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.

he’s not interested in sheep
let me guess...was it said in a manner which implies their dog has somehow evolved beyond those primitive instincts, that it has 'higher' things on it's mind than mere sheep?

Oh yes. And I pointed out that it was the same field where dozens of sheep died in a dog attack a few years ago.

To which they said “that was a rumour” and then “thanks for your help” in that “why don’t you sod off” way.

It wasn’t a rumour btw, the shepherds told me in person earlier this week, when I was helping them get sheep back into the field because some twat had left the gate open.

Anyway, they scarpered sharpish because it was blindingly obvious they were being knobs.

It's not just about covid. I hare people who let their dogs run up to people and then say "they won't hurt you"! I don't fucking care if it won't hurt me, I don't like dogs and I don't want a stinking dog running up at me! Keep it on a lead! Not everyone likes dogs!

Dogs should always be under control and the measures required to achieve that vary by dog and environment.

Absolutely.

Or maybe I'm wrong and 'high energy' means talented and special?

I think it just means high energy, tbh.

The issue with that as with nearly all dogs, is that they are not under proper control by their owners if off lead. It is all very well saying you will call the dog, but would it come? Probably not. The level of dog obedience is woefully low. I have often seen owners bleating at their animals to 'come' or 'stop' and they take no notice whatsoever. That seems to be the norm

Good dog owners know perfectly well what their dogs’ level of recall is.

You are not differentiating between competent owners and idiots.

And not on a massive 20ft extendable lead either please. I don't really want to walk in the middle of the road so your dog can roam over the entire pavement

Anyone else think that Andrewofgg is on this thread? This is absolutely ridiculous and full of hysteria and false information.
You know, the one that hates dogs so much that he killed his elderly neighbours?

What? Do tell!

Oh him.

I thought he killed the neighbours’ dog, when he was a teen rather than the actual elderly neighbours? Just to be clear.

Poor grammar by me, he killed the dog belonging to his elderly neighbours.
Had an obsessive and worrying hatred of dogs.

Yes i remember him. Nice man

SSPCA guidelines state that dogs must be on a lead to avoid infecting others. Clearly Scots prioritise keeping people safe while the English prioritise keeping dogs happy.

I don't fucking care if it won't hurt me
Yep, I know, recent incident, woman with 3 unruly dogs which jumped at me barking, she told me quite forcefully 'it's FRIENDLY barking, FRIENDLY barking' I exited the scene as quickly as I could and said nothing but I thought, I dont care what sort of barking you think it is, that's not the point, the problem is that your animals are accosting me ffs

Dogs should always be under control and the measures required to achieve that vary by dog and environment
This ^^

There are some irresponsible dog owners. You'll struggling to find responsible dog owners defending them.

There are some people who seem to think that because they don't like dogs no dog could possibly be well trained and so like to argue that any dog that isn't on a lead within half a metre of its owner is some sort of savage beast. They overlap with the people who claim it's totally reasonable for a toddler to approach an on lead dog or a dog stood to heel because "they're just a toddler" and seem to think it's fine for a child to grab a dog by the face, run up to it yelling doggie etc and if the dog barks because they're scared then the dog owner is a feckless irresponsible owner (for having their dog under control and out the way) whilst their out of control toddler is simply being an adorable curious little darling.

In the middle there's the vast majority of reasonable people, dog owners and non-dog owners, those who are indifferent and those who are wary. They all rub along just fine.

Dogs that jump up at people and don't have good recall should always be on leads in places there are likely to be people anyway - regardless of the current pandemic. Not everyone likes dogs or wants them in their face. As a child I had a fear of dogs caused by dogs jumping up at me. You wouldn't let your toddler run up and hug random strangers, don't let your dog do it.

Apologies if I have missed this but could someone please post the reference which supports the theory of human-dog transmission of Covid19.

The Indy article is not this and the government site still states no evidence.
Thanks.

Apologies if I have missed this but could someone please post the reference which supports the theory of human-dog transmission of Covid19

There isn't any. It is just theory right now - as so much is with this new virus - based on survival rates on various surfaces.

You are not differentiating between competent owners and idiots

Lots of this on this thread. People notice the offensive ones more, then give all dog owners a bad name. It's a bit like saying people are generally nasty because you've met a few nasty people.

There are a couple of cases where both dogs and their owners tested positive but it's thought that this doesn't necessarily support actual transmission in the same way as human to human transmission. Dogs aren't routinely tested though - these two were due to specific circumstances so there may be more incidences although probably not.

What is of more concern with dogs and also with cats is surface to human transmission via the same mechanism as other surface to human contact through fur, dander, on the soles of feet etc. That's why the SSPCA is telling owners to keep dogs on leads and also to wash hands for twenty seconds after contact. Obviously up to you as an owner if you don't want to take these precautions in terms of yourself but you should certainly be taking them for other people around you.