For anyone who doesn’t live on the front range of Colorado, I don’t think you can fully appreciate just how inconsiderate and oblivious a lot of the population is here.
If your dog doesn’t chase animals, is friendly to people and other dogs (don’t confuse friendly with jumping all over me and my dogs while I have them at heel), and will reliably come back to you when you call it, then I have zero problem with you running your dog off leash.
The issue for me is not many people will take the time to train their dog well enough, or are considerate enough of others, not to make their dog a problem for most people/dogs they’ll encounter on a trail or anywhere else they go.
Don’t believe me? Go visit a dog park on the front range and tell me how many of the dogs and their owners there would be able to control their animals off leash on any kind of property.
There is a local brew pub who’s niche is to allow dog owners to bring their dogs with them to the brewery, and even has an outside area for dogs to run and play. I’ve been to this place twice (under duress - I cant stand the craft beer scene and am an unabashed drinker of cheap domestic beers) and it’s chaos because of the dogs. Barking, alpha dogs bullying submissive dogs, fights... I can’t believe people subject themselves and their pets to this.
Also, there was a food hall (building with a common area that has multiple food vendors) that encouraged people to bring their dogs. They had to stop allowing dogs because of bad dog behavior and health violations due to people not picking up after their pets. And, speaking of not picking up after your pet... a large property that allowed dogs off leash had to close because of the amount of dog shit. The property is 107 acres, and park employees cleaned up about 40 to 80 pounds of dog shit per month. In an effort to keep the property open, volunteers did a massive clean up over a weekend and picked up 500 pounds of shit.
Anyway, the point is we all love our dogs... just not all of us see owning the dog and the associated responsibilities the same way.
If your dog doesn’t chase animals, is friendly to people and other dogs (don’t confuse friendly with jumping all over me and my dogs while I have them at heel), and will reliably come back to you when you call it, then I have zero problem with you running your dog off leash.
The issue for me is not many people will take the time to train their dog well enough, or are considerate enough of others, not to make their dog a problem for most people/dogs they’ll encounter on a trail or anywhere else they go.
Don’t believe me? Go visit a dog park on the front range and tell me how many of the dogs and their owners there would be able to control their animals off leash on any kind of property.
There is a local brew pub who’s niche is to allow dog owners to bring their dogs with them to the brewery, and even has an outside area for dogs to run and play. I’ve been to this place twice (under duress - I cant stand the craft beer scene and am an unabashed drinker of cheap domestic beers) and it’s chaos because of the dogs. Barking, alpha dogs bullying submissive dogs, fights... I can’t believe people subject themselves and their pets to this.
Also, there was a food hall (building with a common area that has multiple food vendors) that encouraged people to bring their dogs. They had to stop allowing dogs because of bad dog behavior and health violations due to people not picking up after their pets. And, speaking of not picking up after your pet... a large property that allowed dogs off leash had to close because of the amount of dog shit. The property is 107 acres, and park employees cleaned up about 40 to 80 pounds of dog shit per month. In an effort to keep the property open, volunteers did a massive clean up over a weekend and picked up 500 pounds of shit.
Anyway, the point is we all love our dogs... just not all of us see owning the dog and the associated responsibilities the same way.
