Is it ok to always keep a dog on a lead?

I’m fed up with dogs running up and trampling all over my little pooch. She tries to avoid other dogs now . We take her to places that aren’t busy and let her off lead but I’m always on edge in case another dog comes running over. Her recall is excellent and she never runs up to other people.

How can you tell who has trained their dog properly, Iam64, when you don’t know them from Adam?

yes keep your dog on a lead

I went to look on my local FB news page after my last post. I learnt that a grown man has been pulled to the ground and attacked by three off-lead greyhound/lurcher style dogs and his own on-lead dog has been badly mauled, although it will survive. The man has bruises and a dislocated shoulder. Also locally, someone saw an off-lead dog attacking a seal pup and has said it was a horrific thing to witness.

Dogs benefit from good, off lead exercise. Dogs need to sniff, it helps them relax. Any responsible owner calls off lead dogs to heel, or puts them on lead when they see other dogs or people/children approaching
Sue Donim, people who know dogs train them, you can trust those owners. It’s the people who call their dogs ‘fur babies’, treat them like humans, they’re the ones I worry about.

sodapop. Just like humans, dogs need physical exercise but not every day, there are other ways you should stimulate your pet. 15 minutes of stimulation (search and sniff games etc) is the equivalent to an hours walk with regard to your dogs mental health and well-being.

Can't agree with you on not walking your dog every day Scentia unless of course you are fortunate enough to have a very large garden. Dogs need physical exercise as we do, they need to be able to explore and sniff and keep physically fit.

There may be many good owners with well-trained dogs but there are also bad owners with untrained dogs. Rules are made because of them. As a grandma who walked young children in the park I was constantly on the look out for loose dogs and it really spoilt the outing. I was terrified one of them would come racing up and reach the little toddler before me, frightening them and possibly harming them. It was a relief to see a dog on a lead.

I don't think that dogs should always be on a lead. I do think, though, that owners know how to properly train their dog. There are more cases of dog attacks being reported and a lot of this because a great many people haven't a clue how to treat animals. Slightly of f the subject, but it proves my point, is that some dimwit gave a Potato to a pony who, sadly choked to death. This level of ignorance is rife and people need more education about how to deal properly and safely with their pets.

It is not even necessary to Walk a dog every day, let alone allow it to run free. A dog can be exercised using mental stimulation just as easy as a walk. I don’t like to see dogs running free, they often don’t have the mental capacity to control themselves and can get into all sorts of trouble. I think, (controversial I know) that letting dogs run free is a bit of laziness on the owners part, I see people sat on park benches watching their dogs run around like a mad thing with other dogs. That is not, in my opinion, the best way to exercise your dog.

Blondiescot

I think it does depend on the individual dog, but in general, I believe dogs should be allowed to run free wherever possible. We lost our old Lab back in June, but he was rarely if ever on a lead - he was extremely well trained and would walk to heel without a lead and recall quite happily. We are lucky enough to live in an area where we can walk out of our back garden and be in open fields within a hundred yards. Obviously we would never walk him through fields with livestock in them - if you are brought up in the country, you respect the rules of the countryside. And parks are for everyone to enjoy, including dogs! Give me dogs over most humans any day of the week!

Give me dogs over most humans any day of the week!

Does that include a 6yo child knocked flat on his back into the mud by a dog whose owner failed to apologise and claimed his dog was well-trained? And a 3yo who had a dog jump right up in her face and was licking/nipping her?

I’m afraid I now have to doubt people who claim their dogs are well-trained. Better safe than sorry.

As for cats, my two wouldn’t thank you for being put outside. The only thing they want to climb is us, so they can drape themselves round our necks and accompany us everywhere.

We had a Jack Russell we live right on top of woods. When we got him from a dog rescue we didn’t realise he would run off. It took us over two upsetting hours to find him. We kept him on an extended lead he was a happy dog we loved him.

We used to stay on Anglesey as we had a cottage and even in. wide open spaces kept him on the lead. We where surrounded by cattle and sheep. It wouldn’t be right having a dog running over farm land.

Look at the joy dogs show when running and having fun. To deny them that is indeed cruel.

It's irresponsible isn't it Iam. The owner of that young French Bulldog wouldn't have been laughing if the dog her's had ran up too and jumped all over had been aggressive.

They put their own dogs at risk.

My cat does run, chase and climb Bluebell and is never going to run over or, as we suspect happened to the last 'outside cat' we owned, get shot. He went out one day and we never saw him again. Our house at the time backed onto a field and we could hear gun fire more than likely due to rabbits being killed.

I think it does depend on the individual dog, but in general, I believe dogs should be allowed to run free wherever possible. We lost our old Lab back in June, but he was rarely if ever on a lead - he was extremely well trained and would walk to heel without a lead and recall quite happily. We are lucky enough to live in an area where we can walk out of our back garden and be in open fields within a hundred yards. Obviously we would never walk him through fields with livestock in them - if you are brought up in the country, you respect the rules of the countryside. And parks are for everyone to enjoy, including dogs! Give me dogs over most humans any day of the week!

It’s lovely what you have been doing over the years rescuing dogs Iam64 and you’re right if people trained their dogs to recall in the first place there shouldn’t be any problems. I think what happens, especially now during lockdown, people think wouldn’t it be great to have a dog but don’t appreciate the time and hard work you need to put in with regard to training. I am so afraid that after lockdown many dogs will just be abandoned. According to the RSPCA they are already taking in dogs that owners no longer want. In the majority of cases badly behaved dogs are as a result of irresponsible and lazy owners.

Gwyneth, I get really annoyed by those selfish folk who let their (usually untrained, Iam64) dogs off the lead 'for a good run' in the local park.

They can run in the fields, on the river paths, in the forest, all nearby, instead. Why let them off where children are playing and people are cycling?

I’ve always shared my life with dogs. We had cross breeds and Lancashire healers when I was a child. As an adult, In the early 70s, I had a spaniel from a neighbour. For the next 40 years, we rescued various cross breeds. I adopted a huge labradoodle who died last summer, aged 12. Fabulous dog, very intelligent, high prey urge, standard poodle independence, working lab energy levels. She helped me find a good trainer or she’d have been chasing deer for ever.
All my dogs have excellent obedience and recall. Currently, we have a young show type spaniel and 14 week old Labrador. He’s my first pup in years and full on.
I can’t imagine not being able to let my dog’s run free most days. The pup of course can only have 15 mins currently but he had a great time off lead with the spaniel this morning. Her recall is solid and of course he’s either at my side or with her, so is quickly learning to come when called.
I don’t want to grumble but- I do wish people would train their dogs. It builds a bond between dog and handler. It’s also the least we dog owners can do. My two were on lead when a young French bulldog ran up jumping all over them. The owner appeared, laughing and inevitably shouting ‘it’s alright he’s friendly’. She had to invade my space to get her dog who ignored her. She found it very amusing and was cross when I told her she was fortunate my spaniel is patient, that not all dogs would tolerate her dogs behaviour, especially with a pup in the mix

If I let my dog off her lead - she just trots along at my heels anyway!

I think it’s cruel to always keep a dog on a lead. Obviously there are places where dogs must be kept on a lead for example, where there are children etc. There will also be other exceptions. But generally speaking if you are unable to find a place where you can let your dog have a proper run then you shouldn’t have one. Think about another pet instead.

I would only own a dog if I could allow it to run free ( within my sight of course and being well trained is so important ) and in an area allowed .....in my case the beach
And I would only ever want a cross I m not sure what the correct term is now I presume mongrel is frowned on some crosses are very very expensive and fashionable so I don’t mean them I mean what we called a mongrel or a mutt

I also don’t like the idea of indoor cats I believe it is just stunting all the natural instincts of an animal to entertain human beings, cats should be climbing, running , chasing and these are inbuilt reactions that don’t disappear just because they ve never been allowed out Sorry to any indoor cat owners but that’s my opinion

I don’t know where this obsession over dogs running free has come from. We had dogs for twenty years in a large village and to see a dog off-lead was a rarity. FF to 2021 and two of my three UK-based grandchildren have been attacked by free-running dogs in the last two weeks. One owner didn’t even have a lead on him and had to drag his dog away by its scruff!

Our former neighbours had eight - yes, eight - dogs that she ran free in the local park. You cannot tell me she could keep on eye on all their deposits all of the time.

I like dogs but I don’t put them above humans which is what seems to be happening now.

...our....

Nanna58

My greyhounds are on the lead unless we go ( pre Covid) to a secure area where you can pay for an hour for them to ‘zoom’ some years ago on one of these sessions one misjudged , or I moved, and ran into my leg resulting in a torn crucial ligament, so I would not risk this happening to someone in a pack or some such, they really can be like missile!!}!

We were just talking about that this morning. Met another whippet on the way to the beach and ours was so excited seeing another sighthound so we had a little ‘chat at a distance’. Their dog was of the ‘run straight at your knee’ variety, as was my last one, but outer current one runs around you. It’s scary seeing something run straight towards you at 35 mph! It’s so frustrating not being able to use the secure fields because they were, pre covid, springing up everywhere.

As others have posted, a lot depends on the breed and also whether or not they have good call back.

We let our cockapooh and toy poodle off the lead depending on where we are. They both love the beach but we're avoiding that with the current restriction as they're busier than usual.

I have an indoor cat too Chardy. We have a good sized roof terrace where he can go out in warmer weather. He's a Sphynx (hairless) so I have to be careful he isn't out in strong sunlight and is always kept warm.