Did 70s/80s dogs walk themselves?

[RamblingRam]

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.

This wasn't the case where I grew up in Sussex in the 80s but I wish it was (if they were friendly dogs)!

We had a couple of dogs appear in the playground but the dog warden was always called.

Wow, I can't believe this thread got so many posts.
It certainly served the purpose, showed both me and DH were right it did happen but area dependent.
And for the most part what a lovely thread it has been, I am glad we take better care of our pets now, and see less dog muck on the floor though.

My Dad tells me that his dog used to meet him off the school bus! There is a latch key dog who lives on a village close to us. He can often be found sitting on outdoor tables or blocking the road. He's my favourite dog other than my own!

It was not the case where I grew up. Though a neighbour called each of their dogs after Lord of the Rings characters, so Bilbo and Gollum are names that give a different image to me from anyone else.

It still happens on some small Scottish islands. Dogs will roam about quite happily, often making friends with tourists. Then a visitor will join the local Facebook group to report a dog which they think is lost, followed by numerous posts from islanders saying "That's Mac from croft number 8, he knows his way home and will be back for his dinner". Happens about three times a week in the summer.

Our dog (Westie) was routinely out. He had a lead and very occasionally we’d be forced onto a Nice Walk but the norm was to open the door and let him out. He used to take himself all over including a frequent beat at the local very famous, very large fish and chip shop (across two main roads), where he’d do the big-eyes starving waif routine to great effect. This was mid-late 70s and well into the 80s (all those chips must have done him good). A op mentioned Minced Morsels, known in the family as ‘dead-red-worms’ and that took me right back! No wonder the poor sod took himself to the chippy if that’s what was on offer at home.

Very normal in the 70s although I don’t remember it by the 80s

Our dog just used to wander out the back but when we moved house he took himself off to the old house and wouldn’t let the new owners in

Those who remember dogs roaming free, were they like my area where they tended to be of the Heniz variety?

The people with pedigree dogs that cost £££ tended not to be the let the dog walk itself school of ownership.

I don’t remember this either in the 80’s. We lived semi rurally and I distinctly remember our dogs being walked on leads to get to the bridle paths and fields. Although that being said I also remember my mother spraying one of our bitches with this really strong lemon aerosol every time she came into season “to stop the strays getting at her” I don’t remember any strays but maybe she meant dogs who took themselves for walks and would come across her in the garden

@Blackbear19 the dogs local to me were all of the Heinz variety afaik. Can't remember any pedigree dogs at all, now I come to think about it.

It was also quite normal for children to be bitten by dogs. "Don't make a fuss, you'll show us up" was the adult mantra when anything happened to children.

We had a rough collie in the 70's who would sit by the door to be let out, then knock on the door after she had done her business to be let back in. My dad would also take her for walks before work, but living on an estate of flats she would spend much of the day playing with us kids.

When I was older (late teens) we had a borzoi cross who went to work with my step dad (an army quartermaster) he'd roam the camp going from mess to mess begging sausages.

@Waxlyrically

Yes I remember crying at lunchtime on my first day at infant school because of dogs in the playground running around. I was told not to be so silly by the dinner ladies and that they wouldn’t hurt me. 30 years later my children’s primary school was put into lunchtime lockdown when a black Labrador was spotted alone on the playing field!

This made me snort imagining a poor time travelling 1970s dog happily bounding along to a playground "If there aren't any other dogs, at least I can find some children to play with!" only for all the adults to shriek and corral the children inside, to watch the bewildered dog with their noses pressed to the window :o

Not only that but we knew and called all the dogs by their first and surname. Wolfy O'Brien, Rover Lyons etc.. wolfy had gotten hit by a car and spent the rest of his life barking a chasing cars up and down the road he lived on. It's just what he did and no one ever thought it was odd. All day long he would bark and chase.

I grew up in the 70s & 80s in the north west and it was certainly a thing then, we had a mongrel that was let out on her own , so much so that she learnt to use her nose to operate the door knocker to be let back in. She would hang around with three or four other dog including one that came home with her sometimes, he was a huge fluffy thing , pos a cross chow.
I have a very strong memory's of the family been in the car and just leaving home when she came into view at the end of our road , we drove of and she did her best to catch up with us , I wanted to stop but my DD said she likes to race cars so he put his foot down and sped off . even ten at about 7 years old i knew that it was cruel to do that so I vowed I would take her out every day .
I did try to but she was not use to been on a lead and hated it , she would either tank off with me pulling me over or lie down and refuse to move , She lived to be about 12 years old

My granny used to let her dog walk himself in the mid 90s. Same time each day she let him out, and then rang her friend who lived on his ‘route’ to check he was on his way home on time!

Yes the estate I grew up on in the NW had a pack that would wander round during the day and then go to their respective homes each night. No one ever seemed to walk their dog, they could be left alone all day and you never paid any money for one. Someone would just give you one. There would sometimes be a dog that got into the school playground and the teachers would have you flat to the wall like it was a lion.

Yes, it’s true, dogs were just let out to wander. We had a dog when I was young (60s) and nobody ever took him for a walk unless we took him with us to the local shops. I was remembering this the other day when I could see a unattended dog near my gate. I went out to look to see if there was an owner around because it’s such a rare site these days. It’s definitely a change for the better & picking up dog poo. I can assure you no one ever did that, they’d have laughed in your face if such a thing had been suggested.

I remember this too! As kids we used to play with a wee terrier called Kim, she used to be part of our 'gang' and joined in our games. Her family lived at the end of our row of houses.
My gran used to get a doggy visitor at around the same time every day. She gave him a biscuit, he lay around for a few minutes then sauntered off again.

People did walk their dogs on leads, but they also left them lounging around in front gardens with no gate to wander out and attack passing cyclists. I had a dog phobia so certain roads were no go areas on the estate. Another Yorkshire terroir spent most of the day running around the streets at breakneck speed, it’s a miracle it never got hit by a car.

Possibly outing, but there's a story of one of our family's dogs, in the 1970s (before I was born), who took herself off for a wander. Unfortunately, they lived very close to a hospital, and DDog went scavenging in medical waste, and brought back an amputated leg.

I'm told the owner ended up in the local paper following this incident (complaining, I think, that the medical waste wasn't secure enough?). Much to my disappointment, however, I'm not aware of any press clippings having been retained from that incident!

Some of my current neighbours are from another country (not sure they speak much English - possibly Romanian / Bulgarian, where street dogs are the norm?) and usually let their dog out semi-supervised. There's always someone visible, but they don't worry if the dog disappears off around the corner. She's friendly, and traffic savvy, so my own dog sometimes gets to play with her (under very strict supervision, on a section of 'road' that's only used to access garages)

I live in rural Portugal and latchkey dogs are all over the place. Everyone has dogs (mostly lovely mongrels) and a lot of them can wander around all day. Ours is able to, but he tends to stay on our property - I think because every house in the area has a dog they have fairly well defined territories. There are some dogs that pop by regularly though, and a couple in the village that are always lounging in the street. The shepherds all have several too - not purebred but of a type, whether guarding or herding. It’s nice.

Dog owning has become depressingly commercial, expensive and buffeted by fashion. I find the idea of a fashionable dog disturbing (that’s without even getting into the obscenity of inbreeding).

Agree about the dog poo though, it’s better in the U.K. now without it being all over the streets. It was gross in the 80s.