Dogs on leads

[MotherOfAllNameChanges]

Are you keeping yours on a lead now?

[TeacupRex]

Yes. Mostly because one of mine will go up to other people (if they coax him over for attention - if they ignore him he'll just walk past) and I don't think it's a very good idea for people to be touching other people's dogs right now. Nothing has been proven yet (about whether the virus can stay on the dog's fur or whatever) but I'd rather remove the risk.

Plus there are quite a lot of dogs on lead at the park (park is usually predominantly off lead), dogs I've never even seen before. Offlead dogs shouldn't really be allowed to go up to one that is on lead, so it's just easier to keep them on.

[joystir59]

Nope. Where we walk I hardly ever see anyone else.

[Fabellini]

Yes, we’re walking from our house just now, instead of further afield - going for a couple of miles which is plenty for his wee legs - but it’s quite a built up area, and he’s only really used to being off lead when we’re at the beach or the woods, so I’m not entirely confident that he’d stop when we needed to cross the road, or that he wouldn’t prance up to other dogs or people for a chat....not ideal at the moment.

[Mumintherain]

I am, as my dog is young (5months) and loves everyone. I have let him off for some recall training with the kids and to play with an other dog who assured me the dogs playing together is fine. I wasn’t 100% sure about that, still not completely sure, hopefully it was fine.

[robindeer]

Sadly yes, unless I'm certain that there's no-one around. Frustrating for the dogs (and us!), but while we're all tied so close to home we're going to see a lot more people out walking/jogging/cycling. My usually very quiet country routes are suddenly very popular!

[Easilyanxious]

Yes if anyone's around , not that he normally runs to people and has good recall but just not taking the chance as would probably be first time he chooses not to listen .

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

DDog is off lead as usual.

He actively avoids being touched by strangers. With other dogs, he's got very good manners off lead (and actually really needs the chance to run about with other dogs for his mental wellbeing) but can be slightly grumpy on lead. He also needs the chance to burn off his energy by running around - I'd have to be out of the house for twice as long to exercise him if he was on lead.

[penisbeakers]

I keep him on a lead regardless. He is either tethered to me on a short lead whilst we walk on the street, and then I attach him to a horse lunge line in open spaces so he can run about in big circles. His recall is rather rubbish and he is very exuberant, so I can't risk him knocking a child or an elderly person over. He's big enough to cause damage.

He's half American akita and they tend to be stubborn buggers, so recall is not always on their agenda!

[WhWt]

No. His breed needs to run and he doesn’t approach other people or dogs.

[Wolfiefan]

No. But I can walk over fields where I can avoid other people completely. If I couldn’t then she would stay on lead.

[Glenthebattleostrich]

Partially.

She's on a lead until we get to woods or a field then I let her off.

[Mominatrix]

Partially, as normal. She is on lead until we get to the Tow Path, then off lead for the parts of the walk where there is no automobile traffic.

[truthisarevolutionaryact]

Yes - he's on the lead as he's a friendly wee soul (6 months old) who loves people and other dogs. Sometimes I let him off to chase a ball in a wide open space if there's nobody around, but am on high alert and as soon as someone appears, back on the lead he goes.

[TeaMilkNoSugarThanks]

Yes, but mine always are: one's unpredictable with dogs, the other's a scent hound who would be off like a shot given half a chance and a good smell. Both get lots of free running in the garden and recall is a constant work in progress, but now isn't really the time to lose one.

[Circletime27]

We’ve got a huge field close to home so he’s off lead there as there’s never anyone in it but we’re keeping him on for our other local walk as there’s lots of people on bikes, other dog walks etc and at 7 months old his recall isn’t the best at the moment! He pulls like a train on the lead so it’s not much fun (planning on doing some training to stop him over Easter).

[MotherOfAllNameChanges]

Ours needs to run.
She's young. Has good recall but people pet her because she's s friendly puppy 🙄
Think I'll put her on the lead if we see anyone.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Mine is off lead in the forest but I call her away from other people/dogs and put her on the lead if there are too many around during this time.

[Jade1976]

I walk her on the lead until she does her business, then offlead. We rarely see anyone else and if we do I put her back on the lead.

[Madbengalmum]

Mine on the lead, as we have been specifically asked to do this to help local vets/NHS with admissions. No dog fights, bites to humans or anti social behaviour. I think in the current climate it is the right thing to do. We live in the countryside and I don’t think there should be any excuse at the moment, you cannot trust anyone else's dog, so why run the risk.

[pilates]

Yes on lead for the last three weeks, although I did give him a treat off lead today in a fairly empty field for 15 minutes.

[steppemum]

well, mine is usually off lead for most of his walk. He needs to run and sniff etc.
He doesn't approach people or dogs, but his recall isn't 100% (like if he has seen a squirrel)

Now, I notice that most dog owners are much more cautious and definitely anxious about dogs off the lead. So, we have made the decision to put him on the lead. We have a long lead, 10m, which we used to use for foster dogs, he walks on this and it allows him to trot up and down and sniff and run left and right across the path, but not by my feet.

There is a HUGE football pitch at the end of our walk, and there are rarely ever any other dogs around, so he is let off, and I throw the ball which has him running hard for 20 minutes.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Depends on where I am and who is around, and which dog I have. I want them to have as much free running as possible. Yesterday they got loads. Today, not so much.

[penisbeakers]

Horse lunge lines are very helpful for giving a dog a good run - mine is 100ft and it gives my high energy dog enough room to boing about like a pillock.

[Stellaris22]

On lead with our basset, scent hound so I'd rather be safe even if there's no one else around.

We usually let her play with doggy pals for an hour every morning which is done off lead. Now solitary walks on lead, I feel awful as she misses her pals. But no excuse to carry on as normal now.

[vanillandhoney]

No, we go to our usual haunts and let him off lead. Luckily we have secure fields here so he can't run off anywhere!