Cat walking off lead

[Usedphone]

I've got two dogs, and a cat. So our dogs are used to cats, but one is an airedale terrier, that does like to chase squirrels but really loves the cat (they were raised together from babies).

So while I was walking my dogs in the field, we encountered a family walking their cat, off lead and without any way to safely contain it.

My dog got excited and went after it like she would have with a squirrel (it's a field after all with plenty of dog walkers and squirrels).

The family got annoyed with me as the cat was very distressed (poor kitty!)

It was a very bizarre encounter but I think they should.at least have had a plan B beyond cuddles to contain their kitty cat.

Our cat used to come to join us on walks with our dog, behind our house, on fields.
As the dog population grew locally, we used to have to chase her home.

She never would have consented to a lead, and just joined us for the walk ( seriously ) 😁

Unfortunately 'i wasn't expecting to see x' or 'I haven't taught my dog to ignore x' is not a valid excuse.

Your dog is your responsibility, so you should teach your dog to recall and to ignore in a wide variety of situations, so that your dog generalises and recalls away from/ignores everything except you and their own toys.

I know working lurchers who can be sent after not just 'rabbits' but a specific animal, through livestock, and other wildlife, and it wouldn't cross their minds to chase anything but the target animal.

It is perfectly possible to train a dog to chase nothing, to chase only what they're told to chase, to ignore one species but not another... that is why dogs have been hunting companions for as long as they have.

If you don't want to put in that level of work, then manage your dog safely using a lead. You can use a long line that trails on the ground to practice recall and there are myriad private hire fields you can use for training and exercise around the country. There really is no excuse.

Whilst there is little legal recourse for the cat owner if their cat is injured or killed if its out unsupervised or if it strays into a dogs own garden, the same almost certainly will not apply if they are walked on a lead, or are in the owners arms and your dog grabs them. A cat walking off lead, close to their owner is likely to be considered 'under control' compared to a dog off lead at a distance from their owner, ignoring a recall cue!!

We had my Lhasapoo (on a lead) in a dog friendly cafe once and the table next to us had a cat in one of those cat backpacks (like a spacecat) my idiot dog didn't even notice the cat 😂

Ok, so now have had an issue with your dog for the first time. What will you do better the next time?

If the cat was on lead it wouldn't change anything - it was your off-lead dog who approached another pet uninvited and scared it.

Maybe put your untrained dog on a lead?

It clearly has no recall. By allowing it to chase after anything, you're putting it (and other creatures) in danger.

I saw a cat being taken for a walk on a lead on a BEACH once!! The cat looked so pissed off and was picking it's feet up, probably wondering how it was going to lick all the sand off when they got home! Bizarre🙄

So if I summarise, today we had:

• A newfoundland in hospital
• A pet rat in a café
• A weeing dog in a well-known shop
• An off-lead cat

What a day my friends, what a day.

Could be a cat, could be another dog, could be a runner. If you can't call your dog back it shouldn't be off a lead

I’ve seen adventure cats people walk them as they would a dog usually have back carriers for them

Is this a reverse?
You think the cat (an animal that often roams free) should have been safely contained?
Your dog chased the cat, you couldn't safely contain your dog (an animal that cam cause serious harm and is not allowed to roam free).
But it's the cat owner in the wrong?

100% your fault!
If your dog chases other animals it shouldn't be allowed off the lead. 400m from houses is not very far, cats can wander especially in more rural areas, and it's entirely possible the cat just followed it's owners into the field when they went for a walk rather than the actually 'walking' the cat. Nobody is going to put their cat in a crrier like you suggest and take it out for a walk- that would be strange and unpleasant for the cat- carriers are for transporting to the vet or elsewhere- not taking them out for fun!

Also bizarre of you to think that your dog should be allowed to run round chasing squirrels etc. but the cat should be contained to protect it from your dog?

Exactly. It’s no fun for any creature to be chased.

just cruel.sick of humans and what they do to animals.

I can't believe what I'm reading. People actually think that a dog should be put back on the lead if a cat appears in the field. That is ridiculous. I have 2 dogs and they both have a love hate relationship with cats. They run up to the cats that they know but always stop short because in the end they know the cat is far superior to them.

But your dogs weren't 'contained' either. The cat didn't chase your dog and distress it.

How would the cat being on a lead have changed this? I'm really confused by what you're actually expecting here - a cat on a lead could equally jump into their owner's arms and a lead would limit the mobility of a cat who wished to jump up a tree.
Surely the only lead that could have had an impact here would be if there was one on the dog doing the chasing?

The op's dog wasn't in 'open countryside' she said it was around 400m from the nearest house's, so a patch of open land in urban area, where cats and people live, not to mention also a nature reserve. That is definitely not the place for an untrained dog to be of lead.

I've had dogs all my life and in that time not one dog has managed to 'catch' a cat or a squirrel. A cat can so easily escape a dog and I see it as a life long game between cats and dogs.

Well that's great. What a fun game. Unfortunately your dogs are not all the dogs. It's a pretty small sample size when you think about it properly.

My friend has an MC that got hit by a car. The cat had a slightly grazed ear. The car had a big dent in it! (and before anyone chimes in, yes, my friend paid for the damage her cat's big head did to his bumper!)

My FIL's cat used to go for a walk with him and the dog. He'd get bored half way round though and take himself back home.

Deliberately taking your own cat out for a walk to a place that there will be dogs is crazy IMO (and I have two cats!)

My poor dog - she 13 years old - was attacked by a cat a while ago while walking in a park we often go to.

We were walking along minding our own business, when a beautiful small grey cat - my dog is small but bigger than the cat - ran at my dog and started hitting her.

I told dog to keep walking but unfortunately the cat wasn't having that and just kept following us and hitting at my dog.

The cat was getting more aggressive as we walked and the dog was beginning to get distressed so I put the dog back on the lead and tried to walk her out of the situation.

The cat followed us for a little way and then got bored and stopped.

It was rather bizarre tbh as my dog had shown absolutely no interest in the cat.

That cat should definitely have been on a lead and under someone's control.

Fortunately, we've never seen it again

Your dog should have been on a lead if it has rubbish recall.

I've never seen a dog catch a cat but maybe I just live in an area of incompetent dogs.

@EraOfTheGrey
I have. Next door's dog caught my cat - in our front garden - and fractured her spine. I was in the garden, turned round and saw it happen. I don't think it's particularly unusual.