To think, if you can't recall your dog, it shouldn't be off lead?

[fanaticalfairy]

The amount of bloody loose yappy, jumpy dogs my 4 year old comes across, where the owner ineffectually tries to call them back is ridiculous now!

One time I had to ask owner to call back, as the dog was being ridiculous, and he was like "Coco..... Coco..... Coco..... Coco.....".

Multiple times, I've ended up taking them by the collar back to their owners who then look like I've dragged them by the ears or something.

Keep them on the fucking lead!!!

Yanbu.

If a dog has poor recall take it to an enclosed dog park or dog field to exercise off leash.

You're not being unreasonable. Anyone who voted so is probably one of the dicks that makes everyone hate dogs and their owners.

My dog goes off lead, in places he's allowed and he has bullet proof recall. Unless they have that then they should be on a long line.

No.

If you can't recall your dog, keep the leash on.

Long lines are a blinking nightmare, just train your dog. Saying that mind is a twat at times but doesn’t get off in places people are as we are v rural he’s on lead elsewhere

Seriously? People pay for an enclosed dog park and you’re saying they should be kept on a lead when they’ve rented an enclosed space to exercise their dog? Utter madness 😂

I've got a dog that stays on his lead because of poor recall. Other dog is not interested in other people or kids, she prefers her ball.

*shouldn't be off lead in busy places, or when you see other people.

Recall needs to be trained, and even a well-trained dog can occasionally have recall failure, so I think it's OTT to say they should never be off the lead. But they should be walked in quiet areas, fields etc, not a park with lots of young children.

I think dog training should be compulsory and you can only off lead if you've demonstrated good recall unless I'm an enclosed area designated for dogs.

YANBU

The amount that follow us, sniffing around my dog (who walks at my heel) and ultimately pissing him off, while the owner pathetically calls their name.

I used to stop and wait for the owners to reach us but now I just carry on until the dog eventually gets bored and goes back, and let the owner panic a bit.

Does that apply to children too?

I agree, dogs should be kept under control. We were out walking on a local footpath a few weeks ago when a passing off lead dog jumped up at my little boy in his buggy. My child is registered blind, the dog scared the shit out of him, he was already having a tough day as his pain levels were high and he just wanted a quiet walk away from lots of stimulation. I got the usual "He won't hurt him, he's really a big softy" from the owner, I told her that was little consolation to a blind, disabled 3 year old.

I agree, dogs should be kept under control

Yeah, I think 'under control' is the correct term, rather than mandating leads. Bad dog owners are everywhere, and it is really annoying.

I see it all the time in my local park. Dogs 'just being friendly who jump up at you and make your legs muddy. Dogs that invade your picnic and steal food. Dogs completely ignoring their owners and following children, trying to 'round them up', jumping into the pond, chasing ducks and geese, occasionally killing them.
I do like dogs, but am always disappointed at how badly they are trained.

I agree op! My dog is new to our family and recall still hit and miss so the only place we let him off lead us dog parks!

@HappyNewYear2027 I don't think you understand dog parks, there is no way they need to be on lead there. Them running free is the whole point! You pay, typically £10 for an hour and no other dogs can come in and it's super secure. Exclusive hire.

This bugs me!

"Oh he/she is friendly don't worry"

Well I might not be friendly if your muddy, smelly dog jumps up at me!

I could rant at length about this. My dog doesn't go off lead because he gets too excited, so we walk about all over. We get yelled at by so many small dogs that he's anxious now whenever one runs up to him.

YANBU but unfortunately those who let their dogs off lead everywhere despite having no recall are convinced that they are quite within their rights to do so and are very unlikely to stop.

I now someone who never puts her dog on a lead because he 'doesn't like it' and pulls a lot. The dog will come back to her if there is nothing more interesting, but runs up to every person and dog they encounter often barking/jumping etc and frequently has to be chased around by the owner so that she can eventually pick him up to move away of the person/dog doesn't like the attention. She is convinced that because he is small and 'friendly' this is not a problem. I have told her that this would be very stressful for my nervous rescue dog (who is always on a lead unless in a private field as I know he has no recall etc) and would undermine training we have done to get him comfortable with ignoring other dogs and just walking on. She has told me that this is my problem, and as the owner of a dog who is not 'normal' it is my responsibility to either train him better so that he won't react to a dog in his face or walk him away from other people. I am careful about when/where I walk him (due to people like her- he will just ignore dogs that don't run up to him) and she has decided that this is evidence that really I agree that she is right. I have asked her if that means she and owners of similar dogs will avoid walking their dogs in quieter areas/times but apparently that would be completely unfair. She also walks her dog, offlead, in areas where there are multiple signs saying that dogs should be on lead due to livestock/ground nesting birds etc. Apparently this also does not apply to small, friendly dogs.

Yes, it does apply to children, they need social training too!

So many badly trained dogs around. One nearby thats often allowed to roam around the front garden - one time the driveway fate was open an it chased us down the road. Owners were oblivious. One other time that particularly stands out, is when I once took my toddler over the quiet park at the back of our house (newbuild estate) and a small, vicious dog bolted from quite a distance to attack my child! The owners were pathetically calling it to no avail and trying to tun after it. I picked my kid up quickly and the dog was still trying to get her. My daughter still had a stick in hand from where she'd been playing and the ridiculous owner shouted 'please don't hurt her' about the dog. No-one was even thinking of hurting her shitty dog, we were trying to get away from it! I still remember the stupid woman.

I remember one night quite late on I was walking my German shepherd. I noticed a couple approaching with an unleashed dog so I crossed over the road.
Their dog stopped and stared at my dog then slowly began to cross the road.
The couple called it and it ignored them. I had stopped and made my dog sit at this point. The dog came closer then attempted to attack my dog which reacted and honestly would have really hurt their dog had I not been able to pull my dog away.
The man walked over calmly never spoke lifted the dog walked off with it. The woman came over apologised and said " I don't understand why he did that as we have only had him a few weeks from a rescue centre and we have trained him to walk off the lead!!"

I think your mistake is thinking that the majority of new owners have any idea what recall or training means. Current trend seems to be confusing dogs with people and that just talking to them is somehow going to magically turn them into well adapted dogs.
Apologies of course to the minority who have no trouble in recognising that dogs are animals that need to be trained.

No recall, then not off lead. Simple

YANBU. One of my dogs has great recall and no interest in other dogs or people. The other, young, dog can sometimes be a bit of a twat and wants to meet and greet other dogs and people. I can tell by looking at him if he’s going to be a nuisance and I either hold his harness, clip his lead on or both. I think he’s bloody gorgeous, lots of people agree but he’s a big dog and could appear intimidating. He’s a work in progress and one day he will stay to heel on command but clipping a lead on isn’t hard.

And on public footpaths they need to be under close control, too. I've asked someone this morning to keep their dog under close control that was pooing in the middle of an arable field this morning, then chased a hare and made a covey of partridges take flight, and got a very rude, sarcastic reply. Now wondering if this was the dog/walker that killed 2 sheep last year in the neighbouring field.

Some dogs on leads are bad enough. No it's not adorable for your mutt to stick its head in the pram thanks. Dogs should be walked at the owners heel IMO, not running all over the place. If they're perfectly behaved they can be off lead, but I am yet to encounter a perfectly behaved dog.
Also we can we stop letting them piss everywhere. Why does every gate or bench need to be a dog toilet?