To not care how 'friendly' your dog is, if you can't control it, it should be on a lead

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

I'm neither a lover or hater of dogs but this is beginning to piss me right off rankle.

Near to where I live is a lovely lake. Nice path, children's play area, ducks etc. Popular in this weather.

I was out walking today with DS 2.6 and DD 6mo. As has happened on so many occasions now, we'll be stood feeding the ducks, only to have somebody's dog come bounding along to us, no owner in sight (the path is quite bendy) and start sniffing about. Now, obviously the sniffing I don't mind so much but DS is a bit wary of dogs and today one started trying to lick his face and was licking at DD's feet in the buggy. The owner then saunters around the corner, calling dog's name (to which it pays no attention) and then looks endearingly at the dog and at DS's worried expression and says "oh don't worry she just wants to give you kisses". No attempt to get control of the dog at all.

I gave tight-lipped half smile and turned away resisting urge to wipe DD feet with an anti-bac wipe

[YouTheCat]

Good luck with that then when someone like my ds is approached by a dog all hell breaks loose and there is bugger all you can do about it once it's happening.

You could, however, keep your dog on a lead where other members of the public are likely to be and then it won't happen.

Just a thought.

[cloutiedumpling]

Thanks. I'm probably biased because for years I had my music teacher's dog climbing up and slobbering over me for forty five minutes while my sister had her lesson in the room next door. No one ever stopped the dog or told me what I could do to stop it and I felt scared and ashamed. Dogs still scare me because I don't know how to handle them. A neighbour lets my older kids pet his very well trained spaniels and so thankfully they are better around dogs than I am.

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

Owners who walk their dogs along the pavement on extending leads, and let them set up a nice little tripwire at ankle height just as you come round the corner

Now, extending leads are an abomination. Honestly, they're the most dangerous things ever conceived and they really should be banned in public. If it needs a lead, it should be on a short one. If you can guarentee its recall without interacting with other people, let it loose in an appropriate place.

[Trigglesx]

I don't expect all dogs to be on leads at all times. I do, however, expect owners to be responsible and if they are in areas such as a park or where children are playing, they should either be under firm control or on a lead. I don't have any problem with dogs that are not on leads and are behaving without getting in people's faces and such. It's all down to the owner behaving responsibly and training their dog properly.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

I don't have a dog, because we don't live in the kind of area where a dog can have the kind of running about freedom it would need.

A dog that "has" to be let off the lead on busy public roads/paths or in children's play areas is IMHO not living in a suitable environment.

[BeCool]

I positively LOVE dog owners who have their dogs well trained and under control.

Unfortunately I encounter very few of them.

Tomorrow we are off to Hyde Park for a picnic with a couple of other families. Want to place bets now on how many bounders and dogs off the lead (enjoying their rights to be a dog FFS) we encounter? Will I get bonus points for the dogs that actually leap into our picnic and stomp on food etc?

[GrimmaTheNome]

Maybe some of you should move! I live in Lancashire and the majority of dogs are under control (and nearly all children ask before stroking my sausage dog). We cycle on off-road paths quite a bit and at least 95% of people walking dogs get them beautifully to heel, usually sitting - sometimes they'll put them on the lead, often don't need to. When we're walking our dog, most of the people with larger dogs will - one way or another - stop ours from being overwhelmed.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Whoever mentioned extending leads. You are right! They are the work of the devil.

My dog is much better behaved with a normal short lead than she ever was on the extending lead we first got her. They get in the way and make recall an issue when it bloody well shouldn't be!

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

A dog that "has" to be let off the lead on busy public roads/paths or in children's play areas is IMHO not living in a suitable environment

Children's play areas are normally "no dogs" at all, and nobody in their right mind exercises a loose dog on a road. The issue is more prominent in "shared" spaces - country parks, urban parks with large fields (which are practically desserted by children and other people for most of the year when they're muddy!), footpaths etc.

Keeping a very active dog if you don't have access to anything but a play park, yes, is unsuitable. Keeping an active breed when you have access to what should be a shared space is hardly unreasonable, if you ensure that it is sufficiently trained to call back from other people and kept within sight and call of the owner.

[Eyesunderarock]

Move to Lancashire Grimma?
Oldham was where I learned to carry cayenne, due to the number of aggressive dogs not only off the leash but with no owner within sight.
And those running in packs.

[GrimmaTheNome]

The right bit of Lancashire then! ( fylde coast, bowland, silverdale not t' mill towns)

[HorryIsUpduffed]

But Diseases mention has been made on this thread of people's only chance to let the dog run being in what you and I call unsuitable spaces. Which makes me wonder why they think they live somewhere suitable to keep a dog.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Yes - if you live somewhere like that and want a dog, get an appropriate dog - there are plenty of breeds which really don't need to be allowed to run free.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

Exactly. Not a collie, for instance.

[LtEveDallas]

All dogs should be given some time off lead. Searching and sniffing is also part of exercise - dogs brains need 'exercise' as well, just as ours do and off lead exploring is part of that. It's the dogs equivalent of reading a book or a newspaper . Doesn't matter if its a collie or a Sausage Dog.

MuttDog doesn't spend much time on lead, but we live in an area where this isn't an issue. Town dogs should be lead walked to parks/open spaces and then let off, even just for a short time (the only dog I think is the exception is the Husky - if you let them off you might never see them again!). That doesn't mean it's acceptable to let them off in a kids play park, but a run across an open space, where other animals have been is pretty essential.

Bad dog owners make it harder for the rest of us, but please don't think we are all like that. Most of us are considerate and have our pets best interest at heart.

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

That 'just kissing' stuff gives me the purple rage. I know where their noses and tongues have been, unless they've learned to wash their arses with soap and flannel since I was a girl (that'd be quite some feat of training). How about I give your face a nice rub with my panty liner? Grrrrr

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

I have had another dog encounter today!

I visited a friend with my toddler & baby. There was another friend there with her baby and her dog. The friend whose house it was has a dog too.

First thing I did when I got in was have to change my baby, was in the downstairs bathroom doing it. My toddler is hiding behind me as he is v shy for a while when we go places. Anyway, in bounds the dog and licks my baby's face. So I pushed his nose away and said "no". My friend then says "aww he's being friendly"
I said "I don't want her being licked"
Friend: "I want him to get used to babies so when I have one he's used to them (she's not pregnant)"
Me: "that's great but I'd rather you didn't practice on my children"
Awkward silence
Me: "I think actually we'll just go and leave you all to it"
Much British apologizing and shuffling about ensued but I did leave anyway.

Uh oh

Probably not going to be invited back - although admittedly we weren't that close anyway! I'm just fed up of it! And I know it's her own house so the dog has every right to do as it pleases so I can't complain but it really just makes me cringe to see a 6month old being slobbered on!

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

just

Filthy cah.

[dementedma]

My friend's wife was knocked over by a very friendly young Alsation who was off the lead and wanted to play. She broke her knee and had to have a metal plate put in, and months of physiotherapy.

[OneUp]

Sorry to all responsible dog owners but after some of the experiences I've had I honestly think all dogs should HAVE to be kept on leads to protect people from the dangerous ones.

[Eyesunderarock]

Leads, muzzles and humans who pick up the shit.
Should be compulsory rules for ownership of a dog.

[PoodleFlavouredFreddos]

YANBU
I have a lovely, lovely dog who is lovely, and friendly but he is also big and bouncy and unpredictable, he is always on a lead near people because we live in an incredible tourist trap.
He goes to a field in the evening when we no no other regular dog walkers from the village are out and has off lead time then.

I think it is incredibly irresponsible for dog owners to allow them off the lead in places with lots of people, because even if the owner knows the dog is friendly, it doesn't mean other people will love the dog.

[MissBetseyTrotwood]

My DSs are worryingly unafraid of bouncy approaches by random dogs. In fact, they positively love it.

One of my dogs, however, hates other dogs and is utterly terrified of them. He also weighs nearly 40 kilos and stands as tall as my waist. So I'm fairly regularly to be found shouting at the top of my voice 'Helloooo, whose dog is this? Can you call it back pleeeeassse?' with the DSs playing with the random dog, one of my dogs trying to join in and the other one cowering behind me.

So yes, I do prefer dogs to be well controlled but for rather different reasons to the OP!

[BlueSkySunnyDay]

In this spirit of intolerance can I request then that those of you who love cat stop them from shitting in other peoples gardens my friend has to pick up carrier bags of the stuff from her garden on a regular basis.

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

All dogs should be given some time off lead

Yes, but a greyhound will need less time and space off lead than, for example, a collie, since the former tend to tire rapidly during exercise, while collies are bred to work all day. Similarly, a pug will be capable of less exercise than a JRT, due to its physiological deformities features. There are more appropriate breeds if you have limited access to open spaces.

I didn't notice anyone posting that their only place to exercise their mutt loose is a child's play park or a road, but it's a long thread. I can't guarentee I didn't miss it!