Please call your dog

But you are missing the point - he comes back at recall if necessary he does not need to be on the lead. In fact he generally finds people boring, unless it is a family member which sends him into raptures. he is only ever interested in speaking to their dogs.

You simply can’t generalise, and to deny a dog one of his joys of running with the wind, swimming in the river, simply being, is cruel.

Thinking about it, and this will bring out those who love a fight, but as long as my dog is under control I cannot be responsible for peoples phobias or fear of dogs. Nothing my dog has ever done has frightened anyone, and I will not curb his joy of life, when he is utterly blameless.

It really is not a fear or a phobia. I just do not want all that goes with dogs - the licking, the slobbering, the jumping up etc. Why should this be forced on me?

I am sure your dog is well trained and under control. Sadly that seems a bit of a rarity just now.

But are you saying therefore that because you don’t like what comes with dogs , my dog should remain at all times on the lead? I simply think it s an overreaction.

As one who is afraid of dogs I will repeat that I fully understand dogs need to run and play. There is a field and woods near where I live, I know dogs are off lead there (although not an official dog area) so I avoid going there. All I ask is that dog owners keep their dogs on lead whilst taking them to that area (past my house). I have had dog owners allowing their animals to come into my garden and use it as a toilet, the owners merely walking on and making no attempt to pick up. If the dogs were on leads that would not happen.

I guess if lots of dog owners don't control their dogs and the dogs attack people, it will come to that white wave. The well behaved dogs and responsible owners suffering for those who are not.
I do regard rounding on someone, snarling, threatening, jumping up, scratching and damaging clothes as an attack as well as biting. Any physical contact that a person doesn't want in fact. It would be if a human did it!

When my DS was little (early 1980s), he was extremely allergic to cat, dog & horse hair and dog saliva, any contact at all would result in big blisters on his skin where he'd been touched and he'd have to be rushed to the GP for antihistamine injections. One day I was pushing him in his pushchair, when a large Airedale terrier ran up to him, licked his face and ran on. The dog meant him no harm and was in no way vicious or uncontrollable; it was just being friendly to a small child. But the panic of having to run, as fast as I could to the GP surgery, with a 2 year old who's nose and mouth was swelling up, was very scary. He's still allergic to this day but he still strokes animals and has to use an epi pen to reduce the swelling!

I am beginning to wonder if it is the part of the country other people live. It isn’t honestly an issue that I’ve come across, or if it exists it must be a tiny minority?

We were in Somerset recently for a late Autumn break, and I have never seen so many dogs, but was also struck by how welcome they all were , it was a pleasure.

I regularly walk around our village for exercise and there are now lanes where I won't go for fear of coming across dogs, of which there seem to be increasing numbers. Even the ones on leads are not necessarily under control, especially if the dog is large and the owner is small. Many times dogs have jumped up, scaring the wits out of me and pulling threads on my clothes or scratching my legs. If I have to pass a dog on a lead I always smile briefly at the owner but ignore the dog and pass the pair of them as quickly as I can. As I approached one man down a local lane with a dog running loose he shouted at me to 'stay well out of the way - he's not friendly'. I just froze and luckily the dog ignored me but it could have been different. Sorry dog lovers - rant over.

It is not you who should apologise NotTooOld.

whitewave, your dog is obviously well trained and a pleasure to know for you and your family and friends, and of course he should be free to run around in appropriate places, just as all our DGC should.

We have noticed when out running that you can quite often predict if a dog is going to be a problem by the body language of the owner. A confident owner, who knows her dog will come when called, even when off the lead, is quite different from the timid one who struggles to pull her dog in and looks as if she is going to have to let go of the lead and let it come and 'be friendly'.

when thank you. We always start from day 1. When they are pups they remain on the lead and trained to “sit” as people walk by. We always request that they are ignored as people find it very difficult to ignore adorable pups. This continues until we can initially be satisfied that the pup / young dog understands that humans unknown to them are boring and will provide no stimulation. Finally they can remain off the lead when passing people as the dog will hardly glance at the person even if in my current dogs case they speak to him ,, he might give them a wag but that is all. If someone looks nervous he goes onto the lead.

Family entirely different he can jump wag and lick and have fun to his hearts content.

But don’t take the joy out of his life by restricting his natural need to run, and swim and enjoy a level of freedom he’s worked so hard to achieve.

I dislike anthropomorphism and in addition would never put a dog’s right (?) to enjoy themselves over and above my ( and others ) rights to walk safely about our streets and parks without fear of being sniffed at, slobbered over, and even worse knocked over or bitten. If anyone wants a dog to be free to run and frolic and swim etc etc then take them somewhere isolated or buy a country estate.

I can't afford a country estate. I assume you don't have dogs maryeliza54, I do and can assure you they love running free and swimming. they do not jump up at strangers, they ignore people on our walks and come when they're called.
I've complained here about so called professional dog walkers walking several dogs off lead but I have never had one of those dogs , or indeed any other strange/random dog, jumps at me, sniffing and slobbering and I've never been knocked over or bitten.
Do we live in different countries.

I don’t actually care what anyone says on here about how well their particular dogs behave. I and many others have felt scared and threatened by badly controlled dogs and that is our truth and our reality. Or are you saying we are making this up? Lucky you to live in an area with such perfect dogs and owners.

And that’s before I get started on the yapping barking dogs that ruin a peaceful evening in the garden or wake you up in the middle of the night

Crikey maryeliza you hate dogs then ? Are you saying that those of us who are responsible dog owners, whose dogs are well trained and who do clear up after are making it up ?

I think if we’re honest there are good and bad dog owners you cannot seriously tar us all with the same brush?

"Professional" dog-walkers who have no idea how to control their charges or clear up after them are a menace. Can just anyone set up to go around with several dogs that don't actually belong to them or do they need a licence and training? Managing a couple of family dogs doesn't necessarily prepare anyone for managing a dog-pack, which is what a group of dogs running free without a human they all recognise as the leader soon becomes.
This report was in the news just today.

I've often wondered about those 'professional' dog walkers. They are often seen in this neck of the woods, sometimes one young woman with up to six dogs on leads. What do they do if one dog decides to run off and the others follow? I've heard it is quite well paid, something like £10 an hour per dog, so six dogs equals £60 an hour.

Apparently The Control of Dogs Act 2010 allowed local authorities to set the limits to numbers or if leads required or to ban dogs from specific areas eg childrens playgrounds.

A limit of four dogs seems common, but it varies. Anyone who worries about walkers with numbers more than that can find out their local by-laws and report them if they are over the limit, or don't have them under control. A photograph would be a good idea, as proof.

If they have brought them to a walking area in a car or van, take their licence number.

Nana you should have read the post I was responding to - there was a very clear implication in it that those of us attacked or sniffed at or knocked over by dogs were making it up. We are not - there are truly dreadful dog owners out there - people are bitten and even killed every year. Most dog owners are responsible but that doesn’t take away the truth of the badly behaved dog and the cavalier attitude of owners who think public spaces are for their dogs benefit only and that there dogs are ‘only being friendly’ or they ‘don’t bite’.

Our local council has a limit of 6 dogs under the control of one handler. That's too many. Guide Dogs only allow their handlers to walk four on lead dogs at any time. Too often recently, I'll meet up with two dog walkers from the same company, with several dogs each, all off lead. The dogs become an unstable pack. They don't know each other and become over excited, barking and racing up to any dogs they meet. One of my dogs can react to this by running and barking in an attempt to scare the other dogs away. It doesn't of course and the risk is that a fight may take place. My fearful dog has never been in a fight and I don't want him to. I have found these two in particular, to be rude and careless about the impact of their dozen off lead dogs on other people and dogs. Additionally, its impossible to clean up after 12 off lead dogs, you can't know where they have left their pooh.
Phone calls to our dog warden have been ineffective.
If my post was the one that irritated maryeliza I wonder why some posters get to very angry. I have made negative comments about irresponsible dog owners and so called professional dog walkers several times. I simply made the point that despite negative experiences like the ones listed here, I have been fortunate in simply walking through the packs of 12 off lead out of control dogs, my own dogs on lead and breathed a sigh of relief that a major dog fight didn't break out.

You made the sarcastic comment about living in different countries - your post therefore clearly implied that we were making it up. You could just have left it that you never had any problems - that would have sounded different.

Why has there been such a growth in ‘professional’ dog walking services?