Recently I was a guest on a Toronto-area talkshow, Goldhawk Live. They invited Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong to talk about his proposal to allow select city parks to have “off leash” hours for dogs early in the morning and later at night. I was brought on as a dog behaviour expert for the show.
One of the points I made was that the majority of dog owners are good owners who respect leash laws, pick up after their dogs, and invest in training and do their best to keep their dog from infringing upon the rights of others. The minority spoil it for good dog owners, and make us all look bad.
Certainly, while good dog owners can socially shame others to do things like pick up their dog’s poop, unfortunately, that only goes so far. We need more enforcement of bylaws so that those bad apples respect leash laws, pick up after their dogs, and start behaving responsibly.
This is what I saw today on King Street West in the middle of the day. A dog tethered to a bicycle, riding in traffic. It is a horrible idea and a copycat behaviour I am seeing more of.
What bad behaviours drive YOU crazy? Comment below and let’s discuss.
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjNRl5GzzPo[/youtube]