To ask dog walkers to keep them on a lead

[HyacynthBucket]

It seems that although dogs cannot catch Covid-19, they can carry it on their fur if they pick it up from someone say sneezing. Therefore dogs need to be kept well clear of other people when out. Please dog owners, put others first, not your pet and do not allow contact between them and people. Only yesterday someone's dog bounded up to me, jumped up, and I heard the usual "He won't hurt you" from the distant owner. This sort of fatuous self-indulgence by dog owners has got to stop now PLEASE, for everyone's sake.

I think people need to be sensible. I love rurally and my dogs have good recall.

I’m not letting them sniff other dogs for now just in case. So I put a lead on them when passing other dog walkers.

But I live in a quiet area

in today's Times a vet in Ireland is advising that those in self-isolation should keep their animals inside with them because they may have the virus on their fur.

DH figured that out weeks ago. Fortunately our dog is a 14yo dachshund who CBA to walk locally anyway. He has a bit of a gallop around the house and garden but is mostly blissfully happy in a sun spot at the moment.
(He's the sort of dog who if we did have to still walk him, no way would it constitute'exercise')

Flax you sound like you must be in a constant state of utter rage whenever there's a dog in the vicinity. Must be exhausting for you.

If people don't like dogs off lead go to a dog free park
should people who don't want to be inconvenienced by dogs have to be corralled into the very few dogs free spaces?
should it not be the other way around? Ie if you want your dog to run freely then it's up to you to make sure that you have access to facilities where the dog can do that without inconvenience anyone, and that would be private land or a designated area where dogs are allowed to run freely?

Because ultimately being a pet owner is a lifestyle choice

My dog loves going up topeople (no jumping or barking, just likes to get up to them in case they are friendly. She lives human attention. And as we are a doggie area, lots of people will pat her, which has reenforced the behaviour)

Sadly that means that now, more than ever, she's on a lead. All the time.

It won't harm her, but I miss seeing her run

I would actually urge all dog owners to stick to lead walking only at the moment. Vets are not going to be able to see your dogs for minor injuries for the time being, and most injuries occur off lead. Please bare in mind veterinary treatment may not be available

It's a very good point actually. Dogs on short leads don't get run over. If you are out in the countryside and never see anyone and nowhere near a road, of course common sense says it doesn't matter whether your dog is on a lead. But if you are in a relatively town or on a canal towpath or cycle path, please keep it on a short lead and well under control.

And yes, same goes for small children. In particular, no scooting unless you are in a big park away from people.

There is a mumsnet topic plea here from an NHS worker for cars to stay off the roads.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3859469-Plea-right-here-from-NHS-staff?msgid=94980567#94980567

Of course if you are anywhere where it's likely you encounter other people, you should have your dog on the lead. Or near traffic.
But when we go round the fields here, as you can see there's no way of accidentally running into people, I'd spot them from miles away and would recall my dog and put her on the lead. As it happens, 95% of the time we don't meet anyone anyway.

I posted that link in the wrong topic but I guess it also applies to dog owners who use the car to take dogs out

Humans

My dog loves going up to people. I have to point out the other side to this as a (very slow) jogger, if a dog comes up to me along a path when I am jogging this is a major trip hazard. I have had a couple of bad falls avoiding these trip hazards.

Do you call your dog away from joggers or walkers who are clearly nervous of a dog coming up to them?

The issue with that as with nearly all dogs, is that they are not under proper control by their owners if off lead

Good luck with that on here, OP; I don't dispute for an instant that dogs exist who have really good recall, but IME they're massively outnumbered by those with "Ooooo he's never done that before" owners

Naturally, though, few ever admit to this - hence the "good luck"

Coronavirus can live on surfaces for anyrhing up to 3 days. This includes cloth and fur

So are people also taking precuations with cats? Are they 'in lock down' too?

@ImGoingSlightlyBrad

Yep

@CatTangle

Suddenly life with a dog on only one short walk a day doesn't seem so bad when compared to life with a cat that's been newly locked down

PuzzledandPissedOff Thanks. Before this crisis, I have had it all - "he's just being friendly", (so what? my clothes are still muddy from its paws) "He's just a puppy" (irrelevant), "He won't hurt you" (if he did I would sue), and as you say, "Ooo he has never done that before", etc. etc.

I have also been blamed by owners for unfortunate encounters with dogs, because I walked wrongly, or I stopped and stood still so it could pass, I was wearing the wrong colour clothes!, or my personal favourite - being terrorised by a dog because of my hair colour! All my fault, apparently.
I have also been mocked, shouted at and in one recent (before covid-19) incident, told by a charming woman that she would f...ing smash my f...ing face in if I went near her dog again! If only it would stay away from me. A few days earlier I was told by a lovely gent and his wife that if I did not like their large free-ranging dog coming up and nosing my clothes, I should not be f...ing walking there (a wide well-used public footpath).
A lot of dog owners lose all objectivity when it comes to their pets. It is really bad at the best of times, but now they have just got to wise up and think of other people, in order to save lives.

Good old mn. The world might be coming to an end but there is still the appetite for a good old dog frothing thread

@Flaxmeadow - my dog is off lewd when it is safe and appropriate for him to be off lead. That does not include parks, towpaths, pavements or anywhere else I'm likely to encounter another person.

In those situations, he is on lead. As I quite clearly said in my post.

And hyacynthbucket - that is appalling. I bloody hate dogs like that and their owners even more

No smoke without fire.

Sorry, No Smoke without fire is in answer to, The world might be coming to an end but there is still the appetite for a good old dog frothing thread.

my dog is off lewd when it is safe and appropriate for him to be off lead

He has short fur Indigo. I'm afraid he is often lewd, whether on a lead or no

Before this crisis, I have had it all

You missed out a crucial one, Hyacynth*:
"You must have reminded him of someone"

That's the classic I got when one shot across the road and sank its teeth into me for no reason whatsoever, though I've still not quite worked out who I reminded it of ... the dog catcher perhaps?