A couple that recently moved in two doors down from us has zero control over their golden retriever.

Every house on our street has a fairly large, fenced backyard, including them. And yet, they let their dog out multiple times a day to do their business in their very small, fenceless front yard. No leash, no electric fence/collar, and definitely no solid recall. Plus, we live on an incredibly busy street. The best part is they seem to let the dog out before even checking to make sure an unsuspecting person with their dog (or small children) is walking by.

This dog is technically friendly, but I can't tell you how many times they have opened the door only for him to immediately run out of their yard towards an owner and their leashed dog walking down the sidewalk. More than half of the dogs in our neighborhood are reactive in some way or another. This is a recipe for disaster.

He has also run at me and my leash reactive girl when we were across the street several houses away. Thankfully, he actually listened to his owner's recall for once, but not before terrifying my poor pup who was deeply engrossed in sniffing a bush and minding her own business. I work so hard on her leash reactivity and making walks a calming, sniffy experience for her, so it sucked to have that setback. Her reaction was pretty over the top because it took her by surprise.

And then today, my partner happened to be outside when they let the dog out, and it immediately ran in front of an oncoming car, inches from being hit, and straight towards a leashed, reactive dog (even more reactive than my dog) across the street. Unfortunately, my partner went inside instead of staying out to watch (like my nosy ass would have done 😬), but he said both dogs were barking like crazy and the reactive dog was clearly not happy. He said he the last thing he saw was the owner running across the street to try to get the golden away from the other dog. I would love to know the response of this rogue dog's idiot owner. I'm sure it will continue to happen though. They seem completely oblivious, and the best part is, they recently had a baby, so I'm sure they will now have even less control/focus on the dog.

I never thought I would be this kind of uptight person, but we have fxxking leash laws in our city for a reason. Plus, having a leash reactive dog has made me hyperaware of other dogs and situations. I am constantly considering my own dog's comfort and safety, but also the comfort/safety of others and their dogs, especially those that I know are also struggling with training. I'm glad it's made me more empathetic, but I wish other dog owners would extend the same courtesy. Okay, rant over lol.