If you can’t let your dog off the lead is it an issue?

[Mangomelongrape]

I’m looking at rescues. I’m drawn towards sight hounds plus there are loads in rescue. I’m eyeing up a lovely lurcher atm.

His bio like many sight hounds says he has to be kept on a lead. I’m used to going on dog walks with friends and we get a lot of pleasure from watching the dogs chase round and its obviously a great way for them to use up energy and they seem to get a lot out of playing with each other.

My question is firstly do you feel like you and your dog are missing out at all only being able to lead walk ? Also do you have to go on much longer walks to try and give them the exercise needed ? We do have a garden that we would fully fence.

Quite a lot of retired greyhounds can be trained to have good recall and to go off lead - ours is one. We were told by the greyhound trust we adopted him from that he might be ok. It took quite a bit of work and we built it up. It helps that he’s quite strongly bonded as well. He’ll chase a rabbit or squirrel with as much enthusiasm as the next dog but isn’t minded to charge through brambles or fences - that blind prey drive seems to be the issue with some sighthounds. That said, he got much more excited about chasing when he was first off lead but calmed down after a bit. He’s never had an issue confusing small dogs with prey and is gentle with them.

I think he’d hugely miss being offlead (away from roads and livestock, obviously). He enjoys the freedom to go off and sniff, especially in woods. He also still loves to run at speed (which is an amazing thing to watch) either on his own or with his dog chums.

It’s really important to teach recall training even if you don’t plan to let yours offlead outside secure areas - if the garden gate is left open or a lead is slipped it could be very useful to have done.

My whippet only goes off lead in secure, fenced areas or on the beach (obviously not every lives near a beach). To be honest I’m not sure I’d want any dog off a lead with the way traffic is where I live.

I adore whippets and he’s such a perfect dog in every other way (well apart from the food stealing) that it doesn’t bother me.

Just spent. Week walking my sisters dogs in Spain. They never go off lead and are always walked on pavements etc .
makes me sad but that’s me projecting. They are happy little dogs who dash around and play in their own enclosed sizeable yard ( again all paved but that means very secure as is walled around ).

it’s just a very different life to my little squirrel chasing mud magnet 😂. They’ve never known different , and it’s how dogs are managed where they are really

I think @Helenloveslee4eva is right in that a lot of it is cultural too.

The UK has a culture of letting dogs off lead to run, but in many places, dogs have to be on-lead unless they're in designated, fenced off areas.

I'm a dog walker and part of lots of international dog groups - it would be unheard of in parts of America to have a dog walker who takes your dog out and lets it off-lead to run for an hour. They just walk the dogs around the neighbourhood on a lead so they can do their business, then back home.

Whereas if I suggested walking some of my clients' dogs around the streets on a lead, they'd ditch me in seconds lol.

I volunteer at a rescue and we have had sighthounds bolt, its definitely a breed I would keep on a lead but long lines exist (not the extendable leads as their mechanism can fail, proper long lines) and thats a good mid road

Also muzzle does not stop a muzzle punch my lab boy got one to Ribs from a sighthound that wanted to play ( know they can play rough )

But agree with others when my boy on lead then I chat away to him amd he seems to enjoy amd lots of sniffy walks

I have a husky whom I keep on lead just because when other dogs are around she is very ignorant and not everyone is welcoming of big dogs. We have a good extendable lead and enjoy our walks, she still greets other dogs etc which can be awkward at times if she wants to go off and play she's stuck to me but generally that's the less well behaved off lead dogs that are also ignorant but still running riot lol!

You’d need to sort that out no matter what kind of dog you get tbh.

The on lead thing very much varies by dog, if they walk well on the lead then you get different lengths even without a longline you can still have them on a longer lead to sniff about and do things, add in some playing in a garden and hiring a dog field occasionally and it’s fine.

If they’re not trained to walk on a loose lead and it’s not always the quickest thing to train so it can be pretty miserable... and you get some high prey drive dogs that are really hard to engage with because they spend all their time just waiting for something to chase, again that’s a training issue, but it wouldn’t be a quick fix.

I would find this too frustrating. My collie runs over fields and in woodlands with friends dogs. He seems so happy and I find watching entertaining. Off lead is safer when traipsing through slippy mud or clambering rocks.

However I guess if you lived in the city and did majority city walks this would be much less of an issue.

Many years ago I had a little deaf terrier. He was nearly always on lead. I admit to finding it a bit bad at times. Dog walks when everyone meets up and the dogs all play off lead... they are so much fun. On-lead dogs can be reactive too so some walks could be stressful if off lead dogs approached. I also found it harder to get him exercised as much as he wanted because even on a long lead I couldn't run fast enough for him, lol.