Ken Ozuna
Ken Ozuna
Sep 4, 2018 · 1 min read

This is reasonable except this is a lukewarm defense and you’re not understanding my argument. Dogs should be leashed but muzzles don’t always protect against dog bites, just minimizes their severity — which is good and responsible owners should do.

We do, in fact, muzzle our dog but in the summer it’s less than ideal because of the heat and his advanced age. Muzzles, even properly fitted ones, make it harder for a dog to bark, drink, or pant. Instead, we prefer to walk him well on his own when there’s minimal to no dogs present. Otherwise, he’s extremely friendly to humans.

The leash however, isn’t primarily to control— it’s to protect. Period.

Your analogy is really poor. Dogs are like children in mentality, but not physically. Dogs, especially larger breeds, are significantly stronger, faster, and depending on the breed, driven by instincts. You can have a dog with a perfect heel and that would only cover you 99% of the time.

There is *no* occassion in which walking your dog off leash in a public area is a good idea unless it’s a dog park or a designated, enclosed area meant for pet play. The benefits would be miniscule. The point of the article is to keep the dog safe because even if you can control the dog, you cannot control the environment nor anticipate their behavior no matter how good of a trainer you feel yourself to be.

    Ken Ozuna

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    Ken Ozuna

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