Dog Walking

[Tomato]

Just need to vent about something dumb that happened to me today because otherwise I'm going to sit here for the next hour chewing on it even though it's stupid and I need to blow it off.

So ok, we have an old dog in our house named lacy, who has been in the house since I was 12 or so. She's well behaved, is very loving, and aside from putting on some weight lately has been in pretty good health. That said, with two foster are babies in the house right now, it's difficult for my parents to take her on walks, so she hasn't been getting a lot of attention lately. That's going to improve in a few weeks, but right now I'm trying to do what I can to take her out and walk her.

Now, as I've said, this is a very well behaved dog. I've gotten to the point with her I'll just sort of walk ahead of her and let her go at her own pace, only putting the leash on if we're crossing the street or something. She doesn't run off, she comes when I call her, and we're not in a crazy enough neighborhood that I'm scared someone will hurt her.

That said, I'm walking her today and we passed a fat old woman walking her tiny little nippy dog. I saw her ahead of time, called lacy back, and put on her leash, and had every intention of just going past her and taking it back off. Then this woman desides to whine at me about how dogs need to be on leashes at all times and blah blah. I have headphones in (listening to an audiobook, which isn't going loudly enough that I can't hear everything going on.) So I pretend like I'm listening to something loud and can't hear her. She then threatened me and told me if she caught me again she'd call the cops.

Is it wrong of me to think that  we should be putting human beings on leashes instead of pets?

[Raptor]

Next time, punt the little nippy dog and if his leash comes out of her hand as he's flying away, say "Hmph!  Lotta good that leash is doing him!"

[BWPS]

Why do people always mention someone's weight when they're complaining about them like that has some correlation with their kindness? Like we automatically are supposed to hate her when we hear she's fat. Is it because society hates fat people and there's no level of social taboos for insulting them? oh ya I forgot lolololol

[Panther_Gunn]

Is it wrong of me to think that  we should be putting human beings on leashes instead of pets?

I'm all in favor of spaying/neutering certain representatives of the population, but I think that's a separate topic.

That being said, if she *is* correct about the leash ordinance, as long as you're ok with and prepared to pay the citation you are opening yourself up to should some random constable happen upon you at the right moment, then you're perfectly fine with feeling morally superior to her about your well-behaved canine companion.

[thalaw2]

Members resident dog civilization! Civilization! And walk the dog.

I love that quote


及时处理宠物的排泄物

[Tomato]

Er... I actually didn't mean anything bad about the weight thing (she wasn't exactly obese anyway, just a bit chubby), I was more trying to avoid calling her the b word... not only because that's offensive to the family friendly nature of this board, but also because I wouldn't want to insult poor lacy by grouping her with that jerk.

The truth is, she was just some bitter 40-50 year old woman who doesn't have anything better to do with her time then whine at punk kids for all her perceived wrongs in life.

Edit: just wanted to tack on a response to PG... he ordinance might be a real thing, but it is not her job to enforce it, nor does she have the right to detain me against my will. And on the 00.0001% chance that I get stopped by someone who not only has that authority, but has time to waste enforcing it (I live in maryland, not all that far from dc. The police have better dren to do.) then that's on me. But you'd best believe some fool tries to detain me, a former member of the usaf, against my will, I will go after them for every penny they have.

[Panther_Gunn]

The truth is, she was just some bitter 40-50 year old woman who doesn't have anything better to do with her time then whine at punk kids for all her perceived wrongs in life.

Hey, careful there.  I think you just offended me.  I plan on taking up that hobby in the near future, and I don't think I like your tone.  How dare you!  You'd better watch your arse, that's all I have to say.

[BentonGrey]

Sorry for the frustrating experience 'Mato. 

[Cyber Burn]

Unfortunately, some people just need to be in control of every situation. If it bothered her that much, she should have avoided you, not taken the time to rip you a new one.

Now, as someone who is allergic to dogs, and has been bitten by more than one unleashed dog, I'm a firm believer that dogs should be leashed when out in public, not just for my own benefit, but for the dog's as well (It still upsets me thinking about the stray that I saw hit by a car). But, like I said, I would rather avoid the dog walker than to rip them a new one. It just accomplishes nothing.

[BWPS]

Er... I actually didn't mean anything bad about the weight thing (she wasn't exactly obese anyway, just a bit chubby), I was more trying to avoid calling her the b word... not only because that's offensive to the family friendly nature of this board, but also because I wouldn't want to insult poor lacy by grouping her with that jerk.

Does her being rude about the law you broke really have to be related to her weight or gender or age?

What kind of dog do you have? I mean I wouldn't personally say anything to you, but people not obeying leash laws is such a huge problem in my neighborhood, like every day it's hard to blame her. And you're definitely right about them not being enforced at all. Maybe if she was a Nazi or her threat was violent or something it'd be easier to hop on board, but safety of humans and dogs is a really touchy subject for a lot of people, I think rightly so.

[Tomato]

Bwps... I'm not going to fight you on this any more. I feel like you're being overly sensitive about this, whether it's to troll me or because you honestly have some deep seated issues about this, I neither know nor care at this point. The dog is over 10 years old, she's never bitten anyone, and due to her treatment before we adopted her she's terrified of anything bigger then a mouse. On the other hand, the woman threatened to physically prevent me from leaving over something that she had no authority to enforce.

So yes, I called her names on the internet. And given the fact that she tried to grab me, she's lucky I didn't do far worse.

Edit: now that I'm a bit calmer, I've removed the last bit of this post, since it was more than a little petty.

That said... I typed this situation out to vent my frustrations, not to get attacked. I don't mind dissenting opinions on the dog walking thing (Cyber and PG made the case for it fairly well), and I'll concede that I wasn't wholly in the right here. But if it was my dad out there doing that same thing, she never would have said anything, and she certainly wouldn't have tried to stop him. The only reason she jumped on me was because I'm a 23 year old kid wearing a leather jacket and green pants with my headphones in.

It doesn't matter that I've had that same jacket for almost a decade and it's comfortable and warm, it doesn't matter that I'm listening to a book by one of my favorite authors, and it doesn't matter that I'm wearing my work clothes because I have to go to work in an hour. In her mind I was just some punk slacker who was being irresponsible with his dog. Even if she had been on a leash, she'd have likely complained about something equally as trivial. I know this because I used to be more strict about the leash, and I'd still get whined at because the dog peed in their yard or because she pooped and I picked it up. The only difference in this case is that this woman tried to physically stop me. THAT is what upset me.

[Reepicheep]

I feel you may be overthinking this, Mato.

Some folks out there do just prowl to get up in your shizzle. I've had people complain at me for reasons I know nothing about. Ask anyone who has worked behind a till.

Just smile, apologise and move on.

[Tomato]

Well to be fair, at the time I just walked away from her. I only posted here to vent some of my frustrations about the situation so I wouldn't be stewing over it on the way to work. It was such a straightforward situation on my end that I honestly did not expect the bwps inquisition I've received since I posted it. I had thought, silly me, that after explaining that I was upset about the situation, that my friends wouldn't jump all over me and make a stupid incident into a fight about 20 different petty little things.

For the record, I'd have called her names regardless of her age or weight. If she was skinny I'd have called her a boney old bat, if she was young and good looking I'd have called her a prissy self-righteous jerk, if it was a musclebound guy I'd have called him a musclebound ox. Her actions were what offended me, not her appearance.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

When talking about an unknown person who annoyed you, it is pretty normal to describe them by whatever stuck out to you the most, and it is not likely to be particularly complementary.  If the woman had been skinny and youngish, Tomato probably would have called her a scrawny kid or some such, so it's pretty much a non issue.

But the fact is it seems that there are quite a few elderly lady busybodies who like to right wrongs and call police for little or no reason.  There was in the news a lady who called the police because her neighbor was being such a negligent mother that she allowed her kids to--gasp--ride their bycycles in front of their house.  Or the one who called the police on a friend of a friend because he was openly carrying his sidearm in a place where it was perfectly legal to do so.  Or the one who called the police because a man was doing such suspicious activities in a Walmart parking lot as-shock of all shocks--talking on his cell phone.  Yeah, there's a rash of this sort of thing going around, and I don't blame you for being upset.

[Reepicheep]

Wait.... What if...

Maybe BWPS was the chubby woman with the nippy dog!

[BentonGrey]

Wait.... What if...

Maybe BWPS was the chubby woman with the nippy dog!

Haha, y'all are always entertaining, guy.  BWPS, I understand your point, and yeah, we have an antagonistic relationship to weight and appearance in this country, but I think 'Mato's and Cat's points are pretty solid, it's just conventional to describe people by prominent attributes when we are speaking about someone we've only had a casual interaction with.  I do think you've taken it a bit more to heart than is wise. 

In the end, I'm sure this was very frustrating from 'Mato's point of view, whether or not he was 100% in the right.  We've all had experiences like this where we're just minding our own business and someone causes us problems over something minor, real or imagined.  It's not fun, and it, as CB said, is not likely to produce any good results.  Human nature is to bow up when attacked. 

[Panther_Gunn]

I was not initially aware that she had tried to grab you.  That was probably her biggest mistake.  At that point I would have countered her threat to call the police with an insistence that she did so, as it would allow me to file a complaint of attempted assault on her part, which I'm sure carries a potential penalty much stiffer than a leash law.  I would also inform her that if my dog *wasn't* such a well-behaved, docile animal, her grabbing me would likely have prompted the dog to take it as a threat to her family, and at least elicited a bark or growl, if not an outright bite.  Never grab a person when they're with their dog -- they can get just as defensive over a threat to a family member as humans can.

[Reepicheep]

Fun fact.

When a dog sees another dog, their instinct is to look at how their owner behaves. If the owner tightens their grip on the leash, it sends a signal that their dog is violent.

I read that somewhere. Nothing to do with the discussion. Thought it was interesting. Might not even be true.

[Deaths Jester]

Just need to vent about something dumb that happened to me today because otherwise I'm going to sit here for the next hour chewing on it even though it's stupid and I need to blow it off.

All I have to say about this is...'Mato quit chewing on your dog, it's not food...it's a dog!

[Grendal_71]

Depends on where you live DJ, and just how much hot sauce you put on it.  There ain't much I wouldn't (and haven't) chomped down on when I'm hungry enough.

[Deaths Jester]

Depends on where you live DJ, and just how much hot sauce you put on it.  There ain't much I wouldn't (and haven't) chomped down on when I'm hungry enough.

True...true...I will say I do know of a pretty good tasting dog-based mongolian beef recipe...so yeah, I guess it could be meat too...though I don't think 'mato's dog enjoys being chewed on.

[thalaw2]

Chewing on a dog is nothing compared to what they do in Canada when they're bored. 

From experience eating dog is not so bad....especially with bread and wine.

[Panther_Gunn]

From experience eating dog is not so bad....especially with bread and wine.

Which makes me think of the B-52's lyrics:  "Goin' to the store for hot dogs and wine!"

[captmorgan72]

I agree with this woman that all dogs that are being walked should be on leashes. It really is just common sense. As far as calling the woman fat, yeah I get you were just describing her as you saw her. I remember seeing a picture of you once that you posted, and I would describe you as a scrawny kid. Not meant as an insult, just a description of what you are seeing.