To have felt so nervous about dog off lead today?

[Lizzie523]

I felt so anxious about this situation today it almost ruined my walk.

Met 2 friends for a walk in the park. 1 friend has a lovely dog. She let's the dog off in the park and gives it free reign to roam. A few times it disappeared into various undergrowth.

It kept running ahead of us, so that any walker wouldnt have been able to pinpoint whose dog it was half the time.

Lastly, we sat near a play park and the dog approached a few times but didnt go in. When it approached a group of teens, who said they were fine with the dog, my friend let it stay with them for 10 minutes.

At one point as we passed the play park my other friend and I instinctively formed a wall where the kids were playing and kept on the dog other side of us!

AIBU to have felt wracked with nerves? I admit as a cat person I'm not used to dogs but I really struggled with this. Is it me?

This. ^ Dogs should ALWAYS be on a lead. It's the fucking law anyway!

You have a reference to that law do you? Thought not!

@TooTrueToBeGood

This. ^ Dogs should ALWAYS be on a lead. It's the fucking law anyway!

You have a reference to that law do you? Thought not!

Did you actually think to look this up before you put your wanky comment?

Thought not!

READ and LEARN and EDUCATE YOURSELF.

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/public-spaces-protection-orders

DOGS MUST BE ON A LEAD IN PUBLIC PLACES.

Did you not know that @TooTrueToBeGood

THOUGHT NOT!

@littlepattilou

DOGS MUST BE ON A LEAD IN PUBLIC PLACES.

Did you not know that @TooTrueToBeGood

THOUGHT NOT!

Dogs have to be under control. That does not mean on the lead. Show me the law, you're the one adamant it exists.

littlepattilou you need to read your link more carefully, SOME areas have a specific dog control order in place, in our local park it only applies to the bowling green and rose garden anywhere else dogs are allowed off lead.

When you cannot see your dog, you are not in control of the dog. All it needs is for the dog to react to something/someone it doesn't like or understand and you will be in trouble with the law. Ive stopped walking in my local park as my life is made a misery with unwanted attention from dogs, whose owners are either nowhere to be seen or stand chatting while dog runs around. Ive lost count of dog owners literally screaming for their dogs to come back, while the dog does what the hell it likes. Walks aren't a pleasure anymore and now Im confined to my house due to selfish, inconsiderate dog owners. People have bought these dogs in Lockdown and are clueless about the animal. When people return to work, I bet complaints about dogs barking will multiply.

@Springchickpea

This would bother me - if I understand the setting correctly. We live close to a large urban park and I hate it when dogs are allowed to do this (except in certain areas of the park where there are wide open fields and dogs are routinely allowed to run). The paths are often crowded and loose dogs who are not good at staying to heel cause chaos. Only today I was walking with my 4 year old when we coincided with 2x GSDs running wide circles around their owners. The dogs were weaving in and out of runners, cyclists, causing problems for other dog walkers. And at one point I was stood still holding a sobbing 4 year old because they were just too big and too bouncy, too close and too fast. And still the owner wouldn’t put them on a lead.

Rural areas, that are less crowded and with more open space are fair enough but courtesy is needed!

For the first time I asked a couple the other day if they could put the dogs on a lead by and between the play areas as it was frightening for my kids. They were weaving in and out, jumping, barking etc and for small kids it is scary. I was also then left wrangling a toddler and a pram trying to calm crying young DC. There is a short path between two play areas. They told me that's what dogs do - they jump, run and bark and have as much right to be there as people. My son has sadly become quite scared of dogs from the sheer number of offlead dogs that have come bounding over to him with owners ambling a distance away and sometimes a shout of "don't worry, he's friendly" whichever bloody park we go to. PUT YOUR DOGS ON FUCKING LEADS IN CROWDED AREAS PEOPLE!!!

Just because her dog is fine, doesn't mean everyone else's dog likes other dogs, or their children like dogs. So whilst it's not a problem for you, it could be for others. I hate dog walkers who behave like that.

Simplest solution is not to go walking with your 'friend' if you don't like the way she walks her dog.

Personally I miss the interaction with dogs now that most people don't allow them to approach strangers.

I'd have my own if I could, but I can't right now, so I have to 'make do' with the scraps I can get from people happy to let their dogs say hello.

You should manage your own anxiety. It's not even your dog.

@littlepattilou You're the one who needs educating. Start with reading comprehension. That link literally says the opposite to what you think it does.

It clearly states that dogs may have to be kept on a lead in some public areas and that if dogs are not allowed, there must be a sign saying so.

Your dog is considered out of control if it injures someone or makes someone afraid it may injure them. So with its behaviour rather than just by existing in the vicinity of them. A dog running past you without a lead, showing no interest in you is not out of control.

I do sympathise with your phobia but you being scared of something isn't a good enough reason to keep it restrained at all times in public if the law doesn't require it. I'm scared of spiders. Can't even bring myself to put a glass over them.

Unfortunately I'm going to come across them because that is the way of life. So I need to deal with the phobia.

You're so scared of dogs that you can't even pass them and that's a shame but ultimately your problem.

You’re being ridiculous. I bet the dog was out of sight when it was in the undergrowth and hedges?

Rural areas, that are less crowded and with more open space are fair enough but courtesy is needed!

No, rural is worse. Rural means lambing season. Rural means cows defending their young (and dog owners getting themselves killed in the process), rural means horses throwing their riders or running into the road to try and escape the predator as cars come zooming round the blind bends with their stereos on full blast, rural means endangered ground nesting birds, hares, deer and other wildlife being killed by dogs off lead. Rural means the dog pelting across the fields into the road and getting squashed by the drivers who weren't expecting a dog to emerge from the hedgerow. Rural means the disappearing dog likely to end up being shot perfectly legally by the farmer or landowner.

Always have dogs on a decent (ie, not one of the magical self destructing leads that always seem to be in use when wildlife or livestock have been savaged) lead in rural areas.

I'm so sick of dog owners who leave their dogs to wander around at will in public places. I had a picnic in a city park with my kids the other day and in the space of 1 minute three dogs came sniffing up around us, each with the owner far in the distance (and usually on their phone). The dogs weren't agressive and I didn't fear they would attack us, but regardless I didn't want them sniffing while we were trying to eat!

When I loudly shooed them away I got the standard, "Oh don't worry, they won't hurt you". I was so fed up by the third one that I got quite annoyed with the owner and said I was sure they wouldn't but I still didn't want them bothering me while I was trying to eat my lunch in a public space.

There were plenty of owners who had their dogs on the lead or walking beside them, but also a large number who didn't seem to care where they dog was or who they were bothering. Some owners are only concerned with the happiness of their dogs and don't seem to understand that the rest of us don't feel the same way!