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When should a dog be on a leash?

When should a dog be on a leash?


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MyOwnDrum

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I was curious how the membership here feels about dogs and leashes. There will be a poll attached.
 
I see a lot of dogs without leashes where I live. Though Colorado is extremely dog friendly, particularly Ft. Collins. I don't generally have a problem with it, if your dog listens well enough then so be it. However, I do think the owner is then 100% liable for any damage, injury, accident, etc. caused by the dog. Also...they damned well better pick it's poop off the ground.
 
When the dog and the owner share little common sense.

If the Dog is smarter than the human, which is normally the case, then the human should be leashed.
 
Oh...well if we're talking like MBAs...then they should always be on a leash.
 
MBAs?

Not entirely sure what that means.

I read an interesting article written by Malcolm Gladwell that says that the reason why two leashed dogs, while on walk with their humans, begin to bark and lunge at one another is because the dogs actually get the vibe from the opposing dog's owner.
Apparently, dogs can read human expressions better than chimpanzees. When the owner sees the other dog coming and starts to show any amount of panic about what their dog is going to do in passing, the opposing dog spots the discomfort and reacts accordingly.
 
MBAs?

Not entirely sure what that means.

It's a joke

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoDV0dhWPA"]YouTube- Fed Ex MBA Ad[/nomedia]
 
Depends. We live on a farm and have a fenced in 3/4 acre area for the dogs. The only time they are on a leash is when they are going to the vet.
 
I think outside the owner's property dogs should be leases. Just because someone thinks their dog is will trained does not mean it actually is.
 
My dogs are leashed if we are going to be walking where there is a lot of traffic, foot or otherwise. I generally don't leash them in leash free parks or any park for that matter unless it is posted that they have to be.

My two dogs are very well behaved, though. I've seen other dogs that should never be allowed off the leash. EVER. It depends on the dog.
 
Irresponsible pet owners are just about as irresponsible parents to human kids. Would you allow a human child to wonder and stray where they want? Risk them playing in Traffic? Of course not!

Keep your pets safe and while you are at it? Keep em off my damn lawn if they gonna dig in dirt while trying to plant stuff:(

Does anybody not watch the Dog Whisperer? Cesar Millan Rocks:)
 
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Are you talking about letting dogs run around the streets like cats? Because I don't like that...but if they are on a walk with the owner or playing fetch in the park they don't have to have a leash obviously.
 
I was curious how the membership here feels about dogs and leashes. There will be a poll attached.

A dog should always be on the leash when outside in public.

I dislike the dog owners who release their dangerous dogs in public streets and allow it to wander around without a collar assuming that everyone else are dog lovers and then say to you 'Its harmless, it won't hurt a fly' :roll:

I have no problem with approaching a member of public and reminding them it is illegal for the dog to be off the collar on a public street and can be fined up to a £1,000 for breaching dog control orders
 
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Be careful in your answers. We still haven't decided if we like you yet.

thorwild.jpg
 
I have no problem with approaching a member of public and reminding them it is illegal for the dog to be off the collar on a public street and can be fined up to a £1,000 for breaching dog control orders

That's retarded right there. Completely excessive. A couple hundred bucks at most...at most. 1000 pounds? That's just stupid.
 
It should be on a leash because any animal no matter how tame the owner claims it is, is a potential danger to people that the animal doesnt know.

And the owner is 100% liable, yes. But that's that, the owner can take the chance with the dog and if the dog acts out or does something wrong then they owner is in trouble for it. If you have a well behaved dog, then being off the leash isn't going to be a problem. I don't have a huge problem with dogs off leashes, most dogs are pretty alright around humans anyway. If your dog listens to you and is behaved enough to not need a leash, then I don't see it proper place for the government to say you have to have one. Ultimately, make the owner responsible for everything and you can regulate it that way.
 
That's retarded right there. Completely excessive. A couple hundred bucks at most...at most. 1000 pounds? That's just stupid.

That's the UK for you. How do you think they fund sting operations to pet shops to make sure they don't sell goldfish to minors?
 
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I answered from the perspective of a citified Chicagoan. In the country, I'm a lot more lenient about the need for leashes. In the city, the dog should always be on a leash when not fenced in on all sides.

City people don't train their dogs the same way, typically.
 
I'd say all dogs in moderately populated areas need to be on a leash, no matter how well trained. Dogs are animals and prone to do things unexpected, even the trained ones. If you're in an area that sees little human or canine traffic, unleashed is fine as long as the dogs are trained.
 
If I had a dog, I would have the dog on a leash whenever we went out. But I expect to live in fairly populated areas with well-driven roads nearby, not out in the middle of nowhere, at least that's what's most likely for the next 15 years or so. Now if we had a fenced in yard, I would certainly allow the dog free rein back there as long as he wasn't digging up the yard or trying to get out.
 
So the consensus is that we should take away Rev. Hellhound's talking privileges?
 
It should be on a leash because any animal no matter how tame the owner claims it is, is a potential danger to people that the animal doesnt know.

That's actually got a lot to do with how the dog was socialized when it was a puppy. My dogs were both constantly with us as puppies and around all kinds of people all the time. So much so that now I kinda think we might have messed up a little because neither of them has ever met a stranger. When out and about, both of them will just run up to a person and sit and look at them waiting to be pet.

The difference is when we are at home. They are very quick to get aggressive when someone comes to the door. One of the reasons we gave up our loft to move to a house was because they would growl and get restless when people just walked by our door in the hallway. I'm really not sure what we did to cause that behavior but it is much better now that we live in a house without all the traffic walking past our door all the time.

The only other "social" issue they have is that the little one cannot stand things with wheels like skateboards and bicycles. She is terrified of them. And a person in a wheelchair? Forget it. She's just confused and sets to howling.
 
I put mine on a leash whenever we're out because he's a little runner and does not obey me well. We're working on that, though. ;)

As for a general rule... I think it's fine if dogs aren't on a leash if they're well behaved. But, since you can't reasonably expect people to only let their behaved dogs off leash, it kind of becomes necessary to make it a general rule to keep them on leash except in designated areas.
 
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