The Cost Of Freedom

It's very tempting to think your dog would so enjoy being off leash for a while, moving wherever he/she wants without the restraint of leash or harness. I see many people, at least one per day and sometimes three, who walk their dogs off leash. I know that they all think their dogs are perfectly trained to stay on the sidewalk. It may even be reasonably true, but there are so many situations they can get into that will either kill or harm them. Even if it happens only once per year, do you want that on your conscience? You never know what can happen in a split second -- a coyote or two come out of nowhere to snatch your dog; your dog steps on a piece of glass; your dog gets bitten by another dog on or off leash; your dog sees another dog across the street and this one time runs there and gets hit by a car. This happened to my mother, whose dog stayed right next to her everyday when she took her out in the morning, except when she didn't. My mother had to watch her own dog being killed. Needless to say, she never got over the guilt. She went to bed for days because she was so sick of heart. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. It's illegal, and oh, and it's also punishable by a $500.00 fine.