dogs off leash in a field

[EastOfEden]

Every morning I take my 60 pound Golden /lab to a nearby playing field of a middle school around 700 before kids get there. I am joined by about five other like minded who bring their motley bunch with them and the dogs run around and wrestle and chase tennis balls and have a great time.

Rain, shine, snow, sleet, cold, hot -- we are always there. A female accountant, a Chinese mother who often lives in Taiwan, A world bank employee who just returned from three years in Indonesia, a lawyer still active, a church worker, a guy whose dad was chief trainer at the Morristown school for service dogs for the blind, in other words a diverse group.

When circumstances make it that only Freddie and I are there on a morning, he pouts the rest of the day.

 

[Squatchsker]

We have a really nervous Black Lab/GSD that hides behind our Westie/Terrier (think Benji) 40 pound housemate when other dogs show up at the park. So, things get interesting. A couple weeks ago he backed a Great Dane down to stay away from her. I was amused, and embarrassed at the same time. At home Sydney, the larger of the two, is the boss, but in public Ajax takes the lead. Kind of like a lot of marriages.

 

[KleinTxHusker]

Every morning I take my 60 pound Golden /lab to a nearby playing field of a middle school around 700 before kids get there. I am joined by about five other like minded who bring their motley bunch with them and the dogs run around and wrestle and chase tennis balls and have a great time.

Rain, shine, snow, sleet, cold, hot -- we are always there. A female accountant, a Chinese mother who often lives in Taiwan, A world bank employee who just returned from three years in Indonesia, a lawyer still active, a church worker, a guy whose dad was chief trainer at the Morristown school for service dogs for the blind, in other words a diverse group.

When circumstances make it that only Freddie and I are there on a morning, he pouts the rest of the day.

I am pretty sure you are violating local leash laws, you group of self absorbed dog lovers... I trust you are cleaning up after your dogs, perhaps even pouring water over the area after picking up the poo... (I do that in the very rare cases where my dog drops a dookie on someone's lawn - usually she waits until we get to tall grass to do that).

My theory was if I am jogging and my dog is unleashed and no one sees met, it is OK. My problem became that my dog started to like rolling in some pretty foul smelling stuff... After that, I stopped being letting her loose. Then my back problems stopped me from running and bike riding took over... She has never forgiven me for that.

The other problem is my dog did not play well with other dogs. She is scared of the yappers but would paradoxically be aggressive towards larger dogs. And that is the biggest problem I have had, if your dog doesn't play well with others or is unpredictable, you cannot give them that freedom.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

I am pretty sure you are violating local leash laws, you group of self absorbed dog lovers... I trust you are cleaning up after your dogs, perhaps even pouring water over the area after picking up the poo

The black bold hopefully is just sarcasm.
The green bold I agree with.
The red bold I just don't know why you'd do that after you've already picked up the poo.

 

[KleinTxHusker]

The black bold hopefully is just sarcasm.
The green bold I agree with.
The red bold I just don't know why you'd do that after you've already picked up the poo.

I would describe the first as more of "winking at a fellow scofflaw"... rather than sarcasm or irony. Allmost anywhere you can take your pooch in the US, sans an official Dog Park that explicitly allows unleashed dogs, you are violating the law (or deed restrictions) by letting them run free.

I would heavily bet that @EastOfEden and his cohort are cleaning up after their dogs. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if he would clean up after other dogs. And there is a logical reason for this.

There are several reasons for "rinsing" after clean up... Even cleaning up the poo, there is often extra fecal material still on the ground. When this happens, and if I have a water bottle, I will pour it on the spot to flush it off the leaves. Especially in people's yards. There are people in our neighborhood who don't like your dog doing its business in their yard even if you clean it up.

Regarding the previous:

1. importantly, he is at a school field, now I am assuming this to be a recreation area used by students. (So even if some anonymous dog owner failed to clean up and a kid steps in it or an uptight school employee gets concerned, it could be the end of their doggy playground). It never hurts to be very considerate and especially to be seen being so.
2. This is progress, in Lincoln in the 1960's "Yell at kids for getting on their lawn types" would come out and yell at us for our dog peeing in their yard (hasn't happened in all my years in Klein). Fortunately, our walking trails are only a quarter of a mile from our house, so 99% of the time I can get my dog to the trail before #2 happens. But I try to make sure no trace is left on the path or the mowed areas adjacent (the tall grass, not so concerned).

 

[Bballbilly]

I have come to really appreciate pet owners that are considerate enough to pick up after their pets. My family has never had pets. But we had some neighbors move next door a few years back, and for some reason their older dog and 3 cats seem use our lawn as their bathroom. They do not pick up after any of them. We used to pick up their messes before mowing lawn. Asked them politely a few different times to pick up after their pets to no avail. Now I throw it in their lawn, sometimes it even lands on their sidewalk. And now I'm the bad guy. So kudos to responsible pet owners.

 

[EastOfEden]

We clean up. In fact while we are at a field, there are many neighbors who simply walk their dogs around the neighborhood. I do not recall seeing any of them not clean up afterwards. I think other dog walkers would make it known to them that cleaning up is required if anyone spotted a scoffer.