People who refuse to leash their dogs in Maplewood/S.O. parks archived

Viking...neither myself or 4Strings ever said we did not leash in the park...just an FYI...I have only unleashed in the res...in the woods. My pooch, if ever in a local park, would be leashed.

mammabear,

In the post (excerpt below) 4strings does have an unleased dog. It seems to be in the park.

"Actually Def, I did have a conversation with one of Maplewood's finest when the woman whose son was breaking the rules by riding his bike in the park called the cops. The cop was very apologetic about asking me to leash my dog and said,"Some people have too much time on their hands, I hate to do this" The policeman saw the absurdity and waste of time of this situation, sorry you can't comprehend that. "

I did not say you did this.

Posted By: mammabear

Viking...neither myself or 4Strings ever said we did not leash in the park...just an FYI...I have only unleashed in the res...in the woods. My pooch, if ever in a local park, would be leashed.

You're wrong - shocking as it may seem to you and others on this thread. Read one of 4strings first posts on this thread posted on June 15th 2007 11:01:38 AM. I actually liked some of the things she said but if you read that post carefully, things don't hang together. On the one hand she says she only briefly unleashes her dog way earlier than 8:30 but only when people aren't around. Later in that post she speaks about a woman with a kid (on a bike - yes, against the rules) asking her to leash the dog.

While I don't think we should be going to the park early on a crusade to prevent unleashed dogs, if nothing is ever said, we'll revert to the generally unsafe and smelly environment we had several years ago which was created by the informal dog park at Memorial.

Wendy Lauter

I'll put hot sauce on my hockey stick

Posted By: T-Berger33I'll put hot sauce on my hockey stick

Oh man, I'm not even touching that one (no pun intended). Berger, you can't be leaving the door open like that!

You said you'd put juices on your boots

All right I'll go back on my word about being out briefly because I don't like people intimating that I'm not telling the truth.


Wendy-Hangs together perfectly, It was a year ago but I recall that I went to the park at around 7:45. At approx 8 AM a woman and her son were walking on the path right across from the train station. I was all the way at the bottom of the hill near the creek, training my dog (this is what I do when I let him off leash, I don't just let him wander freely. He stays right beside me and listens to my commands). The woman was nowhere near me or my dog but felt like lecturing me about , "The Rules". Sorry but when someone lectures me about "Rules" when breaking them herself (her son's bike riding in the park), I'm going to say something. When I pointed out, the posted rule about bike riding she said, "Thats a stupid rule". Again she was not threatened at all by my dog as she strolled on down to continue lecturing me while her son briefly got off his bike and started petting my dog. I realize two wrongs don't make a right but if I'm going to get lectured by a hypocrite I get indignant (I'm far from perfect, despite Calliope's ridiculous last post). As far as Mr. Macho Hot Sauces comments about me tieing in a wrong left turn years ago, to me breaking the rules now, sorry the woman was breaking the rules as we spoke. I'm so sorry that you think Calliope's Hitler comment was appropriate. I don't care if it's a inside MOL "joke" to kill a thread, it's in really poor taste, you should be ashamed of yourself for making light of it.

Viking-If you bothered to read my posts I said that if someone came near me or my dog and wanted me to leash him I would, case closed. The woman who complained was nowhere near me, she just wanted to lecture me while she flagrantly broke another rule, that she didn't feel was important. If your in a spot where you feel threatened by a dog you should demand the dog be leashed, if the owner refuses you have every right to call whatever authority you feel is appropriate. If your going to start calling animal control everytime your in the park, just to teach us horrible dog people a lesson, I would suggest you get a life.

Defcon-The thread about Pit-Bulls attacking people in South Orange is a serious one. Please leave me out of your un-funny, ridiculous comments on other threads. If you want to do something other than play the armchair macho man, perhaps, you and your famous steel toed boots should head over to S. Orange and help the folks who are dealing with a serious problem. Find yourself someone else to stalk on other threads.

John Lennon is playing in the background , his words are so appropriate:

"I'm sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, short sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites"

Didn't John Lennon also say, "We're bigger than Jesus Christ"

"Find yourself someone else to stalk on other threads."

Stalking? Don't flatter yourself. I just find it wrong that people let their dogs run around unleashed, when there's a rule stating you're not supposed to, and you try to justify it. Two wrongs don't make a right, but neither does one, sorry if you can't grasp this thought, perhaps you can ask your dog.

I'm with u hot sauce guy

I'm sort of neutral on this issue--I've noticed the "unofficial offleash area" in Memorial Park and it doesn't bother me much--but 4strings, I do think it's strange that although you claim you'll leash your dog the minute anyone asks you to, in the anecdote you posted, you found a reason to refuse to do it. So you'll leash your dog the minute someone asks you to, but only if you feel like they deserve it.

Well, that WAS kinda rude of the lady to ask him to obey the leash rule while she ignored the bike rule (because IT was silly).

Not saying it was right, just that I totally understand how it would rankle.

Still, I think that part of 4strings defense is invalidated. "I'll promptly leash my dog if anyone asks"--No, you won't.

And what was the reason I refused?
This person wasn't near me,wasn't frightened but just wanted to lecture me about RULES. If she would have told her son to walk his bicycle, I would have leashed him but she just told me the rule that applied to her was stupid. I should have been the bigger person but alas, I have my faults.

The only other time I was confronted was when a guy with two little girls came into the area where I was training my dog. He told me his daughters were terrified, so I leashed him. My dog loves kids so he kept on wagging his tail and looking at the girls. Eventually one of the girls went to pet my dog and he licked her hand. Next thing you know both the girls were hugging my dog and asked if I could unleash him so they could throw the ball for him. The father thanked me for helping his girls get over their fear of dogs.

And what was the reason I refused?
This person wasn't near me,wasn't frightened but just wanted to lecture me about RULES. If she would have told her son to walk his bicycle, I would have leashed him but she just told me the rule that applied to her was stupid. I should have been the bigger person but alas, I have my faults.

The only other time I was confronted was when a guy with two little girls came into the area where I was training my dog. He told me his daughters were terrified, so I leashed him. My dog loves kids so he kept on wagging his tail and looking at the girls. Eventually one of the girls went to pet my dog and he licked her hand. Next thing you know both the girls were hugging my dog and asked if I could unleash him so they could throw the ball for him. The father thanked me for helping his girls get over their fear of dogs.

Your justification is that she just wanted to lecture you about RULES. It's entirely possible that she didn't want to lecture you, but just wanted to get you to leash your dog.

The fact that you didn't like her, or didn't think she was close enough to be afraid of your dog, or that her son was on his bike so she was breaking a rule too, are no better as justifications than HER stated justification of "That rule is stupid."

Just sayin'.

4strings, it's really futile to continue to try to make your point--which, it seems to me, you have done more than once for anyone who cares to read the entirety of what you wrote. Some folks understand, and other folks see that you claim you will leash your dog if anyone asks, although that is clearly not necessarily the case, as per your own admission. Yup, the woman with the kid on the bike was being ridiculous, but if you say you will leash your dog if "anyone" asks, then that's what you do.

Regardless of how well behaved your dog is, how well s/he listens to commands, there is a leash LAW (not a rule or a suggestion or a guideline) that says your dog should always be on a leash when s/he is off your property. The law exist for many different reasons. If you choose to ignore it from time to time, that's your prerogative. But nonetheless, it is the LAW.

People who have "issues" with dogs will always have "issues" with dogs no matter what you or I or anyone else has to say about it. As responsible dog owners we need to respect their fears, regardless of how ridiculous they seem to us.

If you mean me, meandtheboys, I don't have issues with dogs. And it may well be the case that woman-with-kid-on-bike was being ridiculous. But even ONLY hearing 4strings side of the story, doesn't sound to me like woman-with-kid was being any more ridiculous than 4strings.

Didn't mean you lara. Meant someone else who seems to have it out for certain "breeds" based on nothing but misinformation and stereotypes.

I have a problem with my kids and dogs that is somewhat opposite of the problem most parents experience. My kids are used to a "big" (I think of him as "medium") dog and have absolutely no fear walking up to a dog of any size or shape. So I've had to teach them they have to ask first because not every dog is as nice and friendly as ours, or even likes kids as much as ours. And whenever a child approaches me about petting my dog, I ALWAYS make sure it's O.K. with the parent first.

meand--OK, sweet. We cool.:smile:

I have in the past had a big, hard-to-control dog who looked scary but was actually very sweet, and now have a tiny kid who always seems to be in danger to me, so I kind of see both sides of the issue. Dogs love to be off leash. Dog people want their dogs to be happy. Parents don't want to have to try and predict the behavior of strange dogs. So I don't know. and 4strings, for the record I've never felt compelled to ask anybody to leash their dog in the park, and I've found enough space for my kiddie to play without encroaching on the unofficial dog park. But that's just me.

meand - Fair summary, there. I suppose the thing I find most offensive is the fact of 4strings' own admission that "...if someone happened to come by who was afraid, I'd leash him." The self-centered and contemptible tone of that backward conceit directly infers a willingness to wait until at minimum a determination can be made as to whether or not someone is afraid FIRST, before reacting to leash the dog. As if my kids should have to crap their pants or at minimum cower behind me before it becomes obvious that there's an issue, and the leash can once again go back to where it should have been in the first place.

Posted By: ctrzaskameand - Fair summary, there. I suppose the thing I find most offensive is the fact of 4strings' own admission that "...if someone happened to come by who was afraid, I'd leash him." The self-centered and contemptible tone of that backward conceit directly infers a willingness to wait until at minimum a determination can be made as to whether or not someone is afraid FIRST, before reacting to leash the dog. As if my kids should have to crap their pants or at minimum cower behind me before it becomes obvious that there's an issue, and the leash can once again go back to where it should have been in the first place.

Bingo, bingo, bingo ctrzaska. And for the record, I used to walk to the train station in the early morning when quite well-behaved dogs were off their leash not bothering me or anyone at all. I love dogs. But please. The parks are for humans first and you shouldn't have to wait till someone asks you (even if their kid is not on a bike) to leash. You're there at 6:00 AM and no one around? Fine, risk defying the rules. You're there at 6:00AM and people are walking by? Leash the creature up. PERIOD. That is what rules are. Oh, and I've never said anything to anyone doing that because I love dogs and am not afraid of them (I have been known to yell at people taking left turns into parking spots on Maplewood Avenue, but hey, I have to get my kicks somewhere). But what of the person - adult or kid - who doesn't love dogs. THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ASK OR SAY ANYTHING!!!!.

Wendy Lauter
Maplewood Resident

"Regardless of how well behaved your dog is, how well s/he listens to commands, there is a leash LAW (not a rule or a suggestion or a guideline) that says your dog should always be on a leash when s/he is off your property."

Does this law also apply when the dog is on your own property? In those cases, does the dog need to be restrained or trained not to leave your property?

Posted By: ctrzaskameand - Fair summary, there. I suppose the thing I find most offensive is the fact of 4strings' own admission that "...if someone happened to come by who was afraid, I'd leash him." The self-centered and contemptible tone of that backward conceit directly infers a willingness to wait until at minimum a determination can be made as to whether or not someone is afraid FIRST, before reacting to leash the dog. As if my kids should have to crap their pants or at minimum cower behind me before it becomes obvious that there's an issue, and the leash can once again go back to where it should have been in the first place.

:rolling::rolling::rolling::rolling::thumbup:

Trained not to leave the property (or contained by an electronic fence).

If it's off the leash and not on your property, you're in trouble. At least that is my understanding of the law--and I've had some experience (as in: people not liking the "look" of my dog--big shocker there--and calling the cops when he was off a leash, sitting on my front porch)!

I suppose I could be wrong, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am.

You are correct, meand.
Under the law, a dog is property. A dog may be on your own private property,with or without a fence,without a leash. The moment he sets a toe off your own property, he needs a leash. The law is pretty straight forward. On your property, no leash is necessary, off your property , he needs to be leashed (with someone responsible for controlling him on the other end of the leash)Anyone who enters your property, uninvited, (as in "trespassing") assumes the risk of whatever happens by entering the dog's territory.

Calli

I did a search for nj leash laws and came across a Jersey City message board discussing the same issue. Was amusing to see the parallel thoughts :tooth:

Taking time out to train a pet is the bollocks man

Bye, troll.

I swear on my children, I am not trying to start a fight or minimize your son's fear, but as a responsible parent it is your job to teach your child that "running" from a dog is the worst possible reaction he could have, just as you teach him other safety rules like look both ways before you cross. Teach him to turn away, do not make eye contact, stand still and keep his arms crossed in front of him--worst case scenario drop on the ground, curl up in a ball and cover your head with your hands.

You may not always be there to rescue your son from clueless owners nor may the dog always be "playing."