welcome to portland, where dogs have more rights than people.

"IT'S A DOG. Dogs are unpredictable, well, because THEY'RE DOGS."




HUMANS are unpredictable, far more-so than dogs. Maybe WE should be the ones on leashes.

Perhaps you've confused my dog for someone else's? Because mine is perfect. Obviously if my dog rushes up and attacks, it must be something wrong with your dog. I mean, sure it's a cute dog, but do you even take it to a canine naturopath? Again, the problem is you. If you spent less time trying to change nature's ways and spent more time trying to worth WITH them, you woudn't need a leash, man. Here's a card for my doggie acupuncturist, she'll change your life.

The leashless assholes are at least less assholeish than the "make your dog run on a leash in the street while you ride your bike" people.

I ride a bike, and I'm a very defensive rider, yet through no fault of my own (and I'll be the first to admit that most of the cyclists I know who have been hit did so while doing something illegal or just dumb) I've been hit by two cars. It's one thing to risk your own life, but dragging your innocent animal along for the ride is pretty fucked up.

This goes double for the super aggressive cyclists who like to strap their kids to the bike. There's one particularly bad bike dad in my neighborhood. Always trying to race or cut people off while he's got a baby seat on his rack and a toddler in a trailer in back. His behavior would piss me off even if his kids weren't involved, but he's either going to get them killed or just teach them to ride/drive like fucking assholes.

yeah, yeah: TL,DR and all of that.....skip it then, fuckers.

quite a worthy gripe. i mean, what's more of a completely horrible, pointless way for a dog to die than for it to 'uncharacteristically, all-of-a-sudden' dart into traffic because someone was a myopic dumbass for letting him go leashless (because "he likes it" and "always listens to me")?

@ ForWhomTheBellTrolls:

one disagreement: while i'm sure there are exceptions, some dogs, like mine, find nothing more exciting and exhilarating than running at full-speed for no real reason. the only way this can be accomplished (without letting them go leashless) is to throw a bike into the equation -- and for the first chunk, before she gets tired, i can barely keep up even then. i wish this wasn't the case, because i much prefer riding my bike sans dog; but she guilts me into feeling like an asshole if i don't oblige her every once in a while.

granted, it is dangerous, more so in certain locales than others, and depending on the quality of training -- my new neighborhood isn't a very safe one in that respect, so my bike/dog rides have dropped in frequency. anyway, the point is that many dogs love running at bike-speed and don't fit into the "(you're an asshole if you) *make* your dog run [...] while you ride your bike" part of your comment.

lastly: i've been hit by two cars as well. and i also think myself to be an extremely careful, competent, defensive, cynical, observant rider. maybe we're wrong somehow. sounds impossible, i know. i think we just need to be even more cynical, more faithless in regard to the competency/consideration of our fellow man.

Yeah, since the last collision I yield to pretty much anything, regardless of right of way. That's how you stay alive, cause you apparently can't expect drivers to signal turns (how I was hit both times) or look for cyclists.

I can see your point about your dog enjoying that, but lots of dogs also like chasing cars. I knew one golden retriever who caught one and is subsequently dead. Your dog doesn't really know about safety. Take him to a dog park where he can run free! That or go bike with him around a track - most high schools have them, and they tend to be empty at night.

@ FWTBT:

though she's well-trained, no, my dog doesn't have a healthy fear of vehicles, hence her always being leashed, whether i'm on a bike or not. dog parks aren't her cup of tea, but a school track is a good idea that i hadn't thought of. otherwise, i stick to relatively-spacious, quiet neighborhoods during off-hours.

nothing like getting knocked over by a couple of cars to get you (and i) to give their idiot operators a little more credit in the ineptitude category. also, i'm working on attaching basketball-sized mirrorballs to my helmet and backpack -- safety AND style.

That's what little Jimmy gets for wanting to be a pirate when he grows up.

I was walking through Little Gabriel one day, when two big off leash dogs, one a German Shepard and the other a black Doberman simultaneously took notice of me from the other side of the park; not in the off leash area. They both raced towards me at full speed. I was prepared to kill them both, but they stopped dead in their tracks, just beyond my reach, turned around, and ran back to the group of four idiots who were supposed to be controlling them. Dogs are lethal weapons and I should have considered it an attack and taken appropriate action against the negligent/malevolent masters.

HIT - the track is also nice because it's softer/easier on the dog's joints than concrete.

Dog shit is soft, too. Let them run through that. Oh, yeah, that's right, Gabriel Park already IS all dog shit.

Yes, well... dogs do love shit. I'm sure they'd be into that. Yet another example of how dogs don't always make the choices that their owners would like them to. Hence training and leashes.