Do you always keep your dog on a leash? (shepherds, biting, barks)

[bande1102]

Originally Posted by Dogmama50

A dog on a leash is not always a dog under control.

We had an 8 year old get dragged down our driveway by his Great Pyrenees "puppy" last week. The puppy wanted to visit my 2 dogs who were playing in the backyard, unleashed, my dogs were told to stay and they did until I told them it was ok to come up. The boy had a few scrapes but was fine.

You bring up an interesting point...dog on leash (under control) + adult or someone who can handle the dog. My dog (he was on his leash) was actually attacked by a German Shepherd who was being walked by a child who clearly wasn't able to control the dog.

In another incident, a child was walking a dog who broke free and ran into a road. Fortunately, we were able to get the dog b/f he was struck by a car.

[rural lady]

I can agree with dogs being on a leash if walking in a public area.

Dogs really do not bother me as I'm a dog lover, I've had some jump up on me friendly dogs, it doesn't bother me, I usually laugh but I know the owner does not have full control over their dog.

I have alot of land, my dogs are fenced in a large area.

If someone is going to come up to the fence on my property they should know better than to go near the fence, especially if they are leary of dogs.

Yes the dog will bark at you, the dog does not know you, you are on their turf, you're at your own risk if you put your finger thru the fence.

I keep any of my dogs on a leash if we go out and I must use one of the parks etc.

What irks me is when I take one of my dogs to the park and a child who is not being supervised by an adult comes running over to my dog and I jump between them to prevent an accident. The "I'm sorry" by the parent etc. does not go over well with me.

At times a parent will come up to me and ask if they or the child can pet the dog, I just say "No, its not a good idea"

When I take my dog to the vet, I hate it when other dog owners do not keep their dogs close by, while I do, I don't think its ok when your dog is near my dog and barking, friendly or not I don't think its cute.

When my dog is in my vehicle its their turf, make sure your child don't poke their hand or finger in the window, don't get mad at the dog for barking at you, apparently you are getting too close for comfort.

How I wish people would fence or bring their pets inside during the 4th of July or any of those loud noise events even with storms or the guns going off New Years Eve.

Dogs get scared & lost during these times, I usually see one traveling in the yard, I get the dog to come to me, give the dog some water & food and put the dog on a run I have outside the fence.

A neighbor had a dog who continually barked and was kept in an outside kennel this dog was about 1 1/2 years old, he needed room and needed to run and play, he needed attention. Somehow the dog got out one day and appeared here, playful as can be, I put the dog on the run, the dog broke the run, he was a larger dog and had so much energy he could never use.

About 6 months later I seen his picture for adoption at the animal shelter , I still think about that dog, of course the dogs owner now has a small dog, I think you all know what I would like to do to this person.

[grannynancy]

WE had an inicdent in our own neighborhood where a child was allowed to walk a dog agressive dog.

Not only did it get loose from the child, the dog knocked over a baby stroller with a baby in it. During the episode the other dog was torn up pretty badly. The baby was not hurt. The child walking the dog put himself in harms way to protect the baby ( but should never have been in that position)

Now of course the dog that was attacked is now skitterish and dog agressive......

[suei]

I haven't read all the posts but this is me with my dog. He is a SBT and unfortunately the breed has a bad reputation in the UK thanks to the media and young louts.

In the UK dogs should be kept on a leash on the public footpaths. Not many people are aware of this and walk their dogs off leads along public footpaths (side walks).

However I am aware of the fear and prejudice of the breed so I always walk my dog on a lead. Only when I am in a safe area (a field miles from anywhere) will I take him off the lead. If there is another dog on the field, I ensure both dogs are comfortable with each other and asked the other dog owner's permission to take my dog off the lead. I constantly monitor both dogs and so far touchwood everything has always been fine.

If I have any doubts about either dog I keep him on the lead. I use a flexi-lead so he still has a certain amount of freedom even on the lead.

I have taken my dog to obedience/training classes mainly for socialisation purposes from him being a puppy and he passed his grades. For me this is all part of being a responsible dog owner.

We have a large secure garden for him to play ball games and/or water games or just to run round in, if he wants to.

I walk for miles with him, I don't believe keeping him on the lead is detrimental to him, I don't believe a dog has to run free for the whole duration of a walk, running for hours and hours. Dogs in the wild don't, they wonder (walk) for miles and only run when chasing their quarry.

[mrs1885]

In public, always, period. At home there are a couple I can trust off leash because their recall skills are excellent. But I seldom ever let them out front anyway, and keep them all in the backyard in the fence. I'm not worried about them jumping on someone, I'm worried about them getting hit by a car or something.

[jodipper]

I know this is not going to be popular, but dogs should be in the house, in a fenced in area, or on a leash. No exceptions. I don't care how people feel about their property. A person with dementia or a lost child does not understand. A wild or loose dog does not understand. I don't even leave my dog alone when he is in the fenced in yard. I always thought that if person doesn't have time to be with their dog, they shouldn't have one.

[pekemom]

Caesar, the peke, will run off to greet everyone and anyone, man or beast, if he's not on a leash.
He has a harness with leash and also one of those mesh type harness things they advertise on TV.
I got it at Walmart (no shipping and handling fees) for under $10.
He's in the house most of the time (we're retired) and the back yard is grass with a patio, fenced.
He's never left outside if we aren't home, and even when we are home he doesn't like to be outside for
very long...

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by Ron.

The reason why I am asking is, twice in one month, a dog has ran up to me and jumped on me. Needless to say I was not happy at all. These were not lap dogs neither.

BOTH TIMES the owners gave me the.........."Oh, he won't bite'cha" reply.


And Both time I responded with...."that's a hell of away to catch a lawsuit if your dog bites someone"............neither one wanted to hear that.


I know people love their dogs and sometimes it seems they treat their dogs better than their own spouse but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

If you're in your yard with your dog, as the 2 people were, keep your dog close or at least grab your dog when people are passing by.

The first time the lady had the nerve to bend down and spank the dog while she was saying "How did you get off of your leash?"(like the dog could give a answer)............yeah right lady, he was never on a leash.

He did not have a leash hanging from his collar and she was standing next to him the entire time as I saw them from a far as I got closer.

The first time I was on my way to work and the second I was walking elsewhere.

I am neutral when I comes to animals.........but I would like to see people control their dogs.

Ron

Hi Ron
Owning a dog comes with huge responsibilities...and one of them is to always keep your dog on a leash or behind a fence. Our land is getting way to small, and to do otherwise, always intimidates the space of others. There are repsonsible dog owners, and there are irresponsible dog owners, and the people your describing here are unfortunately the later....I always keep my dog contained...however, accidents do happen, but these people are not doing what is right....

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by jodipper

I know this is not going to be popular, but dogs should be in the house, in a fenced in area, or on a leash. No exceptions. I don't care how people feel about their property. A person with dementia or a lost child does not understand. A wild or loose dog does not understand. I don't even leave my dog alone when he is in the fenced in yard. I always thought that if person doesn't have time to be with their dog, they shouldn't have one.

I totally agree...

My one neighbor lets hers loose, and the other one lives up by the road and lets her's loose??????? I've told her about when I was young, and had a beautiful dobie, we left him and his mother out...we lived on a farm, however, they must have got on a scent, deer or a rabit, and ran out on the road, he was killed. Ever since then, my dog is always contained, as they should be.

and while we're on the subject, what is it with people and those dog gone retractible leashes?????? I go to the vets, and have to hold my dog on my lap, b/c stupid people not only have those leashes, but allow they're dogs to go up to other strange dogs. My dog was sick, he was throwing up and had diarreah? I spoke to the vet about it and he said, "we hate those leashes, and try to encourage and educate people to contain they're dogs at they're sides at all time, but they don't. That is NOT a responsible dog owner.

common sense would tell you, when you go to the vets, keep your dog on a real leash, do not let the kids hold the dog, you hold the dog, and do not allow your dog to go up to other dogs, keep them contained...dogs are at the vet to either get shots, or b/c they are sick...use your heads....period....

[VACollegeStudent]

I haven’t read all the post, but I think there should be a law that requires all pet owners to have their dog on a leash! If you don’t have your dog on a leash and he runs up to me growling I am going to start running just my reaction. I don’t know where my fear of dogs came from but I have one, my pet peeve is when someone has a dog that is big and its barking at me and there like "oh don’t worry that’s just how he says hi" or "he is just growling because he wants you to pet him" I don’t care why he is growling or barking its loud and scares me! Recently a women in Old Town Alexandria was walking and started taking her dog off the leash, I froze then like always when I see a dog looked around for possible escape routes. Then she proceeded to take the leash off and her dog charged in my direction! I freaked and just stood there, knowing that many books say dogs can "feel" fear, the dog kept coming and then stopped at a tree to pee! Now I don’t care if I walked over to that women and told her how afraid I was and that I wanted to hurt her, she felt that it was okay to let her dog off the leash and why should I waste my breath trying to tell her any different. My roommate is adopting a dog this Sunday and maybe this will help me get over my fear of dogs, its parallelizing when I go over to a friend’s house and their dogs are barking, growling, and scratching at the door. I ALAWAYS think it means they want to attack me, so please if you feel YOU want to walk your dog without a leash do so in your own private property! I am working on this fear but ever since I was a kid have had it (I swear something must have happened, like a dog tried to attack me when I was younger) this is why you should walk with a leash because it’s a common curiosity to others, and not like you should hold the door for females if you’re a male, more like you should eat with your fork not hands more common sense ya know! So to wrap this up if you want to walk your dog without a leash and he comes charging at me don’t be angry if I kick him in the nose ( I would only do that if I knew or strongly thought the dog was going to attack me) because it’s your pet and you know him but I don’t!