http://www.kfdm.com/news/shot_30191___article.html/bull_dog.html

I hope that the dog owner who didn't confine his dog ( the pitbull ) gets charged by law enforcement and sued by the property/GSD owner.

This is one of my deepest fears.

As a matter of fact, fear of this exact situation is what led me to Leerburg in the first place- looking for ways to keep my dog safe, and hopefully keep my neighbors neglected, yard-crazy pitbulls from doing psychological or physical damage to my pup.

I agree Alyssa. Nearly every day when I walk my pup I see tons of untrained/unsupervised or packs of dogs. Most are behind fences but just by looking I am sure if there was every an open gate..or the dogs jumping behind that fence realize they're nearly clearing the fence and actually jump over..I will probably be bitten or worse-my dog be bitten. I've seen some nasty dog fights start just because I walked by and their multiple dogs just turn in a frenzy and latch on to each other.

Around here seeing two or three dogs just running the streets is pretty common. In fact my next door neighbors let this happen but the dogs are always magically inside by the time you could call anyone.

It sounds like something that would happen in my area, as there are tons and tons of trashy or ignorant people in my small town. I've had many close calls already and she's just 7 months old...Almost everyone around here has big dogs as well and there are TONS of badly bred pits. I carry pepper spray but still worry constantly. I so wish leash laws would be better enforced.

A bit of a long ramble, I apologize!

What's bad about this is the GSD was in HIS backyard! Jeez, nevermind about taking your dog out for a walk and trying to keep him/her safe; now you have to worry about stray dogs getting in your backyard.

I know of someone who lost two pet dogs in the same accident.

A stray dog came onto his property and led his other two dogs into a busy country road. This fellow thought his dogs were well trained, would not leave the property, and did not have a fence. Proved to be a fatal mistake.

Even a stray dog that would not hurt another dog or person can cause a lot of trouble.

I always thought that living in the city there will be no incidents of dogs running wild. Boy was I wrong. Amongst busy sidewalks and directly in front of leash signs, there are dogs running off leash and their owners have absolutely no control of them. I have to time my walks to certain hours of the day to avoid situations.

Perhaps it is just me, but it makes preparing for a walk a somewhat anxiety-ridden experience, which I make every effort to suppress as to not effect my dog. I hope the pending legislation here, which imposes stricter leash laws (i.e., patrol officers would be able to enforce such laws, etc.) will come into effect soon. Nonetheless, it does make me wonder if I will own another dog.

Now I am off to the management office to file a complaint on a guy who decided to assault me all the way up the elevator and to the front door of my unit because I told him (politely) to put his out-of-control rott on leash.

Nonetheless, just like some of the others on here, I found this site to learn of means to deal with such incidents (of course, also to learn about training).

Siaty, that's terrible about the assault! I hope he gets kicked out of the building!

It is surprising how few dogs are controlled within the city. When I lived at Bloor and Ossington (i.e. busy, downtown depending on how snobbish you are about that term) I saw a few dogs out walking themselves when I'd be out with Luc (I know b/c I followed them b/c I thought they were strays, which in a way they were). I'll never understand people.

Speaking of careless owners... did anyone notice the related news story (same site as Will posted?)

http://www.kfdm.com/news/buna_30194___article.html/dogs_home.html

** WARNING ** the above contains graphic photos.

Soooo many people do not deserve dogs.

My greatest fear as a rescuer is providing a dog to sickos like these (or the guy in Will's post).

 Quote: Lori Jacobs

What's bad about this is the GSD was in HIS backyard! Jeez, nevermind about taking your dog out for a walk and trying to keep him/her safe; now you have to worry about stray dogs getting in your backyard.

When my girl went into heat, we started keeping a shotgun near the backdoor, just in case.

I trust her recall, but I can't control what decides to jump the fence into our yard.