Wednesday 2 January 2019

Off Leash Dogs....Grrrrr

I think dogs running off leash is SUPER important to their mental AND physical health.
(So why do I get so angry with off-leash dogs?)

I LOVE having my dogs off leash. I hike with them off leash nearly every day. I love to see them running and playing, and I think that sort of unstructured play is really important for dogs. So, what’s the downside? WAY too often “off leash” gets translated into “zero control”. Unless you are one of those lucky people who have tons of land on which to let your dogs play, if your pooch is off leash then you need to be aware of people around you.

What about off leash parks?
As a sweeping generalization, I am not a fan. There are exceptions to this, some parks are set up very well and have a great group of people and dogs….but many are not. People bring their unruly dogs there, unsnap their leash (that is, if they even ARE leashed, many just let them explode out of their cars and hope they end up in the park) and voila – their work as an owner is done. Urgh. Erm….no. 

First, any dog who is off leash needs to have a good, solid recall. Are any dogs likely to be 100% reliable? Honestly, no. They are dogs. There will almost always be something that could trump you. For some dogs this may be a squirrel, for others, it will be a dog, for mine, it is inevitably something truly putrid that is rotting on the ground that MUST BE ROLLED IN. Still, if your pooch is not nearly 100% reliable PLEASE do not let them off leash. It isn’t safe for them, and it isn’t safe for the people, kids, and dogs around you.

Many dogs do NOT have appropriate social skills. They are bullies, at best, or aggressive, at worst. Dog park fights are terribly common and can be tragic. Do not put your dog at risk. Playtime with other dogs can be great, so find some friends with dogs, or seek out people from a training class, or meet up with people from online dog groups for controlled, supervised play sessions. It really is not reasonable to expect your dog to like every other dog they meet or to expect every other dog to like your dog. We aren’t like that with other humans, why do we expect it with our dogs?

Please, please, please if you have your dog off leash in a non-off leash park, have them under control. There are lots of “grey” areas where people go to run their dogs (conservation areas, provincial parks, etc) that can be tons of fun for an off-leash adventure, but you are sharing this space with other people. I frequently run my dogs, sled-dog style, with my bike, scooter, or sled. They are “joring”, wearing pulling harnesses and connected to the front and pulling me along. This is awesome exercise for them with the added bonus of respecting leash laws…but it can be catastrophic when we run into off leash dogs. The BEST scenario is me stopping and the owner with the off-leash dogs getting their dogs back and holding or leashing them as I pass. This happens about 5 % of the time. The other 95% of the time I stop, hold my dogs while a strange dog approaches, often growling at us . In these scenarios, the owner is usually calling them “fluffy, come on fluffy, here fluffy” with absolutely zero impact on the dog. I start with a firm, but friendly “Please call your dog”, followed up with some firmer, less friendly phrases when nothing happens. Why don’t I want these random off-leash dogs approaching?


   1)      My dogs are in harness and tied to my bike/sled/scooter. They are working, this is not play time. They LOVE pulling (there is really no way to convince a dog to pull if they don’t enjoy it), and they also get TONS of play time, but this is not it.
   2)      Whilst in harness they are physically incapable of playing. Think about how quickly dogs on leash can get tangled. Now picture two dogs, in harness, with two leads, plus a line to the bike, plus a line tying them together – and imagine that tangle. Dangerous!
   3)      Your dog might not be friendly. You may be yelling “It’s ok, he’s friendly”, but so did every owner whose dog has attacked mine in the past. Dogs do not always react how we expect them to. Your dog may very well be friendly most of the time, but that may change when he is presented with my two ramped up, screaming Dalmatians 😊.
   4)      Which brings me too….my dogs are not friendly in harness. They are very friendly off-leash and have lots of doggie friends. They meet stranger doggos off leash with no issues. But in harness they are snarling monsters. They are excited about their run, they don’t want to be held still (which I am doing to manage the dog charging up to us), and they have the frustration of being restrained. They are NOT going to greet your dog nicely. Which may make your normally friendly dog NOT friendly. And now I have a tangle of fighting dogs.
    5)      It’s dangerous for me. I am constantly scanning trails (and run my dogs where other dogs are, in theory, only allowed on leash), but if I come around a corner and there is an off-leash dog, or one comes up behind me, my safety is in peril. My well-controlled run can turn into a nightmare. Fellow mushers have had serious injuries as a result of off-leash
/out of control dog encounters


So, let’s all get along 😊. We are sharing these spaces, let’s look out for each other. If in doubt, call and leash your dog. If it is someone who wants your dog to play, you can always release them, but not everyone appreciates your off-leash dog. For their safety, for other dog’s safety, for other people’s safety, for my safety, please keep your dogs under control.