Driving, Missed Daisy.
Daisy, Shmookie, Fifi. Whatever that little dog was named that suddenly
jumped off the sidewalk and headed for definite demise under my front
wheels.
We dog owners know that our four-legged companions are the superior
species on this planet (would your best friend go for a walk with you and
carry your poop home in a bag?) but we should never assume we know
what they want. Does your dog want to be wearing felt reindeer antlers
clipped behind his ears at Christmas?
Does your dog mind if his bowl is marked dog or cat as long as there’s
food in it? Does your dog really care if he’s walking right beside you,
under your control, or 20 feet in front of you at the end of a line like a
trolled bait to attract a loose pit bull or rottweiler?
I hate those retractable dog leashes with a passion. They allow a dog to
wander 20 or 30 feet ahead with no real control over the dog until it is
reeled back to the owner’s side.
In every park in our neighbourhood, I see dogs at the end of these
retractable leashes jump playfully at children and adults that cross their
path – and many are terrified. By the time the owner reels that dog back
in, the damage is done.
But the most dangerous aspect of these retractable leashes (and they’re
almost always used with small dogs) is what happens when the dog
reaches a street corner and the owner is still walking 20 feet behind it.
Or, in my case, standing on that corner deep in conversation with a
neighbour as the dog jumps off the curb and decides to cross the street
on her own just as a car is making a turn.
Luckily, I kept my car stopped at the corner and hit the horn to get the
attention of the idiot owner who was oblivious to the fact that her dog’s
nose was close enough to my front tire that it could read the
manufacturer’s name. Of course I received the nastiest of looks from the
owner because I had startled her dog and interrupted her conversation. I’
m sure she still doesn’t understand that had I not been paying attention
to what her dog was doing, she might have been left walking an empty
collar that day.
If you own a dog, please don’t buy one of those retractable leashes.
If you already have one, retire it and buy a proper leash, preferably with
a suitable dog harness instead of a loose collar that many dogs can slip
out of quite easily by backing up suddenly.
Seriously, your dog won’t mind at all. I know, because I asked him.