Who walks their dog off-lead?

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Ranyhyn

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I don't know if this is a regional thing, a old-fashioned thing or maybe not a thing at all! Round here the majority of people walk their dogs offlead. Not just in open spaces but round and about.

It's normal to see dogs waiting outside shops, dogs walking down the high street etc all without leads on. Pretty sure a dog has to have a lead on, but I have never heard of anyone getting into trouble over it (our police station is on the high street)

Does this happen near you?!
 
I do, but not on the road or public built up areas, only when in the fields/nature reserve where they are rarely on lead.
I would never in a billion years leave my dog tied out of a shop or anyhwere for that matter, and yes a few people round here do but not may to be fair.
 
Its really common here. And we're a semi-rural town so the local spas etc can be alongside pretty busy roads. There's two GSDs that to it regularly in my area and a black flat coat retriever and lots of JRTs (how that happens I don't know - my two would be under someones wheels in a second!)

I walk mine offlead in wide open areas but never along roads!
 
I have him off lead when it is safe to do so! IE down the fields and woods, I always walk him at heel when I meet people though and he put on the lead if we come accross other dogs and on the street/roads!
 
Mine are always off lead as don't walk on the roads/pavements with them, I always drive to my walks.

I do feel uncomfortable seeing dogs off lead on roads as it could only take a dog or cat on the other side of the road for them to be off! :eek:

Quite a few of my neighbours have theirs off lead on a fairly busy road but they tend to venture into peoples front gardens rather than the road :D
 
I live in a very urban area and am amazed by the number of people who walk dogs off lead, even on very busy streets. (Mostly Staffies.) I'm sure the dogs are well behaved but in my opinion, it would only take a second for the dog to end up in real trouble.

I don't leave the dogs outside shops as we had one snatched years ago, when I was a kid. Luckily my Mum saw it happen and went hightailing out of the shop and down the street, catching them fairly easily, since the dog wasn't co-operating.:) Also, I don't entirely trust my younger dog (abusive past and fine with people, just not with being trapped) and would never put her in a situation where someone might try to pet her whilst she was tied up.
 
Mine are never on a lead apart from when waiting at a shoot, but do not take them to the shops or down roads.

They are either on my land / yard or in the woods.

They do know how to walk on the lead but are very well behaved off.

The pup will learn to walk on and off the lead.
 
Mine is off lead as long as there are no livestock in the field or we are not on a main road. All other times she is off lead and this includes country lanes, as she does heel very nicely. Always on a lead if going through a town centre, main road or field with livestock like sheep or cows.
 
I always keep my beagle on the lead round residential areas, and recall him and clip his lead on if passing other people in fields/towpaths etc - not because I don't trust him, he's a superstar, but I want to be considerate of other people who might not like/be scared of dogs.

I can't stand people who tie their dogs up outside shops and the like. I think it's cruel, especially when there is a lot of footfall and the dog is confused looking for it's owner and whining. There are always dogs tied up outside Tesco, it makes my blood boil!
 
They are pretty strict about leash laws around here so you don't really see dogs off leads unless it is an area you are allowed to walk in with them off the lead or unless you are so far out in an on-lead area that you don't see anyone. There are also, however, areas where dogs are supposed to be leads but tradition has turned them more into off-lead areas. Those are usually parks and such in more built-up areas where there are few other options and animal control looks the other way unless it gets too out of control (then they must control it because they are animal control :p). You'd never see dogs off lead around roads or in town, etc. though because they would get fined or yelled at by other people.
 
Not in town no, but then I can't think when I was last in a town with the dog.
She is offlead on the lanes immediately around my house, rarely meet a car on there and she knows "hup" is "get your arse on the bank and don't dare come down until I say"! And in fields with no livestock she is off lead.

However if we go further afield I'll stick her on a lead as you're more likely to encounter a car and some people in the village have cats, which wouldn't end well!
 
The highway code states the following re dogs

56
Dogs. Do not let a dog out on the road on its own. Keep it on a short lead when walking on the pavement, road or path shared with cyclists or horse riders.

Mine are never off lead on or near the road, even the best behaved dog can be spooked, or put up a cat/squirrel or similar, even if you can stop them quickly it only takes a few paces for them to dart onto the road. I actually passed someone today walking a rottie off lead at the side of a busy dual carriageway, made me shudder.
 
Ours are walked off the lead. We are lucky as we are surrounded by countryside and fields with public right of way. They are very good and always come back etc. The only time they are kept on the lead is on footpaths next to the road etc, but they dont often get walked on them anyway! ;)
 
I walk my two off-lead in Central Park and when we're in the countryside at weekends, but never along busy Manhattan streets. Not only do you have to contend with some of the busiest traffic in the world, but there's food and all sorts on the pavements, not to mention skateboarders and cyclists who suddenly leave the road and ride on the pavement. Plenty of people do it, however. My neighbour has two gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dogs, and they're never leashed, but they only lumber about the place, whereas I think the woman who walks her teacup Yorkie without a lead is a fool. One day that dog is going to get hit by a bike.
 
I had to shuv my pretty little car into a bush twice today to dodge a spangle and a JRT that were off lead on the private road to work. Owners were miles behind them and one had the cheek to give me agro for nearly hitting her dog!

My work is very close to the city centre, so all the townies attack the lane on weekends (usually in sparkling clean wellies) and seem to think they have priority over the cars that actally have a right to be on the (private) road. The dogs usually nip in one of the fields with the horses too and cause mayhem. ergh.

B is on lead all the time (long line) unless she is in an enclosed space.
 
Kitsune said:
I don't know if this is a regional thing, a old-fashioned thing or maybe not a thing at all! Round here the majority of people walk their dogs offlead. Not just in open spaces but round and about.

It's normal to see dogs waiting outside shops, dogs walking down the high street etc all without leads on. Pretty sure a dog has to have a lead on, but I have never heard of anyone getting into trouble over it (our police station is on the high street)

Does this happen near you?!
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With the exception of the odd maniac, or hard case dogs (generally other people's, very rarely mine), then I have never owned a dog, which I can't walk anywhere without a lead, and that would include the busiest if High Streets.

A boastful statement? Possibly, but not by intention. A dog which is on a lead, all so often will switch off. It has permanent "contact", with the handler/owner, so why should it consider its base? A dog which is not being "held", will more often look to the owner, for direction, or affirmation.

Many will disagree with me, but the lead is responsible for the all too many of the problems which we have with dogs.

Alec.
 
Our two go on the roads off the lead but only on the quiet lanes. On our usual routes it's unusual to see more than one car in an hours walk - and that's often the postman! Would never have them off on anything busier. I hate to see people with dogs loose on main roads, especially when they're often quite a way ahead of their owner. And if they're walking to heel why not clip them on the lead anyway? Just one lapse in attention could be pretty nasty. :(
 
celia said:
And if they're walking to heel why not clip them on the lead anyway? Just one lapse in attention could be pretty nasty. :(
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That's my thinking. Mine don't pull or misbehave on the lead and they walk decently off the lead when we're somewhere safe but I don't see the harm in taking precautions, especially since I can't control what other people or animals might do. It's a bit like not wearing your seatbelt because you don't intend to have a car accident. ;)
 
What I really hate is the fool walking along a pavement with a dog on the end of an unlocked flexi! One false move and their dog could end up underneath my tyres:(
 
I used to walk Millie off the lead but walking to heel where it was very quiet but then I saw a Staffie hit by a car and die at the side of the road because it wasn't a lead. The chap had never walked it on a lead "because it had never run off before" but this time it did and the worse happened. He got a puppy not long after and walked that off the lead too so he clearly hasn't learned his lesson.

I think to do that near a road is plain irresponsible, it only takes for a cat or something to catch a dogs eye and even the best behaved could scarper.
 
celia said:
Our two go on the roads off the lead but only on the quiet lanes. On our usual routes it's unusual to see more than one car in an hours walk - and that's often the postman! Would never have them off on anything busier. I hate to see people with dogs loose on main roads, especially when they're often quite a way ahead of their owner. And if they're walking to heel why not clip them on the lead anyway? Just one lapse in attention could be pretty nasty. :(
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Unfortunatley I think the dog walkers at my work have the same attitude as you do (but far less sensible).
Dog walkers might think 'Oh we only see one car on our walk'
The one car then sees 5 or 6 off lead dogs all over the 'quiet lane' in less than a mile!

The dogs that will be recalled to the verge and sit nicely when I pass and leave the horses alone don't bother me at all. The rest do my nut in.
 
FLEXIs = ARGH!
Saw a woman walking a husky on one today, poor dab walked wrong was round a lamposts and she yanked it back (and into lampost) stupid tart!
 
I never let Stevie off anywhere near a road, I don't trust him enough. The footpaths/green spaces on my estate it depends on the time of day - when the kids are at school I will because there aren't many people about but when it's busy I don't because he can occasionaly still jump up at random strangers :o.

At the weekends we always take him to wide open spaces frequented by dog walkers and he is always off the lead there...... He had a nice balance of off/on lead time.

I also cringe when I see dogs off the lead next to busy roads. I regularly see a lad on a bike with a Staffie running alongside, next to a 2 lane road.....
 
Not the way people drive around here I don't - at least when he's on a lead and some maniac in a 4X4 (which makes them magically invincible you know) comes barrelling round a corner I can leap into a ditch and take him straight with me without delay:rolleyes:
 
When on lead my dog is never on a tight lead, he is always walked to heel on my left side with the lead in my right hand! The only time I will take a pull on the lead is if he doesn't listen to my voice (99.9% of the time he will do as asked to my voice)

I don't think it makes anyone a problem owner/bad owner if they chose to walk their dog on a lead where there is traffic around! And yes my dog does walk to heel off lead 99.9% of the time but I still wouldn't risk that on a road. I do have an exceptionally polite well mannered dog though and he is a rescued Staffordshire Bull Terrier that my 5yr old niece can walk to heel.
 
The only dog I see off-lead around town is a rottie owned by a yoof who epitomises the word 'chav' - tracksuits, Burberry etc. - and is without doubt the most beautifully trained dog I have encountered in person. He sticks to his owner's heels like glue and I wouldn't worry for a second that he would go into the road or approach anybody, they just have that vibe about them as a pair.

Alec Swan said:
A dog which is not being "held", will more often look to the owner, for direction, or affirmation.
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If you are ever around these parts I would love to introduce you to the Siberian husky - there's an exception to every rule and they are surely it. :p
 
I admire the people who can have their dog walking nicely off lead on the pavement but I am way too paranoid to allow that and the puppies are far too easily distracted. Big dog is head down, never thinks to look where he's going because he is used to being free and off lead in the woods where we always walk.

They are all off lead at the yard unless there is a scary/spooky horse being brought in.

The puppies are being walked on pavements currently to train them to heel as we failed first time round :( :o: hopefully they will be trained soon as walking on the lead is still a trauma.
 
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