Worry-free walkies!

Hello readers! We hope you enjoyed your Bank Holiday weekend as much as we did. Lots of long dog walks were had by our Education Officers and their canine pals in the wind, rain, and shine! While out walking some of us noticed some dogs out and about off lead, and so we thought that on today's blog we would talk about our responsibility as dog owners to keep our dogs under control whilst out on our twice daily walks.

 

 

There are lots of common sense reasons to keep your dogs on leads when out and about such as:

• Preventing them running off and getting lost. Dogs have much better hearing and long distance eyesight than us, and so may run off after something we haven't even noticed!
• Stop them from getting into an accident. This is especially important if you are walking your dog near a road. Some dogs aren't very car smart.
• Stop them from causing an accident. Dogs on the road could cause car accidents as people do their best to avoid the hitting the dog.
• Making sure that they aren't running up to strangers- remember, some people are afraid of dogs and even if yours is super friendly, having a strange dog approach them would be very frightening for some people.
• Making sure they aren't approaching other dogs who may be nervous/frightened. Just like people, some dogs can be frightened of strange dogs and so if approached may growl and snap at your dog. We don't want to stress out any dog and keeping your dog on a lead will help prevent this.
• Making sure that they aren't picking up and eating something that they shouldn't. If he does you might end up with an ill dog, and a big vet bill!

'Okay, I'm on my lead, now lets walk!'
Finn - one of the very special residents in Dogs Trust Dublin looking for his forever home.
(click his name to find out more about him!) 

It's also part of the law surrounding dog ownership:

Your dog must be accompanied by and be under your effective control or the control of another responsible person if it is outside your home or premises or the home or premises of the person in charge of it.

Effective control for lots of dogs means being kept on a lead, and in some places, local by-laws insist on dogs being kept on leads in certain places for some of the reasons listed above. As well as being unsafe for your dog and sometimes the public, if your dog not under 'effective control' when out and about then you can face an on the spot fine!

 

If you want your dog to get some much needed off lead exercise, then choose enclosed spaces where your dog is unable to get out near a road, and places where dogs are often exercised (like a dog park) so that the people there are all aware that dogs are often present and off lead. Make sure your dog is well socialised with other dogs and people, and train them to come back to you when called (recall).

 

All these suggestions will help keep our beloved pooches safe and secure and allow them to run around to their hearts content without the worry of what might occur!

 

*Remember- when out in public, the law requires your dog to wear some form of ID, such as a collar with an ID tag attached.