Witterings

Honestly go find that pill .... you're sounding like you'd start a fight in an empty room!

Rule 1 by the way ..... Don't assume.

livedarklions

/ignore

Witterings

And yes had completely forgotten all about this as I have far more interesting things in my life to think about ..... you clearly don't ... maybe that's the reason for your anger

OBoile

I have no problems with dogs, but I do have an issue with those extendable leashes (which are illegal where I live, but still very common). As soon as you see one of those, you know there's going to be potential problems, not the least of which will be from the inattentive owner.

livedarklions

As dumb as it is to use one of those extendables on a MUP, using it on a road it tells me someone really doesn't like their dog.

Hiro11

I'll add the the chorus here:

These Flexi leashes are indeed incredibly popular. I live in a very suburban, densely populated area with lots of dogs and I'd say the majority of people around here walk their dog on a Flexi leash. To be judgmental: people in my neighborhood don't seem to understand that you need to train your dog to walk properly: have him/her stick to your right side, walk when you walk, stop when you walk, pay attention to your commands. Dogs get confused on Flexi leashes: the dog thinks they're free to wander but they're obviously not. The dog winds up getting confused and surprised. A short, static leash is just better all the way around. The dog will be happier, you will be happier and it's easy to train dogs to walk properly. Flexi leashes prevent any sort of training, they actually encourage the dog to ignore you.

This is made worse by people in my neighborhood who insist on using these Flexi leashes on my local gravel MUP. The trail is maybe 10 feet wide and full of cyclists. It's a MUP and great for taking a dog for a walk, but you need to dog to stay close to you for safety's sake. Too often people let their dog wander around on the path, stretching the leash to its limit. They're often listening to music as well and generally oblivious. This makes passing them on a bike unnecessarily sketchy. Understand, I think it's great they're using the MUP with their dog, just be conscientious of other users, like the rest of us.

So yeah, if you have a dog, don't use a Flexi leash.

burnthesheep

I feel like in many things in our country, our either passive aggressive nature or going too far to the PC side is giving us a lot of what we see.

Then again, if we were to utilize personal accountability, people don't have the tact or calmness to do it correctly. It's usually an angry mess of an approach when we confront people.

There's a few Euro countries with a legacy of being able to concisely call you out on your bull crap but at the same time sound as calm and friendly as a nun handing a child a warm bowl of soup.

This culture here has enabled people to immediately play the victim card instead of getting embarrassed.

If someone calls you out on something legitimate, the response of a healthy functioning adult is probably initial embarrassment. Not immediate victimhood and rage.

So goes it for entitled dog owners, entitled bike riders, and even your crazy mother who thinks chemtrails are real.

Ultimately, I think a lot lower % of people here tend to be "rule followers" versus "principle based".

I can be OK with this if your principle is that you take your flexi leash or off leash animal to a large open field. Not the busy MUP.

It's funny, the flexi leash and off leash has gotten worse IMHO with all the modern "dog friendly" stores and breweries and restaurants. The normalization of "principle based" dog culture spreading everywhere.

To me, none of it is funny as my wife has been bitten on an MUP by a dog on a flexi leash. It's not a situation to apply principles to, as we share an MUP based upon agreed upon rules. Not agreed upon principles.

Our MUP's list no flexy leashes.

Witterings

But surely the whole point of a flexi lead is to let the dog have extra exercise in an area where it's not possible to free walk them or they can't be let off the lead for some other reason and in essence it's their play time and they need more exercise than we do ... a flexi lead is a way of giving them this which I think they should be entitled to whilst still offering a far greater degree of control than being off the leash.

As mentioned earlier we look after assistance dogs in training at the weekends, the charity employs a number of the best dog trainers in the country and also employs people who's sole job is to look after the animal's welfare and guess what they give us to walk the dog with at the weekends ... a flexi lead for the reasons as mentioned.

Put these dogs on their short leads and they know it's not "their time" and they behave very differently, walking at your side with lots of eye contact waiting for instruction .... put their coats on and they go into another mode again and know it's work time.

The biggest problem with flexi leads is more often the owners not the tool they're using and they SHOULD be vigilant about their surroundings .... much the same as a cyclist is using a machine that could potentially cause injury ... whether it be to a child or a dog ... and as such should be also be vigilant about their surroundings and in situations where it may be necessary give appropriate warning of their presence.

Wilfred Laurier

I used to live in a big city with a med/large size dog. When people were riding bikes on the sidewalk (which drove me f'ing crazy as it is illegal in my province and dangerous for pedestrians) I would let some slack into the leash (6', non-retractable) and my dog would instinctively go to the other side of the sidewalk and we would block the sidewalk cyclist, and I would feign deafness if he (always a he) asked me to move. Any situation where a cyclist actually has the right to be cycling, my dog was usually close enough that my leg would brush against her side with every step.

I hate those extendible leashes - they seemed designed to encourage bad behavior in a dog.

Marci

I sometimes have my own dog on a 6 foot leash when biking. He LOVES it. But being that he only weighs 15 lbs and wears a harness I can actually pick him off the ground and pedal like heck to get away from loose dogs. And he isn't big enough to pull me over at all. He has a basket he rides in when tired... And he listens to a call back when loose about 90% of the time.
But yeah the stretchy leashes can be a problem. But I stop and wait for them to get the dog under control. I used to ride horses and well when your working with an animal you need to cut some slack. We can usually always stop the bike and restart. Besides the dogs usually really cute and you can admire them, or even help them with training the dog to be more excepting of the bike next time around. Telling someone their dog is cute and or handsome goes a long way towards making inroads to cooperation in sharing the space.
OR as Mom used to say attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. LOL Though that doesn't hold up with fruit flies....

AnotherHuman

Never had issues with dogs, it's usually the owner's fault if he/she hasn't really evaluated the situation properly by not training how to walk their dog, use an inappropriate leash or don't acknowledge that their dog can be aggressive.

Hiro11

Totally agree. I also notice that people with small dogs too often make no effort to train their dog at all. Yapping, running around, snapping at people, getting underfoot. "Oh, he's tiny" they say. Yeah, I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about stepping on / running over your dog. Train him / her! Dogs like and need to know that someone is in charge. A small dog is still a dog.

indyfabz

One reason why I am a cat person.

Witterings

Not only that, train dogs in the right way encouraging them with positive reinforcement and rewarded for doing the right thing with treats .... they absolutely love it and see it as a game and you get a better behaved dog that's easier to control as a result.


What ... these totally disloyal and self serving creatures who will only ever come to you on their terms and have absolutely no interest in you or your welfare / state of mind what-so-ever.

They aren't on leashes so they can dart out from under a bush with no warning and run out under bicycle wheels without any restraint or supervision at all.
Is that why you're a cat person or ..... do you like them because of the awful screech / screaming noise they'd emit if you run them over and as their bones are thinner they break more easily .... I'd swear you'd hear them popping if you hit one.

luevelvet

I don’t mind the dogs or even owners using longer than reasonable leashes. What I can’t stand are those who can’t control their dog when it’s needed. Whether its skateboarders, roller bladers or cyclists, one should always be on the look out when you have a dog out on a MUP.

On my lunch ride a woman had a large dog on a 10’ lead and was wearing head phones oblivious to anything behind her. She was standing smack dab in the middle of the whole path with her dog blocking the entire left side of the pavement. In this case I saw the opening was on the right so I yelled “on your right!” louder than usual knowing she couldn’t hear me with that pair of faux Beats on. I yelled a few times while going 5mph trying to avoid her, the dog or the leash. She was startled when we squeaked by on the right (to be fair we still gave have her 2-3’) and I just smiled and shook my head at her. I try to be polite to everyone out there since it’s a shared path. I go fast when it’s clear but there are higher traffic areas with pups and families etc. All I ask is that you stick to the right side and try and listen for us who can’t fathom walking when we can ride a bike instead. :-)

BirdsBikeBinocs

The lady made a mistake. We all make mistakes. I made 3 today. So far. Be glad it didn't cause any harm to anyone. Then, fuggetaboutit.

Nermal

I got to try to hold a small dog on one of those flexi leads. Big surprise when the dog took off running. It seems the leash sort of freewheels when pulled. You have to grab and squeeze the grip to apply the brake. Seems to me they should be designed to be fail safe. That is, release the lead with a positive action. Use the grip to release instead of put on the brake.

downtube42

I see it as a space issue. Everyone in public has some amount of personal space. People with dogs extend their personal space. A long leash means more space is theirs. A leash across the MUP claims the width of the MUP as theirs, a leash across a road claims the road as theirs. An off-leash dog means the owner is claiming all the space the dog can/will roam around. You may enter that space, but you enter it on their terms.

Cyclists' space claim extends out in front based on speed. The faster you're going, the more space you're essentially claiming.

In either case, in a public space, it's inconsiderate to claim more than your share of that space.

Share the road indeed.

indyfabz

I always worry when someone hints at harm to animals, even if jokingly. Makes me wonder what is lurking beneath the surface.

Witterings

Have no fear .... you're well wide of the mark with that ... am actually a cat lover as I grew up with them from 8 to 28 although I do now prefer dogs, it was just a wind up and even edited it just after posting with the reason for editing as PT .... standing for pi55 take

chephy

I have to confess, I use an extendable leash.

My dog is extremely energetic so it would be cruel to her to just have her be within six feet of a human at all times, which is all a conventional leash would allow. But she is also unpredictably dog-reactive, so off-leash parks are out. (And yes, we've done and continue to do EXTENSIVE training with her regarding dog reactivity... it's improved, but not to a point I would trust her to play in a dog park off-leash ever...) So an extendable leash is a compromise. That said, I'm super paranoid about how I use it, and would never allow it to stretch across a bike path. I only use it in wide open areas with clear sight lines, and am constantly on look-out for pedestrians, other dogs, cyclists etc.

As a cyclist, of course, I assume everyone is a moron, and expect leashes across paths at all times. Defensive cycling.

P.S. We also have her walk by our side on a regular leash a lot of the time, such as on the way to and from the park, and have clear commands so she understand the distinction between walking on a regular leash vs walking on a Flexi-leash. Also, she seems to have learned on her own about how long the Flexi leash is, and she tends to slow down her running as she approaches the end of it.

livedarklions

He's actually a decent poster on other subjects, but is so obnoxious when he gets on a dog thread that I've put him on ignore.

Clyde1820

^ This.


Whether in a car/truck on the road, or on a bicycle, if I'm approaching a situation where the other is in a risky spot and doesn't know I'm approaching, I generally provide notice/warning: a tap on the horn, ding of the bell, along with slowing down during the approach and pass. Much safer, that way. With the nice side benefit of avoiding most instances of "frightening" (surprising) the person in a situation where any rapid movements on his/her part can make things worse.

Seems particularly important with a dog on a leash. Which really just widens the space in which there's risk to others who are attempting a pass.

Much prefer those with dogs on leashes who are extremely aware of surroundings and, when others approaching, who take the time to reel in the leash to ensure the dog won't run into the person/bike/car. Not all are like this, sadly, but it's the best approach. Respectful, cautious and responsible. For all concerned, including the dog.

livedarklions

I don't know about you, but if I'm on a road, I'm usually going faster than 20 mph, and the cars on the road are usually going faster than 30 mph. The notion that someone should count on people warning them of their approach in time to haul their dog across the street is just absolutely ridiculous.

If someone is letting their dogs or small kids play in the street, they're definitely to blame if something bad happens.

dedhed

I suspect the OP was on a quiet subdivision street with a 30 or less limit for the scenario to be playing out.
So, you wouldn't slow down when seeing a potentially hazardous situation developing in front of you? You'd rather create a hazard than slow down or warn the offending party of your approach? That is absolutely ridiculous.
Typically pedestrians will have the ROW over a bicycle, so in fact you may be to blame if there is an accident.