement (and also the Whitest Post Ever).

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