I've walked with caribou, stood very still while a grizzly circled my tent, and snorkeled with sharks, but I've never considered myself a brave man – which is probably naive. (I met the late Timothy Treadwell once and he felt the same way, with awful results). With the exception of a rogue raccoon that backed me down and purloined my pizza in Yosemite's Camp Curry, I've never felt the need to back away from animals.

Except for dogs.

This one had me backed into a blackberry bush with nowhere to go. According to its breathless owner, who had just scurried the hundred yards or so from where he was to where I was in order to rescue me from his crazy dog, it was my fault for inciting his dog to attack me.

He was adamant – it was neither his fault nor his dog's. Not his dog's lack of obedience, his lack of control or even that his dog wasn't on a leash.

No, according to this scofflaw, it was my ski poles. The dog's owner felt that because I presented a threatening image with my hiking accessories, his dog thought I was going to beat him.

I can't imagine the logic or training regime that would make this man come to that somewhat sinister conclusion. The simple truth was that his dog was off the leash.

Leash laws exist to protect many things: wildlife, dogs on leashes, horses, innocent runners, walkers, and us predatory dog-beaters who carry walking aids specifically for that purpose. There are numerous legal locations to be at one with your unleashed dog, including your house, your yard – and dog parks. The latter are specifically for dogs – as opposed to parks, forests, and trails circumnavigating golf courses, which are intended for people who leash their dogs.

This wasn't the case with Smug Lady. She, ambling along a distance away, fully aware that her unleashed Rottweiler shouldn't be sniffing my crotch, cheerily assured me that her dog was "not dangerous." Not to her. In my world, any strange dog – especially an enormous, unleashed specimen, inches away from the majority of my vital organs, is not by any standards "not dangerous."

My guarded response of "Good" apparently didn't meet Smug Lady's approval, which motivated her to announce that maybe it was I whom she should be afraid of. My fault again – it must be the ski poles.

Apart from a few ancient breeds such as the Egyptian saluki, the Siberian husky, Afghan hound and a few Asian breeds (Pekinese, Shih Tzu etc.), the majority of the 400 or so recognized dog breeds have only been around for a couple of hundred years, selectively bred in all their diverse sizes and conformations to the whims of man. This puts us in charge of our dogs' lives.

Dogs could not fit into our society if left to their free will, and that is simply why they're not allowed to roam at will. They have to be under the control of their owner, hence leash laws.

Most cities, including Sacramento and its environs, have leash laws that state that any dog (excusing service dogs and a few other exceptions) that's not on its leash is illegal.

Without dogs, today's society would probably not have evolved to its state today. Because of their unique defense and scent detection skills they have been our essential companions and protectors for thousands of years. But having been bred specifically for humans, they rely on us to look after them, and like children, they belong to the family, not to the general population.

Dogs are not human and don't possess even enough social skills to match a preschooler. Highly skilled dogs are commended for rolling over and fetching – both skills my children achieved by the age of 1.

Instead of opting to lick their parts clean and then transferring that saliva to other parts, my children use the bathroom. They also don't bark at, paw, sniff, or lick any other human (although there was that phase my son went through for a while).

Having reached these social pinnacles, they no longer need me to hold their hand to guide them away from danger or antisocial behaviors. They also realize it's not acceptable to terrorize innocent hikers with ski poles.

All of which is to say: If you want your dog off its leash, stay home.

Brian Lewis lives in Citrus Heights. He walks or runs around Ancil Hoffman park on a daily basis.