Dog Days
You’ve all seen them and the majority of you are one. The Radford dog owner. Dogs on campus and the surrounding area can prove to be a hassle for more than the obvious list of caretaking duties.
There is absolutely no problem with your dog not being on a leash in a public place other than the fact that it is illegal. Obviously a few illegalities won’t stop the Radford student; the real problem comes in when your dog doesn’t listen to you right away or at all for that matter. Let’s skip all the problems with the dog running away, etc. Let’s talk about when your dog who is completely friendly, listens 95 percent of the time, comes trotting over to my dog, who is on a leash and completely unfriendly. My dog is going to eat your dog and I am not going to feel bad. Learn to use a leash. If you can’t learn to use a leash then teach your dog some discipline before you let it out in public.
How about that dog that’s not on a leash and there is no owner in sight. Is it friendly? What do I do with it? I can tell you from personal experience most stray animals in Radford are just hungry. There are those ones you need to watch out for though. For example, a few weeks ago at 3 a.m., a beautiful tan colored Pitbull came trotting down my road. So I called him over and then called the cops to come pick him up. In between the time it took for the police officer to arrive at my house from when I called him, “Rex”, as I affectionately named him, and I had become close buddies, licking my face and all.
Officer Jenkins of the Radford police department arrived and stepped out of his cruiser only to be forced right back into the seat. Rex tried to eat him! It’s a good thing I was holding the leash. Round Two: Jenkins steps back out of the car and towards Rex and I, then Rex tried to eat him again and almost lost his life. Officer Jenkins was ready to protect himself against that dog by using his gun and ending the dog’s life. At this point in time I tell Jenkins I’ll just keep the dog until the morning when the pound opens up.
It turns out Rex’s name is actually something else, but I don’t want you all to be afraid of him if you meet him, because he was trained to dislike uniforms. So again if you are going to get a dog, take care of it. That includes teaching good habits and not poor ones.
How about that neighbor who never takes her dog to pee? Well I shouldn’t say never, poor little “Indian”, (name changed too) gets to go out once a day. Don’t own a dog if you aren’t going to take care of it! It needs more than food, water and shelter. There is this little thing called exercise that keeps puppies happy, and dogs for that matter. You should try it; it’s great for the owner too.
My dog and I are best friends and he goes on a 30 minute daily run as well as numerous walks throughout each day. He is never off of his leash, and he will eat you. Take care of your dog’s folks, have some responsibility.
Due to this overwhelming dog population, the Radford year long residents are getting fed up, as there is no law to inhibit students or anyone else from owning a dog, property management companies that tend to lease to the student population have put their own restrictions on dogs. Starting next year, Bondurant won’t be the only stickler for pets. BCR will only be allowing animals in a few of their residents and most of those you must be living there now with your pet so you can be included under the grandfather clause.
Good luck keeping all those dogs around next year, but at least then I won’t have to worry about your dog dying because you’re too ignorant to put it on a leash. The only thing on my mind will be whether or not you gave it to a proper home instead of leaving it on the streets like students do every other break during each semester.
So take good care of your dog, use a leash, give it a little exercise, and if you don’t have one already, come borrow mine for 3 days before you head down to the pound to get your own. It’s a lot more effort to own a dog than you realize.
originally published in Issue 22 Season 4 of Whim
