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

skinnydipper said:
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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That is so true. I see no point whatsoever in a tracker unless you want to see how far your dog travels on a walk or similar.
Eg to see how much further my dogs walk than I do, bearing in mind they are playing or doing smells, not walking in such a linear way.
 
skinnydipper said:
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.
Click to expand...
So when is this coming to TV? Sounds like the premise of a dystopian game show.

Another use for trackers is tracking the owner. I encouraged my neighbour to get one when her husband with dementia kept getting lost when walking the dog. Unfortunately the tracker never worked properly, so she ended up walking with him instead.
 
I did try a tracker.

I walk in the pitch black with just a head torch and I liked the idea of the added security.

I'm not concerned about my collie or my lurcher, but the whippet is a little more independent.

He always stays with me, has never bogged off on a walk and has never given me any reason to think he would, but I am just concious that where my other two are very handler focused, he is a typical whippet with a bit more interest in his environment.

Anyway, the tracker didn't work in the remote areas we walk, so instead he wears a light up collar to appease my neurosis.
 
My nearly 8 years old Basset hound Nouille has a very strong hunting instinct and selective hearing. If she goes a on scent, there is no way, i can get her back...

She is always on a long lead outside but can often run free around a friend's garden

Also, i spend as much a 3h a day, most days in the forest and i run behind her. She goes where she wants and i follow.

I am getting fit and she seems happy, she doesn't go fast but can go on for a long time in a kind of looped canter !

We go across the forest, over small ditches and log, when she get a very strong scent, we are off !

She starts barking loudly and i take a deep breath and starts running.

It's not ideal but i am really enjoying it and hopefully she is happy too.

Once home, she falls asleep and snores like a train, tired and probably dreaming of deers, hare, wild boards and cats !
 
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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Thinking about this as I got home from training last night and my neighbours were locked up, lights off and presumably in bed, as they are before my last walk most nights. We have never met out on a walk as they do the same route at the same time every single morning. I'm sure they think I don't walk my dogs at all.
 
Yeah I've had people claim my dogs never got out because they passed my house at the same time every morning and evening. These are the same people who wonder why their dogs go ballistic at walk and meal times, as they struggle to get the (badly scratched) door open or put the bowls down on the floor without getting mobbed.
 
Janique said:
My nearly 8 years old Basset hound Nouille has a very strong hunting instinct and selective hearing. If she goes a on scent, there is no way, i can get her back...

She is always on a long lead outside but can often run free around a friend's garden

Also, i spend as much a 3h a day, most days in the forest and i run behind her. She goes where she wants and i follow.

I am getting fit and she seems happy, she doesn't go fast but can go on for a long time in a kind of looped canter !

We go across the forest, over small ditches and log, when she get a very strong scent, we are off !

She starts barking loudly and i take a deep breath and starts running.

It's not ideal but i am really enjoying it and hopefully she is happy too.

Once home, she falls asleep and snores like a train, tired and probably dreaming of deers, hare, wild boards and cats !
Click to expand...

What will you do if she ever finds and corners/holds something 😂
 
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