To hire a private field to walk dog and have a sandwich?

[millerjane]

Is this a reasonable or unreasonable thing to do.

2 mile car journey required.

Couple had a sarnie on a blanket whilst the dog "zoomed" around.

Unnecessary travel.

I am related to this couple.

Dog parks are open. We use one and last week DH and I took Ddog and had a picnic whilst he ran round enjoying himself.

3 mile journey and we'll go againan this week, probably in thermals.

This couple justify this as they say the woods they usually take their dog is to is overcrowded with people who rarely visit there.

If the place they'd normally go is more crowded, although this might seem 'unnecessary' it's probably safer for them and others so not worth making a fuss about.

Does it really matter if they have already done it?

Why on earth do people keep posting threads to encourage everyone to pile on their friends and family?

What will you do? Show them the thread, or just bask in everyone slagging your relatives off?

I'm conflicted. I'm a stickler for the rules but they did not come into contact with a single person (code required to access field) which would have been impossible had they walked in their regular location.

They are well off.

urghh find something better to do, what is up with all these whiny threads. I want to be out of this lockdown as much as the next person but if they're not near other people and practicing social distancing just leave people alone. have you seen the news outside of the coronavirus? domestic violence is up unprecedented amounts and suicides have spiked - a woman got murdered in my area by her husband this weekend. those are the things to be worrying about not whether someone drove 2 miles down the road to a field where NOONE was

I'm not wanting them to be slagged off at all.

I can't imagine why this would bother anyone

What don't people understand by "no unnecessary travel"? And what is wrong with putting your dog on a lead, and walking it for a mile or so around the streets?

Was the code pad disinfected? If the field is being rented out to numerous people the virus can be on the code pad, gate handle and even on the grass they sit on if they happen to choose the same spot as the person right before them!
Plus the drive increases the risk of them breaking down and having to call out a breakdown truck/interact with other people, more chance of a car accident. Plus if using the car they will need to fill up on petrol at some point. Touching the pumps etc.

Now all of the above things are things that are tiny risks on the face of it but if everyone does the same thing all of a sudden you have millions more interactions occurring and million more chances for the virus to transmit. That’s why we are staying at home, not because all of the daily things we do are very risky and guaranteed to catch the virus but to minimise the people who do have to be out and about and minimising that’s chances for the virus to transmit and the places it can hide on until someone else touches it.

I don't see a problem with this?

@BrieAndChilli but the OP said where the couple usually go is overcrowded so much more likely to come into contact with people?

are people honestly that funny about the rules that they are allowing basic common sense to go out the window?

I'm not wanting them to be slagged off at all.

So what do you want? You cant change what they did, literally the only thing this thread is designed to achieve is getting them slagged off for flouting the rules.

What does it matter if they're well off?

And what is wrong with putting your dog on a lead, and walking it for a mile or so around the streets?

It may be significantly harder to maintain sufficient distance on streets. Short journeys to access local areas for exercise are allowed.

I'm fortunate that my dog is old and the garden is large enough for his needs - he refuses to walk locally, he just CBA. Our previous dog had a traffic phobia, he wouldn't walk along pavements at all.

I can't imagine having enough free time to care about this tbh. They didn't come into contact with anyone and they would have gone out to walk their dog either way, they just did it someone else free from other people.

What's the problem?

I can see it both ways. I care about the couple and I care about the NHS. Just wanting to inform myself re if their actions increased or deacreased risk.

As far as I know their dog is a rescue and cannot be walked alongside traffic for some reason.

Unnecessary car journey. Walking the dog the 2 miles, letting it run & walking it home wouldn’t be a problem, the car journey is.

@cherrybunx0 but if they Walk out thier door and go for a walk, they don’t need to touch anything apart from thier feet touching the floor.
If they go to the field they are touching the keypad, the gate, thier car, the petrol pump when they need to top up, the keypad on the petrol pump or the door of the petrol station, etc etc so many more chances to either catch or transmit the viruse.

If the dog is reactive, anxious etc and cannot be safely walked locally, YANBU. If the dog can be safely exercised closer to home (albeit perhaps not the dog's idea of an ideal walk) then YABU.

Personally I wouldn't be eating a sandwich anywhere I couldn't wash my hands before eating it at the moment.

If their usual dog walk is now really crowded (I know my one is) then this sounds to me like a better way of going about it!

Personally I wouldn't be eating a sandwich anywhere I couldn't wash my hands before eating it at the moment.

Yes, that part sounds like a poor idea.