If there’s one thing that will get pet owners fired up, it’s when you bring up whether dogs should always be on leashes or not when they’re out in public.
I can see it from both sides, but I gotta say that after reading this person’s story and their opinion about this issue on Reddit, I totally agree with them.
Take a look at what they had to say.
I dont care how well behaved your dog is, put it on a leash.
byu/mrsjhev1 inunpopularopinion
Here’s what folks on Reddit had to say in response to this post.
1. That’s too bad.
“My dog used to be friendly, until he was attacked by an off leash dog, he wasn’t hurt, instead he scared the other dog off.
However, because he was just attacked while we were minding our own business, he is now aggressive to other dogs and I have to be very careful when I walk him.
I don’t walk him in public places anymore and it’s really sad.”
2. Not a friendly dog anymore.
“Similar thing happened to a friend of mine, her dog got attacked at the dog park and has been aggressive ever since.
Every once in a while someone’s off-leash dog will run up to her, with the owner yelling “He’s friendly!”
Meanwhile she’s yelling back that her dog ISN’T friendly, and will attack if their dog gets too close.”
3. Fine ’em!
“An entitled piece of sh*t ruined your and your dog’s quality of life.
This is exactly why there should be more severe fines for people who don’t leash their dogs.”
4. Attacked multiple times.
“My dog (a rough collie) had always been the sweetest, least aggressive dog I’ve ever had. It just wasn’t in his nature to be.
We moved to Dallas and just walking around our neighborhood loop he was attacked on 3 occasions in 5 years, by off-leash “friendly, he never does this!” dogs.
He is now very wary and barks at dogs when we pass them on opposite sides of the street. He shushes quickly, but it’s been a major change in his behavior.
I have no time for people who don’t leash their dogs and now I’m the angry lady who tells them off when I see them. If another off-leash dog comes near mine I’m prepared to kick the cr*p out of them. And then it’ll be my fault.”
5. It’s not okay.
“This is the case with my animals as well. We have been attacked by off leash dogs more times than I can keep track of, and now my dogs have serious aggression issues toward other dogs that they didn’t have years ago.
“It’s okay, he’s friendly!!!”- makes me want to smack people. No, it’s not okay.”
6. No leash needed for this one.
“My last dog was badly abused when younger. He was scared of cats and dogs and nothing but a friendly giant.
I never walked him on a leash because he was so scared of the world around him that he stayed by me at all times.
I remember my backyard gate being left open for a month, my dog never left the backyard once.”
7. Made a mistake.
“I was told to let me dog be social. I tried to let him meet any dog. Big mistake. He got attacked on a beach.
He was only about 6ish months. After a few months he turned aggressive to other dogs. Now sometimes he is aggressive to people.
I always have to watch out for him”
8. What the hell?!?!
“My dog was also super friendly before some older woman walked her dog past my private property sign on my locked gate with her little dog and pepper sprayed my dog in the face when he ran up to her on his own d*mn property.
Then a jogger also decided to ignore the keep out signs and kicked my poor dog in the face when he approached. Now he’s suspicious of everyone and aggressive to anyone. I can’t even take him to public places on a lease anymore.
I like dogs better than people.”
9. Yikes.
“Before I moved, I lived in a neighborhood where a woman would just let her German Shepherd outside, not on any kind of lead. She doesn’t have a fence of any kind either. I guess she thought she had trained the dog so well that he would never leave their yard.
Well, stupid me, one morning I was walking down the gas station, and went by her house, not thinking about that dog. I heard a growl, and then looked up to see a fully grown shepherd running at me from the side of their house, teeth exposed and ready to take me out.
Luckily this time she decided to join him outside. She called him back and said something lame like, “Sorry. He’s just a little territorial”. Lady. This is a public sidewalk. It’s just a matter of time before someone gets bit.”
10. Dogs aren’t robots.
“I don’t understand these kinds of people. We have 3 German Shepherds.
We built a fence when we only had one because we had a wandering neighborhood dog that kept showing up in our yard and didn’t want our dog getting in trouble. Even with the fence, they aren’t left outside unsupervised because they’re smart and probably could get out if they set their minds to it.
Our dogs love us, I do not expect them to behave towards strangers like they do towards us, period. I actually don’t want them to behave towards strangers like they do towards us. They aren’t robots and even the best dog can have a bad day or get a weird vibe from someone.
I love my dogs too much to risk their safety by giving them the opportunity to hurt someone.”
11. Control your animal.
“This exact same thing happened to me in Louisiana. Some German Shepard just bolted again me with his teeth out. I stood there frozen.
Thankfully the owner saw it right away and got the dog to come back. But what if the owner wasn’t there immediately?
People can be idiots.”
12. Get a leash!
“Similar story here.
Some idiot at a public park(not a closed private dog park) had his gigantic boxer off leash and he came CHARGING at my 15 pound Maltese mix who wouldn’t hurt a fly and was on a leash. I swooped my dog up and basically had to hold him over my head while the boxer jumped on me and almost knocked me over.
Irresponsible dog owners can f*ck off, you could be risking the life of someone else’s pet because you’re too lazy and irresponsible to use a leash.”
13. A bad experience.
“Everyone is like “I identify because this happened to my dog!” and I’m like “I identify because this happened to my human self!”.
Had a dog run at me while on my bike. Slowed down because there was a dog all up near my wheels, so it got to me. Got bitten – not badly, but was really shaken.
Now every time I am out walking/running and a dog runs at me, my heart starts racing and I start thinking “It knows I’m scared, it can sense it as danger and that I’m an enemy and its going to attack” and then that escalates until I’m having a near on panic attack.
I know its irrational – especially when its smaller dogs who I logically know couldn’t do me that much damage – but then phobias are irrational.
Add that to the fact that my dad is weary of dogs and I think I picked up on that at a young age, and partially because of that I’ve never owned a dog myself and therefore am not as in tune with the signals of their intentions as some people… yeah, not a fan of strange dogs or when dogs run at me.”
People seem to get pretty fired up about this topic and now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, share your thoughts with us.
Please and thank you!
