Isolating and have a dog

[Didireallyjusthearthatcanthave]

Both my husband and I and our two children have covid, we are all therefore isolating. It’s day two today. We have a dog to walk and can’t. Even if we can get a dog Walker (where we live they are so popular it’s hard to find one, especially this close to Christmas). Our dog is also in season so it makes it even trickier as it either has to be at 6am or 9pm when no one is around. How on earth are we going to manage? She is a high energy breed that is 9 months old and needs walking twice a day. Any suggestions please? We have no one near by to help, my parents are both frail and would be dragged along by the dog.

@Settingsss

* Your dog will not suffer for not being walked for a couple of weeks - in fact it is good practice to teach a dog to cope with not being walked*

Got to love the mumsnet ‘advice’. I expect some peer reviewed evidence to be sent next. Absolutely bizarre.

I take a dim view of dogs not being neutered and think some of the claims on here are at best spurious. But- walk the dog, outside, at unsocial hours.

Well the kennel club clearly don't think it's a major problem for a dog to be in isolation with its owner. The simple fact is that it's illegal for the OP to walk the dog, she has no other options, so she has to make the best of it. My experience of 35yrs of dog ownership is that a well occupied dog will cope fine with not being walked for a couple of weeks. I've had dogs confined to base due to seasons, cancer surgery, cruciate problems, osteochondritis - all were not allowed out for weeks at a time, it happens. Far easier if you have got them used to occasionally not being walked and doing other activities in the house and garden.

Here you are @Didireallyjusthearthatcanthave - some suggestions from the Kennel club for exactly this situation. www.thekennelclub.org.uk/dog-training/getting-started-in-dog-training/dog-training-and-games/fun-tips-for-self-isolation-with-your-dog/

How about looking up dog buddies they walk them for free. X

@Hothammock don't see the issue with walking a dog in season. On lead at all times and early mornings or late night. Other inconsiderate dog walkers should also keep theirs on leads incase of this if they are out.

@Wolfiefan just because she's chosen not to spay her dog doesn't mean it's not allowed out in season! Do you stay home when you have a period? Also should all male dogs that are not neutered be kept at home at all times too.

@frenchiemummy92 anyone who tries to compare a bitch season with a human period clearly doesn't understand much about how dogs work! You seem to be implying that keeping all dogs on leads solves the problems arising from parading a bitch in season around the neighbour and if that is what you are saying I'm afraid you clearly do not see what inconsiderate means either. I really hope you don't have an entire bitch and you that don't live in my area

I would take my dog for a walk very early morning to avoid neighbours seeing etc, I wouldn't let her miss out, it wouldn't be fair.

...seriously? Do you think the virus hangs around in the air for hours at a time so if OP walks her dog at say 6am someone passing that airspace a couple of hours later will catch it?

That's how some viruses can be caught. Measles for example.

I'm a bit shocked by the replies from people who live in flats admitting they repeatedly broke isolation to walk a dog. Presumably using communal areas, lifts, stairwells, lobbies Why would you even risk it, or why even have a dog in a flat in the first place

@Flaxmeadow but we’re not talking about measles 😁😆

@nether

I thought outside exercise was permitted even if you were isolating?

No and it never has been

Isolation means you do not set foot outside your own property unless
it is medically necessary

It's also what the first 3 months of shielding meant, but daily outdoors exercise was added after that. But for the 10 days isolation, including all travel quarantine. it is do not leave your property

Actually I am fairly sure that right at the start when isolation rules first came in, exercise was permitted if self isolating. I isolated for 7 days at the end of March 2020 as I had coughed a few times 2 days in a row, and having checked the rules I did go out for some walks. I think that got changed soon after that though to not being allowed out for exercise.

We'll still be taking ours and just not going within 4/5m of anyone. Zero risk if no where near anyone.

Use common sense you are an adult capable of critical thinking! If you go out and interact with no one there is no risk! Take the dog out! There’s also an exception in the actual written legal regulations for animal welfare (and a number of other reasons) they are available for everyone to read.

@frenchiemummy92 of course a dog is season is allowed out. But it must never be allowed off lead or where other off lead dogs may be.
A female in season isn’t like a woman having a period! A friend has one at the moment. The dog backs towards available males and lifts her tail ti entice them. If the males were entire it would simply not be possible to stop them mating.

@Hothammock

You shouldn't be walking an in season dog around the neighbourhood anyway.

Of course you should!! Crikey that statement is worrying.

OP stick her in a lead and of when nobody else is around as others have said. We would if we tested positive.

@Wolfiefan off course you wouldn't let it off lead, mine don't go off lead at all when out as you always get the bumholes who say "they're friendly" and they aren't and have no control and yes @Hothammock I do have a bitch who is entire and I do take her out in season. Not where their is lots of dogs and early mornings.

The lack of common sense on this thread is staggering

FWIW I would walk an in season bitch and I would (did) walk a dog while I had covid. For me, it was about where I live - which happens to be near some very big, very open, very isolated fields. So we walked there. I was less likely to infect anyone in that field than I was in my own home. However, I appreciate not everyone lives in that setup and for some, walking the dog, means an incraesed chance of close proximity to others.

I have an intact male and one that is beside himself when he comes across an in season scent. I personally would rather be on alert for the possibility of the scent being out there and 'handle' him in that state than all bitches be kept at home for those two weeks. I would appreciate them being kept on a lead though - having once had to try to move away from an in season bitch who was off lead, without owner and desperately trying to present herself to my dog!

Just my view.

@RichardMarxisinnocent Breaking isolation, for exercise, when you have a positive test has never ever been allowed. It is however far more legally questionable if someone chooses to self isolate for symptoms but not to test. I don't think that has ever been adequately explored.

[quote ColettesEarrings]@RichardMarxisinnocent Breaking isolation, for exercise, when you have a positive test has never ever been allowed. It is however far more legally questionable if someone chooses to self isolate for symptoms but not to test. I don't think that has ever been adequately explored.[/quote]
I am certain it was allowed, but probably only for a few weeks. I am very much a rule follower and checked the rules very carefully when I started to cough and decided to self isolate. I can't find the relevant government page with that info but have found an iNews article from the time which refers to exercise being allowed (found on another device, will try to post a link later if anyone is interested)

you can do it via enrichment if you have a garden - i have a yr old springer spaniel who has had to have an operation on his leg so has not had a walk for 5 weeks and not even that much in the garden no ball and has to be onlead....
every meal is in a toy/wrapped in a blanket/layers of cardboard /snuffle mat/chucked on the floor inside and outside (we couldn't even play find it at first) - canine enrichment facebook is good- also bought large natural crunchy chews like deer legs/ostrich bone/paddywhacks/ etc
massage - look at ttouch - he's loved that :) admittedly its not been as horrifc as i though it would be as was obviously recovering at the beginning but if he's needed more then ball, more external finding things, maybe look up scent games ....hth..

@RichardMarxisinnocent Nope, if you had a positive test it was never allowed, nor if you were contacted by T&T when contact isolation was in place before Aug 16th this year. The legality issue was always about if someone had symptoms but decided not to test, that was never covered in law. Morally bankrupt sure, but not necessarily illegal.

@Flaxmeadow but we’re not talking about measles 😁😆

No but transsmission is airborne like measles and we don't yet know just how transmissible Omicron is. Yet again on MN there are people encouraging others to break the rules on isolation. Some even admitting they live in flats and used communal areas to go outside to walk dogs everyday while infectious. What do you think happens in a lift when someone using it is infectious? Or any other unventilated communal area? Is that funny too?

Also some saying that it was permissible to go outside for walks while infected. It wasn't and it still isn't. Covid is airborne and those particles can potentially stay airborne for hours. Measles, for example, can be caught in the air hours after the infected person has left that area.

@Didireallyjusthearthatcanthave, honestly most people in your situation will walk their dogs anyway.

Do this at sensible times and take quietest route that you can. Think about a route where you can see if anyone is approaching well in advance, and where you can take a different route.

Don't overthink it. Wear a mask. You'll be fine, dog will appreciate it- win win.

Don't make your life hell by following a rule when breaking it will have no impact.

[quote ColettesEarrings]@RichardMarxisinnocent Nope, if you had a positive test it was never allowed, nor if you were contacted by T&T when contact isolation was in place before Aug 16th this year. The legality issue was always about if someone had symptoms but decided not to test, that was never covered in law. Morally bankrupt sure, but not necessarily illegal.[/quote]
Honestly, there was a small period of time where you were allowed out for exercise if self isolating. It's mentioned in this article www.itv.com/news/2020-03-02/coronavirus-self-isolation-how-to-self-isolate-what-does-self-isolation-mean-affected-areas

I suspect it was changed in April 2020 as I can see from the gov.uk website that guidance was updated on 9th April (but can't work out how to see what the change was).

@RichardMarxisinnocent I'm not disagreeing with that article - because actually it predates the introduction of the Coronavirus legislation, and pre mass testing. I'm saying that once legislation was introduced 23rd March 2020, if anyone received a positive test result, GP ordered, hospital ordered, or self referred after mass testing available, it was never allowed.

We're quibbling, I know, I'm sorry. It was only a matter of maybe two or three weeks. I'm being pedantic (tthough accurate! 😂)