My cousin, when he was little, used to run around screaming MOM MOM, LOOK AT ME, LOOK WHAT I CAN DO…MOM! MOM! WATCH! MOM! MOM! MOMOMOMOM LOOK! LOOK! OVER HERE!
And he yelled it so much, and all the time. And eventually, no one EVER LOOKED or EVER PAID ATTENTION to him and he ended up just screaming stuff to himself.
Technically speaking, does it qualify as history if it’s still happening?
“Pay the fine and be done with it.” Christ, what a jackass. At least we have a real jackass here to put the garden-variety stupidity in the OP into perspective.
Potter’s pond and the surrounding area are a dog park. No leashes required. I wouldn’t let my dog swim in the pond even if she weren’t terrified of water, though. It’s amazingly polluted.
Jeevmon, did you ever hear the mother explain why she had brought the child there?
I just keep picturing this poor little boy, so terrified he can’t come out of the ocean because the beach is full of dogs, gradually turning bluer and bluer and bluer.
Not that the dogs or their owners were doing anything wrong, but neither was the little boy, in all likelihood, and he was the one suffering.
Minneapolis area dog parks have clear rules about children - they’re even posted at the dog park entrances. Kids are to be kept close to parents, aren’t allowed to run around screaming and teasing the dogs. It’s a DOG PARK, not a kid park, so keep your kids leashed.
I love that philosophy (for a dog park).
As for swimming, bugs, illnesses and crap: I do minimal vaccinations with my guys (we titre instead of re-vaccinating) and we yet have to encounter a problem. Most dog owners are responsible, at least at our parks, and the worst we’ve ever had has been an ear infection for my Toller who, of course, swims his heart out. Unlike the aussie and her “rose ears”, his ears don’t dry out quite as well. Easily remedied by washing out his ears with ear cleaner after every swim!
Remember that wormy dogs can be walking along the sidewalk grass in your neighbourhood and that your dog is, in some ways, just as likely to pick them up there (or drinking from icky puddles) than at the dog park or dog beach
What ocean borders Chicago? The dog “beach” in question is on LAKE Michigan.
Which is freshwater, btw.
:rolleyes:
[hijack]
I used to work at an amusement park on Lake Erie. I’d go to the beach on my breaks, when I had a split shift. I was laying on my towel one day and some people went by, talking about how they’d have to get a shower to wash all the salt off their skin.
There’s no salt water within 500 miles of Sandusky, Ohio. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: [/hijack]
Sorry! Okay, amend that post to:
I just keep picturing this poor little boy, so terrified he can’t come out of the lake because the beach is full of dogs, gradually turning bluer and bluer and bluer.
Not that I see it makes any difference to the point I was bringing up. Allergic kid is ‘trapped’ in water too cold to remain in indefinitely, with apparently a mother who didn’t give a damn. Did some Good Samaritan dog owner briefly clear an escape route for him, perhaps? That would be an act of charity and thus worthy, regardless of the legalities of the situation.
The kid, I assume, was fine. We left just as the rain started so I can’t say for sure if he was, but he wasn’t surrounded by dogs or anything and could have gotten out of the water at any time.
As for the mom, she was nearby but not within talking range so we didn’t say anything. (She was up on the rocks that border the lake.) Was hardly paying attention to her kid, anyway, though she had to have noticed that it was clearly a dog beach.
And I am pretty sure that people aren’t allowed to swim there, though I can’t say for sure that it’s posted anywhere. Still, common sense would indicate that you don’t send your kid there to swim.
Sure and common sense would tell you that you can leave a well trained dog outside on a sit and stay while you have a cup of coffee. But just do it and listen to the whining.