Dogs, Beach + Leads

aoife2k

Hi everyone!

So with the absolutely stunning weather we've been having, I've taken my dog (1yr old boxer) to the beach for a good hour and a half run/splash in the waves for the last few days. My friend also comes with me and brings her chihuahua (3yrs) and her parents boxer who's 5.

The dogs are on leads (extendable) AT ALL TIMES untill they get back in the car for the spin home. Not only do we do this for the dogs safety, but some people just don't like dogs and this prevents the dog from running away if they get distracted by a jogger, child, ball or anything.

Every dog that has been on the beach that we've met has been off lead with the owners doddling along the beach not even caring what their dog is doing and every time the loose dog has raced over and confronted our behaved dogs.
Today for example, we encountered a black lab who seemed to be at the beach of his own accord and as soon as he saw us came running over with tail straight as a poker in the air... the other people who were on the beach saw the hassle we were having but no one called the dog so we presumed no one owned him.

The far side of the beach was totally deserted and our dogs were playing in the water with a toy so we only took them off the lead then, as soon as we decided to head back to the car leads went back on.

Why can't other dog owners do this?! What's wrong with having a lovely long extendable lead that will allow your dog to sniff about and have a little run while still having control.

Sorry for the rant but it's REALLY annoyed me especially after having a VERY excited male dog follow us on our beach outing and trying to mount one of our boxers and meeting another dog on the way back to the car try follow us while his owner did sweet fanny adams about it. We just want to enjoy our walks on the beach!!!

nyarlothothep

All I can say is that as a jogger I have got a lot of hassle from dogs over the years and in those instances most of them were not on leads in public areas, in addition to being badly trained. I don't think telling such owners to have their dog on a lead will have any effect, they're selfish and/or clueless enough not to care in the first place and there isn't any shortage irresponsible dog owners. I guess finding another place to go on walks might be a better idea. At the end of the day dogs are animals, not people so there is no accounting for their behaviour in the sense that they can be unpredictable, chasing/barking/growling or even mauling strangers, the problem is a lot of people confuse the two.

aoife2k

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not going to stop bringing my dog to the beach and let those people who don't give a monkey's have it for themselves.

Out of the 3 dogs we had with us today, the chihuahua is the only one that makes noise... she's small and extremely vocal and will bark at ANYTHING. The other 2 don't bat an eyelid, bark or even take heed of things/people on the beach most of the time but because the general population are weary of dogs coming to them we keep them on the lead no matter how well behaved they are. It's such a shame the other people don't have the same consideration.

PLUS Doggy poop on the beach ANYWHERE is 100% unacceptable. It doesn't cost the earth to stuff a little bag in your pocket, scoop it up and bin it. Jeez....!

Graces7

aoife2k wrote: »

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not going to stop bringing my dog to the beach and let those people who don't give a monkey's have it for themselves.

Out of the 3 dogs we had with us today, the chihuahua is the only one that makes noise... she's small and extremely vocal and will bark at ANYTHING. The other 2 don't bat an eyelid, bark or even take heed of things/people on the beach most of the time but because the general population are weary of dogs coming to them we keep them on the lead no matter how well behaved they are. It's such a shame the other people don't have the same consideration.

PLUS Doggy poop on the beach ANYWHERE is 100% unacceptable. It doesn't cost the earth to stuff a little bag in your pocket, scoop it up and bin it. Jeez....!

Good for you; and you are quite right on all counts. Some beaches here now have signs to the effect that between certain hours, dogs must be on leads.

Evolute

I will be honest I bring my dog to the beach and let her off the lead as soon as my feet hit the sand.
Although I have trained her since she was first on the lead to stay close to me and to leave others alone and she does perfectly well unless I'm playing fetch with her then she runs after the ball.
People who havent trained their dogs to behave off the lead should obviously not be allowed let their dogs off the lead.

star-pants

I have no issue with dogs off the lead once they're under the control of the owner at all times (as is humanly possible obviously).

My parents when they go down to Wexford will let the girls off the lead on the beach when it's empty and it's pretty much a dead end, so they can't go anywhere and there's no one for them to bother (not that they would).

It annoys me greatly when I meet dogs off the lead that aren't under control. Just yesterday I was walking them around the block and some chocolate lab came bounding over as we went near the field and his nose was straight into Lilys backside, she wasn't too impressed but just turned around, Daisy however got defensive and was barking at him. No one called the dog away, no one was even close to me. A chap I see with his two very well behaved collies was walking through at the same time and came over and told the lab to go away, said he thought it belonged to 'that man down there' (pointing at some man half way down the field). The man who owned the lab was doing nothing to call his dog back.

A couple of months ago, down in Bray, walking my two on the path/grass area, on leads, some lady with a westie and another terrier came along (no leads), her dogs came right over to mine (who are nervous) and I said to her 'would you mind calling them back, my girls are nervous', the woman was like 'ah they're friendly'. I was annoyed cuz I didn't care how friendly her dogs were, mine weren't appreciating being cornered. The westie got too close for Lily's liking and she growled, I was afraid they might fight, but I was half tangled in the leads now and the woman was just standing there, holding the terrier and half assed calling her westie (who wasn't paying a blind bit of notice). I was trying to gentle nudge the westie away with my leg. Eventually someone else came over and moved the dog so I could untangle myself. Woman didn't even say sorry!

Another instance, out in Skerries during the week. Some lab/collie type dog bounding along with no lead, jumped up at one child and the mother pulled the child back. Then the dog jumped up at a different familys child and knocked him over, he was in tears. Some couple sauntering along were called at by the mother 'is this your dog?' the girl half acknowledged and the woman goes 'put it on a lead would you? when there's kids around'. The girl made no haste at all to do so. Hadn't even called the dog back. Didn't apologise.

Those things really really bug the crap out of me. I get very annoyed, because then when you have a good dog, who's well behaved and well trained to leave children/people/other dogs alone, get in trouble being off lead.

People shouldn't have their dog off lead in areas with other dogs/children/etc unless it's well trained/ won't bother people.

kylith

Some people have no consideration at all. One of mine can be dog aggressive so she's never allowed off-lead, but I've lost count of how many people have let their dogs bound over. Even though I've said 'I'm sorry, she's not friendly, can you call your dog back?' they just say 'Ah, he won't bite'. I have to point out that my dog will bite, although usually she makes that point for me...

aoife2k

Evolute wrote: »

I will be honest I bring my dog to the beach and let her off the lead as soon as my feet hit the sand.
Although I have trained her since she was first on the lead to stay close to me and to leave others alone and she does perfectly well unless I'm playing fetch with her then she runs after the ball.
People who havent trained their dogs to behave off the lead should obviously not be allowed let their dogs off the lead.

I'm with you on this one. My dog is only 1 and still mad as a box of frogs so I don't trust her to be off the lead. Although yesterday when we were at the far end of the beach, no people, no kids, no joggers, no where for them to run away I let her off only because I knew she wouldn't run away as she just focuses on the older boxer and follows her everywhere.

Ok so fair enough if you're dog is well trained and you trust them then by all means let them off the lead (i'm only jealous!) but if not, the beach is for use by ALL people and we shouldn't have to feel threateded or worried about encountering rogue dogs at the beach.

abouttobebanned

Either you leave the dogs on the lead or you don't. One minute you're saying that dogs should be on the lead all the time, next you're saying that you found a deserted part of the beach so you left them off the lead then. I don't think you can complain about owners leaving their dogs off the lead on the beach when you do it yourself.

I think owners will only ever leave their dogs roam free if they know the dog well enough i.e that they won't attack anyone etc.

aoife2k

Did you read my post(s) correctly? I said that we only let them off at the far side of the beach where we knew they wouldn't disturb anyone or get distracted. They were in the water for the majority of time we were there. Any walking we did they were immediatly on leads however, if there were other people walking past or sittin sunbathing near by, they'd have been on the leads even in the water.

You've completely missed the point of this thread anyway. Have you got dogs?

abouttobebanned

I do indeed...well one dog.

I don't think I missed any point...you don't like people who leave their dogs off leads on the beach...but it's ok if you know there's gonna be nobody on that part of the beach?

aoife2k

We wouldn't have them off the lead if we were walking the length of the beach encountering people lying sunbathing, children building/making sandcastles etc.. My point is that people just let their dogs hop out of the car and away they go

abouttobebanned

Such a tough one to police though... People think their dogs are so well behaved but don't know how they'll act with other dogs.

I don't think you can bend the rule though. It's either dog on the lead all the time or nothig really.

jen_23

I love going to the beach with my dog .. usually a few friends bring their dogs as well and they are all off the lead. It's fabulous especially for bigger dogs with lots of energy to get a good stretch and also a fool around on a soft surface where they can't do damage jumping and clowning around with each other.

If I see another dog onlead approaching with owners we put the dogs back on lead out of respect but if I see other dogs off lead I don't. Usually most dogs at the beach are off lead and the last time we were there it almost ended up a doggy party. All the dogs were playing around whilst the owners were all chatting

Molberts

star-pants wrote: »

... and I said to her 'would you mind calling them back, my girls are nervous', the woman was like 'ah they're friendly'

This drives me mad - you clearly pointed out to her your dogs were nervous and she ignored you :mad: people don't listen :rolleyes:

I have three dogs - one is badly behaved on walks in busy areas (working on it and hes coming on great but is still very nervous) so is never, ever off lead in an area with other dogs or people - only if were in a completely deserted area with no one else around.

The other two are well behaved and love meeting new dogs.

The way I see it is theres a sort of unwritten rule - if my dog are off lead and other dogs arrive on lead - mine are put back on their leads right away and stay that way till the other dogs have passed us. greeting/butt sniffing allowed if the other owners ok it only.

If my dogs are off lead and other dogs approach also off lead, with the owners making no attempt to put them back on their leads or indication that their dogs do not want to play - I assume this means their dogs are happy to sniff and play with my dogs.

ISDW

kylith wrote: »

Some people have no consideration at all. One of mine can be dog aggressive so she's never allowed off-lead, but I've lost count of how many people have let their dogs bound over. Even though I've said 'I'm sorry, she's not friendly, can you call your dog back?' they just say 'Ah, he won't bite'. I have to point out that my dog will bite, although usually she makes that point for me...

One of my huskies can be dog aggressive (however he does share his home with about 20 other dogs, so he's not too bad now), but when he's in working mode he just ignores everyone else. We were mushing in a forest park and two women approached with a lab and a terrier both off lead. I stopped the rig, told the dogs to stand, which they did. I asked the women to call their dogs back, as Diesel can be a bit snappy with other dogs, they just ignored me. The terrier came up to Diesel and literally went and stood underneath him sniffing him. I asked the women three more times, explaining that Diesel might go for the dog, they just looked at me as if I was mad. I was so proud of him though, he stood there, he did growl, no problem with that, if the other dog doesn't listen to dog signals, thats his problem. I gave up and told the dogs to go on, luckily the dog got out of the way of the wheels! But I know that if my dog had decided he'd had enough, and gone for their dog, it would have been him that would have been labelled the bad dog. It drives me nuts.

boomerang

Molberts wrote: »

The way I see it is theres a sort of unwritten rule - if my dog are off lead and other dogs arrive on lead - mine are put back on their leads right away and stay that way till the other dogs have passed us. greeting/butt sniffing allowed if the other owners ok it only.

If my dogs are off lead and other dogs approach also off lead, with the owners making no attempt to put them back on their leads or indication that their dogs do not want to play - I assume this means their dogs are happy to sniff and play with my dogs.

I leave my dogs off lead on the beach if it is very quiet and we pretty much have it to ourselves, other than walkers in the distance. We only go to the beach on days it's likely to be empty anyways - not a fine day at the weekend in summer, that's for sure! Their focus the whole time is on me, waiting for me to kick up some sand for them or throw something into the surf for them to chase. They don't approach people (no interest in other people - they're collies!) and they don't approach other dogs - they're not a bit "doggy." I'd pop them back on lead immediately if I felt they were making anyone uncomfortable.

I don't think other dog owners should assume my dogs want to interact with theirs, just cos my guys are off-lead. If your friendly, exuberant, "doggy" dog comes up to mine, one will flinch and back away as she is anxious about dogs she doesn't know and the other will get defensive and her hackles will go up. If your dog persists then mine could end up pinning yours to the ground. Not a nice experience for your dog, and it could seriously set back his socialisation with other dogs. If I put mine on leads in this scenario and your dog approaches anyways, their reactions will be amplified tenfold. So I don't think it's ever ok to let your dog approach an unknown dog off-lead, unless the owner clearly signals that their dog welcomes your dog's attention! The problem at the beach is that your dogs will already be on their way to bounding over on top of my dogs before I can shout or wave to tell you to get them to back off - which they may not do anyways if they are excited!

My dogs avoid other dogs completely and I think it's unfair that they have to endure the unwanted attentions of other dogs when they are with me, under my control and minding their own business! Invariably if some innocent owner who has a happy-go-lucky dog-loving dog lets their fella bound over to mine and he gets a telling off from my dogs - it's always made out to be my fault.

TechnoPool

i allow my fella off the lead at the beach and park, but he generally keeps to himself and to his own devices and never goes more than 10-20 yards away from me, if he did i wouldnt allow him off the lead.

sparkling sea

I am frightened of dogs as are about 20% of the population.

As someone who is terrified of dogs I have never really been able to walk on
beaches, I was delighted when the laws with regard to dogs
were introduced, sadly they are not being enforced and I see many people
like me sitting in their cars watching all the unaware, inconsiderate or
just plain selfish dog owners with the dogs running around beach.

For anyone living in Waterford be aware that in the summer it is an offence to have your dog on the beach between the hours of 9am and 5pm. After these hours dogs should be kept on leads at all times.

Also The Control of Dogs Regulations 1998 (SO.I. No. 442 of 1998) states
that there are certain rules in relation to the following breeds (and
strains/cross-breeds) of dog in Ireland:

a.. American Pit Bull Terrier, English Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull
Terrier, Bull Mastiff, Dobermann Pinscher
b.. German Shepherd (Alsatian) , Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler ,
Japanese Akita, Japanese Tosa, Bandog
The rules state that:

a.. These dogs (or strains and crosses of them) must be kept on a short
strong lead by a person over 16 years who is capable of controlling them
b.. These dogs (or strains and crosses of them) must be muzzled whenever
they are in a public place
c.. These dogs (or strains and crosses of them) must wear a collar bearing
the name and address of their owner at all times.

People who are frightend of dogs never get to stand up to dog owners - they are to frightened of their dogs to do this. People who leave their dogs roam freely on beaches don't seem to really care about other people and seem to think they are entitled to do as they please.

I live by a beach and in the local elections the problem of people leaving their dogs of leads and ruining the enjoyment of walking on beaches was one of the biggest complaints heard by potential councillors even people who aren't afraid of dogs fed up of it.

Keep your dog on a lead when you are at the beach.

lrushe

I don't really walk my dogs on the beach because I find them too crowded and I like to let my dogs run off leash but I don't feel comfortable doing this at somewhere like the beach especially as one of my dogs is a restricted breed. I walk my dogs at a park and I keep them on leash while walking around the paths near people and restrict their off leash time to the outer, more deserted fields on the outskirts of the park. Two of my dogs are social and friendly but my Chihuahua doesn't like meeting other dogs so I find I have to pick her up if another dog approaches which can be a pain. I don't allow my dogs to approach strange people or dogs out of politeness, luckily my dogs are ball crazy so all I have to do is take out a tennis ball and their attention is completely on me

Tootle

I would agree with Sparkling sea. I know it's great for the dogs to be able to run around on the beach but if you are anyway scared if dogs, that prohibits you from enjoying the beach. Also Im a runner and there is nothing more annoying than a dog running after you and barking at your ankles. The worst offence I find though is dog poo. Can all you guys who take your dogs off the lead see them at all times, to make sure you clean up after them? This is also an offence in a public area.

morganafay

I'd be too scared to let my dogs off the lead. I let them off in the fields where I know there is nobody around, but if they saw a rabbit or a cat then two of them would chase it, and one of them is a bit bold and mightn't come back when called. So if I was in the park, I wouldn't trust them not to run off if they saw a cat or another dog. Also they'd run up to see any dog and get themselves attacked probably. Or they'd go see a kid and jump on them and get them muddy. My sister took them to the park one day and let them off the lead, I was so mad! They probably wouldn't even respond properly to her cos they only respond to me.

I don't mind if a dog is off the lead but really really well trained, and walking quietly next to its owner, but if it's running around alot then I'd get nervous. Not for myself but because my dogs have been attacked so many times by other dogs, and it was always unprovoked.


And even more importantly people need to keep their dogs locked in their gardens, not just going out on the road. My dogs have been attacked about a dozen times like this. One time I was walking a puppy so I crossed the road where I knew there was a vicious dog, and the dog ran out and got knocked down and had to be put down. One time I was walking the same puppy and a nice JRT puppy came out to play with my dog, and got killed by a car.