Responsible guardianship: dogs and children. This is a reminder for people that just because your dog is friendly, does not mean that others are. And just because your child is friendly, does not mean that dogs are. It is also a reminder for pet parents that just because you are a responsible guardian, does not mean that others are. Jaman and I were walking today with Arrow on a dirt road on the island. Arrow was on a 6-foot nylon leash at Jamans side. A woman was walking toward us on the opposite side of the road with a lasa apso on a very long extenda-leash and a toddler in her arms. I walked ahead of my pack and loudly mentioned that Arrow is not always good with small dogs, could she please tighten her leash and keep her dog at her side. She definitely heard me, did not retract the leash and then responded How is he with toddlers?, put her kid down and let him run across the road, screaming and waving arms DIRECTLY AT ARROW, followed by her lasa apso. I was truly in shock. Arrow reacted, barked loudly and lunged, though Jaman had the leash held tight and very short and was able to easily contain Arrow, now off the road and almost in a ditch in an effort to get further away from the small child and small dog. The mother ran and picked up her child and frantically tried to reel in the extenda-leash. Then she proceeded to berate us exclaiming That was so scary! Your dog is dangerous. You shouldnt have a dangerous dog out here. Thats not good. He could have seriously hurt us. Yes. He could have hurt them. ANY DOG COULD HAVE! If I warn you The stove is hot. Please dont touch the stove. then you probably should not touch the stove, or you might get burned. Similarly, if someone tells me, my dog is not good with other dogs, I will believe that person, take equal responsibility, and put as much distance between us as possible. I would like to mention that we just had friends over to our house just yesterday with a 16 month old toddler. We did proper introductions between him and Arrow and the toddler even fed Arrow some treats - which Arrow took very gently from his little hands. In addition just yesterday, we walked by our neighbours who also have a rescue GSD. We did proper introductions between Arrow and Callie and they were fast friends, PLUS Arrow was extremely friendly and gentle with Callies 8-10ish year old human brother, who was also properly introduced. My dog is not dangerous around respectful children and responsible parents. ANY dog has the ability to be dangerous in the above situation. While the woman and her toddler were definitely scared, thankfully nobody was physically hurt, and I sincerely hope that she learned that you cant let your kids run up to strange dogs. Its not safe. Not ever. Nor can *we* expect people to have what we would consider common sense. Happy New Year - may all of your walks be safe and uneventful. :)
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 01:32:11 +0000
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