Dogs on leads in parks

[Teachtrinity]

Our local council had decreed that dogs need to be on lead at all times in all our local parks 😔 I have 4 dogs so this is a pain in the ass TBH. Just wondering if this is a countrywide thing or if it's just our twatty council. If it is nationwide how is everyone with dogs coping?

It's been advised in the national guidelines to stop dogs approaching people in the park. Common sense really, but having said that it's not being enforced here.

If you’re in an urban area and there are lots of people and dogs in the park then it makes sense. If one runs up to someone or another dog and you have to go and get them then you can’t maintain your distance.

Not enforced where I am, but we've been avoiding the usual park we visit. I assume it's more for the dogs that have less control, but it's a shame for those people using common sense and able to control their dogs.

Nothing about this where I am but we are pretty rural.

As pp said in a park in an urban area it makes sense.

I let my dog off in certain places that are nowhere near traffic because I know she isn't going to run up to people, that's if we see other people, which happens more frequently at the moment, and she isn't going to run up to other dogs.

We sometimes see another dog that will come running over to my dog and just sort of attach its nose to my dog's rear end and follow us right across the field.

It happens every time we see them and in normal times I'm okay with it, doesn't seem to bother my dog either, but at the moment I really wish the owners would put their dog on a lead when they see us as they have to come near us to remove him.

Mine's on a lead in town , and on our more urban out of town routes but I let her off in the huge country park near my home.. I have only come across a few other regulars and we sometimes let the dogs interact but are able to recall from a safe distance Unknown dogs/owners she's clipped on the lead pronto.
Yes there is still a risk, but mine's a teenage puppy and does need a free run. Most days as I go out early as mine won't toilet in the garden, we don't see a soul, and she hunts shrews to her hearts content! (doesn't kill them.just snuffles them out of the grass!)

Not enforced here either - I still let mine off if there's nobody around. We have secure fields so he can't run off but I wouldn't want him to approach other people or other dogs so I'd put him on lead in that scenario.

I have never understood why owners are not able to get their dogs to toilet in the garden - it saves the poo bag carrying, it is seen and not trodden in by innocent passers by and it keeps the paths and pavements clean. All my dogs have always had a preferred spot to go and encouraged to do so - they understand and prefer that (diarrhea excepted - which cannot be helped.)
The urban smallish park near me - which is designated dog FRIENDLY but has a clear sign at the entrance saying dogs must be kept on leads - is the usual mayhem (dog walkers abused the rules pre-lockdown) with many loose out of control dogs so I avoid it. I have to say some owners interpret dog-friendly as being a 'dog park' where dogs seem to be the priority.
I say this as a dog owner and dog lover. Rules are there for a reason.

One of my neighbours has a dog that doesn't use the garden so he's walked about six times a day under normal circumstances; have no idea what they're doing at the moment.

What happens if the dog is unwell with diarrhoea though?

My dog has a period of awful pancreatitis about a year ago and was up and out in the garden several times every night for days, there's no way I could have taken her out to the street each time.