Anchorage has a leash law that is designed to protect everyone involved from unforeseen mishaps. And for those who enjoy the free-for-all there are several off leash dog parks and trails. Now the leash law is not strictly enforced, as it is understood by most everyone that the idea is to have your dog under your control at all times. And to their credit, a lot of people walk their dogs off leash without a problem. Their dogs know to “come” when called, as well as to “leave it”.
For a myriad of reasons, I choose to walk my dogs on leash almost all of the time. Today we chose some lesser traveled trails, which meant less distraction from others. So we chased one another, zigged and zagged, jumped, barked and sang, splashed through the mud, and took time out along the way to take a picture. …Yes, we had fun.
But eventually our walk took us back to the more populated trail, where this evening there was a man walking two large dogs off leash. One of the two romped across the open divide to check us out. It appeared the man believed that if he didn’t look over at us he wouldn’t be responsible for the actions of his dog. So of course that meant I was left to handle the whole meet and greet, or whatever else unfolded. It is no big deal unless it happens to you, which is why I carry the smaller holster for mace right beside the larger holster for bear spray. This evening the mace remained untouched, but I envisioned sprinting across the open divide to enlighten the man who pretended not to notice…
On the other hand it really was a small part of the whole experience. And as we neared the end of our daily dog walk we saw moose…
