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.

Sounds fine to me. 2 miles is a very short distance to drive, and when they got there, they weren't near any other people.

It’s unreasonable and against the rules to drive to a location and then have a sandwich and let the dog run around. By driving on unnecessary journeys you will need petrol sooner, you might break down and need to use a breakdown service or you might have a accident which requires the NHS or police.

If they had done this and was in walking distance it would be okay.

We took a 100 mile journey yesterday to shop at the Home Depot.

Why would this be a problem ? The government have said you can drive a short distance to exercise. The field is private, so they're not going to come into contact with anyone else.

Very different to a picnic in Hyde Park!

Common sense is to stay at home and not get in the car. The Government advice on their website is to stay at home where possible and avoid unnecessary journeys.
"14. Can I drive to a national park or other green space to walk?
We advise you to stay local and use open spaces near to your home where possible – do not travel unnecessarily."

Is driving the car away from your street a necessary journey? Probably not.
Do you think you would feel defensive or guilty if you had to explain your journey to a police officer? Then it's not necessary.
COVID-19 spreads easily. If you break down you will need help and put someone else at risk. If you crash you will put those who come to your aid at risk. If you fall ill in the car you put a first responder at risk. If a police officer stops you because you are on an unnecessary journey you put them at risk.
Put the dog on a lead and walk it. You don't need to get in the car and drive somewhere.

I think people who don't own a dog should hire one so they can drive somewhere to walk it. Why miss out on an excuse to do something dumb just because you don't have one.

Seems like an ideal way to keep socially distant from other people, to me. With or without dog.

My takeaway from this thread is:

You can hire a field? One that is secure and has no other people in it for an hour? That would be perfect as a safe environment for our autistic son to run around and blow off some steam. How do I find such fields?

@eggysmom dogwalkingfields.com/

Ffs you are allowed to drive somewhere to exercise, but relatively local, not miles to a famous beach or the Lake District etc.

Exactly. Which is what this couple did - good on them.

I was walking this morning and went past a large lay-by where there were a few cars parked up, people getting out with their dogs to go to the nature reserve. Police car drove by and waved. It's only some police forces who've been getting heavy handed about it (incorrectly as it happens)

Our local police force have specifically added details to thier website that they will NOT be stopping people driving short distances to exercise.

I would totally hire a secure and private field, if there was one close enough.

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

We have one of these in walking distance.

Its £10 an hour, though my friend owns it so during covid she has let us take empty slots for free. Well not free. We swop services.

She spoke to our local police force who confirmed that people could drive to it. Though she couldnt be seen to be encouraging people to travel from outside the local area. Which is subjective, really.

All her Facebook's posts about it say 'for people living in the local area only'.

It's better than walking where there are lots of people.

Police stopped my Mum this morning. She was driving about 3 miles from her house to go for a walk where there would be less people. They wished her a good walk and on she went.

Sounds like a good idea

That would be perfect as a safe environment for our autistic son to run around and blow off some steam. How do I find such fields?

My ds is autistic and I take him, ince every few days. Its really helped.

It's the perfect idea. I wish we had a field like that near enough to me.

There is a dog walking field at the end of my road, it's £10 per hour, payments online. Metal gate to get in. The owners are cleaning the gate and ball throwers between uses. I can't see a problem.

Your dogs have got be walked, all the restrictions - unnecessary travel are there to try limit the spread of the virus. But we have to exercise some common sense, if your dogs needs walking but everywhere you could go to is now rammed (as we are finding - not a dog walker but a runner) it would make complete sense in terms of infection control to go exercise him on private land where you won’t encounter anyone else.

I’ve given up where we are it’s just too busy, never seen so many people out and about on the lanes, parks and streets. I’m seriously contemplating on go for a run at 7am tomorrow hoping it might be quieter. And if you knew me and getting up you’d know that was the thin end of the wedge!

@sonjadog interesting, we might brave it then.

That would be perfect as a safe environment for our autistic son to run around and blow off some steam. How do I find such fields

Try searching online for secure dog fields in your area. They are becoming increasingly popular so it might be worth a try.

What's home depot and why would someone drive 50 miles to get there?

Thanks for the pointers, people! Never knew these existed.

Presumably they arent walking so they are BU as they still risk car accidents every day for non essential travel. They would do better to walk dog at a quieter time.