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Original poster

Did 70s/80s dogs walk themselves?

228 replies

RamblingRam · 29/08/2020 11:29

I don't know if I just grew up in a rough area, I don't think I did, but when I was a kid it was common to see dogs wandering the streets either alone or in small groups, and very rarely on a lead. Does anyone else remember this it being like that? DH reckons I'm mixing up reality and old films but I'm sure it happened.

OP posts:

Original poster

RamblingRam · 29/08/2020 12:16

So most people think it was normal and just a couple think I'm just a bit rough.
I remember the excitement of dog on the playground, a bit sad that we use that as a cover for lockdown practice now, or maybe some kids were terrified and I've got the rose tinted glasses on.
I wonder why society decided dogs had to lose their freedom but cats could still roam? I suppose that is a debate, probably best not have it on this lovely nostalgic thread.

OP posts:

Walkaround · 29/08/2020 12:19

That might help to explain the excess of dog shit that used to litter every pavement, verge and field. I haven’t trodden in dog shit for years. It used to be a regular occurrence. I don’t think it was that common just to leave dogs to roam free, though, as a large number would have ended up in the dog pound if it were.

TerribleCustomerCervix · 29/08/2020 12:20

The white poo was something to do with the bone meal that used to be in dog food, wasn’t it?

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Dogs

Nannewnannew · 29/08/2020 12:20

Fleamaker123 oh yes the mongrel puppies! My mum got one for me when I was 13 and brought it home on the bus in her shopping bag, it was there when I got home from school and was a total surprise! The puppies were given away, now they would cost you £1k! Happy days!

Walkaround · 29/08/2020 12:21

Cats don’t shit on pavements.

thenightsky · 29/08/2020 12:21

Yes, I remember dogs wandering the village. As kids we loved it as we could always find at least one to play with. Dogs seemed to enjoy it too.

Gancanny · 29/08/2020 12:22

Cats don’t shit on pavements.

No, they shit all over other people's gardens instead which is no better.

decadance · 29/08/2020 12:22

yes late 60s, our dog was let out at 3.25 and crossed 3 roads to wait at the school gate for me at 3.30 every day thought it was normal growing up

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 29/08/2020 12:23

I lived in a very small rural town. In the 70s and 80s some dogs were out all day and went where they liked, but most dogs were walked by their owners. People who lived out in the countryside proper didn't bother with secure gardens for their dogs, because the roads weren't busy.

As kids, we were told which dogs never to try and pat through their garden gates, because they'd bite you, and so we knew if we patted the cute, fluffy, rage-fuelled critter on the next road and got ourselves bitten, we'd get a bollocking

Zzz1234 · 29/08/2020 12:23

Our dog late 70s early 80s used to go for. Our house to my parents shop to grandparents all.in same village by itself

LoseLooseLucy · 29/08/2020 12:23

Cats don’t shit on pavements

No they just come into my yard and shit in there 😬 they full on bully my Shih Tzu, staying on the wall whilst he barks at them, looking at him with disdain

speakout · 29/08/2020 12:24

Same here OP, grew up in 60/70s.

People would just let their dogs out for a wander.
They would come back when they were hungry/tired.

Walkaround · 29/08/2020 12:24

@Gancanny - yes, it’s very annoying when I’m gardening, an activity which I hate enough as it is. Still preferable to treading in dog shit on a pavement, though, imvho. At least dogs can be trained to be more considerate than cats - but some people are just lazy and don’t make any effort to train their dogs to consider where they do it!

FaffingForEngland · 29/08/2020 12:25

It didn't happen where I lived growing up. Everyone walked their dog on a lead. My best friend made money as a teenager walking someone else's dogs (that was in the 70s) so dog walkers definitely existed then.

Nannewnannew · 29/08/2020 12:26

In the 80s we used to have a greyhound who used to regularly come into our garden and have a kip on the front lawn, after he’d had a treat or two, of course! Lovely old thing!

Original poster

RamblingRam · 29/08/2020 12:29

Oh yes, everybody knew which were friendly and which weren't.
There was one that used to guard the alleyway to the school, if he was there you had to walk the long way round and tell the lady in the office "fluffy (not his real name I can't remember it) was there" when you were late.

OP posts:

wowfudge · 29/08/2020 12:30

It definitely wasn't the norm where we lived - suburb of major city. What I do think though was that far fewer people had dogs. My grandad lived in a mill town and always walked his dog. It was only let out in their garden. DP says that in rural Ireland, the dogs used to roam around, but then they were on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

What has changed is that far more people clean up after their dogs nowadays.

UnitedRoad · 29/08/2020 12:31

My grandma used to live in an affluent part of Weybridge (cliff richard lived a few houses away 😂), and there was a huge Chow Chow dog with a purple tongue who always roamed free. He might not have been as huge as I remember but we were just small children (also allowed to roam free).

I loved that dog. Do people still have Chow Chows?

astuz · 29/08/2020 12:32

Definitely happened where I used to live, although I did grow up in a fairly rough area.

I remember it clearly because I have a dog phobia, and if I turned onto a street and saw a dog off the lead at the other end of the street, I would freeze, and literally couldn't move. There were numerous times when my Mum would find me just stuck on a pavement unable to move.

There was one particular street that was really bad and could have 4 dogs roaming on it, and dog poo everywhere. Once I started going to the shops on my own, I avoided that street, even though it meant a massive detour.

It's so much better now.

JacobReesMogadishu · 29/08/2020 12:32

I wonder if dogs in the 70s and 80s were more streetwise/more intelligent? If I let my dog out she’d be run over within half an hour and if by some miracle she wasn’t run over I don’t think she’d find her own way home. She ran Through a hedge On her walk yesterday and couldn’t work out how to get back!

DilloDaf · 29/08/2020 12:33

Yes dogs seemed to just wander about having a great time meeting their mates and shagging each other...or "giving his friend a piggyback ride" according to my mother when I asked what they were doing .

Mrsjayy · 29/08/2020 12:34

Ha bless ran through a hedge bless her

Dragonglass · 29/08/2020 12:39

This wasn't the norm where we lived. I remember seeing the occasional dog out on their own, but people definitely disapproved. We always walked our dogs on leads.

tornadoalley · 29/08/2020 12:39

I can't for the life of me see this as a nostalgic thread where dogs are just left to wander. my mother always walked our dogs on leads in the 80s, and told me about seeing 3 'free range' dogs, who were crossing the road on a zebra crossing to the park, while mum and gran waited at a bus stop, mown down and dying in the road by a car that hadn't seen them.

Jeremyironsnothing · 29/08/2020 12:40

I bought a dog licence for my toy dog out of my pocket money. It was 37 1/2p if i remember rightly. Probably around mid 70's. So not worth the paper it was written on even then.

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