Dogsey

This is incredibly depressing.

Three things come to mind here, they say 'lack of training' is one cause. Well years ago, when I was a kid, puppy classes were unheard of. No one had training classes at their disposal in those days yet there were less aggressive dogs then.
Secondly, if certain brands of dog food are also being blamed, why are manufacturers allowed to even market dog foods which are detrimental to an animals health in the first place.
Thirdly, lack of off-lead exercise. Well that has become more and more of a problem in a lot of areas now. In fact our local council has just banned dogs being off-lead in the parks now, and lots more councils are following suit.
Unless you are fortunate enough to live somewhere where you have your own private acreage, or have access to beaches and countryside, sadly, off-lead exercise is easier said than done lately.

Well i find when I walk my dogs, usually in the middle of the day I hardly ever see a soul. I do sometimes bump into another walker but it's rare, especially in bad weather. So I conclude lack of off lead exercise probably is an issue. That paired with cr@p food doesn't help. There may be more training schools around but most owners don't go, they appear to believe dogs train themselves. I find off lead exercise easy and live in London.

Hi Trouble, Where do you go in London for off-lead exercise? Are you still allowed to let them loose in the parks down there or do you have fields and woods there?
I am surrounded by farmland, but the farmers are getting more and more resentful about people's dogs using their land.

There are a few dog training clubs around here, but some are a better than others. I wonder if first time owners would know the good from the bad? I think bad puppy training is not much better than no training.

I believe another contributory factor is the types of dogs many people have nowadays too. When I was a kid, only the wealthy had a pedigree dog, most families had mongrels. I never knew about dog training back then, but still most dogs I ever knew were friendly and you certainly never heard of street attacks like we do now.

Lol most parks here still allow dogs off lead, it's only the ones that are more like gardens that don't. We're also spoilt for choice for country parks, Epping forest and big parks/woodland.
Tbh I just think there are more dogs these days but whereas ours were included in everything us kids did these days they're not. Everyone is always horrified to see a kid walking a dog these days, mine came everywhere except school. I never fancied country living unless the fields were my own, I specifically bought a house in an area with lots of open spaces in close proximity. I can't say I blame the farmers tbh, although here any fields are full of horses or sheep.

Off lead exercise for dogs in my area is technically totally illegal in almost all cases. Dogs may be allowed off lead ONLY on secure private property. This means your dog needs to be under a strict recall and trained very well, knowing to never leave your yard, or be fenced in on your property.

Nigredo, luckily has mastered this and never leaves my yard and comes on cue so he runs around as much as he likes. We've got a nice woods in the back he can enjoy running and digging in and whatnot, as well. Most dogs cannot do this and all my neighbors with dogs keep theirs on leashes in the yard like I do with Jade.

As soon as your dog steps OFF your private property, you are breaking the law. No parks or public places allow off lead dogs under any circumstances. There is ONE fenced in "Dog Park" where you can legally let your dog off lead, but it's a crowded and IFFY place, and many people avoid it.

Being caught breaking the leash law usually means an impounded dog, a $250 citation/fee (to get the dog back), and a misdemeanor "Failure to follow applicable leash laws" (or something like that) charge. Not worth it for many people.

Many breeds really need the off lead exercise, and without it... it really can cause huge problems. Many people here have pit bulls, and it's HARD to exercise them super well when you keep them on leashes and chains...

I have sled dogs. They are very, very seldom " off lead". However they get plenty of exercise. They eat what dogs are genetically hard wired to, meat,....raw meat.
They are friendly with people and have their own "pecking order" that I respect and is left strictly up to them to sort, albeit I am the alpha and my family of humans are second in command.
I have been breeding these dogs for many years, carefully selecting desired traits and culling undesired traits. I believe that is all part of responsible pet/working dog stewardship.

Perhaps genetic diversity and "aggressive breed" blood has something to do with the headline.??!... I believe both scenarios deserve scrutiny.
Perhaps irresponsible " pet ownership"?..."breeding"?....The list of variables could possibly go on for quite some time.

I just wanted to talk about my dogs.

I am very lucky to live in an ok area for dogs being off lead. But more and more parks around me are making laws for owners to keep their dogs on leads. Most people around here don't have gardens and I certainly don't, so without the park we would be stuck for places to walk Izzy, who needs a vigorous 2 hours off lead running each day. I think instead of making laws about where dogs can go we should be making laws about who dogs go to! I mean a vast majority of the dogs in my town are socialised well, because the owners have taken the time to walk them off lead and let them play like dogs should!

My two dogs have an enclosed garden of about a quarter of an acre to run off lead in, so walking is always on lead and a time to practice their training. As I live in a small village with few opportunities for them to socialise with other dogs I enrolled them both on a Basic Obedience Course for Police Dogs where they get to meet and train with dogs of all breeds, temperaments and sizes. It's different from the normal obedience classes in that the emphasis is on the dog concentrating on what they are being asked to do by their handler and not to be distracted by what's going on around them. It's one of the best things I've ever done with them especially my little man who used to get very stressed around larger dogs but who now is quite happy amongst them.