To think dogs shouldn't be off lead in public if they don't come when you call

I love dogs too but not when they are out of control. My DD was knocked to the ground by a dog when she was little (don't worry he's just being friendly) and another growled when we walked past. She's 18 now and still scared of dogs.
I had at least 3 dogs run up and shove their faces in my son's pushchair when he was a baby with the owners uselessly calling them back.
I have seen some really responsible owners too, either with dogs on leads or with excellent recall. But there are always some who just shouldn't own a dog.

We started in the house. Then in the park early so fewer distractions on a long lead, then without the lead for short periods, clipping on, walking a bit, letting loose and playing so attention focussed on us, clip on, walk more then off again. Then busier times in park and practice same thing, then larger areas where he could run ahead and explore and same thing, recall, walk, off lead, play, recall for treat and off again. You build up slowly so the dog gets lots of chances to realise back on the lead doesn’t mean end of walk or fun and ensure they have plenty of time to get it right hence no distractions and build up to busy areas.

i got my dog as a very boisterous one year old lab, he was large and bouncy. He needed a lot of exercise but had no compunctions about stealing balls, picnics or running off as had been passed around a fair bit. And he didn’t care what I thought initially as I think he thought he’d only be with me for a few weeks. I had to work at bonding with him, understanding what he loved most which unusually for a lab wasn’t treats but playing with a tennis ball, and build up.

80% recall training took about 6 months, 95% about a year.

He never learnt to obey recall if there was water about. Basically if we didn’t want him in it he had to be on the lead.

it’s hard work but possible and is the minimum standard for a dog owner if you want to let your dog off leash. My dog would have been very unhappy if he was never allowed off and so it was my job to ensure we could give him that whilst still respecting other people’s space.

Since when did dogs have the ‘right’ to be anywhere? They are dogs. They have no ‘right’ to be anywhere. They have a right not to be harmed by humans. That is it. That’s where their rights begin and end.

My old dog hated other dogs and would definitely attack, especially if they roamed into the garden which is secured. But let me tell you, with humans there was never an issue. The biggest softie ever and brought up around multiple children, happily rolling around the floor etc.

We ended up with a dog reactive dog through irresponsible owners allowing their untrained off of the lead. My then dog friendly dog was attacked by 3 Yorkshire terriers and even then, my dog was on the lead.

Exactly this... As I said, people need to go on a 9-12 month long college course (3-4 hours a week,) that costs them around £1000 if they want to own a dog. Like I said before, if you can't afford £1000, you cannot afford to keep a dog and pay all the vet bills, etc. This will cut down a lot on your amount of people who have dogs.

People who let them off leads, and let them do what they want/fuck around as much as they like are dim and irresponsible oiks. And if something DOES happen, you can bet it will be someone else's fault! 🙄

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There's out of control dogs everywhere now, dog poo, hanging plastic bags of poo, barking, dogs even sitting at tables at cafés being fed and even dogs that kill people. It's out of control and a licence should be brought in and the national dog population reduced.

I am so so sick of this lately. I have an elderly border collie who is very well trained but I would never let her off the lead while out walking in public. I will admit that I do bring her out to my local green at 6 am and let her off the lead as there is nobody else around at that time.
I would also shorten her lead when we see children or other dogs and especially runners passing by as dogs are naturally inclined to run after somebody running. She is trained to walk right in beside me when we are passing other people or animals but even the best trained dogs have their off days so I am never going to take that chance.
But when other off lead dogs run up to her and especially small yappy dogs, she is at a disadvantage because she is on her lead. This causes her a great amount of stress. Dogs should be on a lead in publics. No matter how well trained they are.

Or if you want to let your dog run around off lead, bring them to specific places where this is permitted and that other dog walkers have the same mindset.

No. Snapping is snapping. Ripping things apart is ripping things apart. Fact that you think that is ok says a lot about you...

You are NOT being unreasonable, as a runner and a dog owner I get so annoyed by people who can't control their dogs!. I think you did well not to reply to her 'they have as much right' comment. My dog has great recall, if I see anyone approaching I will always put him on his lead - I love dogs but I don't assume everyone else does. As a runner I am always wary passing dogs anyway

Errr yeah it it.

You sound a LOT like one of those parents who lets their children do what they want and then blames others if/when they get hurt, and I am not engaging with you any more.

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As someone who has a large reactive dog, this is one of the situations I hate and you best believe that when my big on lead dog becomes very vocal at the smaller dogs were frowned upon. I can imagine how it looks to people on the outside although if they looked closer they’d see mine on lead and a rogue dog off lead all in my dogs space!

Sorry but why does anyone need to own an animal that rips other animals apart? That isn't "snapping".

I would imagine - or hope - that the vast majority of people would not be so stupid as to let their child waltz up to someone's gate and poke their fingers through. Especially as they don't know what could be lurking in the garden - like ya know, a big fucking DOG. That is breathtakingly irresponsible parenting.

Seems to me that people who CBA to look after their dogs properly, and stop them affecting other people lives, are the same people who CBA to look after their children properly either, and don't give a shit what they do... But they will blame everyone else if they are hurt.

So if some dim irresponsible parent lets their child poke their fingers through a random gate and a dog snaps at them/harms them, it's somehow the dog's fault, and it needs putting down?

Yeah, fuck that.

Not only are you not being unreasonable, but actually all dogs should be on the (non-extendable) lead in urban/inhabited areas.

Even then, sometimes that's not enough ; I was on the Tube at the weekend and some idiot had their tiny teacup dog on the lead and it nearly got crushed in the closing door as the owner wasn't paying attention to it whatsoever 😨. After we left the stop the dog then sniffed around people's bags and legs uncontrolled by the owner, the way they do when they are about to pee on something.

The whole dog thing is way, way out of control now. It's gone too far.

Starting to think every village needs a pup van.

Off lead, out of control? The pup van is full of chicken treats. If you didn’t work on recall when you had the chance, the pup van doors open… in they go… never to be seen again.

Jesus. The Spaniel obviously should have been under control, but that big dog should be pts. What if it was a child's fingers for God's sake.

And all the bloody poo. Perhaps if all dogs were tied to their owners, fewer people would "miss" the turds or "forget" the poop bags.

@Jklow1254

Unfortunately I’ve found the type of people who do this don’t care about what their dogs are doing, just that “they’re friendly”. But what if the dog they are running up to isn’t? Who’s fault would it be if the off lead dog got mauled?

Well, yeah...

I know this woman who's got a spaniel with long ears, and a couple of years ago, she'd got him off his lead - in this kind of narrow side street- between some back gardens to houses, and the main high street ... He ran off down to this back garden that had a gate, (kind of like wrought iron with gaps in it.)

He started sniffing around the gate, poking his face through, and there was a big bull terrier on the other side. This bull terrier grabbed his ear and ripped 3/4 of it off. Result: a £3000 vet bill for her to get the ear fixed. Her dog wasn't insured. (And I am not sure they'd have covered it anyway, as she was careless enough to have him out in a public place off his lead!)

She had the fucking audacity to try and get the money for the vet bill of the owner of the pit bull ... When he basically told her to do one, she took him to the small claims court. She completely got her arse handed to her on a plate. There was not a single reason why this man with the bull terrier should have had to pay her vet bill.

I have no idea whatsoever why she thought this owner should have paid this bill. Her dog was on the loose - off its lead in a public road - and he went right up to a gate where there was a big bull terrier behind it in the garden. Bull terrier was just protecting his property. It was entirely 100% her fault. Stupid cow still lets him run about off his lead.

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Also will say there are unleashed dog parks so if owners want their dogs to be out without a lead, that’s where they should be heading.

I’m a runner and this happens to me all of the time, especially if I ever choose to run in a park rather than through the streets. It tends to be smaller dogs which makes it even more dangerous because they could easily trip me up (harder to spot and tend to come out of nowhere). The owners usually laugh about it thinking it’s adorable behaviour but it wouldn’t be adorable if I injured their dog or got injured myself. Very irritating.

I completely agree. I more than agree. I don't think they should be allowed off the leads at all when they're out in public. There's so many people, probably 80% IMO, who I see with dogs off leads, who don't have control over them, (not full control anyway.)

When I go for a walk (and I go 4-5 times a week to various places around my rural area,) I see people letting their dogs off the leads, and the dogs sometimes come jumping up me, running at me, growling, barking, sniffing, pestering, and sometimes nearly knocking me over ... One dog nearly knocked me into the canal! It's just ridiculous ...

There's far too many very irresponsible dog owners now. I think you should have to go on a one year course at college to be a dog owner now. (That costs like £1000.) If you can't afford the course you can't afford to have a dog. Hopefully, that'll put people off - because many people wouldn't be bothered.

I live in a village with about 150 properties and about 425 people, and every 3 or 4 weeks, a fucking dog goes missing ... It's run out of the garden, or the house, and goes tootling off around the village... Somebody picks it up and puts on the facebook page asking 'does anybody know who this dog belongs to?' Some posts are asking if anyone has seen their dog!!! . They need catching by the council, and the owner should have to pay a £500 fine, for not securing their dog properly. 3 strikes and the dog is seized and not returned to the owner. (Because some dogs in my village seem to wander off and 'go missing' quite frequently!)

I remember this one time - I was going for a walk down this country path through some woodlands. It was about a 2 mile walk ... This couple behind me had this bloody dog, (OFF THE LEAD!) and it was walking 50 to 100 feet ahead of them the whole time.

He was constantly running around me and circling me and stopping in front of me. Continually stopping, disrupting, and jarring my walk ... Just literally circling me for 2 out of every 3 minutes... It wasn't aggressive, or growling or barking. It was just there. It was making sure I knew it was there and it was just running circles around me and stopping in front of me...

It drove me so batshit, that after 20-25 minutes, I just stayed where I was for 10 minutes and let them walk ahead ...Then 15 minutes later. I caught up with them and their dog, and it started it again. So I gave up and just walked back and went home. People need to control their mutts!

People really DO need to have dogs on leads in public, because even when they are well trained, NO-ONE can possibly have full control of them. Not really. Not 100% of the time.