another reson to keep a dog on a short lead?

It’s more important to regularly give your dog worming treatments.
I get the impression that you aren’t too keen on dogs infoman

As the article says very important to treat dogs for worms.

Infoman, dogs need some down time, when off lead they can wander and sniff.
My dogs have regular worm and flea treatments. There’s a move amongst many owners not to give ‘chemicals’ unless their dog has worms or fleas. My lab, like most of his breed, will eat anything. My vet recommended I continue his treatments, not least as he enjoys eating the new grass on the enclosed field we play on.
They’re also up to date with immunisations, another issue some owners don’t want to give their dogs
I’m old enough to remember our puppies and older dogs having worm infestations. Parvovirus and other diseases killed dogs.

My dog, being a sighthound is walked on the lead (not short except around people eg on pavements) but more importantly all flea and worming treatment is kept up to date
Are you a dog owner OP?

Are you suggesting I keep my dogs on a short lead in my garden? This is where they are most likely to access slugs and snails.

...and thoroughly wash garden produce such as lettuce and tomatoes which slugs love.
...and wash hands (and encourage children do it) if they have been in the garden.
A short infection is only a few days but sometimes the parasites take weeks/months to clear and of course some get Meningitis from snails/snails trails.

It's not just dogs!

Commonground

Are you suggesting I keep my dogs on a short lead in my garden? This is where they are most likely to access slugs and snails.

Excellent point there! 🐌

Never ever keep a dog on a short lead ! Have a loose lead but the dog walking in the correct manner. i.e. to heel.

This is such a rare sight now - the world seems to be full of dozy owners allowing their dogs to wander all over the pavement on a misused long lead.

I disagree Lily. My DD's Chow Chow has now idea about traffic so while on a busy road I keep him on a short lead. The rest of the time we keep him on the lead as Chows have little recall and can be very stubborn.

I have a cat rather than a dog and it is equally important to keep them fully protected from parasites, etc. But, having seen the joy that some of the dogs at my local park exhibit when they are allowed to run and play, surely it would be cruel to keep them on a short lead at all times. It’s been said before, but it is the rogue owners who are at fault, not the animals.

There was an article on Country file last night about the trouble dogs off their leads are causing.
Why do people not train them? If you have a toddler you would hold their hand tell them not to eat anything unknown and wash their hands. It's not the dog's fault it's the owners who have often never owned one before and think they can let them off the lead whenever. Some farmers in Wales are making designated large fields for the villagers to take their dogs for exercise.
Unfortunately, not everyone is a dog lover, as some owners presume.

Dragonfly. I have no experience with Chow Chows and do not know what is best for that particular breed. However, the majority of dogs want to please and can easily be taught to walk to heel which is much easier and safer for them and people/traffic.

Extending leads are useful when teaching recall and making sure you have control over the situation if a bitch is in season. Totally unnecessary otherwise.

There seems to be a nationwide dearth of trainers who teach sensible basics to owners. Far too many airy fairy ideas which do not relate to sensible dog ownership and care.

I think it's definitely a problem the amount of people who got a dog on a whim during lockdown, never having had one before and no idea of how to train or socialise the animal properly. Now many are back at work, full or part-time, and the dogs are left alone or dumped in dog day care.
We live in the countryside - there are acres and acres of woodland and fields just yards from us, and having been brought up here, I'd never let my dog loose near livestock and I always pick up after him. But we also have many new housing estates here too, with people who've moved out from Edinburgh because property prices are a bit cheaper here, and it never ceases to amaze me that some of them have no respect for the countryside and no idea how to behave or how to make their dogs behave. One woman was shocked when I told her she should be keeping to the edges of a field and not stomping through the middle of the planted crops!