The Importance of a Leash

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286 – May, 2021

By Amy Fernandez

One of the few benefits to emerge from pandemic life has been the revival of dog/owner relationships. Legions of lonely, bored and housebound humans suddenly rediscovered the pleasures of walking the dog. Man’s best friend has become the ideal alternative to overabundant family togetherness and general tedium. Zoom time or dog time…there is no comparison. As a consequence, regardless of weather or time of day, dog walkers have taken over the streets. From my perspective, it’s definitely been a mixed blessing.

Every day brings brand new, hair-raising encounters with canine marauders attached to oblivious owners. The standard rationale of “he just wants to visit and say hello” is instantly contraindicated by one brief glance at the business end of the duo. At this point, I have given up any attempt to calmly or politely redirect these dangerous situations. The owners become instantly offended while the yo-yo part of the deal continues bouncing out of control.

Then I came across this February 7th story in The Times. Susan Craig, a NYT reporter, shared her recent horrific run-in with a local canine renegade. She outlined a scenario that sounded almost scripted. Two friends walking their calm, well-mannered, leashed dogs in a peaceful, rural setting. “For many dog owners, part of the allure of country life is wide open spaces where their pets can run free.” First off, I have to give her credit for admitting her newfound perception of canine reality. “I used to be one of these people. But over the years I learned the hard way the importance of a leash.” Craig’s article offered a blow by blow description of that newsworthy life lesson.

And if you want my personal useless theory, I attribute much of this belated wakeup to last year’s revival of human/canine quality time. Quarantine life has forced owners to reacquaint themselves with the realities of how dogs think. Unfortunately, most of it seems to be happening the hard way. Even so, this reckoning is long overdue. The real question is why should it need reviving, never mind learning it the hard way.

Click here to read the complete article
286 – May, 2021

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Posted by AnthonyA on May 30 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.