A quickie trip to the grocery store turned into a teachable moment recently as I watched from a distance while a teenage girl tied her innocent little brown dog to a post outside the market. While walking from the parking lot to the front door I saw the girl disappear quickly into the store. The little brown dog was standing there helplessly tethered to a sign, terrified, vulnerable and alone. As if that was not enough torture for one innocent pup, he was positioned in the worst possible place – the high traffic zone right between the grocery carts and the front doors. For whatever reason, fellow shoppers tend to go full throttle right there madly grabbing carts and racing Indy Car style into the store to look for bargains. They aren’t looking out for little brown dogs in the process.
The dog’s POV must have been horrific. “Here comes a gigantic loud clanging empty cart right at me, and I can’t move out of the way and it’s being pushed by an unknown potential assailant who I hope will see and avoid me,” MOMMY!!! Had the little dog bucked or tried to pull away in fear, I have no doubt that the sign would have fallen right on top of him to boot, as it was not exactly made of material grade steel. 
So many things were wrong with this situation. Mainly, we aren’t living in a Norman Rockwell painting, and trusting the “big, bad world” not to harm your defenseless dog is not a gamble anyone should take, EVER. Tying dogs up is very dangerous and leaves them vulnerable to all sorts of menacing threats. Dogs get stolen every day for a variety of reasons and many are abused in unspeakable ways as a result. Did the careless girl have sinister intentions when she placed her fragile dog in harm’s way? Probably not. She clearly didn’t see the potential dangers at all. I had my “dog glasses” on that day and suffice it to say, I stayed outside with the little brown dog, taking these photos and watching out for him until the girl returned and we had a little chat…
Keep your dog glasses on friends, silent four leggeds need you!