1) A man is in the park with a large dog OFF LEASH, despite the fact that there is a sign clearly visible that informs everyone that ALL dogs must be on leash.
2) A second RESPONSIBLE pet parent is walking his two small dogs ON LEASH on the sidewalk past the first man.
3) The larger, unleashed dog attacks one of the smaller dogs.
4) The first man grabs the smaller dog THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM and tries to pull the dog away causing his own dog to bite down harder. (Think tug-of-war.)
5) The man with the smaller dog takes control of the situation, recovers his injured dog and CALMLY picks up both dogs and walks away toward his own home.
6) The first man THROWS HIS BODY ON TOP OF HIS LARGE DOG instead of LEASHING the dog. Unbelievable!
7) Within a short period of time, the larger dog is again free, still UNLEASHED, and runs across the street after the dog he has already attacked. (Fortunately, the two smaller dogs are already safe in their own home.)
8) The first man takes his sweet time walking across the street and FINALLY leashes his dog.
Here is what should have happened:
1) The large dog should have never been allowed off leash in a public park in the first place.
2) The man with the large dog should have NEVER grabbed the other man's dog. Instead, when the bite first occurred, the first man should have leashed his dog and distracted his own dog and removed his dog from the scene as soon as the smaller dog was dropped.
3) After the dogs were separated, the first man should have given his contact information to the man with the second dog and offered to pay for the injury. (The smaller dog was badly injured and hospitalized.)
Here is what was handled correctly:
1) The man with the two smaller dogs had both of his dogs on leash and was obeying park rules.
2) The man with the two smaller dogs behaved in a calm manner, picked up his dogs and left the park.
Here is when it is acceptable to have your dogs off leash:
1) When your dog is on your own property.
2) When your dog is on a friend or family member's property with their permission.
3) When your dog has been professionally trained to obey voice commands or hand signals and is working.
4) When your dog is participating in an AKC obedience trial, scent trial, earth dog or herding trial.
Please, let's learn from the mistakes of the first man in this video. DO NOT BE THAT GUY. Because of his irresponsible, ignorant behavior a small dog was badly injured and both he and the other man could have been injured, as well. Thankfully, they were not.