Controlling your dog (large or small) isn't just an issue at a dog park or PetSmart either.

Every single day I see owners just letting their dogs have a ridiculous amount of free leash, or let their leashes drop in our lobby. While the issue of a dog fight is always in the front of my mind (just because your dog is friendly doesn't mean the other dog is).

Think about this....If a dog is sick with some kind of contagious problem (kennel cough, mange, lepto, staph infection etc) where does one take an animal like that?? The vet of course. So does a person really want their dogs socializing in an environment where they are potentially encountering contagious animals? But yet I see it everyday and the owners get downright MIFFED when you sternly suggest they shorten their leashes and get control of their dogs that the vet lobby is NOT the place to socalize their animals.

Come to think of it, seems like the ones that don't control their animals, don't control their kids either. One day I almost had a heartattack when I came around the corner to see a customer checking out and hollaring around the corner to her unattended kids. One look and I almost grabbed the kids myself, and had to VERY sternly tell the lady she MUST get her kids over by her side immediately. Reason? The young kids were petting a dog that had come in for some blood work, a very large and very mean dog. Aside from the fact we have a bunch of yellow and orange caution and muzzle lables on the dogs file, the dog is so ornery it has to have a muzzle on before it can come in the building even! So here lays this dog, muzzled and growling up a storm while these kids are trying to pet it, the owner is just letting them, and the mother of the kids is not even within sight and thinks letting her kids pet strange animals is cute!!!! Now I know why her dog was so misbehaved during the exam (of course her letting the kids pull on it's legs and tail while we are trying to work didn't help either).

Some days I'm stunned by the stupidty I see in safety and common sense which seems all to UNcommon these days.

*end of rant, gets off soapbox*