Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBu to take my dog for a walk when she’s in heat?

445 replies

berryfull · 09/02/2021 23:12

Obviously on the lead, we’ll controlled. Obviously trying to avoid busy dog places where possible. But a walk a couple of times a day.

I’ve had several owners of entire make dogs give me a mouthful this week, when they’ve had to come and forceably remove their intact off lead dog from following me. Even went so far tonight that the dog that was following us had no owner anywhere visible, so I had to phone them from the number on the collar. When they arrived to get the dog (having delayed me 20 mins or so) they decided to tell me off !!

Flabbergasted! Surely if you have an entire make dog, then you should be keeping it in the lead or under supervision. Why should my dog get no excersize ? I’m keeping my dog under control. Why should I have to lock her away while male dogs roam free?

Dog patriarchy anyone?

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 13/02/2021 17:41

You can’t expect all male dogs to be kept on a lead at all times because there may be a bitch in season somewhere in the local area. You are being naive to think an entire male will necessarily listen to an owner when they scent a bitch.

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 13/02/2021 17:47

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

tabulahrasa · 13/02/2021 19:16

“I am not willing to take the blame for other people’s dogs coming into my garden though.“

It’s not about blame - just being sensible.

So say I’m walking past your garden, I have an entire dog because he’s not been neutered yet, he’s got good recall, he’s well trained - so I have him off lead walking with me.

Suddenly he gets real excited and jumps your fence - I have no clue why on Earth he’s suddenly done something so out of character, I call him a few times then go to find your gate/door... but that all takes time and by the time I’m in your garden, your bitch is being impregnated...

So yeah technically the blame is mine in that scenario, but I had no clue it was going to happen to prevent it and having the moral high ground isn’t going to be particularly useful to you.

If you’re in the garden with her, you can try and block them and shout me to get my dog so I’d be a lot quicker and then there’s two of us - which makes it much easier.

I’d still be bloody mortified, but at least there’s no puppies.

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 13/02/2021 19:41

You may be more than mortified.

“Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them
A court could also decide that your dog is dangerously out of control if either of the following apply:

it attacks someone’s animal
the owner of an animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal

You can get an unlimited fine or be sent to prison for up to 6 months (or both) if your dog is dangerously out of control. You may not be allowed to own a dog in the future and your dog may be destroyed.

If you let your dog injure someone you can be sent to prison for up to 5 years or fined (or both). “

sunflowersandbuttercups · 13/02/2021 19:42

[quote TheWomanTheyCallJayne]www.gov.uk/control-dog-public[/quote]
You can quote the law all you want, but if your bitch gets pregnant, you're the one who has to deal with the consequences, nobody else.

montessorinanny · 13/02/2021 20:01

I have two female dogs that are not spayed and we walk them when they are in heat. We just stay away from other dogs. If it is a dog we are not familiar with I will warn the owner that my two are in heat (yes I do mean two as once one goes into season the other follows quickly). I have a dog walker once a week when I have to start work early and she is happy to walk them when they are in heat. My girls are not spayed as they would have to go the vet at the same time as they pine for each other and it is too expensive in our area to do that.

tabulahrasa · 13/02/2021 20:07

@TheWomanTheyCallJayne

You may be more than mortified.

“Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them
A court could also decide that your dog is dangerously out of control if either of the following apply:

it attacks someone’s animal
the owner of an animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal

You can get an unlimited fine or be sent to prison for up to 6 months (or both) if your dog is dangerously out of control. You may not be allowed to own a dog in the future and your dog may be destroyed.

If you let your dog injure someone you can be sent to prison for up to 5 years or fined (or both). “

Which bit do you think applies?...

Bearing in mind the imaginary dog isn’t attacking or trying to attack anyone or anything.

If there’s no-one else there they can’t get injured before I get there and if there is, I’m the one manhandling my dog.

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 13/02/2021 20:24

“Everyone’s telling the op a dog can’t necessarily be stopped even if she’s on a lead. What if I have her on a lead‽”, which I would do. I have a longline just for such purposes. I mentioned the height of the fence earlier as it is clearable by a dog that wants to. Are you also planning to climb said fence? Quick enough that you could prevent any altercation?
Someone else’s dog comes into my garden determined to get to one of my dogs then “ makes someone worried that it might injure them” definitely fits.

SpudsandGravy · 13/02/2021 20:49

Unfortunately it's like this with some dog owners. Not a lot of common sense going on.

SpudsandGravy · 13/02/2021 20:51

Sorry, that was a little ambiguous. I meant the ones with off-lead dogs telling you off.

SpudsandGravy · 13/02/2021 20:52

@Ginfordinner

DH's dog was killed when he escaped from their garden to follow a bitch in heat. He was hit by a car.
That's pretty awful, but it's not the fault of the owners of the dog in heat. It was the fault of the people who kept their dog in their garden but didn't secure it.
MyGazeboisLeaking · 13/02/2021 20:53

@montessorinanny

I have two female dogs that are not spayed and we walk them when they are in heat. We just stay away from other dogs. If it is a dog we are not familiar with I will warn the owner that my two are in heat (yes I do mean two as once one goes into season the other follows quickly). I have a dog walker once a week when I have to start work early and she is happy to walk them when they are in heat. My girls are not spayed as they would have to go the vet at the same time as they pine for each other and it is too expensive in our area to do that.

I asked my dog Walker /
Trainer and she does not walk dogs in heat.

She offers home activities and brain stimulation sessions.

tabulahrasa · 13/02/2021 20:53

“Someone else’s dog comes into my garden determined to get to one of my dogs then “ makes someone worried that it might injure them” definitely fits.”

It really doesn’t - if you read the full act, it needs to be a reasonable fear, so it would need to do something that would make you believe you were in danger.

Being there isn’t enough, and neither is, ignoring you and being dead determined... they don’t tend to get aggressive with people (unless they are anyway, in which case I wouldn’t have had it off less to start with) just oblivious to anything else and stubborn.

I mean, would it be shitty timing that a dog would go past offlead that would jump the fence while your bitch was out there? Yes, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.

Would it be your fault? No of course not

But it’s not really the dog owners fault either, unless they already know their dog is going to be like that (they’re not all as full on as that) and they also know there’s a bitch in heat in the garden.

It’s just one of those things... and as you have the knowledge about your bitch, it’s sensible for you to then take precautions.

GrouchyKiwi · 13/02/2021 21:04

I really don't get why people are so determined to argue about keeping their bitches safe while they're in season. It's for a few weeks, once or twice and then you're going to have her spayed. It's a short-term inconvenience, but surely you want to do what's best for your dog, and that means doing everything you can to make sure she doesn't get pregnant.

If your garden has low fences then make sure you're with her when she's out there. If you need to walk her, do it on lead only and at times when other people won't be about.

If you're not prepared to look after your dog in this way - and pregnancy is HARD - then don't get a bitch.

Lolwhat · 13/02/2021 21:07

You should of had her spayed before her first heat anyway, of course male dogs are going to come running towards your bitch🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Tellto · 13/02/2021 21:11

YABVU as you're putting dogs at risk who are being walked in a mile or more radius of where you are at risk of bolting to get to her .
you also would have your arm ripped off if u tried to get in the way of some dogs mating her so don't think you would just be able to stop it. .

mrsminiegg · 13/02/2021 21:19

@smashedadvocado

No YANBU, why are these male dogs not spayed? Both owners responsibility to look after their own dogs. They shouldn't be giving you any grief and you have a right to walk your in heat dog while on a leash.
THIS. Op as long as you take reasonable precautions I think you're fine. We also put pants on our bitch so there was a barrier! You cannot keep a highly energetic dog in a small kitchen for weeks on end. It's ridiculous to think you can.
Hankunamatata · 13/02/2021 21:24

For crying out loud our local beach is full of dogs being run or walked. You dont take dog on season there. Its just bloody stupid. You take her for walk around the block on pavement where there wont be dogs off the lead.

Tellto · 13/02/2021 21:28

@mrsminiegg male dogs shouldn't be neutered for around 12 months minimum so you either don't walk unneutered males for a year or just not a bitch in season for 2 weeks..

tabulahrasa · 13/02/2021 21:44

@GrouchyKiwi

I really don't get why people are so determined to argue about keeping their bitches safe while they're in season. It's for a few weeks, once or twice and then you're going to have her spayed. It's a short-term inconvenience, but surely you want to do what's best for your dog, and that means doing everything you can to make sure she doesn't get pregnant.

If your garden has low fences then make sure you're with her when she's out there. If you need to walk her, do it on lead only and at times when other people won't be about.

If you're not prepared to look after your dog in this way - and pregnancy is HARD - then don't get a bitch.

It’s bit odd really... like being technically in the right is more important than the practicalities.

I mean, I’m sure it’d be much better to be able to blame someone for having to go get the mismate jag and deal with another season right after it, or an unwanted litter than it would be to protect your bitch when you’re the only human in that situation who knew she needed protecting Confused

icegarden · 13/02/2021 23:12

Op I don't think YBU but maybe learn from experience. My male dog was snipped at 6mths but a year later will still bolt after a female in season. I really didn't think he would. But he does sadly

WhenISnappedAndFarted · 13/02/2021 23:40

My DM has two neutered male dogs. There's also a female near by who hasn't been spayed.

One of the male dogs is absolutely fine, the other one goes mental for just over a week. Constant squeaking and howling, trying to get out (sometimes managing it) and just generally seems very distressed. It's really horrible to see. It's not just un neutered male dogs that it can affect.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 14/02/2021 08:21

@GrouchyKiwi

I really don't get why people are so determined to argue about keeping their bitches safe while they're in season. It's for a few weeks, once or twice and then you're going to have her spayed. It's a short-term inconvenience, but surely you want to do what's best for your dog, and that means doing everything you can to make sure she doesn't get pregnant.

If your garden has low fences then make sure you're with her when she's out there. If you need to walk her, do it on lead only and at times when other people won't be about.

If you're not prepared to look after your dog in this way - and pregnancy is HARD - then don't get a bitch.

Well said.

But this is MN - so you're not allowed to be sensible or practical Wink

Willyoujustbequiet · 14/02/2021 08:40

Yanbu. Its ridiculous to suggest you are responsible for other people's dogs. Walk her on a lead. Some irresponsible owners on here. Why are the male dogs intact? You are accountable for your own dog. Control them better.

Wolfiefan · 14/02/2021 08:47

@mrsminiegg it won’t be a barrier to a determined dog and increases the chance of infection.
Hire a safe space.
Walk dog on lead away from off lead dogs.
Nobody says they have to be shut in a kitchen. Confused