Wednesday, June 12, 2013

How to Walk Your Dog Without Being an Asshole

This should come as a surprise to nobody: I like dogs. Okay, that's underselling. I really, really like dogs. Dogs are the best thing in the world (don't tell my cat!). Yay, dogs! I am particularly fond of big dogs, but I have nothing against little dogs. I was looking for a Jack Russel at one point...and wound up adopting a St. Bernard mix. Ten times the size is ten times the fun!

I take my giant dog for walks on a regular basis, LIKE ONE SHOULD. He loves it and I love it. My giant dog isn't really aware of how big he is. He is kind of scared of big dogs and he loves cats and small dogs. The cutest thing in the world is watching my dog play with my mother's next door neighbor's shih tzu. So, we'll go for a walk in my neighborhood when I get home from work and ultimately, we'll pass somebody walking a small dog (4 out of 5 times in my neighborhood, this is a young woman, so I will be using a generic "she" for the small dog walker. Men with small dogs, please don't take offense. A man with a dog is sexy, regardless of...well, anything. Men with dogs are always great). My dog sees this little dog and gets excited. His tail starting wagging hard, he gets a little panty, he starts sniffing the air, and he starts pulling, because he wants to go make a friend. Unless the Little Dog Woman says something like, "Oh, he looks sweet" or "Aw, look who wants to be friends!" I take my dog across the street. I know he's sweet, I know he wants to make friends, but he's also about 115 pounds and I can see where this could be absolutely terrifying to somebody with a 10 pound dog. So out of respect and decency, I take my dog across the street so as not to scare/upset Little Dog Woman or the little dog. My dog doesn't understand this. He gets upset and still wants to go back across the street and make friends with the little dog. Because Little Dog Woman is standing there, texting or lighting a cigarette or picking her ass or doing anything other than keeping her dog moving. I have a responsibility to move my dog and not allow him to be intimidating, but Little Dog Woman has a responsibility to keep moving and not stand there teasing my dog.

I feel like there's not much else I need to say about this, so I'll just recap. If you're walking your dog and see a dog you don't want to play with, KEEP MOVING. Oh, the other dog crossed the street? KEEP MOVING.

No comments:

Post a Comment