A close friend of mine nearly lost his papillon yesterday after it's hind quarter was run over by a van. As it stands right now, the dog has major nerve damage, and doesn't stand a great chance of living a normal life. Many times I've watch this guy and his girlfriend allow the dog to run free in the parking lot at work while on a smoke break. This is exactly what happened yesterday while they were vacationing down in Fort Myers, they let the dog run free in the parking lot and the van started backing up and they couldn't get to him in time.

There are times I wanted to tell them they were stupid for allowing the dog to run free, but I kept my own counsel. Now I wish I'd said something.

I never allow my dogs to run free. Heidi is pretty good about listening, but it would take just one distraction, like chasing after a squirrel, and that would be that.

 Quote: chris kuck

A close friend of mine nearly lost his papillon yesterday after it's hind quarter was run over by a van. As it stands right now, the dog has major nerve damage, and doesn't stand a great chance of living a normal life. Many times I've watch this guy and his girlfriend allow the dog to run free in the parking lot at work while on a smoke break. This is exactly what happened yesterday while they were vacationing down in Fort Myers, they let the dog run free in the parking lot and the van started backing up and they couldn't get to him in time.

There are times I wanted to tell them they were stupid for allowing the dog to run free, but I kept my own counsel. Now I wish I'd said something.

I never allow my dogs to run free. Heidi is pretty good about listening, but it would take just one distraction, like chasing after a squirrel, and that would be that.

If only these people were unusual. They are not.

As you realize already, it is 100% on them that the dog was injured, maybe for life, and sheer "idiot's luck" that the dog is not dead.

What a brilliant idea. "Let's let our dog, who is just about impossible to see behind a car by a driver backing up, run loose .... IN A PARKING LOT."

I'm so sorry for this dog... even very well trained dogs must still rely on their humans to take precautions against potential accidents - this little guy's humans really failed him, and I hope they understand that.

I actually encountered some similarly clueless people last week - we were walking Oscar down the sidewalk and a little Chi/terrier mix appeared around a corner and started trotting toward us, only to do a 180 (I think when she saw Oscar) and head back around the corner. I went ahead to see if she had "people" with her... not a single person visible besides another person jogging with her dog - we both looked at the loose little dog, than at each other, shrugging our shoulders. Thinking she had gotten loose from somewhere I followed to see if I could coax at least a collar ID from the dog, who was intensely wary of me and kept running off, at one point into the road and under a parked car (she seemed to have reasonable street sense... but still - she was all of 9lbs!). Finally, she trotted down an alley and under a backyard fence, which I assume was "her" backyard. Crisis averted, or so I thought.

2 days later I was leaving the house and who do I see walking by on the sidewalk but a young couple, snuggling each other and chatting, not paying the least mind to a little dog following them at their heels... the same little one we saw - again, leashless! I thought about stopping them to inform them that their dog was out and about on it's own earlier and could very well have been flattened, but honestly, their body language pretty clearly stated that they couldn't be bothered with worrying about unforeseen accidents...

I really hope this little dog avoids misfortune, but seriously, you'd think someone who went to the trouble of caring for a pet would invest the extra $5 for a leash and suck up the fraction of inconvenience that it takes to keep your dog on a tether at all times...

~Natalya

I have left a note in the mailbox and at the door (two different occasions, different people) of owners who were guilty of this mindless stupidity. I thought I could be less confrontational and more calm, and include more information (such as the LB board and site links, and a few specific DVDs), than would be likely face to face, with me angry and them defensive.

I even bought a (cheap) leash and left it at the door of a small dog who was in the habit of chasing after my own leashed dogs to the extent of dashing across the street after us. (I figured cheap was better than none.) I did it anonymously, kind of tiptoe-y, hoping not to trigger some kind of neighbor-war (because they live right nearby).

That dog stopped dashing out unleashed into the street, so something positive happened, although I still have not seen her actually leashed. I have heard her barking at us as we go by, but no dashing out at us, so apparently she is being contained.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I have left a note in the mailbox and at the door (two different occasions, different people) of owners who were guilty of this mindless stupidity. I thought I could be less confrontational and more calm, and include more information (such as the LB board and site links, and a few specific DVDs), than would be likely face to face, with me angry and them defensive.

I even bought a (cheap) leash and left it at the door of a small dog who was in the habit of chasing after my own leashed dogs to the extent of dashing across the street after us. (I figured cheap was better than none.) I did it anonymously, kind of tiptoe-y, hoping not to trigger some kind of neighbor-war (because they live right nearby).

That dog stopped dashing out unleashed into the street, so something positive happened, although I still have not seen her actually leashed. I have heard her barking at us as we go by, but no dashing out at us, so apparently she is being contained.

Nicely done. And great suggestions... I will definitely keep that in mind if I continue to see our tiny terrier neighbor roaming without a guardian.

~Natalya

 Quote: Natalya Zahn

.... great suggestions... I will definitely keep that in mind if I continue to see our tiny terrier neighbor roaming without a guardian.

~Natalya

These thought-out responses are not my gut reaction, I'm afraid. I always have to stop and think, "What would be more likely to help the dog?"

The answer is almost always "not what my initial reaction would be."

My "true-to-myself" responses (rage, accusations, name-calling) always seem to be the very responses that would trigger defensiveness (and even anger that might be re-directed to their dog{s}).

Last year on my way to work, I would see this beautiful black Lab loose on the highway. I caught her one day and took her home, which was just down the road. I told the owners that I had seen her in the middle of the road and that she had nearly been hit by a pickup. They smiled and thanked me and went inside.

The next day, the dog was on the road again. Again, I took her home. This time, I had a leash in the car and gave it to them and said that the dog would probably get more out of a walk with them than just a run loose.

Two days later, dog was on the road again. She was heading home so I didn't stop. On the way home from work that night, I passed her dead on the road, not 100 yards from her driveway. I bawled all the way home. Sad to say, I probably shed more tears for this dog than her owners did. Such a stupid and senseless death.

 Quote: Kelly

Such a stupid and senseless death.

And stupid and senseless owners.

 Quote: Kelly

Last year on my way to work, I would see this beautiful black Lab loose on the highway. I caught her one day and took her home, which was just down the road. I told the owners that I had seen her in the middle of the road and that she had nearly been hit by a pickup. They smiled and thanked me and went inside.

The next day, the dog was on the road again. Again, I took her home. This time, I had a leash in the car and gave it to them and said that the dog would probably get more out of a walk with them than just a run loose.

Two days later, dog was on the road again. She was heading home so I didn't stop. On the way home from work that night, I passed her dead on the road, not 100 yards from her driveway. I bawled all the way home. Sad to say, I probably shed more tears for this dog than her owners did. Such a stupid and senseless death.

What a tragedy! Some people shouldn't be allowed to have any pets!

Just the other day, I saw my neighbor out for a walk and her little black poodle walking unleashed following behind her!
Cars fly down our street so fast, I am positive it is only a matter of time before something bad will happen to her dog.
I can not imagine NOT having a leash on the dog? Just plain stupid!

Unfortunately, my experience has been that most people don't listen to even the most polite warnings about what can happen to their loose dogs. I've even had somebody actually say to me "but he hates leashes....he just wants to be free" Some simply can't be bothered to make the effort.

More often than not I've encountered the attitude that leashes are mean and restrictive, and it seems no amount of logic can penetrate this idiotic belief system. I think of leashes as the safety line between a person and the animal who shares, but doesn't fully understand his/her world. It's a big "Duh" really, like holding a toddler's hand to cross the road, but there's always going to be somebody who doesn't want to know or doesn't care.

I've seen so many close calls it makes me crazy. Two winters ago I saw a young puppy narrowly missed by a car while the owner and her two small children looked on. It was such a close call MY hands were shaking. This dog is still one of the dogs regularly seen (illegally) off-leash at the public park. Idiots.