dogs must be on leads March 1st till 31 july

Says who?

Where?

In certain areas and where there is livestock.

Says who?
The Government. It is a legal requirement.

On Open Access land and at the coast, you must put your dog on a lead around livestock. Between 1 March and 31 July, you must have your dog on a lead on Open Access land, even if there is no livestock on the land. These are legal requirements.
That is to protect ground-nesting birds.

A farmer can shoot a dog that is attacking or chasing livestock. They may not be liable to compensate the dog’s owner.

Hopefully infoman will provide full info.

Talking of dogs I see that police had to shoot 2 XL bullies that had attacked an 84 man today They had to use 19 bullets all of which were in target to kill the dogs A woman owner is in custody and the 84 year old in hospital

Exactly Allira. Not everywhere. A touch of the dramatics.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code-advice-for-countryside-visitors

Most people are responsible but there are always some who are not and there are dog owners who have no control over their dogs. Often on local FB pages there are reports of out-of-control dogs attacking other dogs and even other dog owners.

No responsible dog owner would let their dog be off lead around livestock anyway. If you are born and brought up in the country around livestock, it's common sense anyway. Unfortunately, that seems to be in short supply among many dog owners nowadays - and it is those ones who give the rest of us a bad name.

Yes, ViceVersa, unfortunately that is often the case.

I love dogs and until recently have always been a dog owner but it does anger me the number of dog owners who let their dogs off their leads regardless of notices asking for dogs to be leashed. Near us is a park with a small lake on which there are swans, and soon there will be cygnets, but despite notices asking dog owners to keep dogs leashed near the lake at all times man roam free and even jump in the water. Last year a cygnet had its neck broken by a dog.
Dogs may be much loved pets but they are also animals which can give in to instinct when around smaller animals/birds.

We currently have four dogs. We’d never dream of letting them off the lead or be anywhere near livestock or nesting areas.

BlueBelle

Talking of dogs I see that police had to shoot 2 XL bullies that had attacked an 84 man today They had to use 19 bullets all of which were in target to kill the dogs A woman owner is in custody and the 84 year old in hospital

How traumatic, poor man.

it’s unfortunate infoman didn’t provide links or reference to his post.

Our area is moorland. We have lambing sheep as well as birds who nest on land. This includes lapwings, curlews, blackbirds, dunnocks, mallards and swans. We have areas where signs request ‘keep your dog on lead’ yet some irresponsible owners let their dogs run free. Sand dunes are classic areas where stupid people let dogs run free.

It is distressing and infuriating that so many dog owners are so poorly aware (ok ignorant stupid careless and selfish)

ignorant stupid careless and selfish
Add to that ill-mannered and rude.

And more often than not absconders.

BlueBelle

Talking of dogs I see that police had to shoot 2 XL bullies that had attacked an 84 man today They had to use 19 bullets all of which were in target to kill the dogs A woman owner is in custody and the 84 year old in hospital

Not again! 🤬

Poor man, I hope he will be all right. The shock alone could kill him.

Talking of ruddy XL Bullies,
my poor older dog and myself were targets for one of the beasts.
It just went for us!
Luckily big, strong hubby wrangled with it by grabbing it's back legs and we escaped.
The stupid owner started to blame our super friendly 12yr old dog,
That fiend of a dog needed more than just a lead??!😣

There are areas on the coast where dogs have to be kept on leads at certain times of the year and wardens get a lot of abuse from some dog walkers. If only many dog owners used more common sense. We often have to shout to people that their dog is eating a rotting carcass ( this happened a lot when bird flu was rampant) and I knew of one dog that was really ill after doing so. My dogs have been attacked by other dogs countless times. I’d welcome government legislation that would make dog owners behave more responsibly but it saddens me that they can’t just have the sense to do it themselves.

That’s my worst fear ilovedogs (so do I)
I have a huge young lab who became reactive after three unprovoked incidents. He’s much better but if an unknown dog gets in his face, especially on lead, he reacts. It’s fear based but such a big lad not what u need
I walk him in safe enclosed areas and avoid walks I’ve lived fifty years and can do with my chilled spaniel
I’ve met a few xl bullies and cane corso- my spaniel easy walks on when they get near but my lab would probably react from anxiety

I've had dogs for years, & always on leads around livestock, but it was only a couple of years ago I heard of the march - july nesting birds rule. I do comply with it since (not down the park where there are no ground-nesting bird species, but on the moors, hills or woods).
Well done OP - although I think this law's been around some time, it's not very well publicised & its something that, even if you are a country person, you don't neccessarily think of without a reminder.

My dog is extremely lively and needs to run free and chase balls to get enough exercise because I am old and slow. She’s a mixed breed and turned out to have 100% terrier traits.
There are lots of places she has to be on a lead but where possible I walk her loose and regard it as a God-given right for both kids and dogs to run free.

Strangely I saw a article about how to deal with a dog attack just a week before .
They said to grab the offending dog's back legs and pull its legs apart, whilst moving backwards, luckily it worked but I'm still very nervous of large unknown dog's. My name should be I love some dog's 22!!😶

watermeadow - Strongly agree with this. With more energetic breeds more behavioral problems are likely if they never get a chance to run free & don't have a huge garden.
My dog behaves totally differently off-lead. He sniffs a lot more & is very stop / full steam ahead. I'd say 85% of the dogs in the park are off-lead & the main problems are rolling in fox mess & jumping in ponds / ditches, meaning yet another dog-bathing session.

We are a farming family with sheep. Over the 45 years we have lived on our farm there have been several times we have had sheep killed by dogs off the lead. Some sheep are just left to die as we are unaware. I have seen others being chased and brought down with owners yelling the dogs name and waving the lead which should have been attached to their collar. Not XL bully type dogs but labradors, terriers and other ‘nice’ breeds.
The dogs have ‘never done that sort of thing before’, are ‘lovely and gentle’ ‘completely trustworthy’ but dogs are reactive creatures and once their blood is up they will chase and occasionally kill.

Please keep your dog in a lead in the vicinity of livestock, even if the animals are several fields away.

I wouldn't grab an unknown dog's back legs personally. I can just about lift my dog so I'd hold him up out of reach that has its risks but less likely to get bitten than grabbing a dog's back legs I think.