100% WILL sign! Thank you for taking the time to put petition together. Decent folk dont spend a lot of time on the internet so this petition needs to reach far and wide as tons of people are fed up with this off lead dominating culture.
Too much arrogance and space invaders not having the social skills to understand body language of other dog owners, when the victims politely try to say without words, no.. do not approach it is simply not adhered to.
Never mind socialised dogs it's the owners that fail on social skills.
Most good owners really do value their personal space, this is often overlooked by space invaders. More often people prefer to hide behind the language of the doggies, testing to see what the dogs decide to do!!? Is it aggressive, fearful friendly.. I mean it's laughable. What are the dogs doing making all the decisions all of a sudden!? It is called a lead for a reason. Owners have to take lead.
How often do off lead owners look 'up' to the owner for what the owner wants? (Forever staring in hypnotic trance down towards the opposing dog) NOT often!
Always says a lot about someones character.
Social boundaries erode particularly when off lead dogs approach. Dogs get cocky when they know a dogs on lead and its extra pressure on the victims being a moving target, it's a form of bullying before it becomes aggression and people call it 'playing', please not everyone was born yesterday. How rude is it to intrude!? Very. You wouldn't harass someone in a restaurant or supermarket minding their own business, so what on earth is going on as soon as someone has a dog off lead next to them.
Most dogs do NOT listen to recall that's fact, MOST.. not all. There are bad dogs AND bad owners, the two actually exist. This 'one or the other' argument is flawed, so people really do need to get their head around that bit. If you have both at same time, then it's a tragic and serious recipe for disaster.
The dogs should not be making all the decisions running wild near picnic parks, around the vulnerable etc whilst owners think their 'in charge', the world doesn't work like that and nor do dogs. We must have boundaries in society not this free for all. Dogs and people thinking they can help themselves to anything.
So many dogs off lead become an extension of peoples ego. I've witnessed so many dog fights and when people are in the wrong they cannot handle taking any responsibility. Some get high off the control totally dominating someones space (even without progressing to dog fights). Ironically becoming the behaviour of their own dominating dog and most of these people witnessed are in their 40's 50's and 60's in a affluent area! Cant keep blaming the youth and gangs, this is a huge culture issue!. People need to check themselves and their behaviour, it is an embarrassment. People need to be thoughtful of someone else's personal space, they've had plenty of freedom to demonstrate this and it is clear they cannot do so without being pathetically managed by laws. A sad reality. Being harassed by strangers dogs is not acceptable, no matter the excuses for lazy dog walking which a lot of it is people stuck to their phones, scratching their bum. Strangers expecting on lead dogs to tell their dog off when walking, is simply inconsiderate lazy and selfish. Many are well behaved and well exercised large/small working breed dogs on leads (plenty of training leads out there 15ft so no excuses for blaming a postage stamp size garden folks). People need to grow up and take responsibility. I for one am fed up with babysitting other peoples dogs when my space is invaded and they have the cheek to tell ME to "Oh shew it away" which I refuse and tell them to collect their dog!
I grew up believing we didnt need a nanny state, now I can see what people have done to themselves.