Dear dog lovers/owners...

[INeedABiggerBoat]

A few tips for 'dog lovers':

• Don't leave your young children to pet a dog while you p* off to the loo or go to buy a pint, without checking with the dog's owners first. Dogs may not find your children as adorable as you do. Some dogs also bite children/when scared and I'm betting you won't be blaming yourself if that happens.
• It is not okay to feed a dog without its owners' permission - especially when you give the dog a small bone that could choke it/splinter in its throat. Unless you're happy for us to pass on the vet bill to you.

And one for dog owners:

• Whistling for your unleashed dog to follow you while you merrily cycle off home does not constitute 'having control' of your dog.

Any other tips to add, MN-ers?

here is a tip, if you want your dog to run freely, run with it. take up running or cycling with the dog on the lead.

That's a standard response though, Puzzled. As if using the area all year round grants you special privileges over the fair weather lot.
Although I have sympathy with that selfishness, having lived in many lovely areas that tourists frequent as soon as the holidays or good weather roll around.

Run wild, run free.
With a muzzle and insurance.

Puzzled. So I use the beach when it's raining but not when the sun's shining? Thanks for that.

there will be an increase in badly behaved dogs and dog bites as the bigger dogs NEED of lead in order to get proper exercise and to socialise with other dogs

That is what I was referring to - where is the evidence that this will occur? Oh that's right - there is none. In fact, if anything, I'm willing to bet that there will be fewer badly behaved dogs and dog bites if owners were legally required to keep them on a lead at all times.

If there is, then the laws will change again.
There is more danger from the number of dogs owned by people who are out at work and have no time to socialise and train their dogs appropriately, and by the fact that anyone can buy any sort of dog regardless of their living situation or experience.
Huskies etc are stunning to look at, and many owners are now struggling because they can't keep up with the exercise requirements. They don't do well off lead either.
Likewise border collies that need stimulation and activities that keep their minds entertained, or they often become neurotic.

Dogs need time off lead incorporated into their daily walks.

A good run in the park with his chums is great for getting the heart going, getting blood and oxygen into the muscles, stretching out the tendons and ligaments, strengthening the bones and joints, allowing the skin and coat to breath and preventing future injuries, as well as longer term benefits like maintaining weight and the cardiovascular system.

The mental benefits are enormous too. A well-exercised dog is a happy dog, more focused in training, calmer at home and in new situations, and more confident with unfamiliar dogs or humans. Regular exercise also reduces the likelihood of depression and behavioural problems, like hyperactivity or aggression.

Keeping a dog on lead all the time is more likely to cause more problems, more bad behaviours, than giving it a run, allowing it to follow a scent, to pick up 'messages' from other dogs, to work on and improve recall and to tire itself out mentally as well as physically.

Dear dog owner

I know you love your animal.

But in any conflict between the dog and the safety of a human, especially a small human, the human comes first.

If a small human is not used to dogs and behaves in a manner you think inappropriate - it is still your responsibility to see that the small human comes to no harm.

It's not rocket science.

There is zero evidence anywhere that dogs must have time off lead in order to be well.

Another tip for owners, when you dog barks and jump at a child minding their own business and you are kindly asked to call it back,do not say "oh he is only doing that because:
-Your DD is dressed in pink"
-You are carrying DD and my dog is jalous!"
-Your DD is holding a little stick my dog would love to have"
(all genuine excuses i have been given by dog owners)
These and many more excuses are very frustrating to parents trying to calm down a terrified child who essentially has done nothing to deserve being barked/jumped at. Just call your dog back,it is not that hard unless you have no control of your dog in which case you should not own one.

here is a tip, if you want your dog to run freely, run with it. take up running or cycling with the dog on the lead.

But I'm not Usain Bolt.

Hey, if you've chosen to get a dog which needs to run (like a sheep dog), why don't you take up running so you can take it for a fell run?

Link to the evidence that being on the lead results in "more problems, more bad behaviours"

And even if you've convinced yourself that your dog will DIE if you control it, why is that my problem?

That should have had a question mark at the end

here is a tip, if you want your dog to run freely, run with it. take up running or cycling with the dog on the lead

Sustained running at a controlled pace is actually bad for most breeds of dog. They do not have the lung or muscle capacity for that type of exercise. Huskies and Malamutes, working/sled dogs have been bred for this and are the exception to the rule. Most dogs need short spurts of exercise from a gallop to a trot. Steady paces are bad for them (as they would be for us if we didn't wear fancy pants trainers).

Evidence, research and hard facts SirC?
Have you no heart? Can you not see the need in their little doggy faces?
Safe playspaces for dogs is a good idea.
I think a lot of owners would benefit from jogging with their dogs, I was certainly fitter when I had to run chase and play with my children off leash.

Stay - I used to run - on a dedicated running path where dogs are NOT ALLOWED - every day. Till I was attacked by a dog. So please don't talk to me about 'fair weather walkers'. If anything, it was the dog walker who was 'fair weather' (although it wasn't particularly fair weather at the time, it was cold) because he claimed complete ignorance of the dog path which was in plain view. But his dog 'wanted to be by the river'.

What was the plan then, when you decided to get a dog, believing it would only survive with off-lead time in shared public spaces? You just thought, "Those picnickers don't need the park as much as I do--I'll just bring the dog there."

That's a standard response though, Puzzled. As if using the area all year round grants you special privileges over the fair weather lot

Yes, unfortunately that's sometimes true. FWIW I do understand about folk wanting their dogs off-lead sometimes, and if that means doing it on a beach when the weather is less than perfect ... well, few of us can always have exactly what we want, exactly as we want it

There's a nice wood near us where dogs are required to be on leads and of course it's ignored; they can run off-lead on a huge piece of open ground nearby, but no - once again too many owners prefer a woodland walk and expect to do exactly as they please

No doubt we'll be told that rooting in undergrowth is essential to dogs' health too but they really do spoil it for everyone else

Link from the ASPCA that gives the benefits of off lead exercising : www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/exercise-dogs

Same from whole dog journal www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/5_3/features/5440-1.html

Same from positive paw positivepaw.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/importance-of-exercise.html?m=1

Same from The kennel club www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-puppy/general-advice-about-caring-for-your-new-puppy-or-dog/puppy-and-dog-walking/

Same from Natural animals www.naturanimals.com/the-importance-of-off-lead-exercise-for-your-dog

Same from the dog advisory council www.dogadvisorycouncil.com/puppy/exercise-doc.pdf

Same from the blue cross www.bluecross.org.uk/2157-2778/staying-in-shape.html

Please could you find evidence for your assertion that dogs don't need off lead exercise.

Matilda I have all the evidence I need from my two when they've been on lead walks.

Lol.

Same as the fools who get a dog and think it will be happy alone during the day.
Or the dog lovers who fill the shelters with their rejected animals.
I'd like to see responsible owners pushing through changes in the law that improved the lot of dogs as a whole, instead of focusing on the non dog owners who annoy them.