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

Definitely see this at the beach around here which has no barrier between the beach, the road and the cycle path. People arrive at the beach turf out dog to 'play' with all the other strange dogs before losing them in the melee and for the dog to then run wildly into traffic.
 
My parsons is always on a lead. She has a long line and an extendy lead. We only let her off in fully enclosed areas, luckily we have a few around. She loves to chase hares!
Our lab is solid as a rock, she's a gun dog. 100 % trust her in any situation. My parsons has a fabulous life!
 
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Mine doesn't go off the lead at all outside of our garden.

He's a reactive dog with a big wariness of a lot of people that can come with an ex-street rescue dog*

*I'm made him sound awful, he's really not. He's a complete softie at heart but his background has made him nervous and 'react first, think later' when he's not sure about a situation.

Far better he lives a happy, fulfilled and safe life on the lead - he has a super long biothane long line so happily runs, jumps ditches, splashes about in puddles, digs holes etc - than hurt himself or someone else off it.
 
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Mine rarely is off lead unless in a fully enclosed area as she has been injured quite badly when she got free and chased a deer aged two! She does get at least an hours walk every day and sometimes longer. She gets to bomb about in the house and garden and has games indoors too. I would love to let her off more but fear she’d die!
 
Ruby the JRT has reasonable recall so can go off lead in the woods where I can see her and approaching people/dogs. I realised recently the quickest way to get her back was to call Ruby Lead! And wave the lead. She runs back tail wagging and waits for it to be clipped on. How is this cruel?! She is obviously happy to have it and the small treat that goes with it.

Where we walk there was a ridge back who was a puppy 8 years ago. He knocked people over, upset other dogs but "don't worry he's friendly". By 5 he was quite pleasant. She lost him recently. Guess what? She's got a new ridgeback puppy who Ruby has severely told off for jumping on her whilst she was on lead and Moti hates on sight. Owner was a bit put out at 2 on lead terriers going into full angry mode but still didn't put him on a lead. She told me the next day her boys aged7 and 5 are being rough trying to get puppy off sofa and are now scared as he keeps growling at them😟. But "he's a puppy and you should never tell puppies off as its not fair and could turn them nasty". I just made a hmmmmm sound and walked off. Watch this space.......😕
 
Tiddlypom said:
I doubt that many dogs have 100% recall in all situations. Many can be recalled most of the time, but very few can be recalled of the time.

A responsible owner recognises that and uses the lead accordingly. Lazy owners, on the other hand…
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You have your little dig every time I say my lot are 100%.
I’ll continue walking them off lead and you can continue calling me lazy.
 
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Leads when needed surely. I can’t remember the last time I attached any of mine to one but I do carry them if walking in public places. We mainly walk at home though. Watching how much they play together and sprint miles in the fields I do think it’s a bit unfair to never let a dog off the lead. If they don’t have a reliable recall make use of enclosed spaces? I haven’t ever used one but there’s at least 5 within a 5 mile radius here.
 
There is a forestry commission woodland I occasionally take the horse to.
I went one day in the summer and up ahead saw 2 women with 2 GSDs. The women spotted me and got the dogs back on the lead. As I approached the dogs got increasingly agitated and by the time I caught up with them they were barking and snarling aggressively and pulling on their leads , one just about pulling the woman off her feet.

I was genuinely frightened as to what might have happened if they hadn’t been able to get them on the lead, eg if I came across them around a corner and the dogs saw me before the owners did.

I’ve not been back , I know it’s probably unlikely I’d see them again , however it put me off going back
 
(I think this the last of my dog / owner related stories!)

Was once in the car with Mr Reacher driving along a road which has a row of houses on one side and the land drops down to the beach on the other.

Suddenly a dog comes pelting across the road from one of the houses across the road and runs straight into the side of the car, with a scream. We pulled over, dog was shaken but ok . Owner was shaken. Now I don’t know if the dog had slipped past the owner or she had let it out to run to the beach….

(The owner wanted our details in case of vets bills… I’d have thought the owner was responsible?)

It was very lucky, if we had been 6 feet further back it would have run in front of the car and we’d have run it over.

In the dogs fright it had crapped down the side of the car 💩 !
 
Clodagh said:
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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I do have to get on of mine to heel or grab her collar when people approach as she has a similar theory 🤣 she was a bugger for jumping up when we got her, doesn’t do it any more so now she plonks herself in a sit in front of people and does a collie wiggle with her ears down saying how cute she is. Obviously not allowed but if I let her with someone I know it is quite funny. Totally ignores other dogs apart from a cursory sniff and tail wag but is desperate for a cuddle!
 
stormox said:
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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My husky will never have a good recall
Not for lack of trying but his prey drive is INSANE he absolutely will chase anything and ignore you and will 100% kill anything he chases
He is only allowed off lead in an area with 6ft fencing and above and even then he’s not allowed out of sight as I know if I left him to his devices he would figure out how to climb or dig a big enough hole to leave
I make him sound deranged but he's an angel bar his lack of recall ability
I regularly take him to a security fenced dog park (booked by the hour so no other dogs) and actually built him a dog run at the house so he can get his runs but some dogs cannot be trained to recall reliably
 
Clodagh said:
You have your little dig every time I say my lot are 100%.
I’ll continue walking them off lead and you can continue calling me lazy.
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Not a dig at you 🤷‍♀️

ETA No matter how good the recall I’d always have a dog on lead when walking along a road, for instance. That is even in the Highway Code.

www.bluecross.org.uk

Dog laws UK | Blue Cross

There are over 20 pieces of legislation that apply to dog ownership in Britain including laws around dogs in cars, dog barking laws and dog breeding laws. Read on to find out more.
www.bluecross.org.uk www.bluecross.org.uk


The Highway Code also says that dogs should be kept on a short lead along roads and on paths shared with horse riders or cyclists (rule 56)
 
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Tiddlypom said:
Not a dig at you 🤷‍♀️

ETA No matter how good the recall I’d always have a dog on lead when walking along a road, for instance. That is even in the Highway Code.

www.bluecross.org.uk

Dog laws UK | Blue Cross

There are over 20 pieces of legislation that apply to dog ownership in Britain including laws around dogs in cars, dog barking laws and dog breeding laws. Read on to find out more.
www.bluecross.org.uk www.bluecross.org.uk


The Highway Code also says that dogs should be kept on a short lead along roads and on paths shared with horse riders or cyclists (rule 56)
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There’s a big difference between having a dog on a lead on a road and always having the dog tied to you. One is just common sense and the other shouldn’t be necessary in my opinion. Dogs need to run and do their own thing sometimes.
 
Clodagh said:
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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Broom suffers the same as your dogs. He's familiar with GALD!

So far his recall has been 100% but, like Tawny, he thinks that everyone has been put on this earth to pat him. He absolutely loves people. So yes, when a potential victim, with or without a dog, is spotted he's called back and put on the lead.

I'm lucky that two neighbouring farmers have given me permission to run Broom in their fields. There is an old railway right of way so I do occasionally meet people in the good weather but it's an impassible loop in the winter. Broom doesn't worry stock, recalls off hares and doesn't chase deer she's fine to be off the lead and run then.

I've got two lochs, forestry and country park within 5mins of me. I hate going there because of all the off the lead dogs with no recalls. Broom is really submissive and he's had a fright a couple of times with bigger dogs bounding up to him followed with shouts in the distance that "they're friendly". IDGAF, recall your dog and put it on a lead and if it can't be 100% recalled don't have it off the lead in public spaces.

I am on the side of caution and have never been in a position where my recall would ve under pressure so I'm constantly aware and recall when it's not needed to check it works. It's been 100% so far but I wouldn't 100% trust it if someone else called him over for pats (it's happened out walking before but I did get a lead on in time). I would say though the collies that my mum trained were 200%.

Even as primary school kids we were to take a dog if we went to big park and we could recall them no worries at all. I definitely don't have my spaniel trained as well as that!
 
bonny said:
There’s a big difference between having a dog on a lead on a road and always having the dog tied to you. One is just common sense and the other shouldn’t be necessary in my opinion. Dogs need to run and do their own thing sometimes.
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Then that can be done in a safe place. Not where other responsible dog owners are inconvenienced at best and put at danger at worse.
 
This is literally what private hire dog fields are for - so that dogs with unreliable recall can run free and play in a larger space than the average garden, without the owner risking it running into another dog / wildlife / traffic / straying etc.

If you want your dog off-lead and it doesn't have sufficient recall, hire a private, fenced space. If your dog has solid recall, let it off in sensible places - my collie was always off in the forest, but not on the roads, whereas my lurcher-thing never gets off-lead in public. But if you do let it loose, keep it within sight and pay attention to it. You're walking the dog, not mucking around on your phone
:rolleyes:
 
TPO said:
Then that can be done in a safe place. Not where other responsible dog owners are inconvenienced at best and put at danger at worse.
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Dog owners, cyclists, horses and riders, stock, wildife, Joe Public. And, most importantly, my dog, who is sick to death of aggressive dogs and dogs with poor social skills.
 
skinnydipper said:
Dog owners, cyclists, horses and riders, stock, wildife, Joe Public. And, most importantly, my dog, who is sick to death of aggressive dogs and dogs with poor social skills.
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Exactly. I was distraught when driving an empty bus back from a school run when a dog shot across a fast road in front of me chasing a deer he had seen on the other side. I couldn't avoid the dog, which, poor thing, stood no chance against the bus. The only blessing is that there were no school students on the bus at the time.
 
Escapade said:
No doubt written by someone with no idea how to engage his dog or exercise it without the dog having to entertain itself.

I often get comments from that type, not realising that the on-lead walks they see aren't the only exercise my dog gets. What a concept 🙄
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I have been told this week to "let my dog have some fun" real meaning let him run around like a loon with my dog please - by a stupid old bloke while I was sitting my spanner up in the local park, he needs lots and lots of just sitting with distractions and I use a long line because of the close proximity of a road, so I said "no thankyou he's in training" he said that I'll never train him if I don't let him off and I'm cruel - so I told him to f off and actually he's off lead dogging in a 1500 acre shoot so shove that up your ass and mind your own business....so fed up with people and I hate christmas which is looming so my patitence is very very thin.
 
Haven’t read all the replies but I’ve always felt that the key to JD’s longevity is that she always had at least one decent off lead run a day up until she reached about 12. We often took her to the sand dunes so she kept herself fit running up and down them.

As she got older, we lowered it to 3-4 times a week and now, at rising 16, she still has at least 2 of her walks a week at the shore where she can be off lead.

My dogs are all well behaved off lead and well socialised. I can take them anywhere without any worries.
 
My dogs both love to run. However their recall can dodgy if there is anything to chase about so they are mostly on lead when off my property, though I do let them off at certain times in certain places with good visibility and if there's no one around (next step, get someone I've asked to come along as a distraction). If there is people, wildlife, livestock, vehicles around, they stay on lead. They have over half an acre to run around at home and once I get myself to another dog club, there should be some running around in different enclosed areas.
No need for me to risk them to the road or the chasse (French hunt) which can't always tell the difference between a jogger and a wild boar.
 
I like my dogs to have off lead time. It doesn't have to be daily, but at least three days a week I like them to be able to have a full on blat about.

That said, it is of course completely possible to have a happy dog who never leaves his lead!

You may have to put a bit more work in. Walk a bit longer. Do more brain games.

I imagine there are dogs who never go off lead who cover more miles than many that do! Anyone regularly doing Canicross or bikejoring are going to absolutely eat up the miles.
 
I dont think mine would cope with being on a lead all the time. They are sight hounds, bred to run at high speed. They do go on leads obviously, but I walk miles with them and tend to be in places where I dont see another person. They both recall, neither has any real interest in other dogs and dont even look at them if we do meet them. The oldest can be a tart with people he thinks has food though, so gets called to heel if I think he is thinking about bothering people,

I do between 5 and 10 miles a day, the younger boy does 3 times that distance all fairly fast. We do all the other stuff as well, brain games, find it, visits to Oxford town where its busy and intense, sniffaris, visits to shops and cafes. But if he doesnt run every day he gets agitated and depressed. I dont think most peoples dogs are as fit as my youngest, so probably could be on lead most of the time. However I think most of the pet dog population would be a damn sight better behaved it they were walked further, let off lead (only if safe and feasible) and taken more places. Once I get a mile out on a path I can count on one hand the amount of times I've met another person in the last year. People tend to shuffle round the same short walk day in day out and then wonder why their dogs are wild
 
I think the ideal would be for every dog to have regular opportunities to have off lead time. However for a significant number of dogs it’s not appropriate for this to be in public spaces and that’s ok.

Private hire fields and indoor areas can be really good options for these dogs coupled with time on a longline or a responsibly used flexilead (I’ve given up hating them cos I hate soggy, muddy longlines more!)

The Hooligan is only safe to be off lead in places where there’s a decent fence (or a few miles!) between him and a road cos he’s a traffic chasing twit! He’s also not safe off lead around livestock. He doesn’t give a rats arse about other people and dogs generally as he’s got waaaay more important things to do. He’s usually better in woodland than an open field as he can’t scan the horizon.

He spends the majority of his time on a flex lead or longline (short lead near roads) with visits to secure fields and occasional other off lead time in certain other safe places plus I do a bit of agility for fun with him. I’d love to be able to give him more freedom but he’s proved on several occasions that this is not wise.

If I didn’t have the pony (or have to go to work!) and could devote my every waking moment to working on his recall for hours and hours every single day (& didn’t have anyone else around to F it up again) then I might be able to get him there with a lot of professional help to figure out why his chase drive is way beyond what it should be. Alas I don’t have the vast amounts of time, energy & money required & as other people do walk him who have zero interest in being consistent or doing any training with him whatsoever then we are where we are!
 
It looks as if there is a new game for people who like to live on the edge.

Instead of training reliable recall, keeping their dog on a lead, hiring a secure field, they fit a tracker, let the dog off leash, then the fun begins.

Will they find the dog before it injures itself, causes an RTA, worries stock, kills wildlife, is a nuisance or worse to other dogs, owners, cyclists, runners, or anyone else you can think of.
 
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