General Consensus about on/off lead

Some of you may know I've had problems with my boxer/staffie cross in terms of aggression and bullying with others dogs and bolting. I now keep him on leash - sometimes a long training style lead and sometimes an extending one. He pulls quite often, which is a bit annoying. Any advice would be gratefully received on that point.

My main question is this : is it ok to walk them permanently on a lead with no off-lead time? I often wait until I get somewhere completely remote and let him off for 10 mins or so - do you think I'm just adding to his frustration by giving him a taste of freedom? Or should I just keep him on a long lead so that he realises this is what he has to put up with - for the time being anyway.

Many thanks

There is no issue with on-lead only walking... for many dogs, it is the only way they can be walked safely.

It's not giving them a "taste of freedom" - that's a human way of thinking about it.

My dogs are walked 90% on lead. They get to go off lead on the empty beach, but its not a regular occurence, as I can't guarantee when the local beach will be empty.

It's not necessarily ideal for a dog to be kept on lead all the time but sometimes that's the way it goes. I wouldn't risk letting your boy off at all at this stage, if he can be aggressive and also bolts. If you can get him to remote places a harness and long line would still give him freedom but with added security.
I recently acquired a dog aggressive bitch and as far as I know she may never be able to go off lead. It's a shame but not the end of the world.

Depends. If you are able to access areas that you know are secure and you know no one (or another dog specifically) can spring out on you at, then yes I would allow him some off lead time.

Finding these areas are the issue. Certainly I have been in some rural places only to be surprised by seeing another person or a dog walker appear out of the blue. It is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security if you are in a quiet area.

There is a lady near me with a dog aggressive Staffie and English Bull Terrier. Her and her daughter take them to a particular field that is used for livestock so is fenced, meaning nothing can get in or out. Either her or her daughter stands guard near the gate while the other walks around and plays with the dogs. This is the only freedom they get -- the rest of the time they are on lead and muzzled. However they don't suffer for it.

I have to keep mine on-lead most of the time - Casper can be a bit rude with other dogs, and Kiki has a high prey drive and I just can't find areas I feel are secure enough (too many exits onto/near roads for my liking). It's not ideal, but as others have said, sometimes life isn't ideal.
I did have one field that I was comfortable letting them offlead in, I knew the farm owner and the visiblity was great, and as we went there pretty much every day there was no novelty so they didn't bolt off or anything. However, since moving, I've really struggled so they're on-lead 99% of the time.
I've tried finding secure areas to use - use of fenced in tennis courts, horse fields/arenas, school fields, car parks, dog training venues, etc. with no luck so far (but worth having a hunt in your area for these). As mentioned, you might find fields or areas that are secure other than the gates - so try to employ a few helpers to give you a chance to let him off-lead, I have a park near me that is very secure (6' with loads of tall bushes and trees behind the fences) but as it has 3 gates that don't lock (2 don't even physically close as such), I don't risk it. However, if I could drag along a few extra pairs of hands to man the gates while I let the dogs off, it could work out ideal, I just need to find some willing volunteers!
I'm still on the hunt but in the meantime, I'm having to make do - what I started doing to make up for the lack of off-lead time was start running (I was so unfit so I started the Couch to 5K running plan) so the dogs could at least stretch their legs more than a trot. Cycling could be another option (I've got hold of a bike now, just need to fix a few bits on it) too.

Also, rather than focussing on whether he's on a longline or not, I'd try to concentrate on making his walks more stimulating. You don't have to run a dog down to the ground physically to wear him out, you can make walks more challenging mentally. Make every walk into a combination of exercise, training and brain-games and you'll probably find them far more stimulating, even if he's on a longline, than just letting a dog run off-lead around a park after a ball. Teach him tracking, hide toys in long grass for him to find, do some obedience training, perhaps agility training, etc. - get his mind working too and it will give him a good mental workout.

When I had a dog that couldn't go off lead I took up running and used to do a mixture of running and walking in different landscapes and we used to go for miles through parks, fields and woodland so he got a variety of stimuli. We used to build bits of training into his runs too to give me a breather and we also used to play footy with him in the tennis courts as he was never interested in chasing a ball for the sake of it. These days although I can walk for hours I would probably need to take him out on the bike in order for him to get up to a run rather than a jog which is about my limit these days although I can still chuck in the odd sprint I certainly couldn't run for miles anymore. Just make sure he's on a harness rather than a collar and have fun.

I think it's absolutely fine for dogs to be kept on lead 100% of the time in public. Do you have a garden he has free run in? Maybe you could consider hiring a farmers field/agility hall/field/equestrian arena for use occasionally if you are worried?

Some dogs can never be let off a line due to no recall etc.

Eg huskies (which is why their owners do a lot of running)

You can give a dog a lot of exercise on a line eg by tracking, searching, biking, skating, scootering etc plus mind games.

There is no issue with keeping dogs on leads, you just have to be a bit creative sometimes. My Mal has been great off lead as a youngster but is starting to be bolshy with other bitches, which is normal for her breed, so she doesn't go off as often now. I sometimes walk her on a flexi or long line, she bikes using a springer attachment and scooters too. Our male Estrela doesn't go off lead ever but he goes running with my partner and he scooters. My Estrela bitch has a flexi. She's not interested in going running and is perfectly happy just to be walked.

You can do extra training to stimulate the dog's mind and tire him out, or take him running or biking with you.

We recently hired a field for our dogs, but Dan jumped the fence last week so we've had to cancel that arrangement. He's the first dog to jump that fence in 15 years. Pillock!

It seems most people who live in my area don't even know what leads are for! Nearly every Dog Walker has there dog's running free in virtually every park or walk around me.

It can get frustrating when my little one is on a lead and I tend to pick her up when the other dog's come over for a sniff but that is mainly because she is so tiny and a boisterous dog could quite easily hurt her.

I do actually like to see (well behaved!) dog's running free though but sadly not all are well trained and most owners have little recall control. My dog will remain leaded until I am 100% confident that she will come straight back to my feet on command.

If another dog not on a lead shows any sign of aggression towards my puppy I very firmly tell the owner to please call there dog away from me then give them a what for about letting their's run free