I would like to take a moment to address those of you who feel that the rules for walking your best friend do not apply to you. We love dogs, and ours happens to be a rescue we adopted and is very reactive to other dogs due to her past life before we adopted her. We stay away from off-leash areas because of this and stick to clearly posted on-leash areas where we can work to re-train our family member with the help of a professional trainer.
However, some of you have decided that the off-leash parks are not good enough for you and feel itB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s OK to let your dog run free in the only areas of Saanich where we can work with our rescue. IB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™m guessing that you didnB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t think to check the signs at the entrance ways or you just donB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t care about anyone but yourselves? Quite selfish really!
For example, every school ground including the universities is clearly marked on-leash and is a great place for our pet to re-learn and grow, that is until an off-leash dog comes into the area and ends the training again. Please just follow the rules, and then the rest of us who do, can count on a place to help our pets. This also applies to public streets B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·¦ imagine the senior couple not crazy about dogs out for a morning stroll when yours runs up for a meet and greet? Check the bylaws, pet owners!
Please take a moment and consider the many people in Greater Victoria who adopt pets, and those animals may have had a rough start to life. To satisfy your privilege, please consider taking your pet to a designated off-leash area where we wonB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t be affected by you or your dog, and we wonB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t bother you either! Your dog, no matter how well-behaved, running around off-leash in an on-leash area creates extreme stress and anxiety for a dog that is reactive to other dogs. Thank you for understanding.
Peter Haring
Saanich