Am I a cf for asking a farmer this question?

I think if buying the house depends on his answer , then I wouldn't bother and look for something else

He could say yes at the moment and then change his mind, or say yes and then move and someone else move in.

I get what you are saying about not wanting to use the car for every dog walk, I wouldnt either so if the road is a no go I'd decide this wasnt the house for me

Don't move to the country if pavements are an absolute requirement.

Who’s Gail?

Hmm only issue is if he changes his mind/gets snarky. Not sure it’s worth it.

Your dogs only have the right to be on the footpath too. Not exploring all around.

"Fanny pack"?!? Are you American?

Seriously though, have a look on an OS map or footpathmap.co.uk. You might find a right to walk nearby. And if not just get some high viz for you and the dog and be vigilant on the road. We live in what seems like a similar road. We don't have dogs but I have proviz kit for cycling/running. Also, most of the time the road is quiet. It is busy at school run time and if the nearby motorway is jammed and people go on a sat nav adventure that they will regret. So I just avoid running on it at those times. If I want to go then I drive 2 mins to the nearby woods rather going straight from the front door.

They won't have 'the freedom to explore' on the farmer's land either though.

I think it’s fine to ask. My farmer neighbour is happy for me to walk my dog as long as there isn’t any stock in the fields. I asked once I’d moved in though, knowing I had alternatives and was happy to use the car.
You mention woods as well - do you know who they belong to? Contrary to popular opinion, woods always belong to someone and unless there are footpaths or it’s a public park, you don’t have an automatic right to walk there either..

Not one person has posted anti-dog comments (unless those were all the deleted posts?).

The road would worry me, if it's single track and people speed accidents are inevitable, and what's it like in the winter, does it become impassable if it snows, or flooded in heavy rain. We have one that does both.

YANBU to ask the question.

BUT if I was the farmer I would say no if you were a stranger. If we had been neighbours for a while or knew each on good terms then I might consider use of my land if I wasn't using it. That permission could be cancelled at anytime too.

It's not wise to buy a property on a hope of being able to walk your dogs on someones else space.

Actually, OP, you could ask one of the neighbours (if they have dogs) where is ok to walk them. I drew a map for our newbies.

You've compared two normal and acceptable questions with, well, a much less normal and acceptable question.

So where's the issue? You can do exactly what you're doing now, without the annoyance of loud traffic?

If this is the case, the decision is already made. You won't buy the house.

So why wouldn't that suit here, along to a footpath?

OP, we turned down a beautiful house opposite a national park because we were cut off from it by a busy road. We would have had to put the ponies on a trailer to get to it and the dogs in the car. My children were too young to drive at the time so would have been dependent on me to give them lifts to go for a ride. NOTHING beats the feeling of just saddling up and riding off, so I know exactly what you mean.

I just open the boot and in the dog jumps...I keep glasses I need for driving in the car. It's not that much hassle and it just becomes part of daily life if you don't want to walk down the street outside your house.

everything about living in the countryside is a hassle.

I really would think very hard about this move if you think having to jump in the car each time you want to do something is a hassle.

This is a very odd thread. Just check for footpaths on os maps?! We live in the countryside and walk in woods, fields, bridleways, green lanes. Never a problem Only at pheasant shooting season do we keep dogs on lead going past the pheasant woods (and don't ever go into them). This really isn't a big deal OP. We stay away from livestock and stay round the edge if it's crops. Chat to the gamekeeper if we see him and wave to the tractors as we pass their fields. I've never come across any hostilities.

I understand not wanting to walk your dogs along national speed limit roads. But most rural areas have plenty of footpaths - where I lived rurally there were 3 accessible within 300 yards and another couple within another half a mile.

Do you have to really go absolutely no distance on the road, or could you walk reasonably far from the verge and make sure the dogs have fluorescent harnesses and that you're easy to see?

I think this would be a lot easier than trying t schlepp round a field border.

It’s unusual for a country lane to have a 30 mile an hour limit. Most are 60 and it’s very normal to walk your dogs along them. A two minute car ride is presumably 10 mins on a short lead. I can’t see the problem.