Dog owners very irresponsible letting them of leafs on walks knowing they too can spread covid19?

[mumieone]

Today on my permitted walk in semi rural area two men having a day on the beach just let thier dog run wild with no consideration for social distancing.

With reports on dogs, cats and the latest tiger having symptoms and testing positive for covid19 should dig owners be allowed to let thier dogs just jump on passers by?

I saw the dog coming and moved about 4 metres away from the men. One just lit up a fab and did nothing and the other watched.

When I moved the dig chased me as I ran to try to climb up a hill. I threw stones near it to try to deter but didn't work and owner eventually took him and said he was being friendly. More like dangerous. I said look we are all trying to social distance and who knows if your dog has covid19 and some of us are trying to keep ourselves and others safe and social distance!

Shouldnt dog owners be more careful?

also take no notice of flax she has misread my post.

Let the police know, Flax I'm sure they'll be interested in hearing about a stranger threatening another stranger on the Internet, when the two wouldn't even know if they met.

The police have knocked on doors for less

Its in a dogs nature to attack the weakest in the pecking order. The high amount of hospital admissions of children savaged by dogs is testament to that

Codswallop. Are you deliberately being obtuse? You're fascinating. You're pushing this so far it sounds like you're joking, now. You're getting funnier by the post.

And in the same vein as your 'dogs are not children', I give you... 'Butterflies are not mosquitos'.

Not rtft but I think it's the fur that can pass it on as if someone infected touches their dog and then their dog runs up to you and you touch it it can be passed that way. But do agree with op anyway as if your dog is off lead and you physically have to go fetch it when it's jumping up someone you are not socially distanced!!

Partner took ours out on the park/fields and multiple off lead dogs came bounding up jumping up my 4 year old and him so obviously the owners came near. I think if you're on a more or less empty Field and your dog has good recall fair enough, but otherwise they should be on bc s lead.

The police have knocked on doors for less

Call them, then, if you think the threat was actually illegal. Unless you were talking unfounded crap again.

No flax wrong again. It is the fact that

1. irresponsible parents who haven't taught their children to respect their dogs. Shouting and screaming and running around with hands flapping out if control which is enough to frighten a human let alone a dog who would be scared if such behaviour.
2. you should never ever leave a dog if any breed alone with a small child especially if that child has not learned to give the dog some space and respect when it wants to sleep eat or rest.
3. never ever get on the floor with any dog so that you are lower than them as instinct will kick in if the child is aggressive u.e flapping arms screaming pulling dog around, hitting dog etc etc.
4. introduce a new baby by letting the dog who has been centre of attention till baby came along , smell baby's clothes it's worm BEFORE you bring baby home. And do not ignore dog when baby us home as dogs, funnily enough have feelings too of jealousy etc.
5. train your f..... Kids! Do not run past dogs, be quiet, calm so dogs don't get frightened. Teach them to respect dogs or any animal as living, breathing, feeling animals that they all are. And teach your kids to live their pets. A dog bites out of fear. It is it's only defence.

Dogs should be kept on a lead when outside the owner's own home & garden
A dog does not understand keeping a 2m distance from strangers

Of course dogs will survive this:
In countries with stricter lockdowns they are kept on leads and only allowed out a few yards for the toilet

In this crisis, we are all on lockdown and suffering major restrictions on what we previously enjoyed.
Dogs too
The safety of human beings, adults & children, must come before any animal

I normally like dogs
but atm I very much don't want to have a dog jump on me

• age puts me at a higher risk

The virus can survive on surfaces, which include fur

I can choose whether to go into a shop - and have chosen not to for about 4 months from mid-March
I can't choose not to have a dog jump on me

It's not a matter of just washing hands - the dog may jump and touch legs, arms chest
It means stripping off when you get home, putting all clothes in the machine and showering

Maybe the biggest risk:
the owner coming right next to me to haul off their dog, probably "he's just friendly" and exhaling in my face

SSPCA and a number of councils in England have issued guidance that dogs be kept on leads to a) ensure social distancing (if you're removing a dog from being too close to another person then you are also too close to that person) and b) prevent transmission via fur, dander and paws as it's thought this works in the same way as transmission from other surfaces including human hair and clothing etc. Same as key workers having contact with others are advised to wash their clothes and have a shower when they get home.

Actually lola if they have it it will be up their nostrils as MRSA and a billion other nasty bugs are up ours. So unless you are going to give your dog mouth to mouth resuscitation or suck their noses it might be difficult to catch it if they carry the virus to start with! It's all ifs really!

In countries with stricter lockdowns they are kept on leads and only allowed out a few yards for the toilet

Yes, countries with stricter lockdowns. Not this country. Not yet, anyway. Lets do the stricter lockdown when we're doing the stricter lockdown.

Everything else you said was about irresponsible owners, not the majority. Yes, the dogs should definitely be under better control.

Well best we all strip down and change our clothes Everytime we go out just like my DD does as she's a carer.

I don't have to worry as my dogs lead us 10 metres long😁

Yep totally agree with training your dog.

Wish there were human training classes. Really think they are a definite necessity before being allowed to own a dog.

I think it's maybe more reasonable for dog owners to put dogs on leads in order to avoid them and their owners coming into contact with others than to tell everyone in the country to change and wash their clothes every time they've been outside just so that Fido can enjoy the liberation of running around the street with the wind in his fur singing Born Free.

I think maybe it's more reasonable not to tar all dog owners with the same brush as the irresponsible ones.

santa my DD does have to change her clothes and shower Everytime she comes home because the virus is on your clothes. So as that is the case if one is pedantic then we should ALL be doing that Everytime we go out and come back. I'm in fear of virus like everyone else but I bathe my dog regularly and I ain't caught it yet!

@LolaDarkdestroyer it's exactly that, the risk of surface transmission. Like in workplaces that are still open, high traffic surfaces such as door handles are cleaned with anti-bac every couple of hours, also surfaces on public transport and shops. Obviously you can't do this with a dog (!), so that's why SSPCA and others are advising to keep them on leads so they don't transmit via fur and dander. And just to make sure owners don't get too close to others when they find themselves in a situation where their dog is near another person.

It's fair enough, I think. And after all, you'd feel pretty terrible if the nice old fella down the street out for his wee walk ended up getting ill due to your dog running around next to him.

True eckhart my girl comes at a whistle will not approach anyone or another dog unless I tell her to when off lead.

No flax wrong again. It is the fact that
1) irresponsible parents who haven't taught their children to respect their dogs. Shouting and screaming and running around with hands flapping out if control which is enough to frighten a human let alone a dog who would be scared if such behaviour.
2) you should never ever leave a dog if any breed alone with a small child especially if that child has not learned to give the dog some space and respect when it wants to sleep eat or rest.
3) never ever get on the floor with any dog so that you are lower than them as instinct will kick in if the child is aggressive u.e flapping arms screaming pulling dog around, hitting dog etc etc.
4) introduce a new baby by letting the dog who has been centre of attention till baby came along , smell baby's clothes it's worm BEFORE you bring baby home. And do not ignore dog when baby us home as dogs, funnily enough have feelings too of jealousy etc.
4) train your f..... Kids! Do not run past dogs, be quiet, calm so dogs don't get frightened. Teach them to respect dogs or any animal as living, breathing, feeling animals that they all are. And teach your kids to live their pets.
A dog bites out of fear. It is it's only defence.

This is a good example of...'the whole world must bend over backwards and change behaviour to accommodate my dog' ...reasoning

That's right blame all the ' mutts' for spreading a virus caused by man eating outside its natural food chain thus causing a virus from another crossing over to evolve into a human coronavirus and why ffs has this turned into yet another crap Covid thread?

Oh flax it's that your very best argument? Tsk tsk!

@mumieone

Not sure why you couldn't call me horrid and cruel on the thread rather than send me the nasty little pm below. My little dog avoids people, so none of it is relevant.

*And even if your dog is not on a lead and you're walking towards someone and you see your dog charging at them - do something about it. I do not know a single person who goes on walks that loves to be jumped on and scratched by strange dogs. That's such a huge expectation you're putting on someone you don't even know to expect them to be ok with it and if they are not ok with it your label them as cruel. You are the horrid cruel one putting people in danger with your dog and also from a virus.

It's like assuming that just because someone likes to go to a pub they would enjoy getting pissed*

@Sostenueto yes we could all be changing and showering and would likely be safer if we did. That's just steps that you can take to protect yourself though so they're optional if you see what I mean as it comes down to you weighing up your personal risk/convenience.

But steps that we can take to protect other people aren't just about our personal preference but altering our behaviour for the sake of others - wiping common surfaces or providing the means to clean them and also ensuring that we and our belongings don't come into contact with others. That includes pets I would say.

I find it a little alarming that you'd choose not to do that and instead would shunt the responsibility on to people around you just because you want your dog to run about the place.

Well best we all strip down and change our clothes Everytime we go out

I thought everyone was doing this anyway?

Keeping outdoor clothes, shoes, bags etc, separate and taking everything off as soon as you walk thought the front door. I won't go out with my phone anymore. My sister doesn't even use the same pair of specs outdoors