I was JUST having this discussion with some fellow dog owners last night....There is an unofficial "off-leash" area near my house. It is an old road that is fenced off at the entrance so there is no traffic. It leads through woods and fields that used to be a city park until someone was murdered there 50 years ago. At the top of the road are water towers that the city maintains. Since this area was once a park, there are all sorts of trails and paths through the woods as well as a beautiful old stone staircase that goes all the way up the hill....I'll have to get pictures of it sometime. It is a really peaceful pretty place, especially early mornings...

Anyway, many of the neighbors bring their dogs up there and let them off-leash. I can name about 20 different dogs and their owners who use this park regularly for an off-leash area. However, there have been a few instances where there have been confrontations. Yesterday, I was standing talking to a woman who had 2 black labs. At first her dogs and Duncan were sort of "posing" to each other but after a little snarling and growling, they were best of friends and were playing and running around together. Another lady showed up with her malamute on a leash....Well the lady's labs ran over to say hello and this other woman started screeching and yelling like a banshee that her dog didn't get along with other dogs and could she come get her dogs, blah blah blah...(This lady said that she NEVER lets her dog a MALAMUTE!! off leash and she doesn't have a fenced yard!!!!! This poor dog must be going stir crazy!!!!!)

A few minutes after she left, a man showed up and was just walking around the gardens. At this point Duncan was on a leash because we were getting ready to leave. One of the labs ran over to the man and the man raised his arm and yelled..."Go Home!" Well the lab saw this as a threatening gesture apparently and started growling at the man. The man started yelling at the lady to come get her dog or he would be suing, the dog should be on the leash, it's against the law, etc,etc, etc....

Also, last night...(it was a busy evening at the park!! ) two ladies showed up with their dog Spot. We've seen them plenty of times before. Well Spot didn't get along with one of the labs so a fight broke out, knocking one of the ladies to the ground and causing a general ruckus!! Duncan wasn't involved in the fighting. He was just acting like a teenage boy and watching all the action up close....Goofball....I went over to the dogs, and yelled ENOUGH! and they split and everyone ran back to their moms.

SO, my point of all this...since I am one of the off-leashers: I think people who go there with their dogs, on or off leash should know and be prepared to come across other dogs on and off-leash if they are well aware that this is a place where dogs run loose. Most people would know that after their first or second visit since there is always someone there with a dog...If your dog is off-leash, he should be well-mannered and come when called. However, well-mannered in dog language is much different than well-mannered in people language. Sniffing another's butt is common practice and dog owners should not see it as an invasion of their dog or as rude. If you don't let the dogs interact and say hello, there will always be a problem...
A dog on a leash should be held to the same standards as a dog off leash. If your dog doesn't "get on" with other dogs, your dog may need some socialization.... A dog on a leash shouldn't be lunging at another dog on or off leash. People with ill-behaved leashed dogs shouldn't throw stones at people with well-behaved off-leash dogs... This subject just gets so touchy since the leash laws are on one side and while the other side has no legal leg to stand on, they stand on the moral ground of letting the dogs be dogs I guess....

I dont' want to start a big argument, just putting in my 2 cents....

Just for the record, I never let Duncan off leash anywhere else but here or the real dog park or at my friend's camp which is on a private road with no traffic and no other dogs.... He always wears his collar with his rabies tag and license as well as his microchip id tag. Just in case......

Ok off my soapbox now.....