It is cruel to always keep dogs on a lead – let them run free

My little JRT spent her whole life on a lead when outside. I can confirm that she didn't suffer at all and lived a lovely life. If she wasn't such a terrier she'd have had a recall, but unfortunately the lure of a bush proved too much and I couldn't trust her to come back. She had a variety of long lines and could still run and play when on one.
 
If you don’t have full recall of your dog then unless it’s in and enclosed area it shouldn’t be off leash.

Is it crueler to the dog to be safe on a leash or be shot by a farmer, attacked by a dog it’s approached or killed by livestock/horses?

Honestly I despair at the entitlement of people who write this stuff. This will be another load of twaddle for the ‘he’s friendly’ brigade to use to justify their rude uncontrolled dogs behaviour.

Do the training, make your dogs recall rock solid, then you may have an argument for never having it on a leash.
 
My little terrier is NEVER off lead outside of the garden, she is reactive with a high prey drive, it wouldn't be fair on her to put her at risk. We do though have an acre of fenced garden (where her recall is obviously perfect :D because there are no exciting distractions apart from the odd squirrel) and she is walked in the fields on a flexi lead so she is able to stop/go/sniff at will (a long line doesn't work as usually ends up tangled round the old boy who is usually walked off lead as his recall is good and his prey drive is zero)

Clearly I am a terrible owner
 
I'm not reading all of that, it's just simpler for him to say 'I can't train recall or loose leash walking, I can't be arsed to get a trainer to help me, I also cannot be bothered to find an outlet for my dog's energy or actually engage with it so it does not want to bugger off away from me'.

He isn't the first and he won't be the last.
 
I’m put off taking the horse to the nearby beach, the number of out of control dogs with no recall.

Off topic but yesterday I was talking to a colleague who has 2 puppies and they are tearing the house to bits and he won’t train them / take them to puppy classes as they feel training them is mean (to paraphrase) .
 
Reacher said:
I’m out off taking the horse to the beach, the number of out of control dogs with no recall.

Off topic but yesterday I was talking to a colleague who has 2 puppies and they are tearing the house to bits and he won’t train them / take them to puppy classes as they feel training them is mean (to paraphrase) .
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It's not really off-topic, it all feeds into the quite frankly, whackadoodle, belief that dogs should not ever experience any temporary inconvenience or negativity in order to avoid permanent injury or death and avoid them causing danger to themselves or others. Although the older I get, the more I realise it's often a smokescreen for being lazy/tight.
 
Reacher said:
I’m put off taking the horse to the nearby beach, the number of out of control dogs with no recall.

Off topic but yesterday I was talking to a colleague who has 2 puppies and they are tearing the house to bits and he won’t train them / take them to puppy classes as they feel training them is mean (to paraphrase) .
Click to expand...

Tell him the rescue centres are full so he might be stuck with his delinquent adolescent dogs.
 
I have one exactly the same as @HopOnTrot describes, but a labrador. And we deal with her also exactly as HOT does. Our other labrador does walk nicely off lead and has very good recall but is not very keen at all on strangers so for safety sake we will not risk it, and she is only allowed off lead on our own property where we can be sure she will not come across unknown interlopers on her territory. All pretty elementary and obvious I would have thought for the safety of others and their own dogs, but for some apparently not.
 
Reacher said:
Off topic but yesterday I was talking to a colleague who has 2 puppies and they are tearing the house to bits and he won’t train them / take them to puppy classes as they feel training them is mean (to paraphrase) .
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My SIL thinks I am cruel as my dogs are oppressed in that if I tell them to GALD they do so. Poor creatures.
(Go And Lie Down in case it’s not obvious to anyone except me).
And mine are never on leash but yes do have perfect recall. Except Tawny who does think everyone wants to say hi so she does get one popped on when we see a potential victim approaching.
 
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skinnydipper said:
Copy this into google search and access that way:

It is cruel to always keep dogs on a lead – let them run free​

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Even if that's into the nearest dual carriageway, or into the mouth of a Rottweiler who doesn't appreciate rude dogs? Stupid man 😡

Sorry SD- It looks like I've quoted you directly. I've edited
 
Roasted Chestnuts said:
If you don’t have full recall of your dog then unless it’s in and enclosed area it shouldn’t be off leash.

Is it crueler to the dog to be safe on a leash or be shot by a farmer, attacked by a dog it’s approached or killed by livestock/horses?

Honestly I despair at the entitlement of people who write this stuff. This will be another load of twaddle for the ‘he’s friendly’ brigade to use to justify their rude uncontrolled dogs behaviour.

Do the training, make your dogs recall rock solid, then you may have an argument for never having it on a leash.
Click to expand...

and if I can add to this excellent post:

If you don't know where your off leash dog is, then keep it on a lead.
 
Reacher said:
I’m put off taking the horse to the nearby beach, the number of out of control dogs with no recall.

Off topic but yesterday I was talking to a colleague who has 2 puppies and they are tearing the house to bits and he won’t train them / take them to puppy classes as they feel training them is mean (to paraphrase) .
Click to expand...

I’d otherwise have said that colleague was intelligent, responsible and with common sense. But apparently not.
I don’t know if his approach to bringing up kids was similar .

Hands up I’m not a dog owner but trained dogs look calmer and better adjusted to me than delinquent ones running wild.

I have a neighbour/ friend who has horses (and ridden dressage to a higher level than me) who stands at the entrance to the bridlepath / track that runs around our boundary and turns their dog (collie) loose for a run , it runs around the corner full pelt out of sight of the owner then after a bit runs back. What would happen if it met another dog / horse etc . No joined up thinking. Oh and there is livestock in adjacent fields
 
Reacher said:
I don’t know if his approach to bringing up kids was similar .
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I had a conversation with someone at the weekend, they talked about how firm but fair they were when bringing up their kids, when they said something, they meant it etc, which helped them become the all-round good eggs they are today.
I told them to apply that same logic to their dog, just make a plan, stick to it, rigidly. And then it was all 'but..but..but...aw...poor doggie'. Didn't talk like that about their kids!!
 
CorvusCorax said:
I had a conversation with someone at the weekend, they talked about how firm but fair they were when bringing up their kids, when they said something, they meant it etc, which helped them become the all-round good eggs they are today.
I told them to apply that same logic to their dog, just make a plan, stick to it, rigidly. And then it was all 'but..but..but...aw...poor doggie'. Didn't talk like that about their kids!!
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People with awful kids have awful dogs and vice versa.
They really do need similar upbringings , boundaries, decent diet, regular exercise and appropriate entertainment.
 
Ah yes, the off lead at all costs brigade. Life may be slightly more interesting for the short time they're out walking each day, but is also likely to be much more brief.

It's been said before but the people advocating for this approach have clearly never had to scrape up the outcome of car vs dog. I've thankfully never seen a shotgun outcome but don't imagine it's any more pleasant.
 
I think dogs should be trained in recall in all situations, and then be able to be let off lead. It is good for a dogs lungs to be allowed a free gallop in safe places.
 
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