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Covid

If outdoor exercising is banned, what about dog walking?

90 replies

namechangemania · 06/04/2020 12:46

Are they exempt? Expected to just use their garden for dog exercise? What about dog owners without gardens?

OP posts:
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GrumpyHoonMain · 06/04/2020 12:48

People without gardens own dogs?? Sounds cruel to me

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LaurieFairyCake · 06/04/2020 12:50

In other countries they're allowed out to let the dogs toilet.

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cremuel · 06/04/2020 12:52

Of course people without gardens own dogs - dogs need time outside, it doesn’t matter whether it’s privately owned or not.

In other countries on more severe lockdown, you can take you dog out but not for proper walks, more for toileting. I’m not sure if they’d be so strict here - it’s a pretty shit situation. We’re trying to walk our dog a bit less so the change won’t be so great if it does come to that.

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Toothsil · 06/04/2020 12:53

@GrumpyHoonMain it doesn't have to be cruel if they're taken for plenty walks. PIL got a dog when they lived in a house with a big garden. MIL sadly passed away and FIL moved to be near us. He still had the dog but the place he moved to didn't have a garden. There was no way he'd have given up the dog, that would have been more cruel. He takes her out multiple times a day, she's healthy and happy.

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coconuttelegraph · 06/04/2020 12:55

No one can answer that, it's a totally hypothetical question, any answer is simply a guess or telling you what is happening in another country.

If going outside is banned in the future there will be instructions about what to do with dogs, there won't be anything you can do about it, I don't see the point in trying to predict the future, will it make any difference to anything you do now?

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TomPettysTopHat · 06/04/2020 12:56

Some dogs are perfectly suitable for homes without gardens. I have a greyhound and he would do fine in a flat (many do). They still need somewhere to toilet though.

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Makeitgoaway · 06/04/2020 12:57

I really hope they don't prioritise the needs of dogs over humans. That might turn me into a rule breaker for the first time in my life.

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whitedogpoo · 06/04/2020 13:00

In other countries they’re allowed out for toilet but no walks.

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inflam · 06/04/2020 13:00

People without gardens own dogs?? Sounds cruel to me

You must have a limited thought process.

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LittleBoyJuly2020 · 06/04/2020 13:04

It's a worrying thought. I have two energetic big dogs that do ok with one hour a day (we usually take them for two hours a day but not since lockdown) and we've been taking them out late at night as I'm 6 months pregnant and don't want to risk bumping into other people

We live in the countryside, partner has said if they stop the hour exercise he will have to sneak them out to a field in the middle of the night. Life will be extremely stressful if we can't give them that hour.

I don't want to break the rules or put anyone at risk but I think other dog walkers will resort to the same where possible.

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RollaCola84 · 06/04/2020 13:41

@Makeitgoaway - me too

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Thisisworsethananticpated · 06/04/2020 14:02

Me 3
I get so frustrated how dogs 🐕 seems to be sacrosanct

Sorry 😐 I know that’s unheard of in the UK

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DownWhichOfLate · 06/04/2020 14:14

Uh huh. Couldn’t care less about the dogs. Children, however, do need to get outside every day!

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lemonsandlimes123 · 06/04/2020 14:17

Downwhich - that is simply absolute rubbish. It's nice for children to get out everyday it's certainly not a need. What exactly do you think will happen if they don't?

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Fidgety31 · 06/04/2020 14:20

My children are trained to poo In our toilet - unfortunately my dog can’t do that - so he has to be taken for a walk more than the kids do .
We don’t have a garden - but we got our dog before we moved to this house . I wasn’t prepared to give up my dog when we had to move . I couldn’t afford a house with a garden .

It’s not always as simple as some simple folk might think !

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Makeitgoaway · 06/04/2020 14:40

Surely it's only "nice" for dogs to go outside too? As for what will happen, ricketts is an obvious one, beyond just basically getting fat and unfit and MH issues. All the same things that would be issues for dogs,.I imagine.

I'm sure you can clear up after your dog in the same way you would in the street.

Maybe people and dogs without gardens should get priority?

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BubblyBarbara · 06/04/2020 14:59

If dogs are allowed out then so am I. It’s like when people used to go out for smoking breaks at work, I would go out with them even though I didn’t smoke. I will walk my virtual dog

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Darbs76 · 06/04/2020 15:31

My friend lives in a flat, but right over the road from a huge park. She pays over £400 a month in daycare and walks too. That’s not cruel.

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ifonly4 · 06/04/2020 15:41

I've read other countries have gone along the lines you can walk 400m within your home boundary or basically along your road.

I think restricting exercise for all of us within a certain radius of our homes is way the government will go if they have to, that way if the police stop you, you can easily prove you haven't driven there, aren't somewhere you shouldn't be. If you're someone who does a lot of exercise that wouldn't stop you running, cycling or walking around the block or up and down the road a number of times.

Apparently police are regularly stopping people in our area and looking at clamping down hard on anyone obviously going to stay with family for Easter or towing caravans this week. I've been given evidence that I'm a keyworker now and DH has been advised what he should say if stopped.

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mencken · 06/04/2020 15:43

can you get dog litter trays?

a permanent on lead rule would be good though. Or at least a reminder that however quiet the road, if it is a road then dog must be on the lead. Road traffic act 1988 for those who refuse to believe.

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Dozer · 06/04/2020 15:45

Toilet only, probably.

A risk could be more dogs attacking owners/ people in the household.

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Strokethefurrywall · 06/04/2020 15:50

We're under lockdown here and on hard lockdown days when we're not allowed out to exercise, we're still allowed to walk our dogs to do their business.

People seem to forget that when you've trained an animal to shit outside the house, it's pretty damn hard to get them to shit inside the house, or in a litter tray (quite where I'd find one for my two 80lb shepherd mix's god only knows, given all non-essential shops are shut.

We don't have a private garden so we continue to walk them throughout the day 🤷🏽‍♀️

You can't explain to an animal that it can't go outside to relieve itself and to not allow it to do so is cruel.

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ViciousJackdaw · 06/04/2020 15:57

Bloody hell, are we really suggesting that we let dogs piss and shit in the house? It's a fucking biohazard. But that's OK, people should live in squalid conditions just so little Noah can go on the swings. Christ almighty...

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Makeitgoaway · 06/04/2020 16:03

Oh don't be ridiculous Vicious. I'm simply saying that it would be unreasonable to prioritise the wellbeing of dogs over that of people. Just in case you hadn't realised, little Noah hasn't been able to go on the swings for some time now.

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Ineverdidmind · 06/04/2020 16:03

Dogs need to be walked. I will be walking mine no matter what.
I predict a rule like they have in France, where you are allowed out within a certain number of metres from your house. Which will still be hard but better than nothing.

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