OFF LEASH DOGS

This Weekend’s Doggone Discussion: OFF LEASH DOGS

This is a post from 2022 published on our Facebook Page.

TRIGGER WARNING: mention of putting dogs to sleep and dog attacks … I’ve also been very firm with the wording here, because this needs to be said.

Giving your dog an opportunity to run in a big open space is excellent. Fetch, exploring, experiencing scents, sights and sounds … all healthy things for your pooch. HOWEVER, you need to be able to have confidence that you can recall your dog 100%, all the time, every time, before you do this off-leash. This is actually FOR YOUR DOG’S SAFETY, as well as THE SAFETY OF OTHER DOGS.

There are many dogs out there who are beautiful, loving dogs towards humans and their owners, and have a great life as beloved pets with their family, but don’t cope with other dogs. They might not cope with other dogs for a variety of reasons: fear/anxiety, health issues, a previous attack, abuse from a previous owner, chronic pain… the list can be endless. And it’s NEVER the dog’s choice to be like this.

The only TRUE choice is how we as humans put our dogs and other people’s dogs in certain situations. We as humans are the responsible ones, not our dog, and not another person’s dog.

Too many times, I have been working with a dog who is learning to trust humans and listen to them first over the inner voice of their traumas, and too many times, has someone just allowed their dog to “run up”, totally uncontrolled off-leash to “say hello”.

The result of this is often the dog I’m working with reacting, panicking, and using “dog language” to tell the other dog to “GO AWAY!!” … this involves growling, lunging, barking, and bearing teeth. It also results in me shouting “RECALL AND LEASH YOUR DOG.” 90% of the time, the owner will not be able to recall their dog (“chasey” ensues!) and then, in a very disappointing number of these incidents, they will try to claim that the dog I’m working with is “a dangerous dog”.

No. I’m not having this anymore.

Humans and their blazé treatment of animals who are helpless to our carelessness are the dangerous ones.

If you are claiming “but my dog’s friendly!” , YOU are the dangerous one, to this poor dog I’m holding on a leash who is unable to cope with your untrained dog, and can’t speak for themselves. The council won’t put humans down for our irresponsible pet ownership, the dogs are the ones who suffer the worst consequences.

There are excellent spaces provided for you to go if you want your dog to be off leash and they’re still learning recall. Dog parks are available to you for this. Similarly, it’s a great idea to have a long line leash to allow your dog this opportunity for a bit of freedom, but maintain control and safety.

If we could all have a bit of consideration, awareness and consciousness behind the care of our dogs and the respect for the space of others, we would prevent a great deal of bites, a great deal of doggy deaths and a large number of heartbroken families.