AIBU to think 6 dogs is too many to walk at once?

[SwimmingInTheBlueLagoon]

There is a BBC news story about South Ribble Council that they are imposing a 4 dog per person limit on anyone walking dogs.

There is a dog walker saying it will damage her business and she takes 6 dogs out at a time! I'm shocked that anyone would walk that many in the first place. Surely you cannot give 6 dogs, a high enough level of, supervision or have full enough control?

I always thought the limit was 4 anyway (maybe my council have a limit? 🤔) and had thought that was a lot of dogs (unless they are from the same household).

I guess it depends where you are walking them, how many are off-lead, etc.

I just read this and I think 4 is sensible , but we have some really crappy dog walkers near here so I may be biased .

I feel like it depends on the facilities. In public, four seems reasonable. But I know some walkers with access to private land and secure exercise areas where they work with packs, and the dogs seem to get a lot out of it.

Yes it's too many. We have lots of professional dog walkers beside us. Lots of them are dreadful and it's obvious that it's a lucrative business for them and that's all they care about.

How can they keep an eye on 6 dogs. They can't and they don't care about them pooping wherever they like.

It also scares walkers when they are faced with 6 dogs. It's a pack!

I used to love dogs but I'm really being put off by them being everywhere now and the sense of entitlement from owners.

See I think private land and secure exercise areas are totally different. It's a far more controlled environment than in public and doesn't effect others in a public place.

Obviously the Council in the news is only banning more than four being walked in public and the dog walker who is complaining about it effecting her business walks 6 in public, hence her annoyance at this new rule being brought in.

I think six is too many for a dog walker. If the six dogs are your own and you are completely confident in their training and behaviour, then maybe...
I have my own four plus a foster pup at the moment and I do walk them all together, but in a very quiet place - certainly wouldn’t be setting off down the High Street with five dogs on a lead!

In many public places, I agree that 6 is far too many ... and particularly where they are not 6 dogs who know each other well, being walked by their owner. Anyone who will join this many dogs from different homes up and walk them together is less likely to be a sensible dog person in my view.

I have 3 large dogs, and even at that level owners say that dogs seem to react differently to them than they would to one or two dogs. Six dogs is a pack, and not even a cohesive pack if they are from different families.

That said, there are people who have 6+ dogs of their own and can control them perfectly well. It's just a shame that lots of people don't apply common sense to the situation, which then means that the 'sledgehammer to crack a nut' approach is needed.

It is too many and I wish something like this was brought in where I live.

We live next to woodland and a large common so it's an ideal area for dog walking but I avoid it from 10am-2pm as that's when the 'professional' dog walkers descend on it. There's one in particular who walks anything up to eight dogs at a time, off lead. She has very little control over them, they're mostly large bouncy dogs (Boxers, Dalmatians and Labradors) and they run around the woods in a pack.
It's unnerving for walkers and for other dogs.

I hope these dog walkers have really good insurance in case one of them runs off! Also, with so many, if they run into a reactive dog then how can a single walker recall them all in time to avoid a fight?

I actually think it’s different if they are your own dogs , the dog walkers who descend on our local Heath ( council owned) have numerous dogs running amok annoying other dogs , the main area is surrounded by scrub and small tracks and they have dogs off in all directions and can’t possible see who is having a poo where . Yet there is a local lady who has 5 dogs and walks them very responsibly mainly because she lets them off lead as a 2 or 3 so she always has proper control .

Depends on the dogs imo. I used to regularly dog sit for an extended family that used to holiday together. They had 6 dogs between them. One needed to be kept on a lead but the other 5 were well trained field dogs of various breeds and had great recall. It was fine.

It's max 4 dogs per walker where I live, and that's plenty. I wouldn't pay someone to walk my dog as one of 6, on or off the lead.

Depends how big they are!! We have 4 dogs but I either take 1 large or 2 small out at any given trip. Usually have dc to control also!!

I am on the fence because you can have a dog walker walking 6 dogs on lead under control but one owner with an off lead one who cannot control it at all. It will also be interesting if some dog walkers give up if they can't make enough money and that impacts dog owners.

I honestly wonder how they will be able to quantify whether moving from 6 to 4 will have any positive impact overall.

I wouldn’t be giving her a penny to walk my dogs it bloody irresponsible to be walking a load of dogs that barely know each other together. Regardless of how confident a handler you are. It takes a second for a serious bite to happen.

I dog walked and it was one of the things that got me most business was the fact that the owners pet/s got my full attention for however long I was being paid. Yes it meant less income but I’d rather that than my name being ruined by one stupid mistake because I was greedy.

We have a walker near us who has at least 6 dogs clipped to some kind of waist belt , half of them are pulling her forwards and there are usually a few being dragged along behind , it looks awful and she takes up the whole pavement .

My DD is a dog walker and she is insured to walk a maximum of 6 at one time.
She doesn't and will walk a max of 4, she makes sure that they are all well matched in size but will only walk 4 together if they're small dogs and have good temperaments.
She will walk 2 big dogs together, also any that have issues she walks separately.
She does have 6 that she could walk together but she feels that she wouldn't be able to give them the attention that she's being paid for.

She is also very aware that other dogs may cause her dogs problems, especially those being walked in big groups by dog walkers who have no control and do not put their dogs back on lead when they come across leashed dogs.

zero chance I would allow a dog walker to take my dog out in a group of 6!! I specifically chose the company I use as they never walk more than 3 dogs together.

I know I look like I’ve got a real downer on dog walkers , I haven’t , I’m sure there are excellent ones out there , I’ve just personally never seen one in action .

I am a bit dubious about a lot of dog walking businesses.

With six, if one is pooing and you are picking it up, another one might be pooing elsewhere... or even five. How can you keep an eye on all of them? And of course if one does a runner or attacks another dog... it's too much.

I think that some people think dog walking = easy money. Likewise dog boarding. I left my dog in an emergency with a dog boarder/walker (his usual lady had the cheek to be on holiday!) and when I got back she said he had been naughty. Naughty?! He has his faults but he is the gentlest, friendliest dog there is. Apparently he hadn't liked being walked on a multiple lead with four other dogs on the school run. Wtf? This woman took out unknown dogs all linked together to school and then was surprised that they played up? My dog had apparently lain down on the pavement and refused to budge. She said this was her first foray into dog walking and boarding. She honestly thought that doing school run + dog walking was killing two birds with one stone.

One dog is too many. Period.