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.

We have an absolute nightmare time round here with idiots taking their off leash, in season bitches to the dog park on busy weekend afternoons and then getting annoyed that every male dog, neutered or not, within a 3 mile radius is interested.

Of course your dog needs walking while in season, but it is best to avoid busy areas and busy times or days, and to keep her on leash unless you are in a safe enclosed space without male dogs around. It's not fair on your dog, and it's not fair to other dog owners.

It is not the responsibility of other dog owners, assuming they are also walking in an appropriate place, to deal with your choice to not neuter your bitch.

Gosh I’m terrible. I didn’t realise that now I’ve neutered my dogs the entire species will die out!! Thanks

Not illegal and you are doing nothing wrong with walking your dog while in season. You shouldn't even need to ask this question.

Not illegal. As long as you keep her on a lead and if you can, avoid areas with loads of dogs if you can and pick her up, again if you can, if a male dog approaches.

We walked ours occasionally when she was in season as hers went on for over a month and she was older so already used to long off lead walks. We tried to avoid busy areas/times, avoided parks and if dog owners approached we told them she was in season incase their dog wasnt neutered. Had to do it again as her spay was cancelled due to covid. I would say if she is a breed you can get away with reducing her walks then try to but else just use common sense.

Jeeeeez, this thread.

In some countries (Scandinavian, mostly) it's the norm to NOT neuter your dog, and there is no major problem of dog over-supply. A responsible owner with an intact bitch is not the person you should be shouting at.

I have seen several bitches through several seasons, with no issues. I keep a close eye on them, only let them off where I have a clear sight line and there are no other dogs in sight (their recall is good) and stick to quiet places at quiet times.

And as PP have said, a home breeder is a much better start for a puppy than a massive commercial operation.

It's not illegal.
We are waiting for our dog to be over 2 years old before we have her sterilised as we want her to be fully mature. It's to protect her joints as she's a large breed and the latest advice is to wait.

Maybe these large intact males should be neutered if they can’t be controlled?

They absolutely should, pet dogs of either sex should be neutered. But the owner of the female shoulders all the risk to their dog and the associated vet bills if she becomes pregnant, if she develops complications (fairly common in accidental breedings where the male is a far larger breed than the female as the puppies can be too large to carry and birth easily) so it’s in the interests of the owners of the female to protect their bitch rather than hope other owners will have neutered their males.

I’ve seen intact male dogs in the park desperately trying to mount a female in heat. Four clueless owners frantically trying to pull their dogs apart, extendable leads all tangled, dogs absolutely driven by the instinct to breed. It’s not pretty. Owners who think they’d simply call their dog over to them or pick it up in that situation are just as clueless.

Perhaps not criminal, but criminally stupid.

Not illegal, but a male intact dog will do absolutely anything to get to a bitch on heat, and all its training, recall will go out of the window. So its really not ideal, you are likely to get yourself and your dog some unwelcome behaviour.

I have a border collie and she is my first animal ever not to have been neutered at six months due to the lockdown and for various reasons. None of which are to breed from her however she can't be neutered until three months after her last season. As she is such a high energy dog it is unfair not to exercise her especially whilst in season therefore I bought special pants with pads that are to mask the smell. Also use a spray designed to mask the smell. You change the pad before the walk and try to walk at times when it's quieter and luckily we have a huge green at the end of our drive.
Be sensible is the answer and I would of told her to mind her own business!

Responsible breeders have enough room for breeding stock, to seperate sexes as necessary to avoid distress for bitch and males, and areas to exercise on heat bitches where they are not creating chaos and distress to other dogs and owners in public. I have a family member who breeds and this stuff is important. You don’t sound like a responsible breeder so I’d suggest doing the right thing by your bitch and other dogs and spaying her.

If you can't tell at this point wether to breed from her then you should ask a professional and not come to the conclusion yourself
Unless you're wondering wether to breed from her based on other things like if it would suit you at that point in your life

I think @BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz meant that dogs should be bred from responsible breeders, not pet owners in general

Not illegal, but a male intact dog will do absolutely anything to get to a bitch on heat, and all its training, recall will go out of the window. So its really not ideal, you are likely to get yourself and your dog some unwelcome behaviour.

Exactly, not illegal but really irresponsible and not in dogs best interest.

Maybe these large intact males should be neutered if they can’t be controlled?

Of course dogs should be under control but as has been said, even neutered males can smell a bitch in heat.

I'm not an advocate of spaying or neutering without good reason but if you own a bitch that's in season it's your responsibility to keep her safe and away from other dogs.

It's only for a few weeks a year so it shouldn't be that difficult to do.

Every single dog should be spayed/neutered by age 2 unless owned by a licensed breeder unless there's a medical reason not to
That's not correct and is outdated advice. It is not recommended any more that male dogs are neutered. Though I hadn't considered that maybe this was because the vetinary world had been infiltrated by the Taliban

@CayrolBaaaskin

That’s crackers. Not at all illegal to walk a bitch in heat and no reason people shouldn’t breed from their pets provided they do it responsibly. I generally think people who breed from pets are more interested in welfare than breeders.

google back yard breeders to open your eyes!

OP no its not illegal to walk an in season bitch in public but its not a good idea.

I know this is off topic but can I ask.....is your bitch an excellent example of her breed? has she had all the inheritable problems tests recommended for her breed? are you prpared to keep all the puppies if you don't find excellent homes for them? Are you prepared to take back and refund the cost of any puppies if the purchaser can't keep the puppy?

It's more about common sense than rights or wrong, to me. And about working with the specific dog you have.

An in season bitch is more likely to enjoy walking than not, during her season. Provided the walks are safe and comfortable (i.e. she is not being hassled by males). If you and your dog are in a position to walk somewhere like that, then absolutely feel free to do so. Anyone walking an in season bitch - which has included me in the past - would probably do well to try and aim for quiet places and quiet times for the dog's own comfort. If that's not a posibility then perhaps forgo the walks. Again, simply for your own dog's well being because a 'stressy' walk will be less preferable to no walk at all.

Ditto intact males. If you are walking an intact male (or a neutered male you know still reacts to bitches in season) then walking them where it's quieter or walking them with awareness that you may come across an in season bitch is sensible. For your dog's own safety and comfort. Whilst all dogs are different, every intact male I've walked has a 'tell' that he thinks he's sniffed a bitch - giving you precious seconds to get him on a lead. If you're paying attention rather than just having an amble-type walk in which you half expect the dog to keep up with you. I like an amble walk but they are for specific types of dogs only and would never expect one with an intact male unless he'd already proven his obedience around in season bitches. If your dog does not have a tell and will shoot off without even a half second pause, then you need to take even greater care. Not least because bitches can still smell enticing just before or (more likely) just after their season so the chances are high you will come across one sooner or later.

YABU because you are trying to tell me that you have to resort to Mumsnet to find out the answer ? ever heard of GOOGLE ?, or a polite E mail to a local vets etc, so I have to imagine you are a Mumsnet bot making up thick questions just to perpetuate conversation like the vast majority of threads on this site.

It’s really irresponsible to walk an on heat dog in a park or other area where off-lead dogs are. Male dogs will smell her from a mile off and run away from their owners - even well trained males with usually good recall and so on. I know someone whose dog did this chasing an on heat female - and was hit by a car (big London park with a road inside the park).

Walk her in quiet areas where other dogs are all going to be on lead, it’s really antisocial and irresponsible to walk her in the park.

It's a really selfish thing to not take steps to take into account that she's on heat - even well trained dogs with great recall may put themselves and others in danger trying to get to her.

Gosh OP, I would have told the dog walker to boil her head (or words to that effect!) It's not illegal to walk your bitch whilst she's in season. Of course you need to be responsible and use common sense, avoid busy times and other dogs where you can but it's not against the law.

On the subject of neutering, there are many reasons why a dog may not yet be neutered. The breed of dog will dictate when is best for them to be neutered from a health perspective. Whilst neutering can be beneficial, there are also risks to the dog if it's done too early and the skeletal frame, ligaments and muscles are not fully mature. Every dog owner should be doing what's right for their dog - so just because someone got their lab done at 9 months does not mean that's right for my Dachshund.

@Aldinho57

YABU because you are trying to tell me that you have to resort to Mumsnet to find out the answer ? ever heard of GOOGLE ?, or a polite E mail to a local vets etc, so I have to imagine you are a Mumsnet bot making up thick questions just to perpetuate conversation like the vast majority of threads on this site.

Wow, that's unnecessarily aggressive!

You seem to have misunderstood the point of Mumsnet.

It's a chat forum. We chat about things. Anything we want. Perhaps you're in the wrong place?

Do I really need to explain that you get a different response here to googling? Not only the answer, but opinion, advice, related facts. And that can be very valuable, sometimes.

What a load of shite! Dogs in season still need to be walked, and we walked ours on the lead with no incident whatsoever.
However - there are too many dogs in the world as it is so do the responsible thing and have your dog spayed.

You can absolutely still walk her, but you need to be really considerate of other dogs. Walk at the anti social times, walk as far away from other dogs as poss, and ideally always on the lead. Or, hire a private field.