Let the animal out

I have a dog and class myself as a pretty good dog owner. Don't get me wrong, my dog is not perfect and I have had many many moments where my I've been in the owner with 'that dog'. For example when when he jumps out the car runs straight down to the beach into the water and squares up to a swan while everyone else watches, like when everyone else avoids the gigantic muddy puddle but he runs through splashing then encourages other dogs to follow, like when he loses his ball in the river and has 4 different people doing the 'dawwww' face and climbing in to get it out for him.

However, I am firm believer that if you own a dog you should learn how to train it. You know, do a bit of research, read up, watch some of the many shows on TV on the matter. My personal saviour is the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. My dog was wild when I got him at the age of four. He wandered off, he charged, he escaped, he barked, he jumped up to name but a few, but now he's....no bad.

In the UK we are lucky as you don't have to keep your dog on the lead. We have the pleasure of being able to let our dogs run free (which is great if you take the time to train your dog) I regularly take my dog long walks, I like to vary the venue but one of my favourite things is the social aspect of a park for the dogs and for me. The majority of dog owners at parks are great. However, there are the few who go to this wide open space, don't let their dogs off the lead and even worse freak out when another dog goes over to theirs. They panic when my dog sniffs their dog's behind. This is what dogs do to greet each other, it is normal. But no the panicky owner is shouting at this stage to get my dog under control.

I tend to make a point around these people to NOT put my dog on the lead. To NOT call him off and to let him basically do what he wants. The more the other person wants me to shackle my dog, the less likely I am to do it. You also notice that these people's dogs generally have a jealousy in their eyes that they want to play.

If you are going to take your dog to the park, let them play, let them get dirty, let them have fun. You might just find it brings a smile to your crackling old face too.