Monday Myth: My dog is friendly so he will be OK off lead doing his own thing Dog and people friendly dogs are a joy to own – if you are a proud owner of one you know how lovely it is to walk them out and about, without worrying that he will aggress towards someone or scare them with his barking. Walking a friendly dog is a relaxing and pleasant activity. However, owning a friendly dog should not mean that the owner of such dog does not have responsibilities. Unfortunately, a friendly dog does not always equate to a well behaved dog – too often dogs that love everything and everybody show their enthusiasm for making new friends a bit too much, and they scare others in the process. Ever been jumped on by an over exuberant, muddy dog while his owner was miles away and unable to do anything about it as their dog didn’t have any recall? That’s exactly a situation which, owning a friendly dog, you should try and avoid. We all know not everyone, either human or canine, likes dogs and so being targeted by a friendly individual might not be something these individuals will appreciate. Therefore owning a friendly dog does not remove the responsibility for having him under control – i.e. on lead or able to be called away in any situation. Not only will this approach prevent problems such as aggression showed towards the friendly dog by another, not so friendly dog which was targeted by the friendly dog, but also a child or an elderly person being knocked over or someone’s clothes being covered in mud or them getting scratched. And it is not only good manners to keep a dog under control – it is also required by the law. No matter how friendly a dog is, if someone feels threatened or frightened by his behaviour – the owner can be liable. The dog does not have to be big or of any specific breed either, and his behaviour can be thoroughly friendly in his owner’s eyes (such as excitable jumping up) – for someone who is afraid of dogs, this does not matter as they will probably panic even if the dog starts as much as running in their direction. And if that doesn’t convince you, it is also worth remembering that even the friendliest of dogs chase squirrels and cats, and can in the process end up in the middle of the road, causing a traffic accident and getting injured themselves. Not only will this mean a vet bill for the owner, but the dog running into the middle of the road because the owner had no control over him causes a dangerous situation and so the owner can be liable under the Road Traffic Act. To sum up, owning a lovely friendly dog does not give the owner the green light to let him off the lead and stop paying attention to what he is doing. Friendly dogs can and do get in trouble, and sometimes make other dog owners’ (and non-owners’) life really difficult. So let’s try and make sure everyone can use public spaces and enjoy them by having all our dogs, the friendly ones and the not-so-friendly ones, under control at all times. Written by the team at Pets in Practise, where positivity and determination, works!
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 06:42:35 +0000
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