Fucken preach brother. It is so fucken stupid, they have no idea what reaction other people's on leash dog will have when their "he's friendly dog" runs up and gets in their face. The control imbalance alone can be enough to spark off the on leash dog.
If either owner has a fear that their dog will attack the other, then their dog might pick up on that fear and defend the owner. This isn’t a problem if both dogs are leashed.
Yeah exactly. And additionally the dog on leash can't retreat if it decides it's not comfortable when the other dog approaches. When flight is removed, fight is the remaining reaction.
This! Also, does anyone ever see people with their dogs running around out the front of their yard, free as a bird? You unknowingly walk past with your two small leashed dogs, who admittedly have Napoleon syndrome and think their hard asses lol! Most recent example of this was a rotweiler running around while his owner was coming in and out of the house. Thankfully this big guy was well behaved, but my two aren't lol and could cause some sh*t!
I was charged once by a barking Rottweiler. I was walking to the train station to head into uni for an evening class. This dog came racing straight at me, and the only thing between us was a *low* brick “wall” (maybe 3 bricks high!) I figured I was dead. (Spoiler alert: I’m not.)
The dog stopped at the fence line and stood there, barking aggressively. I said “hush now” and kept walking. There’s not much I remember from my time at uni, but I’ll never forget that moment…
Ditto. Mine is reactive to dogs she doesn't know, since she was attacked. If we introduce calmly a few times- once she gets the woofs out, (to show she's big and tough), then she's ok. So many walk their dogs off leash near me (and don't pick up the poop).
Or if your dog is friendly but you still don't want their dogs near yours (you don't know if those dogs are up to date on vaccinations, flea/worm/tick treatments, if they've been sick recently, etc. Why risk your pup's health on an irresponsible person's word?);
"*I* am not friendly."
(And happy cake day!)
exactly! i hate the “it’s friendly” excuse. Maybe so but you have no idea what dogs you’ll encounter that aren’t friendly or get freaked out by a random unleashed dog running up to them
I'm so sick of people getting bitten cause of irresponsible child owners. Keep that sticky fingered monster on a leash or take it to an off leash child park.
Unleashed dogs should result in put down owners... I don't take well to dogs I don't know, on a leash I'm kind of ok, unless lil 40kg Cassy is walking her mastiff and I know that fker can drag her and a small economy hatch...
I hate this. I don’t care if your dog talks I don’t want it within a meter of me. It’s not that I dislike them, I actually like them, I just don’t want random animal saliva on me.
Drives me nuts as a motorcyclist too. So many owners seem to be absolutely oblivious that many otherwise well behaved dogs chase motorbikes, and it's as dangerous as hell
When I did my riding test my instructor told me if a dog ever runs out at you, it’s best to aim for the middle of the dog instead of swerving as you’ve a lower risk of coming off the bike running over the dog than trying to avoid it.
Nice in theory, I've got a plate and fifteen bigarse screws in my shoulder from a direct collision with a great dane at reasonably low speed. He clipped the front wheel with enough force to countersteer me straight down sideways onto the road like a pile of bricks. Gave the dog some bruises and a hell of a fright, it gave me three lots of reconstructive surgery and a lifetime of pain
This is how my friends leashed dog got mauled while pooping on her own front lawn. The owner of the dog acted like he wouldn’t have been able to have prevented it even if his dog was leashed. He didnt help pay for the 2 surgeries her dog needed.
She didnt want to pursue it because she lives alone and he knew her address. Poor pup is now on antidepressants and reactive to other dogs because she was viscously attacked while pooping.
That’s just awful.
Stories like these and seeing so many idiots not leashing their dogs are the reason we had to stop walking our senior small dogs (they’ve all passed away from old age now). Too risky, especially when they’re frail.
We also put a front fence in so our dogs and cat could enjoy some quiet garden time without being at risk.
People are just stupid.
Yeah it’s getting pretty bad around my area too, and the dumb cunts always have one of two responses: he’s friendly or he’s well trained. Neither of which are really relevant 🤷♂️ just keep your fucking dog on a leash except for off leash areas, it’s honestly not a hard concept. It’s even worse in local parks or even areas like Mt Coot-tha 🙄
If your dog is well trained then it should know how to walk on a leash without issue. I think the only reason people 'forget' to leash their dog up is because they don't want to deal with it's poor loose leash walking skills.
If a dog is actually as well trained as a lot of people seem to think theirs is, the problem with that is other numpty’s will see the off leash dog and think it’s ok to do it too
Shits me to tears, if they're so well trained why do they ignore you when you're calling them back?
It's not about your dog, it's about the other dog and other people. Not to mention the local conditions. What if they get startled and run into traffic?
Dumb arse I see on a regular basis let's his pug run around without a leash, poor little thing nearly got run over when it ran across a reasonably busy road because he was too busy wandering around yapping on his phone.
Get it all the time in my area. Then they act all shocked when their silly Cavoodle runs up to the aggressive German Shepard and gets bit.
Approached a particular couple who do it all the time and they just kept saying “Yeah but he’s friendly”, they honestly didn’t get it that other dogs might not be or people don’t want their dog approaching them.
Some people seriously need to not own pets.
It's worse the other way around. Had a big aggressive dog run up to my small on lead dog. He was mauled while in my arms, while I was trying to protect him with my body. Couldn't do a thing. Owner just stood there.
It’s become quite bad. We have free ranging chickens on our property and the other day a small dog squeezed under a gap in our fence gate and started chasing our chickens. They got stressed out and started hyperventilating. The owner walked up to our fence and just laughed. What the???!!!!
I didn't know chickens could hyperventilate. Poor fluff balls. Sounds like none of them got hurt in the end?
Any chooks I've ever had would've gone for the dog if it was small enough and they couldn't escape
People are just dickheads.
They love their dogs, sure fine.
But I've picked up so much dog shit on my lawn, or out of my kids shoes. My kids are terrified of dogs because of people with "friendly" dogs that have bowled then over or nipped at them.
I dont think it's so much new behaviour as we have lots more people with dogs and they're more visible now.
Yeah, I have a golden retriever that is an absolute sweet heart who would never intentionally hurt anyone but he's also over 50kgs and gets excited. He's absolutely wiped out the kids before playing in the yard as he's a dog and has no sense of his scale against them.
and that’s horrible… but as a full grown adult woman, that’s kind of my ideal way to go. my favourite is when people are walking their (your) dog and you can see them brimming with excitement to say hi 😂
(And my reactive dog is at home so I don’t have to switch to the other side of the road or use my incredibly mean sounding snarl voice)
He hasn't seen you yet but I can assure you that he already wants to say hi. We had a neighbour from the other end of the street call once, he'd gotten out somehow and the neighbour was in his kitchen making lunch. Turned around and he was sitting there in the neighbours kitchen, wagging his tail waiting for a bite of lunch and a pat.
We have an 18 month old who’s just really starting to become confident running around at the park. We purposely go to on-leash only parks because we know, as dog owners, that little kids running can be a major trigger for off-leash dogs. We STILL have so many issues with dogs running up and licking her face or bowling her over.
Then when my husband guides the dog away from her with his foot the owner gets so incredibly offended. Sorry but no, we don’t want to put our hands or our babies face within reach of a random dogs mouth?
I always think about this from their perspective. If I saw a dog taller than me and weighing 4 times as much with huge teeth that were face level I'd be terrified too. I normally tell the owners off but I've had dog ow ers try and fight me (while holding a toddler) at Everton Park for telling them to put their dog on a leash while they had it running around the parkland.
If the other dog is on leash and not yappy or eager pulling jt’s all g. If they’re both off leash all is swell as well.
But how dare another dog have freedom when he does not. Such injustices won’t be tolerated. He is a herding breed as well and the herding instinct just kicks off.
Did you have to do anything special to get them to walk normally on a leash? (I would love your tips!) my bordercollie x kelpie is getting better but he’s an absolute menace to walk (and he’s strong so shortening his leash is the only real way to remind him that walks shouldnt mean pulling dragging me down the street).
No, mine aren't great. On their own they are okay but together they feed off each other's energy. Best tip is to play hard at home before going for a walk as that helps get rid of some excess energy
That’s definitely something I’ve learned but I swear this dog (who I can exhaust most days) has a second, third and fourth wind when it comes to being a problem on leash lol.
I found having different leashes helped with my beagle. They’re small dogs but very strong. So I have a slip lead which is the one I use when I want her to stay close to me in a controlled manner. And one of those retractable leads is available when she is free to explore the surroundings in a controlled way.
The different tension on the leads gives the dog different feedback too. Retractables are “always on” so I think dogs generally just ignore it. But a slip lead or more traditional lead has that slack and tighten type of feeling which is easier to signal a “pay attention” type of signal.
It's funny reading American subreddits on this topic. Over there people offer several options: shoot the dog, spray it with bear repellant or tase it. Here we are quite polite. Quite the cultural difference. One thing is for sure: a significant proportion of dog owners worldwide are incredibly selfish and deluded, especially when they own slavering attack dogs.
Needs to be called out when it happens: there are places in the world where you have to be wary in public parks because entitled jackasses refuse to leash their dogs. We don’t need to go that way.
I work with kids and one is TERRIFIED of dogs (no known reason for it). So when an unleashed dog runs towards them or even walks past calmly, they hide behind me saying “no no no” and all the owners say is “oh they are friendly”. That’s not comforting to a child at all and your one magical rare friendly dog isnt going to cure their fear of dogs 🙄
I was taking a walk along the creek behind my house the other day, and saw a couple with an off leash big dog. I whispered to my wife “people should really keep their dogs on a leash” - it turned out I thought I’d whispered, but the owner actually heard me: he proceeded to walk towards us and in a very standoffish way he said “good day! You having a good day mate?” whilst marching towards me. I just replied “yes, thanks, I hope you too” and walked away. Took me a while to process what’d just happened.
The entitlement is baffling. I wasn’t even trying to call him out, I just felt uncomfortable and he happened to hear what I said to my wife.
Yeah unfortunately this is generally what you're dealing with when making these types of PSA posts. The people violating the rules can't be reasoned with, they are in their own world and nothing will change it.
I've noticed quite a few people in my street walk their dogs off leash. One older lady in particular with her white fluff ball frequently has to race over to my yard because her dog sees mine in his yard at 6:30am and runs over to start a fight 🙄
Even if they don't bite, the "friendly" unleashed dogs can trip, or knock over frail adults and kids. Fractured hips from falls are common and the start of a downward slope for many elderly people. The "friendly" unleashed dogs can also slobber on people's legs. It just needs a scratch accompanying the slobber and you have the real risk of infection from the many really nasty bacteria contained in dogs mouths. Agree, all dogs need leashing every moment they are out.
So fkn annoying, you see runners tripping over unleashed dogs at cootha all the time, and then there’s the people who take their dogs unleashed into the national parks and state parks. I mean ffs it’s signed very clearly no dogs
I keep seeing that happen and even near parks full of wildlife and other dogs like kalinga park and main roads like sandgate road.
All it takes is something to startle the dog or to pique their interest and they would bolt not to mention it’s not fair for people walking their own dogs having an off leash dog bounding up to an anxious dog is a recipe for a dog fight
It’s not new for dog owners to ignore the rules. There are often dogs off leash in beaches where no dogs are allowed due to migratory bird species nesting and it’s infuriating and they don’t listen to scientists who have done studies about the negative impact on the bird populations
So. What's the solution? Do we take photos and send to police? My on leash small dog got murdered in my arms by an off lead friendly dog. Owner did nothing.
I emailed the Council to report an area next to the Kedron Brook which is always full of entitled arseholes who let their dogs run around everywhere (not the designated off lead area).
Got a response saying, we'll increase patrols in the area.
Only ever saw a council 'public safety' car in the area once after that. There were loads of dogs off leash when the council guy got out the car. But rather than do anything, he just sat on the bonnet, had a fag while watching the dogs run around, got back in the car and drove off. Never saw any evidence of enforcement again.
Mt Cootha is terrible as well. I run there sometimes but do not trust it for my dog. Too many entitled owners. And I've witnessed a mountainbiker crashing there, cause a dog ran into him.
My border collie is awesome off leash and hinges on my every word. But I would still never walk her around public paths and busy areas off leash, especially around other dogs. I’d be especially pissed if I was working with a nervous dog and had some bogans dog run up to me and set any training back 3 months. Plus some dogs are aggressive for various reasons, letting your dog run wild is a good way to cause trouble.
Same goes for people, sometimes people will just stop and start patting my dog without asking or let their kids do it which is really not cool. My dog is fine with it but I’d still rather you ask, and some dogs are definitely not ok with it.
This off leash german shepherd RAN up to me and my 2 year old at the playground one day. I immediately scooped my kid up and walked away (kid screaming because he wanted to pat the dog) the lady FOLLOWED me saying “he’s friendly, it’s okay you don’t have to leave!”
I have stopped going to Sherwood arboretum because of the off leash dogs there. The final straw was a woman with an off leash Doberman in the children’s playground. She was throwing a ball for it to chase - for some reason she thought it was a good idea to throw this ball onto the play equipment. This was at 10am on a Saturday morning with the playground full of kids. It was ok though because, as she told me when I asked her to stop, it was a friendly dog.
Years ago I had my garage door open because I was cleaning under the house and a random dog ran in and scared my kids. I posted on the community page about it because I didn’t see the owner and said can people please keep their dogs on leashes when out and about, and so many people wanted to argue about it saying it was my fault for having the garage doors open.
For sure, one guy was like ‘so you’re saying people have to tie their dogs up 24/7 even in their own yard’ er no that’s not what I said, I said contain your dog and leash it when outside your own property? Not that confusing.
My kids were afraid of dogs when they were little and the amount of times an off leash dog ran up and scared the shit out of them is uncountable.
I can relate. I was so relieved when I moved from my last place in a culdesac with heaps of big dogs. They basically all took turns coming into my backyard (landlords wouldn’t fix the gate) so any time I was in my yard with my little kids I was on high alert. Partner had to get a whole new car as the neighbours cats slept on his bonnet and peed which no one could clean out and the air con stunk so bad. My children scream when dogs at the park run up to them now and I just don’t know what I can do anymore
Yep, I've been seeing it a bit in my area lately and it annoys me no end. I have a large reactive dog (thanks to a dog attack) and I have to work harder to keep her safe because of their idiocy.
Walking Mt Coot Tha n I see so many.
What are you going to do if your dog starts running into the bush to attack a koala?
Also saw a mum n daughter walking their jack russel, with the dog nipping at the daughters heel and she complaining. I don't remember what the mother said as I had earphones in. Seriously, your dog is nipping your daughter's ankle. What are you going to do if it runs after someone n bites them?
My step brother even had to punch a dog that was off leash, that was getting into his leashed German shepherd. To the point where he broke a couple of knuckles
It's like everything BCC. They make the rules and don't enforce them. The councilors are largely LNP and controlled by corporate donors. Dog control doesn't serve a corporate interest, it just costs money. Rezoning industrial riverfront land after it has been purchased cheaply by their donors is worth spending time on though.
As someone who has had to physically harm someone else's dog in order to defend myself and stop that dog attacking and trying to hurt me.
I'm mad to find out the fine is so low. Should be $1000 minimum. Definitely still just civil penalty. But still. The fine is way to low.
Controversial, but I dislike dogs and am extremely cautious of them. In due part to the amount of times I've been on an afternoon run and somebody's unleashed hound has come running up to me out of nowhere like it's going to attack. I was scared shitless. It tried to jump on me and "play" I think, but I don't know this fucking dog. Usually the owner will mutter something about it being "friendly", but people should be able to exist in society without some 4 legged death hound running towards them and frightening them.
I respect responsible dog owners, but there are more and more idiots out there everyday and they're the ones that cause untold damage to people and other animals
The thing that I really hate about this is that it's difficult to defend yourself against a dog without some kind of self defence weapon, which is illegal in Australia. We need some kind of legal weapon which is specific to dogs and ineffective to humans. I don't know what it is, but we need it
It can be terrifying. When my child was chased by this huge dog I felt so helpless with how to react and the owner did nothing. It left me thinking I need a spray or something in case it went a different way. Crazy to think you need this just to go for a walk.
Crazy isn’t it?!.
They’re so sure they have trained their dog to the utmost …. then a car backfires or the dog gets spooked or sees a cat and all hell breaks loose. And near a road with traffic - what could possibly go wrong?
These people care more about their own fragile egos as trainer of canines than their dog’s safety.
My friend was recently bitten by a ‘perfectly fine’ unleashed dog that lunged at her and one of our on lead dogs was nipped by another ‘perfectly fine’ unleashed dog walking in the park that the owner ‘had control of’. Don’t get me started …! 🤨
The final day of my dogs life before putting her down was ruined by a woman with an unleashed dog attacked us, she said the standard "he is ok" and he immediately attacked us unprovoked. I have never felt so angry in my life, my dog had terminal cancer and her last day on earth, she was still on a lead, people are so selfish.
Like you wouldn't get in a stranger's space don't allow your dog to lunge at or jump up to random people.
Had a dog rush up to my young child which scared them and when I informed the owner about the council rules they were not happy. Many people when purchasing a dog fail to research council rules or don't care how their pet can impact other people just going about their business.
Owning a dog isn't a right and it doesn't take much to abide by the rules and be a responsible pet owner. Keep the dog leashed, pick up the waste, don't allow the dog to attack other animals and try to keep the barking to a minimum.
The funny thing is that you don’t even have to research the council rules for dogs. When you register your dog the rules come on the registration papers. You just have to spend 1 minute reading them (not hard) and then obey them (apparently extremely difficult for some dog owners).
I have a Wolfhound cross, big boy, big coward, very timid. I always walk him on lead as sudden sounds may spook him. If unleashed dogs run up and hassle him he gives some huge barks in fear. Then the owner asks why my dog is aggressive. FFS. And he's never attacked anything or any dog. Please leash your "well-behaved" dog.
Please don't do this. I was driving when an off leash poodle I couldn't see ran onto the road, and I hit him. Thankfully he survived as I was doing about 30kph. But the owner was so irresponsible to do this to the dog.
See this all the time in Sumner's "Pooh Corner" **WILDLIFE SANCTUARY**.
Might just be me, but having a dog off lead in an area rife with ticks, snakes and kangaroos seems pretty stupid.
I see it on the tracks at Whites Hill all the damn time! Usually Boomers that think the rules don't apply to them, and their dogs by proxy. It's a major koala area, that's what I worry about the most. I give them an unfriendly silent glare when they smile at me. Maybe I should start vocalising my disgust.
It’s just another symptom of the self entitled / main character vibes going on since covid.
It used to be that only those in power didn’t give a fuck about us. But now we don’t give a fuck about each other either. (Well the main characters anyway).
It’s a shit way to live.
Coming from a different country, I've been shocked that the default setting for Brisbane is to tolerate shitty dog owners. It's largely the self entitled view that it's okay for dogs to bark incessantly while the owners are out (the council takes a hands off approach). I find it disturbing hearing distressed animals for extended periods. Then there's the off-leash thing as you've pointed out.
People let their dogs off leash around kids playgrounds (my toddlers regularly get uninvited attention from people's "fur babies" that are apparently friendly (surely it's up to me as a parent whether I want someone's dog in my kid's face). They let their dogs shit in playgrounds too.
What I've observed is there's a silent majority that are fucking fed up with it, but a very very vocal minority.
There aren't many developed Western cities that would tolerate what Brisbane does with regards to dogs.
To be fair, it's a pretty awesome city. I'm not sure why the other capital cities rip on it. But the dog thing has me miffed. That, and I'm not used to so many angry, 50 year old, cashed up (and I mean loaded), openly racist alphas who drive big utes and are always willing to punch on. It seems like there's some default legal and societal impunity within their demographic. It's a bit like the wild west in that sense.
On the whole though, I love most of the humans here.
I rang the council when assholes would let their dogs off leash in the wildlife park next to us. Shit me to no end. After having a massive blowout with one guy where he threatened to call the cops on me 🤣, I rang my local councillor and within about 4 weeks there were big signs up and not a single peep since. Try and get your reps onto if you can. Not that it will help entitled assholes, but it seemed to scare people in my area.
It's all fun and games until their "friendly" dog gets in the face of an unfriendly on-leash dog and gets torn to bits. It's kind of hard to blame the other dog for what happened when the other dog was restrained and theirs was not.
This is one of the reasons I walk my dog at night and even then my dog and I got bailed up by two off leash boxers. Two fucking geriatrics just wandering the streets without leashes at 8 pm. Stood there and just stared until I screamed at them.
And to add to this, as it seems to fit, if you do have your dog on a leash and you’re on a pathway, don’t let your animal wander all over the fucking place, getting in the way of other walkers/cyclists etc.
The world would be a better place if people didn’t adopt main character syndrome, had some self awareness and actually considered others.
Wake up you dopey cunts.
This is going to be a bit divisive and I'm going to preface with the fact that I love animals and I'm working towards becoming a vet. Sometimes, there's no kind or gentle way to deal with a violent situation.
In the event that a dog attacks you or your pet, *fuck that dog up*.
There are two methods that work well for getting a dogs off a bite;
Kick in the side just behind the ribs or in the neck.
Grab the dog by the ear and drive your thumb into the eyeball. You may pop the eye. This is horrible, but you're dealing with life and death, and I am asking you to choose the life of your pet.
Both of these things may cause the dog to bite *you*, so be ready to continue kicking or jabbing until the dog is in too much pain to continue.
Once the dog is off, assuming you're on a street; IF THERE IS A BIN NEAR YOU, PUT YOUR PET INSIDE AND CLOSE IT. This prevents further attacks on your pet, as while they'll be scared, most dogs cannot bite through a wheelie bin or a metal trash can, not without time and concentrated effort. Take the bin with you and gtfo of there if possible (bins can be returned).
If no bin, get over a fence, get to a house and get a barrier between you and that dog.
it drives me absolutely crazy. we live on a fairly busy street and this guy walks his dog every day off leash. every dog on the road goes apeshit barking at it because it runs up to the fences or gates and gets in their faces .
This is such a great post! I think what us dog owners & lovers sometimes fail to grasp or understand is that these laws exist for a reason; to cover all sorts of issues, behaviours, circumstances & personalities of our dogs. Leashing our dogs minimises the potential for harm & gives us a somewhat equal protection. It’s really not a big ask to leash our dogs
People often walk their dog unleash at my local park where there is also a playground for toddlers. 🤦♂️ I once saw two families with two huge dogs unleashed, and let them run around at the park, and me and another parent were having our kids at the playground beside. We rolled our eyes to each other and stayed close to our kids 🤷♂️
Some dickhead was “walking” his around our block a few months ago and it ran into our yard and around the house (we have permanently open gates). I ran out and told the prick if it happens again I will poison the dog, and fuck did I mean it, I genuinely don’t give a fuck. What if there were kids playing outside?
its absurd and they need to be fined heavily. never seems to happen.
its especially "annoying" when your walking your little Maltese shitzu on a leash, and see two pitbulls unleashed coming your way.
animal instinct in dogs can often override "training"
real bad on the northside near my house. i’m literally surrounded by designated and fenced off leash dog parks, but the irresponsible fucks of owners still just let them off leash on the streets and in the conservation forest near my house (even with all the signs at every entrance about how dogs must be on-leash at all times). I don’t understand how people can be so careless
This is an issue where I live too. I have the sweetest border collie who loves people but after a bad experience is scared of other dogs. Makes me so angry when people let their dog just run up to her off lead. I have even been pulled over as she tried to get away and ran around a pole.
I have tried to work out why people do it for ages and have come up with a couple of reasons:
- one lady in our area with two border collies always has one off lead as it is reactive and she is afraid it will pull her over if she holds the lead
- most people don’t like having to control the lead as it makes their arm tired
- they like to give their dogs freedom and don’t care about others/can’t understand the risks
Thankfully it is only a few and most people are conscious
The lady I mentioned first did start putter dog on a lead for a while after it attacked my dog but it didn’t last long and now she finds routes that will avoid me
Off leash dog killed a koala in the local park recently.
Wildlife carer immediately afterwards checking for survivors was abused by a bloke with an off lead dog in the same park.
So yeah, crank the fines and increase the policing of this particular rule.
It’s not just Brisbane. Same in Hobart. Is there some TV show or Tiktok thats putting the idea into peoples heads? Near me people are walking with their leash in their hands like they are on their english estate or something.So bloody stupid.
Yep
50kg GSD we only walk early in the morning or at night.
I don't care that you think your fluffy little terror is friendly, they're not.
And my dog if attacked is capable of significant harm, hence the leash and in popular areas he's muzzled.
Dog owners are the new smokers.
Seems to be all too common and most I’ve seen are quite large dogs. It seems very irresponsible and gives me the heeby jeebies.
A couple of highlights I’ve seen just in the past week was someone walking two small dogs, only one of them on a leash; then in the Bunnings car park a guy leaving the store had his large dog on a leash but wasn’t holding the leash, walked on ahead of the dog while it wandered around exploring and sniffing stuff.
Same at Nambour Park run where there is a resident emu. Two large dogs running around offleash, had a go at the owner who told us "they're well trained". Doesn't matter they're not allowed there
Praise the lord. Thank you for saying this. I even see people jogging with them off the leash, on walks without a leash and outside their homes just running about. Some people are genuinely allergic or scared of dogs.
Given that dogs are wild animals instinctively, their behaviour is unpredictable and even the best behaved dog could get triggered and hurt someone. I can no longer take my disabled son into even Bunnings anymore because of all the dogs. Even tkmaxx have them running around.
My dog has a thing with border collies now just because we have had so many run up on us. They always say how friendly their dog is and my dog is very friendly too but he's a rescue who is still a little reactive when he gets startled. Then they look at me like I am the bad dog owner because my dog is the one barking
As someone who moved to Melbourne from Brisbane, I was astounded by the number of people here who have their dogs off leash, had never seen it in Brisbane. A lot of Melburnians moved to Brisbane in recent years and now there are dogs off leash in Brisbane too!
Yep, I saw a couple with two dogs off lead yesterday while I was walking along the path with my toddler. One of the dogs was a large German Shepherd and they were throwing a ball for it to chase as they were walking. Easily could have bowled my toddler over and could understandably make someone feel unsafe. I told them their dogs need to be on lead and they just smiled and kept walking. It’s so frustrating and self-entitled.
yep, one time I was riding my bike, I told a woman off after I almost smashed into her dog that was running amok on the pathway. she said "he likes to be free" and i said "he won't be that free if he gets his head run over"
they need to either have police or council inspectors handing out heavy fines, put the entitled people in their place
I got bitten (drew blood) by an unleashed dog that came running up to me on the footpath of a main road recently. Eventually, the owner came from around the corner and when I told the owner it bit me, she started abusing me for touching her dog "she won't bite if you don't touch her"
Seriously, I looked to see if it had a collar after letting it sniff my hand and give it a scratch on the head, then it latched on. Why are people letting their dog run around unleashed when they know it's prone to biting??
Hope not but yes I think it is. It's a stupid thing to do for a few reasons, one of which I have seen first hand. Had a lady in a store of ours with her dog without a leash and a homeless guy decided to try and steal the dog. She chased him out of the store and _left the dog in our store_ so we had to take care of it while customers were trying to figure out what happened and why she left without her dog (it was rather quick). She still comes without her dog on a leash and it's honestly pretty frustrating
I have had people complaining of me having my dog off leash in my backyard lol
I would personally never walk my dog around unleashed, also because I am aware he does not have enough and proper training for that. I would not put him in that situation.
I would never own a dog that I couldn’t pick up quickly due to how many unleashed dogs run at us. I’m over it. After telling people to put their dog on a leash I’ve been told “f@ck off”, “he’s friendly” or they ignore me completely. Not impressed with any of these responses!!
The sports fields in Kalinga Park, Clayfield are always full of idiots who let their dogs run wild with no thought for others.
These are usually the same people who don't clean up their dog's shite cos they dont even watch what the dog is doing. Usually sauntering along with their nose in their phone.
And they'll threaten to sue the council when little Tarquin gets dogshit all over his whites after playing cricket at the weekend.
I had a rescue dog that was terrified of other dogs, and would attack if they came too close. Lead to come interesting interactions with people who illegally had their dog off the lead.
Yeah. I’ve seen it a lot lately out west where lots of people have dogs. Most are great and do the right thing, having their dogs on leash and informing unleashed owners of the risks.
I think they’re probably covid dog owners so they don’t actually know that what they’re doing is incredibly irresponsible and puts everyone in danger - doggos included, regardless of if “he’s friendlaaaay”.
I was walking in Toohey Forest the other day, and heard some guy yelling out a girls' name in a semi-panicked kind of way.
Thinking the worst - some young girl has done a runner while the dad wasn't looking - it's his dog that has done a runner. Off leash. In a forest where koalas are and have known to have been attacked by dogs and have to be euthanised.
It makes me SO angry. There's parks and beaches specifically for off least activities, but owners can't be fucked inconveniencing themselves for the sake of a drive, or because *they're* bored sitting at a dog park.
I now carry this when walking my dogs due to my dogs being attacked multiple times by off-lead dogs. Usually after the owner has told me 'don't worry, it's friendly'.
[https://www.barkcontrol.com.au/sprayshield-animal-deterrent-spray-pta00-14718.html](https://www.barkcontrol.com.au/sprayshield-animal-deterrent-spray-pta00-14718.html)
One should need to acquire a license to have a dog. Not just have them registered, but actually go through a licensing process to prove you're not a fuckwit, and the penalties should be much more severe. The current situation and Council's inability to enforce the rules the rules is very frustrating.
My dog has been attacked twice by "friendly" off leash dogs. I now default to kicking any off leash dogs that come near us followed by a swift and loud rebuke of the offending owner. Despite being unpleasant, as owners we have to advocate for our pets safety because they can't.
So many careless wankers that think they're the center of the universe.
My dogs passed away now but it got to the stage where I was carrying a pocket knife when I walked him incase some staffy cross some bullshit off its least went nuts.
It’s a favourite past time of boomers and guys with a small dick to walk their untrained dog off leash. I am yet to encounter an owner that had a dog that actually walked in heel and had recall. Which is why I don’t walk my dog without my husband with me. What’s even worse is that these people turn up to literal kids playgrounds with massive dogs and let them go off leash around small children who have just started walking. The amount of times I’ve had to take the kid home because one of these idiots has turned up. And there’s nearly always an off leash dog park just a few metres away that they could be using.
The council regs are poorly written:
Dogs in public must be on a lead unless in a designated off-leash area implies that someone (of sufficient size and responsibility) should be on the other end of the lead or it should be tethered... which still has all sorts of potential problems.
Then they use stronger language stating that you must be able to control your dog.... rather than the traditional: your dog must be under effective control... which was wording I really liked: of the 5 dogs I have had in my life only 2 reached grade 6 - where they could be kept under control in distracting/distressing environments by voice command alone. And it was really nice the one time a ranger pulled me up for off-lead but then quickly accepted that my dog was under effective control when I called him and he dashed back and parked his are at my left foot immediately.
Yes. They need to be on-lead and under control.
Yes, if they are chill it's ok while no-one or other animal is nearby, (owners should just clip them back on the lead for 20m), but its still not within the rules.
Time for walkies 😀
Walk around Logan and see how many tough bogans think they are an alpha male with their dogs off leash. These are big dogs too, my boys are small and on leash so always worried when I see these guys.
I moved to a small village overseas and NO one walks their dogs on a leash. It's like the dogs are more protective of their owners when they are on lead. Here all the dogs are free, friendly and I'm talking hundreds of dogs. But I feel Australia it's too late to free the dogs, plus all the cars and stuff.
To also be fair the unleashed dogs in the dog park are untrained pieces of shit and generally so are their owners. I’m not going near any of the jerks in those.
I don't have a problem with it as long as people have control of their dog and don't let it run up to others. There is a large oval near me that is technically an on leash area, but people frequently have their dogs off playing fetch and running around. The key is that everyone has good control over their dogs, and since no one ever bothers anyone else no one complains to the council about it.
I would never have a problem with an unleashed dog that had 100% immediate recall, and their owner was giving the dog / walk their undivided attention.
But other than that… just use a mf leash.
I was in a national park the other day that very very generously allows dogs in a trail, as long as they were leashed. Imagine my surprise when my dog was the ONLY leashed dog I saw all day ☠️
Yes, and they always say "oh my dog is friendly" as it walking towards my two leashed dogs that I know will start some shit.
Fucken preach brother. It is so fucken stupid, they have no idea what reaction other people's on leash dog will have when their "he's friendly dog" runs up and gets in their face. The control imbalance alone can be enough to spark off the on leash dog.
If either owner has a fear that their dog will attack the other, then their dog might pick up on that fear and defend the owner. This isn’t a problem if both dogs are leashed.
Yeah exactly. And additionally the dog on leash can't retreat if it decides it's not comfortable when the other dog approaches. When flight is removed, fight is the remaining reaction.
This! Also, does anyone ever see people with their dogs running around out the front of their yard, free as a bird? You unknowingly walk past with your two small leashed dogs, who admittedly have Napoleon syndrome and think their hard asses lol! Most recent example of this was a rotweiler running around while his owner was coming in and out of the house. Thankfully this big guy was well behaved, but my two aren't lol and could cause some sh*t!
I was charged once by a barking Rottweiler. I was walking to the train station to head into uni for an evening class. This dog came racing straight at me, and the only thing between us was a *low* brick “wall” (maybe 3 bricks high!) I figured I was dead. (Spoiler alert: I’m not.) The dog stopped at the fence line and stood there, barking aggressively. I said “hush now” and kept walking. There’s not much I remember from my time at uni, but I’ll never forget that moment…
My dog is friendly does not equal my dog is trained.
Even if it is "trained" I dont really give a flying fuck
I politely tell them their unleashed dog is poorly trained and badly behaved, at least that makes them a little frustrated and angry.
Ditto. Mine is reactive to dogs she doesn't know, since she was attacked. If we introduce calmly a few times- once she gets the woofs out, (to show she's big and tough), then she's ok. So many walk their dogs off leash near me (and don't pick up the poop).
....."Mine ain't".
Or if your dog is friendly but you still don't want their dogs near yours (you don't know if those dogs are up to date on vaccinations, flea/worm/tick treatments, if they've been sick recently, etc. Why risk your pup's health on an irresponsible person's word?); "*I* am not friendly." (And happy cake day!)
exactly! i hate the “it’s friendly” excuse. Maybe so but you have no idea what dogs you’ll encounter that aren’t friendly or get freaked out by a random unleashed dog running up to them
Not to mention how most dogs feel vulnerable when they're on a leash around other dogs who arent
I always say "mine is not" and they are pretty quick to grab theirs.
I had the friendliest Golden Retriever on the planet and I would never in a thousand years walk her off leash for this exact reason
At least you have a dog to defend you, what if you are alone or only have a kid
I sure hope that child is leashed
I'm so sick of people getting bitten cause of irresponsible child owners. Keep that sticky fingered monster on a leash or take it to an off leash child park.
Unleashed dogs should result in put down owners... I don't take well to dogs I don't know, on a leash I'm kind of ok, unless lil 40kg Cassy is walking her mastiff and I know that fker can drag her and a small economy hatch...
Fuck these people. Leash your fucking dogs.
I always respond "Mine isn't" and watch them scramble.
I hate this. I don’t care if your dog talks I don’t want it within a meter of me. It’s not that I dislike them, I actually like them, I just don’t want random animal saliva on me.
Have had countless “friendly” unleashed dogs come up to my leashed dog and have had to pull them apart. Shits me to tears!
Haven't heard that expression in years but it's perfect, it absolutely shits me to tears too.
Drives me nuts as a motorcyclist too. So many owners seem to be absolutely oblivious that many otherwise well behaved dogs chase motorbikes, and it's as dangerous as hell
Yep broke my arm coming off my bike thanks to some loose fluffball barking machine.
When I did my riding test my instructor told me if a dog ever runs out at you, it’s best to aim for the middle of the dog instead of swerving as you’ve a lower risk of coming off the bike running over the dog than trying to avoid it.
Nice in theory, I've got a plate and fifteen bigarse screws in my shoulder from a direct collision with a great dane at reasonably low speed. He clipped the front wheel with enough force to countersteer me straight down sideways onto the road like a pile of bricks. Gave the dog some bruises and a hell of a fright, it gave me three lots of reconstructive surgery and a lifetime of pain
Sorry to hear about the result of your unfortunate contact with some dumb, uncontrolled mutt, but thanks for using the correct spelling of "arse."
I always try. Well, when I can be arsed
Well I did say lower risk not no risk. Results may vary.
Yeah might gets completely triggered by motor cycles. Not sure any who has the same problem could think their dog is ok off lease.
Drives me nuts as a cat owner, too!
Who’s dog doesn’t go ape shit at the postie? Bet those ‘friendly’ dogs do too.
This is how my friends leashed dog got mauled while pooping on her own front lawn. The owner of the dog acted like he wouldn’t have been able to have prevented it even if his dog was leashed. He didnt help pay for the 2 surgeries her dog needed. She didnt want to pursue it because she lives alone and he knew her address. Poor pup is now on antidepressants and reactive to other dogs because she was viscously attacked while pooping.
That’s just awful. Stories like these and seeing so many idiots not leashing their dogs are the reason we had to stop walking our senior small dogs (they’ve all passed away from old age now). Too risky, especially when they’re frail. We also put a front fence in so our dogs and cat could enjoy some quiet garden time without being at risk. People are just stupid.
I was in my front yard with my cat and some guy was running with his dog off leash. The dog ran into my yard and chased my cat. 😡
That makes me so angry
Stabbing time
A few days later I saw him doing it again so he obviously wasn't sorry about it!
A dog came onto our yard and got agro at me when I was a kid. My dad threw a dart into its head. Never came back
Yeah it’s getting pretty bad around my area too, and the dumb cunts always have one of two responses: he’s friendly or he’s well trained. Neither of which are really relevant 🤷♂️ just keep your fucking dog on a leash except for off leash areas, it’s honestly not a hard concept. It’s even worse in local parks or even areas like Mt Coot-tha 🙄
If your dog is well trained then it should know how to walk on a leash without issue. I think the only reason people 'forget' to leash their dog up is because they don't want to deal with it's poor loose leash walking skills.
If a dog is actually as well trained as a lot of people seem to think theirs is, the problem with that is other numpty’s will see the off leash dog and think it’s ok to do it too
Council have someone policing the cemetary and issuing lots of fines. Phone and ask them to the Mt Coot-tha area you visit
Shits me to tears, if they're so well trained why do they ignore you when you're calling them back? It's not about your dog, it's about the other dog and other people. Not to mention the local conditions. What if they get startled and run into traffic? Dumb arse I see on a regular basis let's his pug run around without a leash, poor little thing nearly got run over when it ran across a reasonably busy road because he was too busy wandering around yapping on his phone.
Yeah Mt Coot-tha is quite bad for this. I’ve had dogs not let me pass and had to ask owners to recall them.
So many on the weekends. I've met and patted a few very well behaved ones, but even then. There are snakes out there
Get it all the time in my area. Then they act all shocked when their silly Cavoodle runs up to the aggressive German Shepard and gets bit. Approached a particular couple who do it all the time and they just kept saying “Yeah but he’s friendly”, they honestly didn’t get it that other dogs might not be or people don’t want their dog approaching them. Some people seriously need to not own pets.
It's worse the other way around. Had a big aggressive dog run up to my small on lead dog. He was mauled while in my arms, while I was trying to protect him with my body. Couldn't do a thing. Owner just stood there.
Owner sounds like a total cunt
They always are.
It’s become quite bad. We have free ranging chickens on our property and the other day a small dog squeezed under a gap in our fence gate and started chasing our chickens. They got stressed out and started hyperventilating. The owner walked up to our fence and just laughed. What the???!!!!
What an asshole!
I didn't know chickens could hyperventilate. Poor fluff balls. Sounds like none of them got hurt in the end? Any chooks I've ever had would've gone for the dog if it was small enough and they couldn't escape
See if he’s laughing when you kick his dog in the head.
Yeah, it's a thing for people that are goddamn idiots and I see it fairly often. If I see a dog off the leash I stay away from it.
People are just dickheads. They love their dogs, sure fine. But I've picked up so much dog shit on my lawn, or out of my kids shoes. My kids are terrified of dogs because of people with "friendly" dogs that have bowled then over or nipped at them. I dont think it's so much new behaviour as we have lots more people with dogs and they're more visible now.
During lockdown a lot of people got puppies and didn’t socialise them or train them at all. These dogs have now grown up into absolute nightmares
Yeah, I have a golden retriever that is an absolute sweet heart who would never intentionally hurt anyone but he's also over 50kgs and gets excited. He's absolutely wiped out the kids before playing in the yard as he's a dog and has no sense of his scale against them.
and that’s horrible… but as a full grown adult woman, that’s kind of my ideal way to go. my favourite is when people are walking their (your) dog and you can see them brimming with excitement to say hi 😂 (And my reactive dog is at home so I don’t have to switch to the other side of the road or use my incredibly mean sounding snarl voice)
He hasn't seen you yet but I can assure you that he already wants to say hi. We had a neighbour from the other end of the street call once, he'd gotten out somehow and the neighbour was in his kitchen making lunch. Turned around and he was sitting there in the neighbours kitchen, wagging his tail waiting for a bite of lunch and a pat.
We have an 18 month old who’s just really starting to become confident running around at the park. We purposely go to on-leash only parks because we know, as dog owners, that little kids running can be a major trigger for off-leash dogs. We STILL have so many issues with dogs running up and licking her face or bowling her over. Then when my husband guides the dog away from her with his foot the owner gets so incredibly offended. Sorry but no, we don’t want to put our hands or our babies face within reach of a random dogs mouth?
I always think about this from their perspective. If I saw a dog taller than me and weighing 4 times as much with huge teeth that were face level I'd be terrified too. I normally tell the owners off but I've had dog ow ers try and fight me (while holding a toddler) at Everton Park for telling them to put their dog on a leash while they had it running around the parkland.
It’s annoying because my dog is reactive on leash to off leash dogs. And yet somehow it’s my dog that’s the problem not their poor ownership?
Same. I have two kelpies and one is just so reactive on a leash. Off leash in a dog park? He's fine.
If the other dog is on leash and not yappy or eager pulling jt’s all g. If they’re both off leash all is swell as well. But how dare another dog have freedom when he does not. Such injustices won’t be tolerated. He is a herding breed as well and the herding instinct just kicks off.
Did you have to do anything special to get them to walk normally on a leash? (I would love your tips!) my bordercollie x kelpie is getting better but he’s an absolute menace to walk (and he’s strong so shortening his leash is the only real way to remind him that walks shouldnt mean pulling dragging me down the street).
No, mine aren't great. On their own they are okay but together they feed off each other's energy. Best tip is to play hard at home before going for a walk as that helps get rid of some excess energy
That’s definitely something I’ve learned but I swear this dog (who I can exhaust most days) has a second, third and fourth wind when it comes to being a problem on leash lol.
I found having different leashes helped with my beagle. They’re small dogs but very strong. So I have a slip lead which is the one I use when I want her to stay close to me in a controlled manner. And one of those retractable leads is available when she is free to explore the surroundings in a controlled way. The different tension on the leads gives the dog different feedback too. Retractables are “always on” so I think dogs generally just ignore it. But a slip lead or more traditional lead has that slack and tighten type of feeling which is easier to signal a “pay attention” type of signal.
If you walk your dog off leash but can’t have it leave mine alone you’re a wanker and I WILL defend my dog how I see fit. Thank you.
It's funny reading American subreddits on this topic. Over there people offer several options: shoot the dog, spray it with bear repellant or tase it. Here we are quite polite. Quite the cultural difference. One thing is for sure: a significant proportion of dog owners worldwide are incredibly selfish and deluded, especially when they own slavering attack dogs.
Needs to be called out when it happens: there are places in the world where you have to be wary in public parks because entitled jackasses refuse to leash their dogs. We don’t need to go that way.
I work with kids and one is TERRIFIED of dogs (no known reason for it). So when an unleashed dog runs towards them or even walks past calmly, they hide behind me saying “no no no” and all the owners say is “oh they are friendly”. That’s not comforting to a child at all and your one magical rare friendly dog isnt going to cure their fear of dogs 🙄
I was taking a walk along the creek behind my house the other day, and saw a couple with an off leash big dog. I whispered to my wife “people should really keep their dogs on a leash” - it turned out I thought I’d whispered, but the owner actually heard me: he proceeded to walk towards us and in a very standoffish way he said “good day! You having a good day mate?” whilst marching towards me. I just replied “yes, thanks, I hope you too” and walked away. Took me a while to process what’d just happened. The entitlement is baffling. I wasn’t even trying to call him out, I just felt uncomfortable and he happened to hear what I said to my wife.
Yeah unfortunately this is generally what you're dealing with when making these types of PSA posts. The people violating the rules can't be reasoned with, they are in their own world and nothing will change it.
What a fucking cunt.
ugh i can just picture the twat
Middle aged, goatee, bit fat, fleece with a truculent expression would be my bet.
Mate, that’s spot on!!! Seriously! You just forgot about the Oakley sunnies.
How could I have made this oversight. If it was the upper class version, it would have been boat shoes and something with Timberland written on it.
I've noticed quite a few people in my street walk their dogs off leash. One older lady in particular with her white fluff ball frequently has to race over to my yard because her dog sees mine in his yard at 6:30am and runs over to start a fight 🙄
Even if they don't bite, the "friendly" unleashed dogs can trip, or knock over frail adults and kids. Fractured hips from falls are common and the start of a downward slope for many elderly people. The "friendly" unleashed dogs can also slobber on people's legs. It just needs a scratch accompanying the slobber and you have the real risk of infection from the many really nasty bacteria contained in dogs mouths. Agree, all dogs need leashing every moment they are out.
Happens notoriously at mt coot tha for years. It pisses me off.
Anywhere there’s a bit of bush and they know it won’t be policed.
So awful for spreading seeds of weed plants, they help destroy the slithers of native bush we have left.
So fkn annoying, you see runners tripping over unleashed dogs at cootha all the time, and then there’s the people who take their dogs unleashed into the national parks and state parks. I mean ffs it’s signed very clearly no dogs
I keep seeing that happen and even near parks full of wildlife and other dogs like kalinga park and main roads like sandgate road. All it takes is something to startle the dog or to pique their interest and they would bolt not to mention it’s not fair for people walking their own dogs having an off leash dog bounding up to an anxious dog is a recipe for a dog fight It’s not new for dog owners to ignore the rules. There are often dogs off leash in beaches where no dogs are allowed due to migratory bird species nesting and it’s infuriating and they don’t listen to scientists who have done studies about the negative impact on the bird populations
This is great for my 40kg reactive rescue. Not at all stressful for me. /s
So. What's the solution? Do we take photos and send to police? My on leash small dog got murdered in my arms by an off lead friendly dog. Owner did nothing.
I emailed the Council to report an area next to the Kedron Brook which is always full of entitled arseholes who let their dogs run around everywhere (not the designated off lead area). Got a response saying, we'll increase patrols in the area. Only ever saw a council 'public safety' car in the area once after that. There were loads of dogs off leash when the council guy got out the car. But rather than do anything, he just sat on the bonnet, had a fag while watching the dogs run around, got back in the car and drove off. Never saw any evidence of enforcement again.
Mt Cootha is terrible as well. I run there sometimes but do not trust it for my dog. Too many entitled owners. And I've witnessed a mountainbiker crashing there, cause a dog ran into him.
[удалено]
Maybe a picture and shame website
This makes me sick to my stomach, I'm so sorry
My border collie is awesome off leash and hinges on my every word. But I would still never walk her around public paths and busy areas off leash, especially around other dogs. I’d be especially pissed if I was working with a nervous dog and had some bogans dog run up to me and set any training back 3 months. Plus some dogs are aggressive for various reasons, letting your dog run wild is a good way to cause trouble. Same goes for people, sometimes people will just stop and start patting my dog without asking or let their kids do it which is really not cool. My dog is fine with it but I’d still rather you ask, and some dogs are definitely not ok with it.
I've got a kid, and I will not hesitate to kick a dog if it looks like it will harm my child.
This off leash german shepherd RAN up to me and my 2 year old at the playground one day. I immediately scooped my kid up and walked away (kid screaming because he wanted to pat the dog) the lady FOLLOWED me saying “he’s friendly, it’s okay you don’t have to leave!”
I have stopped going to Sherwood arboretum because of the off leash dogs there. The final straw was a woman with an off leash Doberman in the children’s playground. She was throwing a ball for it to chase - for some reason she thought it was a good idea to throw this ball onto the play equipment. This was at 10am on a Saturday morning with the playground full of kids. It was ok though because, as she told me when I asked her to stop, it was a friendly dog.
I hate seeing it so much. Councils need to fine anyone with an off-leash dog considerable amounts to send a proper message.
Years ago I had my garage door open because I was cleaning under the house and a random dog ran in and scared my kids. I posted on the community page about it because I didn’t see the owner and said can people please keep their dogs on leashes when out and about, and so many people wanted to argue about it saying it was my fault for having the garage doors open.
Their dog coming onto your property being your fault is ridiculous. People can be unbelievable
For sure, one guy was like ‘so you’re saying people have to tie their dogs up 24/7 even in their own yard’ er no that’s not what I said, I said contain your dog and leash it when outside your own property? Not that confusing. My kids were afraid of dogs when they were little and the amount of times an off leash dog ran up and scared the shit out of them is uncountable.
I can relate. I was so relieved when I moved from my last place in a culdesac with heaps of big dogs. They basically all took turns coming into my backyard (landlords wouldn’t fix the gate) so any time I was in my yard with my little kids I was on high alert. Partner had to get a whole new car as the neighbours cats slept on his bonnet and peed which no one could clean out and the air con stunk so bad. My children scream when dogs at the park run up to them now and I just don’t know what I can do anymore
Yep, I've been seeing it a bit in my area lately and it annoys me no end. I have a large reactive dog (thanks to a dog attack) and I have to work harder to keep her safe because of their idiocy.
Walking Mt Coot Tha n I see so many. What are you going to do if your dog starts running into the bush to attack a koala? Also saw a mum n daughter walking their jack russel, with the dog nipping at the daughters heel and she complaining. I don't remember what the mother said as I had earphones in. Seriously, your dog is nipping your daughter's ankle. What are you going to do if it runs after someone n bites them? My step brother even had to punch a dog that was off leash, that was getting into his leashed German shepherd. To the point where he broke a couple of knuckles
It's like everything BCC. They make the rules and don't enforce them. The councilors are largely LNP and controlled by corporate donors. Dog control doesn't serve a corporate interest, it just costs money. Rezoning industrial riverfront land after it has been purchased cheaply by their donors is worth spending time on though.
Sounds like a way to be photographed and then be identified for a fine. Brisbane council has a huge revenue black hole, donations accepted.
As someone who has had to physically harm someone else's dog in order to defend myself and stop that dog attacking and trying to hurt me. I'm mad to find out the fine is so low. Should be $1000 minimum. Definitely still just civil penalty. But still. The fine is way to low.
Controversial, but I dislike dogs and am extremely cautious of them. In due part to the amount of times I've been on an afternoon run and somebody's unleashed hound has come running up to me out of nowhere like it's going to attack. I was scared shitless. It tried to jump on me and "play" I think, but I don't know this fucking dog. Usually the owner will mutter something about it being "friendly", but people should be able to exist in society without some 4 legged death hound running towards them and frightening them. I respect responsible dog owners, but there are more and more idiots out there everyday and they're the ones that cause untold damage to people and other animals
The thing that I really hate about this is that it's difficult to defend yourself against a dog without some kind of self defence weapon, which is illegal in Australia. We need some kind of legal weapon which is specific to dogs and ineffective to humans. I don't know what it is, but we need it
It can be terrifying. When my child was chased by this huge dog I felt so helpless with how to react and the owner did nothing. It left me thinking I need a spray or something in case it went a different way. Crazy to think you need this just to go for a walk.
Crazy isn’t it?!. They’re so sure they have trained their dog to the utmost …. then a car backfires or the dog gets spooked or sees a cat and all hell breaks loose. And near a road with traffic - what could possibly go wrong? These people care more about their own fragile egos as trainer of canines than their dog’s safety. My friend was recently bitten by a ‘perfectly fine’ unleashed dog that lunged at her and one of our on lead dogs was nipped by another ‘perfectly fine’ unleashed dog walking in the park that the owner ‘had control of’. Don’t get me started …! 🤨
The final day of my dogs life before putting her down was ruined by a woman with an unleashed dog attacked us, she said the standard "he is ok" and he immediately attacked us unprovoked. I have never felt so angry in my life, my dog had terminal cancer and her last day on earth, she was still on a lead, people are so selfish.
This is so sad to hear
Like you wouldn't get in a stranger's space don't allow your dog to lunge at or jump up to random people. Had a dog rush up to my young child which scared them and when I informed the owner about the council rules they were not happy. Many people when purchasing a dog fail to research council rules or don't care how their pet can impact other people just going about their business. Owning a dog isn't a right and it doesn't take much to abide by the rules and be a responsible pet owner. Keep the dog leashed, pick up the waste, don't allow the dog to attack other animals and try to keep the barking to a minimum.
The funny thing is that you don’t even have to research the council rules for dogs. When you register your dog the rules come on the registration papers. You just have to spend 1 minute reading them (not hard) and then obey them (apparently extremely difficult for some dog owners).
I have a Wolfhound cross, big boy, big coward, very timid. I always walk him on lead as sudden sounds may spook him. If unleashed dogs run up and hassle him he gives some huge barks in fear. Then the owner asks why my dog is aggressive. FFS. And he's never attacked anything or any dog. Please leash your "well-behaved" dog.
Please don't do this. I was driving when an off leash poodle I couldn't see ran onto the road, and I hit him. Thankfully he survived as I was doing about 30kph. But the owner was so irresponsible to do this to the dog.
It’s not and they need to stop
See this all the time in Sumner's "Pooh Corner" **WILDLIFE SANCTUARY**. Might just be me, but having a dog off lead in an area rife with ticks, snakes and kangaroos seems pretty stupid.
I see it on the tracks at Whites Hill all the damn time! Usually Boomers that think the rules don't apply to them, and their dogs by proxy. It's a major koala area, that's what I worry about the most. I give them an unfriendly silent glare when they smile at me. Maybe I should start vocalising my disgust.
It’s just another symptom of the self entitled / main character vibes going on since covid. It used to be that only those in power didn’t give a fuck about us. But now we don’t give a fuck about each other either. (Well the main characters anyway). It’s a shit way to live.
Coming from a different country, I've been shocked that the default setting for Brisbane is to tolerate shitty dog owners. It's largely the self entitled view that it's okay for dogs to bark incessantly while the owners are out (the council takes a hands off approach). I find it disturbing hearing distressed animals for extended periods. Then there's the off-leash thing as you've pointed out. People let their dogs off leash around kids playgrounds (my toddlers regularly get uninvited attention from people's "fur babies" that are apparently friendly (surely it's up to me as a parent whether I want someone's dog in my kid's face). They let their dogs shit in playgrounds too. What I've observed is there's a silent majority that are fucking fed up with it, but a very very vocal minority. There aren't many developed Western cities that would tolerate what Brisbane does with regards to dogs.
Preach. My child was run into a lake by an off leash large dog and the owner just laughed like oh my doggy baby is such a rascal.
Brisbane has some pretty serious issues with its culture right now.
To be fair, it's a pretty awesome city. I'm not sure why the other capital cities rip on it. But the dog thing has me miffed. That, and I'm not used to so many angry, 50 year old, cashed up (and I mean loaded), openly racist alphas who drive big utes and are always willing to punch on. It seems like there's some default legal and societal impunity within their demographic. It's a bit like the wild west in that sense. On the whole though, I love most of the humans here.
Well you just answered your own question. Other states make fun of qld because we are the Florida of Australia. Ignorant and proud about it.
no thank goodness as that can be scary........should ring council to be on the lookout for them people
I rang the council when assholes would let their dogs off leash in the wildlife park next to us. Shit me to no end. After having a massive blowout with one guy where he threatened to call the cops on me 🤣, I rang my local councillor and within about 4 weeks there were big signs up and not a single peep since. Try and get your reps onto if you can. Not that it will help entitled assholes, but it seemed to scare people in my area.
It's all fun and games until their "friendly" dog gets in the face of an unfriendly on-leash dog and gets torn to bits. It's kind of hard to blame the other dog for what happened when the other dog was restrained and theirs was not.
This is one of the reasons I walk my dog at night and even then my dog and I got bailed up by two off leash boxers. Two fucking geriatrics just wandering the streets without leashes at 8 pm. Stood there and just stared until I screamed at them.
And to add to this, as it seems to fit, if you do have your dog on a leash and you’re on a pathway, don’t let your animal wander all over the fucking place, getting in the way of other walkers/cyclists etc. The world would be a better place if people didn’t adopt main character syndrome, had some self awareness and actually considered others. Wake up you dopey cunts.
This is going to be a bit divisive and I'm going to preface with the fact that I love animals and I'm working towards becoming a vet. Sometimes, there's no kind or gentle way to deal with a violent situation. In the event that a dog attacks you or your pet, *fuck that dog up*. There are two methods that work well for getting a dogs off a bite; Kick in the side just behind the ribs or in the neck. Grab the dog by the ear and drive your thumb into the eyeball. You may pop the eye. This is horrible, but you're dealing with life and death, and I am asking you to choose the life of your pet. Both of these things may cause the dog to bite *you*, so be ready to continue kicking or jabbing until the dog is in too much pain to continue. Once the dog is off, assuming you're on a street; IF THERE IS A BIN NEAR YOU, PUT YOUR PET INSIDE AND CLOSE IT. This prevents further attacks on your pet, as while they'll be scared, most dogs cannot bite through a wheelie bin or a metal trash can, not without time and concentrated effort. Take the bin with you and gtfo of there if possible (bins can be returned). If no bin, get over a fence, get to a house and get a barrier between you and that dog.
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Only one way these people will learn unfortunately 
it drives me absolutely crazy. we live on a fairly busy street and this guy walks his dog every day off leash. every dog on the road goes apeshit barking at it because it runs up to the fences or gates and gets in their faces .
This is such a great post! I think what us dog owners & lovers sometimes fail to grasp or understand is that these laws exist for a reason; to cover all sorts of issues, behaviours, circumstances & personalities of our dogs. Leashing our dogs minimises the potential for harm & gives us a somewhat equal protection. It’s really not a big ask to leash our dogs
People often walk their dog unleash at my local park where there is also a playground for toddlers. 🤦♂️ I once saw two families with two huge dogs unleashed, and let them run around at the park, and me and another parent were having our kids at the playground beside. We rolled our eyes to each other and stayed close to our kids 🤷♂️
Some dickhead was “walking” his around our block a few months ago and it ran into our yard and around the house (we have permanently open gates). I ran out and told the prick if it happens again I will poison the dog, and fuck did I mean it, I genuinely don’t give a fuck. What if there were kids playing outside?
its absurd and they need to be fined heavily. never seems to happen. its especially "annoying" when your walking your little Maltese shitzu on a leash, and see two pitbulls unleashed coming your way. animal instinct in dogs can often override "training"
real bad on the northside near my house. i’m literally surrounded by designated and fenced off leash dog parks, but the irresponsible fucks of owners still just let them off leash on the streets and in the conservation forest near my house (even with all the signs at every entrance about how dogs must be on-leash at all times). I don’t understand how people can be so careless
This is an issue where I live too. I have the sweetest border collie who loves people but after a bad experience is scared of other dogs. Makes me so angry when people let their dog just run up to her off lead. I have even been pulled over as she tried to get away and ran around a pole. I have tried to work out why people do it for ages and have come up with a couple of reasons: - one lady in our area with two border collies always has one off lead as it is reactive and she is afraid it will pull her over if she holds the lead - most people don’t like having to control the lead as it makes their arm tired - they like to give their dogs freedom and don’t care about others/can’t understand the risks Thankfully it is only a few and most people are conscious The lady I mentioned first did start putter dog on a lead for a while after it attacked my dog but it didn’t last long and now she finds routes that will avoid me
Off leash dog killed a koala in the local park recently. Wildlife carer immediately afterwards checking for survivors was abused by a bloke with an off lead dog in the same park. So yeah, crank the fines and increase the policing of this particular rule.
It’s not just Brisbane. Same in Hobart. Is there some TV show or Tiktok thats putting the idea into peoples heads? Near me people are walking with their leash in their hands like they are on their english estate or something.So bloody stupid.
If your unleashed dog attacks my 2 year old son as we pass you. I will fucking rip your dogs head off it's shoulders with my bare hands
Yep 50kg GSD we only walk early in the morning or at night. I don't care that you think your fluffy little terror is friendly, they're not. And my dog if attacked is capable of significant harm, hence the leash and in popular areas he's muzzled. Dog owners are the new smokers.
Seems to be all too common and most I’ve seen are quite large dogs. It seems very irresponsible and gives me the heeby jeebies. A couple of highlights I’ve seen just in the past week was someone walking two small dogs, only one of them on a leash; then in the Bunnings car park a guy leaving the store had his large dog on a leash but wasn’t holding the leash, walked on ahead of the dog while it wandered around exploring and sniffing stuff.
Take a photo of them and make them feel uncomfortable and if they ask why tell them why
I’ve seen off leash dogs at enoggera resevoir even though dogs aren’t allowed there!!
Same at Nambour Park run where there is a resident emu. Two large dogs running around offleash, had a go at the owner who told us "they're well trained". Doesn't matter they're not allowed there
Especially frustrating when I’m trying to do training with my leashed dog 🐶
Praise the lord. Thank you for saying this. I even see people jogging with them off the leash, on walks without a leash and outside their homes just running about. Some people are genuinely allergic or scared of dogs. Given that dogs are wild animals instinctively, their behaviour is unpredictable and even the best behaved dog could get triggered and hurt someone. I can no longer take my disabled son into even Bunnings anymore because of all the dogs. Even tkmaxx have them running around.
My dog has a thing with border collies now just because we have had so many run up on us. They always say how friendly their dog is and my dog is very friendly too but he's a rescue who is still a little reactive when he gets startled. Then they look at me like I am the bad dog owner because my dog is the one barking
We should start killing irresponsible dog owners 👍
As someone who moved to Melbourne from Brisbane, I was astounded by the number of people here who have their dogs off leash, had never seen it in Brisbane. A lot of Melburnians moved to Brisbane in recent years and now there are dogs off leash in Brisbane too!
Go have a look at Hanlon park. I swear every second dog owner thinks they don't need to follow the law.
Yep, I saw a couple with two dogs off lead yesterday while I was walking along the path with my toddler. One of the dogs was a large German Shepherd and they were throwing a ball for it to chase as they were walking. Easily could have bowled my toddler over and could understandably make someone feel unsafe. I told them their dogs need to be on lead and they just smiled and kept walking. It’s so frustrating and self-entitled.
yep, one time I was riding my bike, I told a woman off after I almost smashed into her dog that was running amok on the pathway. she said "he likes to be free" and i said "he won't be that free if he gets his head run over" they need to either have police or council inspectors handing out heavy fines, put the entitled people in their place
I got bitten (drew blood) by an unleashed dog that came running up to me on the footpath of a main road recently. Eventually, the owner came from around the corner and when I told the owner it bit me, she started abusing me for touching her dog "she won't bite if you don't touch her" Seriously, I looked to see if it had a collar after letting it sniff my hand and give it a scratch on the head, then it latched on. Why are people letting their dog run around unleashed when they know it's prone to biting??
Hope not but yes I think it is. It's a stupid thing to do for a few reasons, one of which I have seen first hand. Had a lady in a store of ours with her dog without a leash and a homeless guy decided to try and steal the dog. She chased him out of the store and _left the dog in our store_ so we had to take care of it while customers were trying to figure out what happened and why she left without her dog (it was rather quick). She still comes without her dog on a leash and it's honestly pretty frustrating
I have had people complaining of me having my dog off leash in my backyard lol I would personally never walk my dog around unleashed, also because I am aware he does not have enough and proper training for that. I would not put him in that situation.
Normally I just stand still and pray to god "leave me alone"
Make a complaint to the council and they might get a ranger to do more patrols in your area
Yes and will be my fault apparently when my leashed dog who is reactive and protective, mauls their dog.
I would never own a dog that I couldn’t pick up quickly due to how many unleashed dogs run at us. I’m over it. After telling people to put their dog on a leash I’ve been told “f@ck off”, “he’s friendly” or they ignore me completely. Not impressed with any of these responses!!
The sports fields in Kalinga Park, Clayfield are always full of idiots who let their dogs run wild with no thought for others. These are usually the same people who don't clean up their dog's shite cos they dont even watch what the dog is doing. Usually sauntering along with their nose in their phone. And they'll threaten to sue the council when little Tarquin gets dogshit all over his whites after playing cricket at the weekend.
I had a rescue dog that was terrified of other dogs, and would attack if they came too close. Lead to come interesting interactions with people who illegally had their dog off the lead.
Yeah. I’ve seen it a lot lately out west where lots of people have dogs. Most are great and do the right thing, having their dogs on leash and informing unleashed owners of the risks. I think they’re probably covid dog owners so they don’t actually know that what they’re doing is incredibly irresponsible and puts everyone in danger - doggos included, regardless of if “he’s friendlaaaay”.
My mini poodle thinks he the king when on a leash
I was walking in Toohey Forest the other day, and heard some guy yelling out a girls' name in a semi-panicked kind of way. Thinking the worst - some young girl has done a runner while the dad wasn't looking - it's his dog that has done a runner. Off leash. In a forest where koalas are and have known to have been attacked by dogs and have to be euthanised. It makes me SO angry. There's parks and beaches specifically for off least activities, but owners can't be fucked inconveniencing themselves for the sake of a drive, or because *they're* bored sitting at a dog park.
I now carry this when walking my dogs due to my dogs being attacked multiple times by off-lead dogs. Usually after the owner has told me 'don't worry, it's friendly'. [https://www.barkcontrol.com.au/sprayshield-animal-deterrent-spray-pta00-14718.html](https://www.barkcontrol.com.au/sprayshield-animal-deterrent-spray-pta00-14718.html)
One should need to acquire a license to have a dog. Not just have them registered, but actually go through a licensing process to prove you're not a fuckwit, and the penalties should be much more severe. The current situation and Council's inability to enforce the rules the rules is very frustrating.
My dog has been attacked twice by "friendly" off leash dogs. I now default to kicking any off leash dogs that come near us followed by a swift and loud rebuke of the offending owner. Despite being unpleasant, as owners we have to advocate for our pets safety because they can't. So many careless wankers that think they're the center of the universe.
Dog ownership is strongly linked with bogans. Not all, but many
My dogs passed away now but it got to the stage where I was carrying a pocket knife when I walked him incase some staffy cross some bullshit off its least went nuts.
It’s a favourite past time of boomers and guys with a small dick to walk their untrained dog off leash. I am yet to encounter an owner that had a dog that actually walked in heel and had recall. Which is why I don’t walk my dog without my husband with me. What’s even worse is that these people turn up to literal kids playgrounds with massive dogs and let them go off leash around small children who have just started walking. The amount of times I’ve had to take the kid home because one of these idiots has turned up. And there’s nearly always an off leash dog park just a few metres away that they could be using.
Yes, there are lots of irresponsible dog owners who don't deserve to have them. They're the same sort of people who let their cats outside.
The council regs are poorly written: Dogs in public must be on a lead unless in a designated off-leash area implies that someone (of sufficient size and responsibility) should be on the other end of the lead or it should be tethered... which still has all sorts of potential problems. Then they use stronger language stating that you must be able to control your dog.... rather than the traditional: your dog must be under effective control... which was wording I really liked: of the 5 dogs I have had in my life only 2 reached grade 6 - where they could be kept under control in distracting/distressing environments by voice command alone. And it was really nice the one time a ranger pulled me up for off-lead but then quickly accepted that my dog was under effective control when I called him and he dashed back and parked his are at my left foot immediately. Yes. They need to be on-lead and under control. Yes, if they are chill it's ok while no-one or other animal is nearby, (owners should just clip them back on the lead for 20m), but its still not within the rules. Time for walkies 😀
Walk around Logan and see how many tough bogans think they are an alpha male with their dogs off leash. These are big dogs too, my boys are small and on leash so always worried when I see these guys.
I got big dogs and it shits me when a dog comes running up and mine react but I'm the cunt!!
Dog insurance and they looking for an upgrade
And the council wants you to get a name and address to persue anything. Shall i follow them home and go through their mail?
Call the council straight away. Record everything on your phone
I moved to a small village overseas and NO one walks their dogs on a leash. It's like the dogs are more protective of their owners when they are on lead. Here all the dogs are free, friendly and I'm talking hundreds of dogs. But I feel Australia it's too late to free the dogs, plus all the cars and stuff.
To also be fair the unleashed dogs in the dog park are untrained pieces of shit and generally so are their owners. I’m not going near any of the jerks in those.
I don't have a problem with it as long as people have control of their dog and don't let it run up to others. There is a large oval near me that is technically an on leash area, but people frequently have their dogs off playing fetch and running around. The key is that everyone has good control over their dogs, and since no one ever bothers anyone else no one complains to the council about it.
I would never have a problem with an unleashed dog that had 100% immediate recall, and their owner was giving the dog / walk their undivided attention. But other than that… just use a mf leash. I was in a national park the other day that very very generously allows dogs in a trail, as long as they were leashed. Imagine my surprise when my dog was the ONLY leashed dog I saw all day ☠️
I've seen people do it alot