# Dog walker LIED about what happened to my cousin's dog! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053 "2010-10-04T21:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/21 "2010-10-05T02:09:22Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > And once again, a tragic story starts out with the words “off leash.” Most of the bad stories I read about dogs being hurt or hurting someone start with either “off leash” or “chained up/tethered.” You have to be _with_ your dogs, people. > > And yet another case where a dog is hurt outside the house. Why do people bring their dogs outside? Oh, very insightful. By the way, one doesn’t bring a dog outside; one takes a dog outside. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/22 "2010-10-05T02:21:11Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > Don’t get me wrong: I absolutely think they should have told the truth BUT I can at least understand why they maybe withheld that your friend’s dog was viciously ripped up limb by limb by wild creatures. Especially since your friend appears to be a bit crazy about their dog (dog trackers? Really? I love my dogs more than anything, but I’m not hiring Dog the Bounty Hunter to find them if they run off). > > I know the dog tracker thing is a little overboard, but regardless of how hard it would be to give someone news like this, giving them false hope is even worse, imo. Oh, I don’t disagree- I’m simply saying that while I don’t at all condone it, I at least can- on some level- understand why they maybe withheld that info. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/23 "2010-10-05T02:25:40Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hell yeah coyotes pack! In the cities they, along with foxes, will pretty much clean up any stray domestic cats & dogs. And it’s entirely possible they left nothing of the dog except maybe a handful of fluff. I’d call them cautious critters when they’re solitary, but they’re still wild carnivores and more than a match for a lot of domestic breeds like small terriers. Even 3 or 4 would have made short work of the little guy. That poor little doggy. She had no idea what was coming. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/24 "2010-10-05T02:29:05Z")
Setting the OP’s situation aside, what in the hell was the dog walker thinking by taking a pack of dogs out without ALL of them being on a leash. I don’t care if coyotes are common or not, dogs will be dogs and they all have the ability to be unreliable. I will never understand the people who take their dogs out off leash and I have even less understanding of a dog walker doing that. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/25 "2010-10-05T02:35:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > > [@misterW](#): > > > > And yet another case where a dog is hurt outside the house. Why do people bring their dogs outside? > > Oh, very insightful. By the way, one doesn’t bring a dog outside; one takes a dog outside. You’re criticizing me for contributing little insight to this thread and this is what you respond with? That’s pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/26 "2010-10-05T02:45:59Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Setting the OP’s situation aside, what in the hell was the dog walker thinking by taking a pack of dogs out without ALL of them being on a leash. I don’t care if coyotes are common or not, dogs will be dogs and they all have the ability to be unreliable. I will never understand the people who take their dogs out off leash and I have even less understanding of a dog walker doing that. I could understand why a dog walker would typically keep dogs on leash; after all, freak accidents aren’t good for business – might as well reduce the chance of that happening to as close to zero as possible. But as for understanding why people take their dogs off leash? Seems fairly obvious – higher quality of life for the dog. It’s also an enjoyable thing to see a dog freely trotting alongside you, running back to you after quick forays into the woods, making eye contact for cues on where to go. You get to experience a real communication between the two of you, which you don’t really get to feel with the leash. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/27 "2010-10-05T02:51:18Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > > [@Leaffan](#): > > > > Oh, very insightful. By the way, one doesn’t bring a dog outside; one takes a dog outside. > > You’re criticizing me for contributing little insight to this thread and this is what you respond with? That’s pretty funny. No. That’s pretty sardonic. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/28 "2010-10-05T03:02:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > > [@misterW](#): > > > > You’re criticizing me for contributing little insight to this thread and this is what you respond with? That’s pretty funny. > > No. That’s pretty sardonic. Your intention may be to be sardonic. The fact that you imagine yourself to be scoring points in some fashion with these comments is funny. Did you have anything to add to the discussion at hand? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/29 "2010-10-05T03:15:02Z")
Look, you made a flippant comment, “Why do people bring (sic) their dogs outside?” with no other clues to your seriousness, or lack thereof. I assume now you were joking; I didn’t catch that originally. See? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/30 "2010-10-05T03:16:38Z")
Double posted. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/31 "2010-10-05T04:43:45Z")
I hate to Star Wars this, but the dog walker told the truth (except about the leash) _from a certain point of view._ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/32 "2010-10-05T04:51:28Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Look, you made a flippant comment, “Why do people bring (sic) their dogs outside?” with no other clues to your seriousness, or lack thereof. > > I assume now you were joking; I didn’t catch that originally. > > See? I don’t know about him, but I see that actually explaining the reason for your post makes a lot more sense than vaguely insulting someone. Also, what’s wrong with keeping dogs inside? It’s a lot better than having my neighbor throw rocks and try to poison them. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/33 "2010-10-05T11:49:07Z")
**misterW, Leaffan** , take your sniping at each other elsewhere. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/34 "2010-10-05T11:50:53Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > > [@Ruby](#): > > > > Setting the OP’s situation aside, what in the hell was the dog walker thinking by taking a pack of dogs out without ALL of them being on a leash. I don’t care if coyotes are common or not, dogs will be dogs and they all have the ability to be unreliable. I will never understand the people who take their dogs out off leash and I have even less understanding of a dog walker doing that. > > I could understand why a dog walker would typically keep dogs on leash; after all, freak accidents aren’t good for business – might as well reduce the chance of that happening to as close to zero as possible. > > But as for understanding why people take their dogs off leash? Seems fairly obvious – higher quality of life for the dog. It’s also an enjoyable thing to see a dog freely trotting alongside you, running back to you after quick forays into the woods, making eye contact for cues on where to go. You get to experience a real communication between the two of you, which you don’t really get to feel with the leash. Yeah, that’s fine, if it’s a one-on-one experience with you and your dog – this is a walker trying to control multiple dogs, none of them belonging to him or her. Recipe for disaster, esp. in a park known to have coyotes. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/35 "2010-10-05T11:57:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I can vouch for the coyote story - it’s fairly common knowledge that the coyotes here (which I have personally seen just strolling down a multi-use path) will eat your small dogs and cats. I live close to Nose Hill Park, too - I have no problem believing this story. I don’t really know why they would lie, either - we all know that there are coyotes nearby. The interesting thing is how coyotes can do it. They are typically not big animals and yet even mid to mid-large size dogs are taken by coyotes. I imagine it’s all pack work. . ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/36 "2010-10-05T12:14:47Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > And once again, a tragic story starts out with the words “off leash.” Most of the bad stories I read about dogs being hurt or hurting someone start with either “off leash” or “chained up/tethered.” You have to be _with_ your dogs, people. > > The dog in question was on-leash (specifically because she’s so little and not a good listener) - the dog walker dropped it by accident. The _dead_ dog was on a leash. The _other_ dogs were not. The leash was dropped when responding to the actions of the _off-leash_ dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/37 "2010-10-05T12:19:23Z")
> [@misterW](#): > > But as for understanding why people take their dogs off leash? Seems fairly obvious – higher quality of life for the dog. It’s also an enjoyable thing to see a dog freely trotting alongside you, running back to you after quick forays into the woods, making eye contact for cues on where to go. You get to experience a real communication between the two of you, which you don’t really get to feel with the leash. I suppose a select few people can master this…but mostly people just _fantasize_ that their dog is “making eye contact for cues” and “experiencing real communication.” Almost without exception, the thousands and thousands of times _I’ve_ seen an off-leash dog in public, the human has had no control and the dog has gone anywhere he or she wanted to, including into traffic and attacking other dogs, while the human pitifully yells the dog’s name from way behind. In almost every case, if your dog is off leash, you don’t _have_ a dog, you’re just _near_ a dog. And maybe not very near. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/38 "2010-10-05T13:35:53Z")
Wait…coyotes that were being chased by several off-leash dogs took the time to stop and chow down on their kill? Did the off-leash dogs just sit there quietly waiting until they were done eating? I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/39 "2010-10-05T14:05:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t really know why they would lie, either - we all know that there are coyotes nearby. I reckon, since they knew the goggy wasn’t coming home it was just a matter of what reason they wanted to assign to it. “I dunno, musta vanished into thin air” is arguably better than “Your beloved family member was rent and devoured by a pack of coyotes in what was most certainly a horrible and gruesome death.” Although I prefer the truth, in my experience most people don’t. > [@kittenblue](#): > > Wait…coyotes that were being chased by several off-leash dogs took the time to stop and chow down on their kill? Did the off-leash dogs just sit there quietly waiting until they were done eating? I’m confused. My take on it was: dogs saw coyotes, chaos ensued, collection efforts ensued and not all the dogs were found. Walker, may not have noticed or may have just given up trying to control all the dogs while she looked for the little terrier and returned to base. Any time after that the terrier could have popped up with a coyotes in (brief) pursuit. ---
**Author:** ![misterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@misterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053/40 "2010-10-05T14:05:37Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > > [@misterW](#): > > > > I could understand why a dog walker would typically keep dogs on leash; after all, freak accidents aren’t good for business – might as well reduce the chance of that happening to as close to zero as possible. > > > > But as for understanding why people take their dogs off leash? Seems fairly obvious – higher quality of life for the dog. It’s also an enjoyable thing to see a dog freely trotting alongside you, running back to you after quick forays into the woods, making eye contact for cues on where to go. You get to experience a real communication between the two of you, which you don’t really get to feel with the leash. > > Yeah, that’s fine, if it’s a one-on-one experience with you and your dog – this is a walker trying to control multiple dogs, none of them belonging to him or her. Recipe for disaster, esp. in a park known to have coyotes. I agree; like I said above, I wouldn’t expect a walker to do that, unless there was some prior understanding with the owner that the dog would be walked off leash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-walker-lied-about-what-happened-to-my-cousins-dog/556053.md?page=3)