Dog Don't Bother Anyone

I enjoy running at Cochran Shoals Park by the Chattahoochee River or just walking down the street. My freedom to run and walk comes at the expense of my neighbor’s freedom to let his dog run around without a leash.

All I can say is “thank you Cobb County for leash laws." Many of us can’t remember, if we ever knew, what it was like in an unleashed time or place. I arrived in Cobb in 1995 but can still vividly remember the unleashed life living just outside Chattanooga.

For those who complain about a loss of liberty and the growth of a “nanny state," I hope you don’t have a garden. For years I looked out my kitchen window and could see my neighbor’s dog digging up my tomatoes and flowers. I told my neighbor and he said, “Dog don’t bother anyone.” When the same dog regularly knocked over my garbage can and spread it over my yard and the street, my neighbor said, “Dog don’t bother anyone.”

The Hamilton County animal control office said that they could not do anything unless the dog was in my yard when they came by in a day or two.

Another neighbor's German Shepherd attacked any dog walking down the street. I mentioned it to him and he said he’d never seen the dog act mean and “Dog don’t bother anyone.” One Saturday, he was in his front yard with his wife and three little girls, when his dog nearly killed a little white fluffy dog that happened to walk down the street. The German Shepherd wasn’t seen again but no apology was offered.

My daughter walked up the street to get on the bus for elementary school. Other kids and their dogs waited there. The dogs frequently got into fights and thankfully no child was injured trying to rescue their dog from one particularly vicious dog. I called the dog’s owner and he said his dog never leaves the yard and, “Dog doesn’t bother anyone.” His son eventually told him the truth and the dog was not seen at the bus stop again. I got no apology.

When I ran, I had to carry rocks in both hands. I never hit a dog but a rock landing nearby discouraged most attacks. A family was walking around a high school track with their dog while I was running. The dog tried to bite my ankles. When I protested, the dad said, “Dog don’t bother anyone.”

A policeman parked nearby said that he couldn’t do anything. Tennessee had a leash law of sorts that allowed a person 60 seconds to get back control of their dog. I asked, “What if the dog has its teeth in my leg?” He said that as long as the owner got the dog to let go in 60 seconds there was no problem.

Last week, I stepped out into the hall of my condo. A tea cup Yorkie, with a leash trailing behind it, bolted out of a doorway down the hall. It sprinted at me viciously barking. It wanted to rip my leg off or at least scratch up my ankles. I put my gym bag between my ankles and it’s small but sharp teeth. The owner had been strapping his new baby into an infant carrier on his chest when his dog made its escape.

He apologized profusely. I was a little stunned and not sure what to say, so I said nothing, left. and was glad that I hadn’t punted the puppy back down the hallway. Later, the moment I had experienced became clear. My very nice neighbor had put a leash on his dog before going on a walk. When the dog acted poorly, he apologized. Now, I was the one who was acting poorly by not accepting his apology.

Thankfully, a few days later I saw my very nice neighbor and his lovely wife in the hallway. He apologized again but I interrupted saying that I was fortunate to have such considerate thoughtful neighbors and should have said so before.

Good neighbors and a leash law are a wonderful combination.