Walking Offlead....

From a different thread. When and where should dogs be walked off lead , if ever and does it matter what the dog's breed is

no
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Not sure what you mean?

I like to walk my dogs offlead for most of their exercise. We live in an area where the dog does need to be under some kind of control (ie lots of sheep, ground nesting birds etc) but as mine are, they are okay to be off lead 99.9% of the time.

I don't see why breed should make a difference. How good a recall a dog has, how well behaved it is and how close it stays to its owner should be the important factors.

Obviously I don't think dogs should run off-lead if the area is unsafe - ie next to a road, and I also don't think it is ideal for dogs to be off-lead in children's playgrounds etc.

Perhaps if you could clarify what your questions mean, I might be able to answer further

I walk my dog off the lead most of the time. She may be on a lead for about 5mins a day. All of her excersise is on fields and in woods.

It shouldnt matter what breed you have as long as it has good recall and is a 'well balanced' (yes quoting CM lol) dog and can behave around other dogs.

We allow Marius off-lead a lot of the time - he is excellent with other dogs and has a good recall. I wouldn't let him off lead in a public park or where there are children playing, just out of good manners as I realize that there are lots of people who'd be scared of him and I wouldn't want that. I also making him come to heel when passing livestock.

We do put him back on-lead out of courtesy when we see other dog-walkers who aren't known to us (just in case their dogs are not dog-friendly or if they are the sort who'd panic at the sight of a Rottie )

This is where I see the relevance of what the breed is - some people are very scared of certain breeds, Rotts obviously being one of them!!

I think as long as the owner of the dog can control it, then it is fine to allow off-lead in certain locations

I think all dogs should in theory be allowed off lead excercise. & by this i dont just mean free running, i mean to trot along, mooch around & just be dogs & have a blast if they want to!

no dogs should be allowed off lead on the road or near to a road, & not around other dogs if they are nasty. Or near people if they are nasty.

Its for the owner to train the recall & Instant down,so the dogs can be allowed off lead. This is a basic requirement in dog ownership imo, the same as feeding it!!!

If it really cant be trusted to come back,some other option must be thought of, enclosed fields/areas etc, for the dogs to let off steam.

I only let my dog off if there are no kids about or not too many dogs. He's 9 months old and goes deaf to my recall when other dogs are there.He still jumps up at people,(getting better though) and would knock a child over. He's super friendly and doesn't always get the message that not everyone wants to play with him. I try to take him some where open and quiet so he can have a run cos he loves it.

I think it depends where you live, where you walk, how good your dogs is (which may come down to breed) etc. I'm careful where Dandy goes off, but Rio can go off almost anywhere. She's not a typical Estrela though. I do try to walk them where I won't meet people and other dogs much. They are friendly but quite big and can be intimidating to people. They don't have excellent recall either so the beach is the best place for them. No cyclists either - always a problem with Dan.

We're really lucky where we live because I'm right at the edge of town. We have loads of public footpaths, a wood and a massive plantation to walk around.

However, I'm a the point now, after a few bad experiences, where I always put my dogs back on lead when we see someone. I've met that many numpties recently, that I don't think it's worth the stress, as one of my dogs is a rather large staffy and my PRT can be a bit vocal when running with other dogs.

My dogs have lots of other doggy friends to play with, so we just stick with them. However, we still manage to get at least one good offlead walk a day.

DITO, what she said.