Last week, we wrote about a common situation involving dog owners who allow their dog(s) to walk off leash and the proper etiquette to deal with those canines (and owners) who are a bit unruly. Only one day after, we received a thoughtful email commenting on the post. Here at snifbostondogs.com we love it when our readers voice their opinions! Please read the letter below from an insightful reader!

Hey there!
I just read the blog on snifbostondogs.com I absolutely agree that if your dog does not obey you when he/she is off leash you absolutely should not have them off leash unless you are on your own property. Also, I would never allow my dog to be off leash while walking down the sidewalk or around a crowd of people. However, I live in an area where there are many wooded areas and trails that I often let my dog off leash on. I believe that if your dog is well behaved and well trained there is such a thing as a “verbal leash” If I see another dog, or person up a head I command my dog to heal and I put his leash on him. I do not see this as being a problem. The main reason this story caught my attention was just the other day, I was walking with my dog down a trail I have walked down too many times to count. We saw two labs approaching and I stopped my dog and put his leash on. As we continued down the trail we passed by the two dogs and walker. The dog walker then blurted out to me “ever heard of a leash law”! I said yes, and my dog is on a “verbal leash”. I have been walking this wooded trail with my dog for years and have never had a problem. She said that she was the dog walker and her dogs would attack. I said nothing else to her and continued on my way. I was so mad! I felt like telling her that her employers should pay to TRAIN their dogs before they pay to have them walked. It is unfortunate that the dogs with bad behavior, due to the owner not training them properly, ruin it for all the GOOD DOGS out there!

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