WHEN SHOULD MY DOG BE ON A LEAD?

According to the Kennel Club’s guidance, which is on their ‘Responsibility and Care leaflet. 

“No matter how well trained or under control a dog might be, it should never be walked off lead in environmentally unsuitable areas or those that do not permit dogs to be off lead”. 

Lets face it, there are people out there that do not like to interact with dogs. I know, weird, but listen.
Many people have had frightening encounters with dogs just walking down the street. There are many other reasons why we dog owners should be a bit more appreciative of how other people think.
People with mobility limitations, senior citizens, parents with children, people with assistance dogs, other dog owners who’s dogs are maybe reactive or sick, maybe in rehabilitation after surgery. I have a black Lab called Ben who last week just went through some major surgery to remove a Lipoma. Quite a large fatty lump about the size of a grapefruit hanging under his belly. But he is now just recovering and doesn’t get out for long walks. To complicate matters worse he has bilateral laryngeal paralyses, which means I can no longer put a collar around his neck. So I have to use a harness. The point is when I walk him I am constantly looking out for other dog/owner combinations to make sure they don’t come anywhere near us, because I know Ben is a bit grumpy right now and protective of his wound. The people I have described above see a lead as signal that the oncoming dog is under control and won’t jump on them or attack their children. The lead in this case reduces their panic and reassures them. Another reason for keeping our dogs on a lead in public places is that it keeps them safe. Every time something happens, like our dog runs over and knocks over a child or has a go at another dog, or even runs out in front of a car chasing a ball, its always ‘the first time they have ever done that’. Off course it is, because once they have done that one time we learn and make sure it doesn’t happen again by putting them on a lead. Well take this as a warning now, our dogs are not robots. Our dogs are great dogs, but like us they sometimes don’t make great decisions. Sometimes nature gets the better of them and their hard wired instincts are just too powerful and the ‘chase’ is on. And every time it happens we are caught out. I don’t care how good your dog is at walking by your side under voice control. With the right motivation your dog will at some point make a conscious decision to take off, just when you least expect it.
So for your sake, for the sake of your dog and for the sake of other people and other dogs. Keep your dog on a lead in environmentally unsuitable areas. And when you eventually get to an area that is safe to let them off a lead you must remain constantly vigil. Get rid of the phone, don’t get engrossed in a conversation and make sure you can see your dog at all times. Be safe, be smart, be a responsible dog owner. We are ALL depending on you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT IS THE BEST DOG FOOD?

Are you aware of what it is your feeding your dog when you feed it branded dog food? The commercial production of canning meat and cereal food for dogs began in the 1930’s by the Chappel brothers. Since then a lot has changed and legislation has been introduced to regulate and provide rules and guidance to the industry to help them fulfill their obligations to make safe pet food. www.pfma.org According to the Pet Food Manufacturers Association the Pet Food Industry is “responsible, efficient and at the forefront of Technology.” The key statement in this article for me however is, “This means that it can minimize the use of resources whilst maximizing the safety standards.” If you look at the PFMA web site it is worth noting that it has many articles about Legislation, Sourcing of Raw Materials and Animal By Product Regulations. On the face of it the industry does seem to be a responsible industry. However the devil is in the detail and just like human foods there is good
Read more

ANOTHER DOG ATTACK

        Yet another child’s life lost as a result of a dog attack. The latest is a baby only days old, attacked in its home by a huge dog, an Alaskan Malamute. This breed was originally bred to pull sleds in the arctic region. The males can grow to just under 40 kilos. The breed are reputed to be fond of people and children making them ideal house dogs. They bond quickly with their owners are intelligent but can sometimes be difficult to train. They are great with children old enough to play with them. So what went wrong? Reading more into the story it turns out this particular dog was ‘acquired’ by it’s owner from someone in a pub. The previous owner was going to have it put down, and the new owner was a dog lover and no doubt thought he was doing the right thing by saving it from being put to sleep. There is no information on why the previous owner was considering having it put down. Was it being ill-treated ? Had it already bitten? Did the new owner get a full history of the animal
Read more

PREPERATION FOR A NEW ARRIVAL

Image
Our house has been blessed with a new arrival in the last few months. My new grandson has moved in just as he’s starting to move around. Its been some 20 odd years since our house had a wee one crawling around the floor, getting into everything, picking things up etc. We had let our house become child unfriendly. Despite knowing he was coming we hadn't really prepared properly. So I was intrigued when an article appeared in the August issue of Your Dog about how owners go about preparing, selecting and bringing in a new puppy to their house. The emphasis of the article was more related to what research owners put in prior to getting a puppy. the article was written based on research carried out by Adaptil - The pheromone calming product range for dogs. The research took the form of a survey of 2000 puppy owners and some of the questions and answers were very interesting. 1 in 10 people thought that getting a new puppy was just like raising a child. 59% admitted that they wer
Read more