Anyone who walks a dog around Hong Kong soon discovers that some people here are genuinely and seriously frightened of dogs. When I did my walkies in Kowloon Tong I was amazed and distressed by the number of people who would rather walk in Waterloo Road than come within a yard of my harmless and leashed pet. I do not know if this fear is a legacy of rabies, or a consequence of the large numbers of people who grow up in places where dogs are banned, so they never have a chance to socialise with one. Anyway it seems a shame.
In our present locality this is not a problem, at least during daylight hours. All the regular users of the footpaths know each other. Even the people who find my young hound a bit boisterous have worked out that he will respond to a vigorous “no”, and in any case I will soon rescue them. We get along fine.
The problem comes at night. Our nearest spot for a short walk with a bit of off-lead action is near the look-out point. And the look-out point is popular with young couples looking for a quiet place where thay can be alone in the dark and discuss the finer points of logical positivism between themselves. Occasionally the dog disppears into the darkness and I hear distant sounds of terror. I pull the dog off whoever he is bothering and apologise profusely, as one does. Lately, though, I have noticed something interesting about this routine.
The two victims do not generally seem actually to be concerned. They assure me an apology is not called for. I do not quite get thanks, but there seems to be a general air of satisfaction. What I think is happening is that the hardest part of these nocturnal trists is getting from the logical positiviem to something more … intimate. One solution to this problem is provided by a great white land shark appearing out of the gloom. She dives into his arms. He adopts a protective stance. The ice is broken. By the time it is established that the dog is not that big and not carnivorous either the evening is on a new footing.
I am not complaining. Once you realise what is happening it is rather sweet actually. Still it just shows you. If our society encouraged more dogs it might raise the birth rate.
tim's experiment 
So what you are saying is that you might have found a solution for the declining birthrate in a “logical positive” way?
You were fortunate. I have often been asked by pedestrians and even a policeman, while walking my leashed dog, to put on the gag for the dog. My big dog is not required to be muffled by laws in Hong Kong.
Goodness. Pedestrians I can understand, but policemen should know better. Is your dog very big? I saw a Saint Bernard in the SPCA adoption department which was the size of a small horse. I don’t know what the person who imported it thought he was doing…
My dog weights around 100 lb and is a hybrid of a German Shepherd. As far as I am aware, only the bulldogs are required to be muffled under the laws of Hong Kong. I could be wrong.
Oh dear, I fear you may be caught by the legislation, which involves a weight limit. The SPCA will be able to tell you definitely. Of course this is a very arbitrary rule; I have known some big dogs who were real softies.