Please, please keep your dog on a lead!

'scorthy

Having witness three dogs run over less than a couple of meters from me I was particularly angry last Tuesday evening when out walking my dog on a very busy road off the N11. On the far side of the road I saw two mens in conversation and beside them a very large labrador and a lovely Scottish terrier. My eyesight is not great and I thought no more about it until I got nearer I noticed that neither were on a leash but by that time the terrier had started to make its way across the road to investigate my dog when...bang! :eek: not killed out-right but its twisted body and cries said it all. Next the Labrador, the size of a small ass, started to make its way over towards me crossing the road while cars screeched and skidded to a avoid hitting him. I was so angry I wanted to shout out "you fool, why didn't you have your dogs on leads?" :mad: . I would not let a child out of my sight on this road where several adults have been killed in accidents. In fact, I'd have the child on a leash just to be sure.

jen_23

Couldn't agree more with putting dogs on a lead.

I was on the way to UL a few weeks ago and saw a poor ol Sheltie that had obviously been knocked down and thrown into the ditch on side of the road. :mad:

Very sad....

Rainey.

both those storys are very sad..
i couldnt bare if anyting was to happen to my dog, people can be realy unresponsable at times, that could of caused a major crash too.

DePurpereWolf

I agree,
It would also save the owners a lot of money as they now would have to pay the car repair bills.

Very sad

Munster Gal

Just a reminder to put your dog's lead on before you take it out of the car. In the past month I've heard of a dog getting run over as he jumped out of the car to go on his walk - he took a wide berth of the car and straight into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Thankfully he survived but it could have been way worse.

'scorthy

In this case the car did not stop and as far as I'm aware the driver is suppose to at least report the incident to the Gardaí. On Friday in my local I heard the other side of the coin. A family moved down to the country from Dublin with their dog. They diligently keep their dog on a lead when out walking the nearby country roads. One day a local was out walking his dogs but without leads. The new resident remarked to the local that his dogs should be restrained and he was told "this is the country and we never tie up our dogs" .

pitty lover

i cant agree more but in some cases the rules dont appily to everyone!!
i have 2 pittys and i abide by the law with 2foot leads , muzzels etc because being the breed they are they stand out sadly but my dogs are not wicked in anyway they are absolute hams. But on the beach dogs are running around all the time with no leads and the majority are not trained v well i had a run in with a man with a huskie his dog was off lead and ran at me and my dog tia (who was only 7 months old @ the time) and attacked her ! it was nothing to serious thank god but she did need stitches above her right eye and the man who owned the dog had the cheek to give out to me for having her and that they should be illegal etc he had a rant but i was just in shock and v upset so i went but long story short i rang the dog warden told him about what happened and all that happened was the man got a warning!!! and i still see him from time to time with no lead or muzzel its a joke!!

DePurpereWolf

People can get very emotional when it comes to their dogs.
Why did the husky go for your Pitbulls, were you the only ones there?

What I don't like is all the small dogs that attack my large dogs. Their owners seem to think that's okay, because it's just a small dog. But as soon as my dogs bite back it needs to be put down.

pitty lover

i only had tia at the time and have no idea what so ever she was only a pup herself very scary for her but as a rule in my opinion huskies are generally friendly dogs well all the ones i have met apart from that one my neighbor hase one a few doors up from me and he is a pet he loves my dogs so i really dont no there are just some nasty people out there that shouldnt have dogs!

pitty lover

and your dead right about small dogs it is such a pain my mums friends daughter was bit on the face by a jack russell last week it was just a shot at the doctors job no stiches thank god but she is only eight it really frightened her and i dont no what came of it

hellybelly

Your so right this drives me insane. Im so tired of seeing people who cant look after their dogs properly - you see dogs chasing cars along the main roads all the time. It drives me insane - i moved here from the middle east thinking it would be different - its not. Lose dogs everywhere and stray dogs too - drives me mad if i could home them all i would. I dont understand why its like this or why people dont look after their pets!
Im not saying all - i know the peeps reading this are mad about animals - im just shocked i thought Ireland would be better for animal welfare - but its not!

DePurpereWolf

It's a cultural thing. People still believe that a dog is a 'good' dog if it will stay with you without a lead. Like a farmer with his sheep dog.
My dogs behave perfectly well off the lead. I don't put them on the lead because I would loose them otherwise. Especially younger dogs can be unpredictable, a truck can scare them, a cat can make them run across the street. I have them on the lead for emergencies, they never pull. (that's another thing, the dogs that are on a lead aren't taught to be on a lead. They pull like crazy, poor dogs.)

Before the celtic tiger there were only 5 cars per day on the road. Now there are 5 per minute. Things change.

babystrawberry

Totally agree with this, it drives me insane to see dogs running loose when they are being 'excercised' by their owners, i will admit that there are some people that ahve the dogs very well trained and the dog will still walk by their side even when off a lead, but even this can be a bit unpredictable.

I know for a fact that I cannot leave my dog off when other dogs.people are around as he will run straight up to them, he wont answer to me if he sees other people (no smart comments on may indicate he trying to get away from me please )

I would be worried that he might hurt a small child if he was loose aswell, as in he could run up and knock the child out of excitement ...leading to parents giving out to me ..rightly so to be honest really!

Also would be worried he would that he would run up innocently to a dog that may not be as friendly as him, and unintentionally bring some hassle on him

Whispered

babystrawberry wrote: »

Totally agree with this, it drives me insane to see dogs running loose when they are being 'excercised' by their owners, i will admit that there are some people that ahve the dogs very well trained and the dog will still walk by their side even when off a lead, but even this can be a bit unpredictable.

I know for a fact that I cannot leave my dog off when other dogs.people are around as he will run straight up to them, he wont answer to me if he sees other people (no smart comments on may indicate he trying to get away from me please )

I would be worried that he might hurt a small child if he was loose aswell, as in he could run up and knock the child out of excitement ...leading to parents giving out to me ..rightly so to be honest really!

Also would be worried he would that he would run up innocently to a dog that may not be as friendly as him, and unintentionally bring some hassle on him

I could post the exact same thing ^^^

We do have a few places where we allow him off, a certain field which is enclosed and an unofficial sort of a doggy meet up place, along the river in the evenings when it's starting to get dark, very specific places and never along a road. He's pretty good for not running off but I wouldn't take the chance.

star-pants

I agree - why would you let your dog roam around?
The shop around the corner from me has an old black lab, he wanders around, usually sits in the sun / at the busstop so people can pet him, but I've seen him crossing the road (in fairness, it's gas he looks around first). But that's an exception, I think he's kinda street savvy at this point.
But i know other dogs to wander around, running out into the road and you'd nearly have an accident to avoid them!

Or a friend of mine said his mother & dog were attacked by another dog (as it was free off a lead), luckily his mother escaped unscathed and the dog just had a small scratch but really why let your dogs off the lead in unsafe places??

pitty lover

your dead right but at least you all admit it and are aware of the "what might happens" its a shame not everyone is the same but just a helpfull hint if you go to the pitbull lovers gazett by jason mann he has great tips on training for recall etc he is fab i go by what he says and my dog is doing really well she is still far from perfect tho but its not just for pittys he trains all types of dogs so have a nosey

iguana

Most dogs can not be properly exercised or socialised on a lead and there is nothing wrong with taking a dog to a secure area and allowing it to exercise as it needs to.

One of my dogs was gotten rid of by his original family as they never walked him off lead and then couldn't cope with his frustration and hyperactivity in the home. Which is a the main reason why dogs like springers, labradors and collies, etc, are gotten rid of.

star-pants

iguana wrote: »

Most dogs can not be properly exercised or socialised on a lead and there is nothing wrong with taking a dog to a secure area and allowing it to exercise as it needs to.

I think this is the part a lot of people forget.

pitty lover

i no what you mean but most people dont go to a secure area thats my problem but what most people forget when buying dogs like springers etc is that they are hunting dogs and need to be stimulated and from my experiance are not wired when being used for what they are generally bread for they get board very quick they seem to be happiest when in the field . Im not nocking what you are saying at all but thats what i think and thats why alot of them end up in rescue and in the pound its sad

DePurpereWolf

iguana wrote: »

Most dogs can not be properly exercised or socialised on a lead.

Are you for real? A lot of countries have mandatory lead laws. I totally disagree.

One of my dogs was gotten rid of by his original family as they never walked him off lead and then couldn't cope with his frustration and hyperactivity in the home. Which is a the main reason why dogs like springers, labradors and collies, etc, are gotten rid of.

The problem was not the lead, the problem was lack of exercise. I walk my dogs 40 minutes a day on a lead, they are tired afterward.

'Play' is not always the same as exercise. Just going to the park and throwing a ball around for half an hour will not be enough. This is depending on the dog of course, but if you really want to tire your dog out you give them a fast walk, 40 minutes long, or an hour if you have an active dog. In addition to 'play' time.

Apart from the Phoenix Park, there aren't a lot of places you can walk for 40 minutes without seeing cars, or other dogs, or whatever.

iguana

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

Are you for real? A lot of countries have mandatory lead laws. I totally disagree.

Yes I am most certainly for real. When Camden borough council in London considered limiting the areas in it's parks that dogs are allowed off lead all the big dog groups launched serious campaigns to prevent it as most dogs need off lead exercise, including Dog's Trust, Battersea Dogs' Home and the Kennel Club. Just because something may be the law in some countries doesn't mean that the animal's best interest is at heart.

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

The problem was not the lead, the problem was lack of exercise. I walk my dogs 40 minutes a day on a lead, they are tired afterward.

'Play' is not always the same as exercise. Just going to the park and throwing a ball around for half an hour will not be enough. This is depending on the dog of course, but if you really want to tire your dog out you give them a fast walk, 40 minutes long, or an hour if you have an active dog. In addition to 'play' time.

None of that would exercise either of my dogs, they need quite a bit more than that. An hour will do them if they have swimming for 20 minutes of the time, but other than that it takes longer. And do you know what I do when I get to the end of the park? I walk around it again, and if necessary again. In our old house our local park was a 4 circuit minimum. Our current one is two circuits.

One of my boys is currently recovering from a broken leg, and the minimal exercise he is currently on is hell for him. He has puzzles, and "jobs" to occupy him, but he is the type of dog that needs to run loose at a speed a lot faster than I can manage.

And dogs also should meet other dogs in a neutral setting. It's how they socialise and they won't socialise properly on lead as it inhibits their main means of communication, body language.

fatmammycat

I run, and I frequently take my friend's dog, a spaniel/collie cross with me. He's brilliant on a long lead and has worked out the exact gait he needs to keep the line attached to my belt taut but not pulling. That boy can cover 15k to 20 k per run and the only way I can tell he's tired is that there might be a 'slight' dip in his tail at the end of the run and he will be thirsty.
When I take him to the phoenix park he might cover twice that criss crossing about the grass off lead. Some breeds just need/are happiest with more exercise than others. Folk need to recognise this waaay before they pick a breed of dog for the home. Dublin being noisy and dangerous with traffic, if you don't have the time or the energy to leash run your dog, you may run into problems later.
( On the other hand my friend has an elderly basset, and he only needs 2-3k a day and he's exhausted.)

iguana

fatmammycat wrote: »

Dublin being noisy and dangerous with traffic, if you don't have the time or the energy to leash run your dog, you may run into problems later.

I agree with the rest of your post, but the thing is that being a dog owner in London, which is a busy city on a scale that Dublin can in no way compare to, I've never run into these problems. My boys are springers and they can get more than enough of the right type of exercise living here. They run off lead and swim every day, apart from Toby atm. They meet between 5 and 40 dogs a day, all mostly off lead, with very few problems. And when we do meet a dog which may prove problematic my dogs can tell faster than I can and they give a wide berth, because they know when a dog is interested in playing, when it's saying it has no interest.

My vet in the area of London I used to live in had two springers, one of our neighbours had a springer which worked in search and rescue for the fire department and a number of my current neighbours have border collies but none of us have problems exercising or socialising our dogs off lead. Obviously there are people who should never have this type of dog, even if they live in their own private wood. But with the right owner these dogs can live very well in a city.

I find the attitude to dog exercise in Dublin to be very strange. Dublin may be the biggest, busiest city in Ireland, but it is in fact a small city with a low population density. It has plenty of parks, riversides, woods and coastal areas, which are more than suitable for exercising the vast majority of dog types. I would very much like to live in Dublin again and I have brought my dogs over on a visit and found loads of suitable places for walking them safely and adequately, where many other dog owners where doing the same. I believe mentioning which areas isn't always the best idea on boards, so I won't go into where exactly. I also know some active dog owners who have a number of areas they can walk their dogs in, albeit at specific times of the day.

DePurpereWolf

iguana wrote: »

Yes I am most certainly for real. When Camden borough council in London considered limiting the areas in it's parks that dogs are allowed off lead all the big dog groups launched serious campaigns to prevent it as most dogs need off lead exercise, including Dog's Trust, Battersea Dogs' Home and the Kennel Club. Just because something may be the law in some countries doesn't mean that the animal's best interest is at heart.

But this is not what you are saying. You are saying that you can't exercise your dog on a lead. Which is just not true.
These countries do have dog parks, I'm talking about what happens outside of the dog parks.

My dogs can run 75km/h they do that for a minute or two and then they're done. But it doesn't tire them out for the day. One fast 40 minute walk does a way better job then one of those sprints. I walk 4km on those walks, my wife walks them in the morning for 30 minutes, which is 3km. So they walk 7km a day. That's a lot of circuits around any park.

Try to compare it with playing soccer and running for 40 minutes. It really depends on the player if he tires himself out the same way as the runner does. With walking, you are guaranteed your dog has enough exercise. With playing in the park, it depends on the dog, and it's trainer's capabiliy to keep him interested in the game

I hardly have a problem with dogs off the lead in a park (when they are well trained) But I wouldn't take my dogs of the lead on my 4 km walk through the town. Lots of cars, lots of distractions.

In Cork, there is no such thing as a dog park. There are parks, but you wouldn't consider them appropiate for a dog if there is a busy road next to them. The only alternative is walking.