I am a Weston Creek resident that regularly walk/run my two dogs in the designated off-leash exercise area at the back of Fisher, behind the fire station on Sulwood Drive. On numerous occasions I have been the target of verbal abuse for having my dogs off the leash. I would like to point out to other residents of surrounding suburbs that when you walk or run with or without a dog in this area, you WILL encounter dogs off the leash.
My dogs are friendly , they will lick you to death before they’d ever bite you or your dog. My dogs are under my control when I am with them, they simply want to say hello to you and/or your dog and then continue on their merry way. There is no need to yell and scream ‘get your dogs away from me’, as the woman late yesterday afternoon did. If you chose to bring your dog to this area, you CAN expect a visit from multiple dogs also in the area. To another woman, also yelling and screaming ‘put your dogs on a leash, I have had a bad encounter with other dogs’, again, if you chose to walk your dog in this designated area, expect to come across other dogs on and off the leash. If you’ve had a bad experience and crap yourself at the sight of another dog and don’t want your dog interacting with other dogs, then do yourself a favour and take them somewhere else, not the designated off-leash exercise area at the back of Fisher reserve for goodness sake.
Has anyone else out there experienced these yellers and screamers either in this off-leash area or another off-leash area in Canberra?
[TAMS provides information and maps of Canberra’s Dog Exercise Areas.]