The sweetest little soul died at Xmas time, his name was Rocky. He was a cheeky, boisterous Pomeranian, only young, about 16 weeks. He made an impression around Double Bay in his short time here, and he certainly livened up his Puppy Pre-school class. Unfortunately, however, he bolted out his front gate and was hit by a car. He'd seen a friend of his over the road and wanted to go and play. As you can imagine his Mum was distraught. She came to me in tears to tell me he wouldn't be coming to Puppy class that night. Horrible. I can only imagine the misery I would feel if something like this happened to my Chewy.
This sad event put me in mind of how important it is for us to respect the fact that dogs and cars just don't mix. Rocky's death was a horrible accident, but many other sad road deaths can be avoided. For every time I have been asked to train someone's dog to walk off lead, I have equally been told of sad cases of dogs being hit by cars. Think about it. What possible concept can a dog have of the danger of a car? They know that if they get in one they get to hang their heads out the window and have the wind blow their jowls about. THAT'S FUN. They love to watch the scenery change as it moves along. MORE FUN. They can associate a car drive with arriving at the park for a fun walk. DEFINITELY FUN. They can also associate being asked to get back in it with leaving the park. NOT SO MUCH FUN. But what can they possibly fathom about effects of speeding metal and coming into contact with it.
If I am asked to train a dog to safely walk along the road off lead I say I can't do it, it's not safe, and can never be guaranteed. Chewy walks along by my side on her lead, when we come to a road and I say 'wait', she does. I then say 'O.K.' to release her from this and she walks briskly across the road. Would she do this off lead? Yes she would. Would I risk doing it, not on your life. How can you be certain that something will not attract your dog, or frighten them causing them to run out onto the road? What is the desire to have your dog walking off lead anyway? If you want your hands free, get a jogging lead that fixes around your waist. Is it considered 'cool' to have your dog walking nicely at your side off leash? I don't know the answer to this; I only know what the result can be from doing it.
This hasn't been one of my more pleasant 'Thoughts', but hopefully it will make some people think before they unnecessarily risk their dog's well being, or even save a few lives.
And if it does we can chalk those lives up to the memory of Rocky.
