To walk my in season dog? Is it a criminal offence?

[PollyPurpose]

Just that really.

I’ve just been stopped by a local dog walker and she politely but firmly told me it is a “Criminal offence to walk an in season bitch; under a section something…? ”. She stated that if a male dog follows my dog out of the park and gets hit by a car I am legally and criminally liable. She also said I am ruining all dog walks for entire dogs.

I did politely ask what it is owners are meant to do as dogs need walking - she said pavement walks in the dark. As a lone female in london I won’t be doing this.

So yes what are peoples thoughts. Is it actually illegal because I can’t imagine not being able to walk her for three weeks at a time. Twice a year.

She always remains on lead and is small enough for me to carry. She is three years old and I’ve never had an issues - if a male dog has shown interest they’ve usually been called back by an owner.

In response to “have her neutered” I will once I have decided whether Or not to breed from her.

@Meandthesky

YABVU to consider being a backyard breeder, get her neutered.

YANBU to walk her on a lead when she’s in season

Out of interest what is a back street breeder? In comparison to someone who is registering with kennel club and already has experience with breeding? I mean surely we all start somewhere

If you don’t know the legalities of walking a dog, then you need to do some serious research before breeding one.

Question at a tangent - do any of the antimatter sprays make any difference at all?

I guess probably not at a season's height, but what about during the build up and passing off?

Not that it would replace proper precautions, but might using it mean less provoking towards male dogs?

I wouldn't want to be the cause for disrupting other dogs.
It is a bad idea unless you intend to fight for your dogs dignity.

Surely those with dogs with balls would be equally to blame?

Hope you asked her who was in charge of her and told her to fuck off!

This smacks of the Taliban, keep the females in so the males are not bothered

This has to be the funniest comment I've ever read on here.

People not liking the deliberate attempt to get a free stud/few mongrel puppies to flog as a designer breed on Gumtree under the pretence of being a bit dim confused are equal to a Deobandi-Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, and jihadist political movement and military organization.

The thought of coming across a bitch in season on our daily walks is quite frightening as the owner of a male puppy too young to be neutered. I am really hoping that people in our area are responsible and take precautions.

The reason it's more the responsibility of the owner of the bitch isn't some kind of doggy patriarchy it's that the owner of the bitch knows her dog is in season and its for a limited time only and therefore they can easily take steps to avoid the risk.

Whereas an intact male dog can breed every day not just twice a year so it's harder to take precautions and the dog's owner cannot know when they will come across a bitch in season so they'd have to be on high alert every day for the possibility rather than just twice a year. There are secure fields near us but they cost 10 an hour so I can hardly hire one every single day to absolutely avoid this risk. Dogs recall is pants as he is adolescent so he is mainly on the long line but we do let him off to practice recall if there are no other dogs in sight. If it's true he could smell a bitch from miles away then that means I should probably never let him off.

The vet advised us not to get ddog neutered until he is at least 18 months because he is a big dog and hasn't finished growing. She said it's not in his interests and she would not advise it until at least 18 mo. If he was a bitch she would have advised doing it around 6 months or after 1 season at the latest and it is in the dogs own best interests because of avoiding pyometra, phantom pregnancy etc.

So it's not the patriarchy or the doggy Taliban it's just common sense that the person whose dog bears all the risks of accidental pregnancy and is practically in a position to take steps to avoid that is the owner of the bitch.

Get her neutered, no one should be breeding from pet dogs. I get there will always be breeders for some breeds but you shouldn't just decide to do it as a hobby or because. All pet dogs should be neutered you are very irresponsible not to.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity are you for real? I have a big dog too. What am I supposed to do when she's in season, crate her for 3 weeks because you can't control your dog?
We walked our dog on leash when she was in season, we assume another season to go before she gets her surgery. If a male dog starts bothering her while she's outside on the leash, I won't have a problem getting physical with them. It's your duty to control your dog and their hormones, I am doing my duty for mine but my dog has the same right to reach her maturity and finish her joint development as yours.

[quote EerieSilence]@CovoidOfAllHumanity are you for real? I have a big dog too. What am I supposed to do when she's in season, crate her for 3 weeks because you can't control your dog?
We walked our dog on leash when she was in season, we assume another season to go before she gets her surgery. If a male dog starts bothering her while she's outside on the leash, I won't have a problem getting physical with them. It's your duty to control your dog and their hormones, I am doing my duty for mine but my dog has the same right to reach her maturity and finish her joint development as yours. [/quote]
For the well-being of your own dog, though, surely it's better to exercise precaution when she's in season.

Get her out in the garden a lot and take her out for walks when there aren't many people (or dogs) around. It's fine to say you'll willingly assault someone else's dog but what happens if the dogs faster than you and it's too late?

I do control my dog
I told you in my post that he's on a long line or a lead if there are any other dogs around at all
We go to training classes and practice recall every day etc etc
I do not allow him to go up to other dogs on leash.
However lots of people on this thread are saying that I might not have a lot of chance if he did smell a bitch in heat. That his behaviour would be very different and he might run away or escape. That js quite a scary prospect.

The point of the post was to say that I think I am at a disadvantage over the owners of bitches because according to you I have to be extra vigilant every day rather than just for 3 weeks at a time and I have no idea when or where we might meet a bitch on heat whereas you obviously know that you have one.

I did not say you have to crate your dog and never walk her in season but it just seems sensible and like being a good citizen to me to walk her on leash, away from busy areas and not at busy times.
I will certainly continue to try to control and train my dog but I doubt anyone has 100% control at all times

@CovoidOfAllHumanity, I understand your point of view, and as an owner of bitches I do assume responsibility when one is in season. I do, however, appreciate the owners of intact males who have some control over their dogs, as an active young bitch still needs to be exercised.

I do wonder how up to date your vet is, or how well she explained things to you. Recent research indicates that the optimal age for neutering varies by breed and sex. Neuter too early, and the risk to the bitch or dog of various cancers, joint disorders etc is increased. I wouldn't neuter any medium-large breed bitch at 6 months as they are not physically mature at that age.

This is before you account for mental and social maturity. The breed I own is notoriously late to grow up - my older bitch was 3 and a bit before she finally got there.

And there are people out there who do know what they're doing when it comes to breeding dogs, who have an intact bitch they're getting into work, or showing, or trialling, or putting through advanced obedience, before they decide whether to breed her or not. They will be responsible and sensible about where and when to exercise her, but not every fit young dog is happy with a sniff round the garden.

It would be good if everyone could just cut everyone else a bit of slack. The owners of intact bitches are not all arrogant numpties looking to make a few grand off a litter of ill-bred puppies. Some of us actually give it a lot of thought.

It was probably me not listening and not the vet's advice at fault. I was mainly gobsmacked by the advice to neuter my male dog later and not listening a lot to what she said about females as not relevant to me.

The rescue made me promise to get him neutered when we got him and I was keen to do it so I was really surprised that both the vet and the dog trainer were very sure I should not do it for a lot longer.

As such it wasn't a problem I was expecting to have to deal with really and I find it a bit scary as I try very hard to be a responsible dog owner but what if he can't help his hormones, runs away and does something awful? Apparently at the least he's going to get kicked!

This dogwalker talks complete shite.of course you can work your female dog.I wonder what sort of business this dogwalker runs.I would certainly never trust this person looking after my dog.It is truly unbelievable the rubbish people come out with.walk your girl on lead when she is on heat and ignore those stupid stupid comments.

I’ve never heard it’s illegal but it’s certainly deeply antisocial.

The hint of a bitch in heat will have many male dogs injuring themselves to get at it from inside let alone walking one past on a lead.

Whilst it’s in season walk it when and where you are least likely to encounter anyone else. When ours is in season it doesn’t leave our land, and doesn’t leave the house off a lead.

No one is going to get “physical” with a 40kg German Shepard or Rottie if it comes after their in season bitch there are some big dogs out there, just because your out walking a wee cockerpoo, doesn’t mean that’s what might come after your dog.
Just keep your in season bitches away from busy parks and places where there are off-lead dogs.
Most of the intact males your likely to come across are big dogs waiting to be neutered because vets won’t recommend doing them until at least 18 months, so your not going to be pulling that off your dog

I've never herd of there being a law about taking a dog for a walk when she is in season, but surely common sense would tell you that when the dog is in season, male dogs will be attracted by the scent and will want to mount her? You can't decide whether you want your dog to become pregnant so that you can benefit financially from the sale of her puppies?

This smacks of the Taliban, keep the females in so the males are not bothered say what now?

I am assuming the poster said this for effect. Nobody actually, genuinely thinks there are similarities between a dog in season and the Taliban?

I think the OP said that she could pick her in season dog up if a male dog came sniffing around. All I can say is good luck with that then.

Get her spayed

@MrsWinters

No one is going to get “physical” with a 40kg German Shepard or Rottie if it comes after their in season bitch there are some big dogs out there, just because your out walking a wee cockerpoo, doesn’t mean that’s what might come after your dog. Just keep your in season bitches away from busy parks and places where there are off-lead dogs. Most of the intact males your likely to come across are big dogs waiting to be neutered because vets won’t recommend doing them until at least 18 months, so your not going to be pulling that off your dog

🤣 ^ This is true lol You may be the proud owner of little baby cockarots /Rottiepoos 😜though.

@AlternativePerspective

This smacks of the Taliban, keep the females in so the males are not bothered say what now?

I am assuming the poster said this for effect. Nobody actually, genuinely thinks there are similarities between a dog in season and the Taliban?

No, of course I don't, I'm quite honoured to have been the subject of the "most batshit ever thing said on MN" though.

I said that it was unfair to risk your pet getting pregnant.

But I also thought it was unfair to put all the responsibility on the OP with the female dog because the owners of the male dogs are too lazy to keep them under control.

So keeping the females locked up in case the males get upset.

I shouldn't really have to spell it out, but hey ho.

It’s not a control issue! Animals aren’t humans. They don’t have the same self control. Males and females both have an overwhelming desire to mate when a bitch is in season. That overrides training.

@girlmom21 - thank you for the much needed advice.
I never knew, a bitch in season should be walked in secluded and less populated areas till you kindly advised. It's not really something that you would call common sense, isn't it? I will keep it in mind for her next heat, we were very careless in the first heat and just let her run around in the doggy playpark for fun.

I have a Dobermann, she needs to reach certain age before she's spayed, that's the general advice right now for big breeds, due to problems with their joints, I understand if someone with a large breed male doesn't castrate them but then you need to keep them on the leash if they don't listen. How about to transfer the responsibility on owners of male dogs before you start advising owners of female dogs to spay them before it's considered safe for them. I am exercising caution, do your bloody job too, morons.

For all those who keep advising spaying the dogs ASAP. There's a difference between spaying a little poochie early and a large dog early. My own dog is 20 months now and she only had her first season recently, she's maturing slowly. I am giving her the time and will not let her run around in a small garden only only because the idiots with male dogs who don't want to take responsibility don't own up to their actions.

“But I also thought it was unfair to put all the responsibility on the OP with the female dog because the owners of the male dogs are too lazy to keep them under control.

So keeping the females locked up in case the males get upset.”

It’s not though... it’s to stop the bitch getting upset.

When a male dog meets an in season bitch, you’ve got a minute or less of, why the hell is my dog not recalling? Why is he harassing that dog? Till you catch him and then a period of him behaving a bit nutty.

The bitch is going to get harassed several times at least in a busyish place on every walk for weeks and there’s not a huge amount dog owners can do to prevent it, because they don’t know there’s an in season bitch round the corner, the bitches owner knows she’s in season.

I’ve been caught out with a recall fail because there’s an in season bitch when my dog was about 10, had been neutered in rescue aged 6 months, had had great recall for about 9 years and wasn’t even usually particularly bothered about meeting other dogs. Watching for an in season bitch wasn’t exactly on my radar at the time tbh.