# Your silly rules do not apply to me! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 3, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579 "2021-01-03T16:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/41 "2021-01-04T17:56:19Z")
My standard comment when walking my dog is “Please control your dog.” Maybe worse than either unleashed or on a short leash are the idiots who have no idea how to use a long retractable leash… It is always a surprise when walking past someone on a path maybe 6’ wide, that the other person makes no effort to get their dog to their outside, or at the very least, shorten the leash up until the dog is RIGHT at their side. On this same path, I’ve occasionally passed someone who has their dog on a short leash, but the dog is straining at the leash, on its hind legs, barking. Especially unpleasant when it is a larger dog w/ and older/weaker/less in control appearing owner. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/42 "2021-01-04T17:59:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Eta: and a great reminder that even if your dog is “friendly” you shouldn’t be letting it out of your sight, and as you said, if you do, don’t be surprised when your “friendly” dog ends up pepper sprayed or with a boot to the face. And don’t let a friendly dog near you or your pet, no matter how sweet or well-cared for it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/43 "2021-01-04T18:13:44Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > And don’t let a friendly dog near you or your pet, no matter how sweet or well-cared for it seems. Yup, as I said above, it’s astonishing how many people who profess to love dogs don’t seem to have even the most elementary understanding of doggo behavior. Some dogs are friendly to everyone, sure. But dogs are not people. When animals have strong pack instincts, loyalty and sweetness to those perceived as pack/kin is not at all predictive of how they _may_ behave to strangers and strange dogs, especially in unfamiliar environments. If an owner says “don’t worry, he doesn’t bite”, I never trust that. What they may mean is simply that he has never bitten _them_. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/44 "2021-01-04T18:22:28Z")
One other thing - ISTR hearing trainers say that if 1 dog is leashed and the other not, that alone creates a huge power/dominance gap. Don’t expect either dog to act the same as they might if they were both on a similar footing. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/45 "2021-01-04T18:25:27Z")
This is definitely the case. One of our two dogs is a male (also a husky) and while he is a big goober and very gentle with his pack (me, my wife, our other dog, and our two cats, with whom he gets along great) we have a relative with a little chihuahua mix, also a male, who will bark at our dogs when he sees them. While the female dog ignores him, the male has acted aggressively towards him before. So while we trust our husky with our cats, we don’t trust him with this foreign dog. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/46 "2021-01-04T18:35:31Z")
Yes, this is true. We did weeks of one-on-one training with the leash aggressive dog we had, to minimize the issue, and learn techniques for dealing with it. My dog could, with some care, walk together with a “stranger” leashed dog, side by side. The worst reactions would come from having a strange, unleashed, dog run straight at her from the front while she was leashed. The trainer explained that, even if the other dog was not intending to be aggressive, it is confrontational behavior, and an insecure/frightened dog like mine felt the need to posture in response, since she was at the disadvantage of being leashed. A dog running straight at your dog is displaying rude behavior in dog terms, not just human terms. A polite dog (in dog terms) makes an arc as it approaches, so it winds up at more of an oblique angle. That allows both dogs to assess each other without getting into a stare down, and allows either dog to turn away to break the contact, without it being a show of submission. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/47 "2021-01-04T18:40:19Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > My 9 lb poodle mix was killed by an off leash dog on Christmas eve, in front of my 9 year old. Oh my God, that’s awful. I’m so sorry that happen to you. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’ve taken several dogs to many places over several decades, and can’t recall a place that said “leashed OR under control.” Not saying they don’t exist, just that I never encountered them. Where are they, and what sort of areas/activities? That’s the rule in most of my town. It’s the text of our basic “leash law”. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I know that sometimes when we’re walking the dog through a nature preserve, if he poops while we’re on the trail halfway through we’ll bag it and set it aside to pick up again on the way out. Can I make a request: leave it unbagged and bag it right before you pick it up. There’s something extraordinarily disgusting about a bag of poop on the side of the path. And honestly, it would never have occurred to me that you’d come back and remove it. I’d just have visions of poop rotting in the bag, and the bag eventually being washed into the waterways and strangling sea creatures. At least unbagged poop with decay in place. And probably not kill anything, if your dog is healthy. And so long as i don’t actually step in it, I’ll forget about it shortly after i pass by. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/48 "2021-01-04T18:44:36Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’d just have visions of poop rotting in the bag, and the bag eventually being washed into the waterways and strangling sea creatures. I’ve been using biodegradable bags - now, I still pick them up and carry them to a waste receptical, but at least if the bags are biodegradable they hopefully won’t end up in the ocean. Of course, if you’re just going to let the bag decay away with the poop inside, you may as well just not bag it and let it break down faster… ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/49 "2021-01-04T18:46:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Can I make a request: leave it unbagged and bag it right before you pick it up. There’s something extraordinarily disgusting about a bag of poop on the side of the path. And honestly, it would never have occurred to me that you’d come back and remove it. I find this comment really strange. I can understand an objection to bagged poop by the trail, but I don’t see how it’s _more_ unpleasant than leaving it to be trodden in. And of course the unspoken assumption is that they will pick it up later - otherwise why bother bagging it? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/50 "2021-01-04T18:50:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Maybe your idea of a forest preserve and mine are a bit different- I’m imagining a piece of barely tamed wilderness where your likelihood of running into someone else is low, and having your dogs unleashed if they’re well enough trained isn’t a problem. Volunteer Ranger here. The City of San Jose had a “No dogs” rule for Alum Rock park, the largest City park in the USA or something along those lines. It IS a problem. Ok, the dogs will disturb wildlife. But more than that, the dog could run into a rattlesnake etc. That means dead dog. Or try to attack a skunk, or similar animal. Even a ground squirrel in its hole can bite the holy shit of out a dog’s snout. A Mtn Lion will consider the dog a tasty snak. Then there are fleas and ticks. Ground squirrels can carry Black Plague. Ticks carry nasty things. Not only can those infect your dog, they can infect YOU. Then other diseases- the dog may infect wildlife or vice versa. So yeah, it _is_ a problem, and a big problem. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/51 "2021-01-04T18:52:12Z")
Because people give you dirty looks if you don’t, but you don’t want to actually walk around with a poop bag, so you drop it later. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/52 "2021-01-04T18:54:55Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > Can I make a request: leave it unbagged and bag it right before you pick it up. There’s something extraordinarily disgusting about a bag of poop on the side of the path. And honestly, it would never have occurred to me that you’d come back and remove it. > > I find this comment really strange. I can understand an objection to bagged poop by the trail, but I don’t see how it’s _more_ unpleasant than leaving it to be trodden in. And of course the unspoken assumption is that they will pick it up later - otherwise why bother bagging it? If it’s unbagged, maybe it’s an accident. Maybe a coyote or fox left it there. At any rate, it will eventually decay on its own. If it’s bagged I know that another human being intentionally left a bag of poop for me to walk by. And no, I don’t assume they will pick it up – like others I’ve seen bagged poop that had obviously been sitting for a while. Maybe it’s just forgetfulness, but people forget. And forgetting a bag of shit is really damn disgusting. And forgotten plastic bags really do kill wildlife. You are just adding additional litter to the poop. I mean, if it’s my job to clean up the poop, sure, I’d rather it be bagged. But you know what, it’s NOT my job to pick up your poop. And since that is the case, yeah, the bagged poop is grosser than just a poop. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/53 "2021-01-04T18:57:32Z")
Obviously, it’s better to actually pick up the poop and carry it with you until you get to a suitable place to dispose of it. But if you aren’t going to do the right thing, please don’t leave a bag of poop lying around in public. Yeechhh! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/54 "2021-01-04T19:00:11Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Usually the driver remains in the vehicle with what I term a “sheepish defiant” look on their face. They know they are in the wrong, but they are still gonna do it dammit! I will give you a pass if you are _sitting in your vehicle_ in a fire lane, ready at a moments notice to move the car. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/55 "2021-01-04T19:06:20Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I’ll nominate people who toss still-burning cigarettes from their cars. Someone did that once, and it hit the hood of my car, and embers went everywhere. My windows were opened, so, a second later, and it could have hit my front seat, or worse, the BACK seat, where the boychik, about aged 5 was sitting, strapped in. > > Yeah, the world is your ashtray. Pretty much, _all_ smokers do that now. Cars dont come with ashtrays anymore. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/56 "2021-01-04T19:37:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Pretty much, _all_ smokers do that now. Cars dont come with ashtrays anymore. They could still bloody well stub them out before tossing them, not that I would get the warm fuzzies, exactly. You can buy after-market ashtrays in auto parts stores, or the automotive section of Walmart. There are a bunch of different styles, including ones that fit in a cup holder. There’re a couple of places in Indy that are sort of “litter traps.” Most of them are at the entrances to parking lots, and they will pull you over if you throw trash out your window, and that includes a cigarette butt. You’d think people would figure it out, because there’s a sign about 50 meters back on the road that says “Littering laws apply to cigarette butts” or something to that effect. Signs like that aren’t particularly common, and might as well say “Sting ahead.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/57 "2021-01-04T19:40:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That’s the rule in most of my town. It’s the text of our basic “leash law”. Are you willing to provide any idea of where/how large your town is? I don’t doubt you, but what you describe is quite different than anything I’ve ever encountered, and I question the enforceability in anything other than a pretty rural/small town setting. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/58 "2021-01-04T19:42:26Z")
I’ve left bags, off to the side, on very rare occasions – right at the beginning of a longish planned outing, where no receptacles will be found further along the trail. I can tell you that I needed to bag it in order to see and remember it. I do use biodegradable bags, too. I’m not saying it’s polite to do it, and ideally I would not do it that way. But, I consider it more impolite to not pick it up at all, which might happen if I did not bag it when it happened. So, maybe I’m one of the people the OP is directed at, in that respect. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/59 "2021-01-04T19:45:19Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > it’s astonishing how many people who profess to love dogs don’t seem to have even the most elementary understanding of doggo behavior. True this. I once had a couple who were considering coming here as farm interns; they wanted to bring their dog. I said ‘how’s the dog with cats?’ and they said ‘we don’t have any but we think he’s OK.’ I said ‘bring the dog over, on a leash’; they did that and I carried over an extremely dog-friendly cat. The cat took one look at that dog and clung tight to my shoulder. I took one look at that dog looking at the cat and said ‘Nope.’ The dog’s people said ‘he’s friendly, he’s fine, look at him, he’s wagging his tail!’ I said ‘yes, he’s wagging his tail – and he’s licking his lips! He thinks I’m going to feed him the cat for a treat!’ (Note – I knew that cat extremely well, and wouldn’t have done that with some others I’ve had. Carrying a cat towards anybody who they don’t trust is very likely to result in injuries to the carrier – the cat may feel restrained and helpless, and put out all claws to get free and leap elsewhere to safety.) – and I have known a dog who was absolutely trustworthy with her own cats who killed a cat who wandered over from a neighboring property. > [@Babale](#): > > I’ve been using biodegradable bags - now, I still pick them up and carry them to a waste receptical, but at least if the bags are biodegradable they hopefully won’t end up in the ocean. As near as I’ve been able to tell from what research I’ve done on the matter, most “biodegradable” plastic bags aren’t; they’re likely to crumble into bits too small for humans to notice, but, at least if not carefully composted under exactly the right conditions and maybe even then, the bits are likely to hang around and continue to cause trouble. – as far as bagged dogshit left by the trail: if I go out for a nice walk in the woods, I don’t want to see other people’s bags of garbage left behind them, whether they intend to pick them up eventually or not. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/60 "2021-01-04T19:48:35Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > As near as I’ve been able to tell from what research I’ve done on the matter, most “biodegradable” plastic bags aren’t; they’re likely to crumble into bits too small for humans to notice, but, at least if not carefully composted under exactly the right conditions and maybe even then, the bits are likely to hang around and continue to cause trouble. Fair enough, and like I said, I don’t use the biodegradable label as an excuse to leave bags around anyhow, but good to know! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579.md?page=4)