Anyone who has read this blog knows that I have my fair share of run-ins with Dumb Ass Dog Owners (DADO’s).

When I’m walking one of my dogs, I’m constantly on the lookout for other people walking their dogs. Mostly because I’m surrounded by DADO’s. The dog I’m walking and what I observe of the person I’m approaching determines exactly how I’m going to handle the situation.

Most times I practice avoidance. (Not to be confused with abstinence, because that would be a totally different blog.)

And by that I mean, I turn around and go back the way I came, or find an alternative route home.

I’ve also been known to nip into a neighbor’s yard and wait for the DADO and the dog to pass.

Most times you just have to take my word for it that I’ve had another encounter, I mean, typically my hands are full wrestling a dog (or two) past whatever the distraction is.

Not this time! THIS TIME I HAVE PROOF!

Saturday afternoon I took Delilah for a walk, we went a route that was a little bit longer than normal, but it was a nice day and we were just enjoying our walk.

There were a couple of yard dogs that like to bark and run along the fence, but for the most part it was a decent walk.

Until…

We were coming up on the turn to our street, but still some distance away. I could see a couple of women standing on the side of the road looking at a house and chatting. They were about two houses away from our turn.

I squinted trying to determine what it was that I was seeing in the road, from my perspective it was very small.

As we got closer and closer, I could see it was a small dog, like a Yorkie. One woman had the dog on a retractable leash and I watched as the dog wandered from the woman, to almost the other side of the road and back again.

My heart sank. We’d already been walking for 1/2 an hour and I sure as hell didn’t want to turn around and walk back up that hill, and past the barking yard dogs.

I moved to the opposite side of the street from this house and the women. Thankfully that particular area has no house on that side of the road; it’s an empty lot. It is wooded, but there is about 15 to 20 feet of open land before you hit the woods.

I moved Delilah to my right side and walked deeper into the lot than I typically would go. I pulled out a treat and began snapping it apart, handing it off to her. The women stopped chatting, looked at me and smiled, maybe they said Hello, I can’t be sure. I know I nodded my head at them and kept moving.

I had hoped the DADO would see how hard I was working to get my dog past hers and rein hers in,  and she did, but only a tiny bit, then they went back to chatting.

Once we were safely past them, I turned around and watched. The women continued chatting with the DADO oblivious to where her dog was and what it was doing.

In fact, I stood and watched, shaking my head the whole time as a car inched its way past the women and dog. Because obviously, the car saw what I saw and was concerned about hitting the dog.

Too bad the DADO wasn’t as concerned. I thought to myself, not only is she a DADO she apparently doesn’t give a shit whether her dog gets hit or not.

I told you I lived in the DADO capitol of the world.