"new"? Leash Laws - Toronto

[gemy]

Well apparently our illustrious mayor has been getting a lot of calls about dogs off lead here in Toronto. He has issued an edict to the bylaw enforcement officers to blitz ppl walking dogs.

And little did I know that if you have your dog on a lead, and that lead happens to be longer than 6ft then it is considered you don't have a dog on lead. WTH?

I am really, really tired of the craziness here about dogs. We have a vociferous I think minority of citizens who don't get dogs, don't want to "get" dogs, don't train their children how to behave around dogs, well da gee, if you don't know how can you train your children?, some actually hate dogs. It is getting to the point I'm going to crunch some numbers and write a rather long letter to this mayor. A few salient points; there has to be at least 30% or so of the population with at least one dog. It might be even higher (that is why the number crunching), we have paltry few off lead parks and 2 name that only 2 bloody leash free parks on the waterfront. BTW our waterfront is at least 50km long.

If I am in a park even if it is not leash free, and there is literally no-one around, I will train off lead; period full stop.

And of course on the pet owners side, we have the idiots who don't socialize their dogs, let their dogs jump up on strangers (who cares that their dog is friendly? that is not the point. Don't train their dogs for basic obedience, like hey there, how about stay, sit, come. Some of those self same idiots do let their dogs off lead, and are so wrapped up in talking on the cell phone or day dreaming, they and their dogs are nightmares.

If it wasn't so cold up Lake Superior way, I'd pack up and move there. At least those small city/town folks know DOGS. Train their children how to behave around dogs. Those that don't like dogs, just give you a wide berth. I was ever so relaxed when taking Magic out on our hikes. We only let Magic off lead, when we came to a lake for swimming. When we met folks on the trail, with their dog off lead, guess what? their bloody dog was obedience trained and either smartly came back to a heel, or came when called and was leashed up. At that time Magic was still iffy on heel off lead, which is why he was ON LEAD on those trails. And given that the trails were very narrow between steep slopes, we encountered no idiots who wanted their dog(s) to say hi to Magic. Why? Because seasoned dog owners know, there was no room to maneuver, should something go wrong with the greeting. At the lake with lots of room, and water and toys, it was different.

Sorry for the rant, but I firmly believe all dogs no matter what size, should be trained at least to the level of Canine Good Citizen. I don't care if you want an "indoor" dog, you will at times need to take your dog to the vet, have someone babysit the dog, have visitors and or repair folks over, etc, etc.

And in terms of the question; does your dog bite' my answer from now on will be.....All Dogs Bite! The question is not does my dog bite, but is; may I say hello to your dog?

[chachi]

I agree its the people with the untrained dogs and untrained kids that make things tough for the rest of us. That stinks your city has that law. I really dont understand why if a leash is too long its considered off leash thats really wrong some people train with the longer leashes.

[ralphthepoodle]

I am for the leash laws, because Ralph was randomly attacked by some idiot with a huge dog without a lead, who wasnt even barking, Ralph and I had our backs turned and the dog came and bit Ralph on the leg, I saved Ralph and nothing happened to him but he was in shock.

I think you are right though lots of small dogs, and even big dogs are great without leads!(: But there are people who are idiots and they ruin it.

[Tayluvheryorkie]

Lots of people have no control over the pets... If you have a 100 pound dog on a 6ft + leash, and he jumps on someone. Then you have no control, or a less chance of regaining it.

Then you have people who do not teach their children what to do around dogs. I have had children try to "Pet" "pick up" "grab" corky.. Then the parent look confused when he growls.... Umm! people he is a dog!

Bottom line knuckle heads ruin it for everyone.

[gracielove]

I agree that all dogs should know at least the basic commands but there is no ordinance on ignorance. So many people are just plain clueless about how to train a dog.
My other comment would be that more people need to get involved in local government elections and vote. I see many towns and cities making the most intrusive laws about pet ownership. It is the ignorant and lazy that ruin things for responsible pet owners. We need to know the views of people who are running for public office about pet ownership before they get into office.