Responsibility as Dog Owners
So much has changed when it comes to owning dogs just within the past 5-10 years. Dogs are considered more as “family” now rather than dogs, which is great & I love that. However,
We seem to sometimes forget the simple responsibilities of owning these canine companions and, it seems like our city laws and law enforcement officers are also starting to forget which in turn, is starting to become out of control.
Rhode Island has lots of beautiful places to enjoy with our canine companions and we are losing these privileges due to negligence. Responsibilities include:
Cleaning up after our dogs : Why is this important? Well for one, it’s extremely aggravating to step in. But also, for major health issues. There are dozens of parasites that can be spread through our dogs waste and leaving out there for other dogs to be exposed to is why we are seeing more and more parasite infestations.
Keeping your dog on leash : There is nothing worse than enjoying a nice walk with your dog when all of a sudden a dog pops up out of no where and runs up to (and even starts an altercation) with your on-leash dog. This creates issues such as leash reactivity and some cases even result in death.
Not walking your dog up to others : It is actually quite rude to allow your dog to run up to other dogs or even humans when on leash. You never know how the other person feels about your dog (maybe they were once bitten by a dog) and you never know the other dog’s history (maybe they have been bit, maybe they are aggressive). It is not fair to the other owner who just wants to enjoy a nice stroll.
TRAINING YOUR DOG : Yes, you have a responsibility to train your dog! We want our dogs to be functioning members of society, so guess what, that means we have to TEACH THEM! Not sure where to begin, please, call me! This is so important and underestimated until we get the regular phone calls of dogs that are “out of control”.
Vaccinating your dog : If you plan to take your dog out in public, they should absolutely be vaccinated for at least the basics including Rabies, Distemper and Bordatella.
It is becoming harder and harder to just enjoy a simple walk with our dogs. Today for example while out on a walk with Krypto, we had two dogs magically appear out of no where with no owner in sight. One of the dogs tackled him and the other one took off. Now both of these dogs were not neutered and the situation could have been way worse as the dogs then proceeded to jump into the dog park. I immediately called animal control and they showed up. I had found out that this is the 3rd or 4th time that this has happened with these dogs so I asked the ACO what is going to be done about it and I received the reply of “well, we can not do anything about it.” YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN!
Section 4-8 . - Restraint of dogs required at all times.
“The owner shall keep his/her dog under restraint at all times and shall not permit such dog to be at large, off the premises or property of the owner, unless under the control of a competent person.”
When the owner arrived, the ACO’s said absolutely nothing and gave the dogs back and the owner did not have a care in the world. Now, I love my dogs and enjoy spending time with them. I want to see something be done about this. I am not going to lose my privileges of being a responsible dog owner due to negligence.
We are going to start K9PT Pack Walks in April of 2017.
These experiences are going to be for a multitude of reasons.
1. We want to educate the public on responsibilities of being a dog owner.
2. We want to enjoy time with our canine companions and others.
3. We want to teach our dogs to walk well on leash in public.
4. We want our dogs to be well trained on leash.
5. We want our dogs to be well-behaving members of society.
I would love everyone’s opinion on this and if you would be interested in joining us for a pack walk! More about dates and times will be released later this week!
