dogs n stiles

Cahill

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do stiles on footpaths/right of ways have to be dog-friendly?
nearly had to take a detour this morning but jimbo managed to squeeze under.
(at 6+ stone last time he was weighted,i am not about to start lifting him over )

thanks
 
As far as I am aware, no they don't have to be dog friendly.

Boris (4.5st) pings over them, Daisy (nearly 7st) needs to be lifted- gives me a really good workout if there are a lot of stiles! :)
 
i dont really want my dog having to jump 4 foot.my vet said lots of leaping,before he is grown can do him/his breed an injury.
 
Yeah i dont think they have to be dog friendly- as surely they would have to be Great dane friendly- which would literally mean being a gate!!! I just get over and let Dex decide how he is coming with me!
 
Even the dog-friendly ones only cater for small dogs, mine have never been able to fit through the popholes. I had to carry Dax over them for months until she was old enough to jump/climb them, Ricoh still hasn't learnt and all 24kg of wet muddy dog has to be picked up and thrown over. :o

Round here on the most touristy trails all the stiles have been replaced with kissing gates to help accessibility, I hadn't considered before that some humans might struggle with them too. The most rural ones are still stiles or those step ones for stone walls.
 
I'd recommend contacting your council rights of way officer to discuss - there might be money available to increase accessibility via kissing gates, esp if stiles are in bad repair at all.
 
That's a very good idea. Our town received extra funding due to an olympic connection so lots of new routes have been waymarked and leaflets/maps produced for tourists, hence the kissing gates on the most popular routes. A task force was set up to clear paths, repair fences etc. They've also started work on a wheelchair accessible route. :)
 
Wasn't aware your dog was young - no leaping!!

my vet said rotties can be prone to shoulder injuries and to be aware they can hurt themselves jumping in and out of the car,leaping to catch balls etc and if i wanted to do agility then to wait till he matured.

has anyone else been advised so?
 
No, they don't, so the council has no obligation to change them for you. And to be honest, given the state of all council's finances, I don't think they should.

A stile is there to let humans cross the boundary - because there's a footpath there. They must be stock-proof; if a big dog can wriggle under it, then so can a sheep I'm afraid.
 
I complained about a stye last year, it was an odd one, the foot foot bars didnt cross over so whichever way you tried to clime it, you ended up wrong footed, it was really awkward to clime, i xplained there wasnt actually anything wrong with it, good repair, no rot etc, just difficult and could they reassess it with a view to been replaced with a kissing gate and much to my supprise, they did, took about 9 months but that feild now has 2 kissing gates instead of stys
 
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