Are dogs more stable in other countries?

[Jenko109]

I'm visiting a friend in Barcelona atm and am truly astounded at the difference in the dogs here.

I have seen LOADS of dogs. I would guess at least 150.

I have not seen a single dog pulling on the lead. Not one! They all walk beautifully.

I have only seen one dog show a very mild interest in another dog while walking past. The rest have been completely indifferent to there being other dogs around.

I've seen plenty of dogs off lead, walking quietly past other dogs with seemingly no recognition that there is even another dog there! Off lead dogs walking through the busy city, paying no attention to other people, the loud noises of street performances etc.

I've seen dogs off lead all over the beach. Each dog doing it's own thing. I've seen absolutely zero off lead play and indeed zero interaction whatsoever.

It has been so incredibly refreshing, but how are they ALL achieving this!?

 

[SilverLinings]

I suppose it could be a mixture of breeds/breeding, training, socialising and the social attitude towards dogs. It's not something I've noticed in other countries though (or heard anyone talk about), so maybe it's something particular to Barcelona. Does the city/region have tough laws on dog behaviour/ownership?

 

[Cortez]

I imagine it's the same difference seen in the horses there; a different attitude to training.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Perhaps the owners treat them like dogs and not children who can do no wrong.

 

[scruffyponies]

If you walk around a Spanish town any evening you will see loads of entire dogs just mooching around, off-lead, with or without their humans. As a result they are well-socialised from puppyhood. There is an expectation of them being left to get on with it. They don't have paranoid, reactive people grabbing the by the collar as soon as another dog appears, so they get on with life.

By over-regulating dog interactions we create the problem we are trying to solve.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I have no way as much experience as Cortez with horses but I have worked with horses in southern Spain and I have holidayed there a lot and our World Championships has been held there a couple of times, I've been there in 2014 and 2021 for that and I absolutely agree that there is a much more relaxed attitude all round to animal husbandry. To the point where some of the English guests would baulk at, perhaps not how we were keeping the horses, but certainly the neighbouring farmers.

Big dogs living in flats is not a problem, for example. I don't think it's over regulation so much as it is a very social country, everybody is out in restaurants and bars, the farms are all cheek by jowl, nobody wants a reactive dog or wants to have one around, so there is no point in breeding or selling them, because they would not survive/last very long in those environments. Equally, in the countryside, if a working dog does not do what it says on the tin, it doesn't live very long, so the dogs there have almost evolved to mind their own business. People seem to pick a horse (or dog) for the course, they don't try and squeeze a square peg into a round hole and get a dog that is completely unsuited to that environment.

 

[Michen]

Yup I'd say the dogs in the USA, or Colorado at least, are far better behaved. But they are expected to be- and on a lead. You would never have an off lead dog bounding up to you and if your dog is off lead it's under total control.

 

[misst]

I have just come back from Cuba and even in Havana where there is some fast traffic dogs are walked to heel off lead and dogs seem to be able to cross roads safely without humans! The dogs walking around on their own looked to be mixed breed medium sized dogs. Not interested in interacting with people or begging for food at restaurants at all. Our guide said 90% of them knew where they lived and went home in the evening to be fed and fussed with the family. The cats on the other hand looked a bit thin and mangey and were likely strays.

 

[Hackback]

When I was a child it was quite common for people on estates to put their dogs out in the morning when they went to work and let the dog roam around all day until they returned at tea time. No-one seemed to get stressed about the loose dogs and the dogs all seemed very grounded. Mind you the traffic back then was nothing like it is today.

 

[Cherryblossom]

I was in Barcelona in October and also noticed that! Dogs playing off lead on scraps of grass right by busy roads but wouldn’t ever go near the edge. I would never trust my dogs to do that!

 

[Cortez]

I was in Barcelona in October and also noticed that! Dogs playing off lead on scraps of grass right by busy roads but wouldn’t ever go near the edge. I would never trust my dogs to do that!

There may be a certain darwinian element at play there.....

 

[Cherryblossom]

There may be a certain darwinian element at play there.....

You may well be right!

 

[Equi]

“Back in the day” all the dogs on my street just mooched about and came home to their dinner. My childhood dog would walk to the end of the road and wait for me to come home from school and walk me home. That was a good 1/2mile away from home and who knows where she went all the other time. The only dog aggressive dog I ever had was my staffy and she was the only dog we never let roam, as times had changed too much. It’s not much different to keeping stallions, the ones who get out in a herd are generally easier to deal with than the ones kept in a box with big red warning signs saying stay away.

 

[Honey08]

I used to see that a lot in New York. I concluded it was because they’re city dogs. Constantly having to be on leads from an early age and learn to walk to heal.

 

[splashgirl45]

I can also remember the latch key dogs and children.. not every family had a dog. It seems that nowadays everyone expects to have what they want but are not prepared to put the work in to ensure the dog has a good quality of life. They expect a cross between 2 lively dogs, cocker spaniel and poodle , to exist on a 20 minute lead walk and wonder why it’s so excitable .. and they don’t take it to training classes because they haven’t got time.. as you can tell I know a few and it drives me bonkers, poor dogs, no wonder so many of them end up in rescue

 

[JoannaC]

I was talking about this recently. When we were kids the dogs were always off lead, noone got into a panic if, on the very rare occasion, there was a bit of a scrap as they were never serious.

 

[Highmileagecob]

And you never heard of a dog biting it's owner, or anyone else. It simply wasn't tolerated. But then most dogs were scruffy mutts, not expensive accessories.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Nah, we never had German Shepherds off leash in busy places or allowed them to roam, from my mother's in the late 60s right through to the present day, it's a courtesy thing with some breeds, people who did that are one of the reasons why they are still so feared/stigmatised.

 

[scruffyponies]

And you never heard of a dog biting it's owner, or anyone else. It simply wasn't tolerated. But then most dogs were scruffy mutts, not expensive accessories.

You did hear of dogs biting... but they only did it once.