To Take Or Not To Take... That Is The Question

This weekend was Austin's annual Pecan Street Festival. They close off all of 6th Street, Austin's famous music mecca, and for the weekend it becomes a haven for arts and crafts vendors from all over the U.S. of A. Vendors sell clothing, paintings, incense, hats, candles, jewelry, and much more. Local musicians play on and off the many stages.

This year it was perfect weather too. But there's always the quandry of whether or not to take Willie to this event. There's a couple of factors at play:

  • Heat - especially the hot pavement
  • Stupid "Pet" Dog Owners With Flexi-Leashes
As we all know, not every dog is as well trained as a service dog, nor are most dogs properly socialized. Then there's that Damn Flexi-Leash Factor. Stupid (yes, I don't care if the comments come rolling in on this one) pet owners who have absolutely no control over their dogs when the dog is at the end of a 15 foot flexi-leash.

My Opinion: Flexi-leashes are for taking your dog for a poop in a field, not for walking on a narrow public sidewalk or for walking amongst large crowds of people with other dogs. They're also NOT for taking your dog to Petsmart.

One time we were doing some training at Petsmart. Rick was training Frankie and I was working Willie as a distraction for Frankie. I go down the toy aisle and there's this Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash on his cell phone with his little daschund. The dog proceeded to aggresively approach my dog and send Willie right into "protection mode" (more on this in a later post). The Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash was so occupied on his cell that he didn't know what was about to ensue. I had to practically yell "excuse me, could you please control your dog" to the Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash.

Later that same day, I'm working Willie in another aisle and I hear this big scuffle. Rick comes around the corner with Frankie and from the look on his face, I know he's just come up against the Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash.

Rick tells me that the Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash was again on his cell phone and his dog was all the way out to the end of the flexi and was actually around the corner. He couldn't even see his own dog!

Ok. Rant over. Some day that Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash's dog will approach the wrong dog. And Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash will have to reel in 15 feet of leash before he has control of his dog. He better count his blessings he doesn't reel in an empty collar.

Oy

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