[Roloni]

Walking my dog without a leash..
Kinda scary at first..
We walked around the neighborhood today without a leash. I was extremely leary of doing this. She behaved perfectly as if the leash was still there.

I felt very uncomfortable walking her without a leash.

I see a lot of people walking their dogs without leashes ...I didnt like doing it.
perhaps im an over protective control freak?

 

[EdDTS]

It's a good skill for her to know, in case a leash ever breaks or some sort of accident happens where the collar comes off.
If she has a great recall you have nothing to worry about. I remember walking dogs off leash for the first time is always a scary experience, even though I've been doing it for a while now, once you gain some trust with them, you'll practically want to walk them off leash all the time.
Don't force yourself to walk without the leash, if you feel uncomfortable don't do it, it's just negative energy sent to the dog, and then you've got a dog thinking walking without a leash is a bad thing.
Be proud of your dog, not many dogs actually get the chance to walk off leash because most owners can't even teach them to walk on a leash.

 

[Gally]

I am always amazed when I see people walk their dogs off leash in my neighbourhood. It's not too common here luckily. The ones I do see offleash are not particularly well behaved and the owners often have to chase after them when they decide to run off after a cat. It's illegal to walk a dog off leash outside of designated dog parks here with a $2,000 fine, but I do live in a rather large city.

If I lived in a rural area I might not find it so strange. My dog is actually very well behaved off leash and has good recall but I would never consider it where I live even if it wasn't illegal because of the amount of traffic and busyness of the neighbourhood (construction sites, public transit, lots of coming and going) so there are just too many variables.

 

[Pekinchick]

It's illegal to walk dogs without a leash here.... So when I see a dog off leash, I feel the owners being irresponsible. Unleashed dogs have run in front of my car one too many times. I think I would have a heart attack if I tried it myself lol

 

[Keechak]

Leashes are not required in my town but if I am walking in an area close to roads I will have my dogs leashed, if walking in the woods or fields then I will often take them off.

 

[Kayota]

My dog doesn't heel off leash but she has a good recall so occasionally late at night I let her off leash a bit near my house.

 

[+two]

There are few things that get me nervous more than seeing a dog off leash in my neighborhood. I live in a city and there are enough people that get hit by cars/transit that it isn't rocket science to know to keep your dog leashed. In the parks and open spaces I don't really have a problem with it so long as the dog stays away from mine. I once saw a guy walking his GSP across 6 lanes of traffic and I wanted to stop and yell at him. It just makes me nervous.

 

[lil_fuzzy]

If it makes you uncomfortable, don't do it. No reason to.

I walk my dogs off leash in a nearby bush area, and sometimes as we come out of the bush area I leave them off leash for a little while because that road is really quiet. They wander ahead of me sniffing stuff. I put the leash on any time we're close to a road though, and if they're off leash near a quiet road and there is a car coming, I call them over and have them sit while it goes past, just in case. There was one time they were on leash and we had stopped so they could sniff something. It was really quiet and late at night and I had toyed with letting them off because it meant not stopping with them so much, but I didn't do it. Anyway, we were standing there sniffing the pole and a car came past. Just as it passed us there was some noise from somewhere that made the dogs jump, and if they hadn't been on leash, Pixie would have jumped right in front of the car. So even when they're just sniffing stuff and they're calm, and it's really quiet, it's still safer to have them on leash than off.

 

[kafkabeetle]

Walking my dog around our area off leash would scare the crap out of me.

 

[winniec777]

Trust your instincts. You're uncomfortable for a reason. Is there some benefit you're getting from walking her off leash that is more important than her safety? Sorry. I have no middle ground on this. Leash the dog unless you're in an area where she can take off without fear of trouble.

 

[Roloni]

Trust your instincts. You're uncomfortable for a reason. Is there some benefit you're getting from walking her off leash that is more important than her safety? Sorry. I have no middle ground on this. Leash the dog unless you're in an area where she can take off without fear of trouble.

I really didnt feel comfortable walking her unleashed...
(Despite the fact that she behaved perfectly while walking unleashed) , I wont be doing it again.
Its too risky .
So instead...
Today I walked her on a very long leash..and we liked it.
The leash was slack through our walk , like it wasnt even there. She had the freedom to walk around as if there was no leash , and I felt a lot better knowing there was a leash.

Roxxy got the feeling of Freedom to walk about...
I felt secure knowing I was always in control ...


and the people in my neighborhood probably feel a lot better knowing that Im not walking a Rottweiler around without a leash.

 

[Loki Love]

and the people in my neighborhood probably feel a lot better knowing that Im not walking a Rottweiler around without a leash.

Are you legally allowed to walk your dog off-leash in your neighbourhood?

 

[Roloni]

Are you legally allowed to walk your dog off-leash in your neighbourhood?

I live in NY State.
We dont have Neighborhood Laws...
We have State Laws and County Laws.
Basically...Its illegal to do just about anything here...
No matter what you do ..there is a law that doest allow you to do it.

 

[Loki Love]

I live in NY State.
We dont have Neighborhood Laws...
We have State Laws and County Laws.
Basically...Its illegal to do just about anything here...
No matter what you do ..there is a law that doest allow you to do it.

So does that mean you aren't allowed to walk your dog off-leash in your neighbourhood? I'm having a hard time understanding your response.

 

[wvasko]

Sounds like it was a bucket list action and now that it's done not needed in future. (I hope) cause nothing in the dog stuff is 100% whether it's recalls or off lead heeling etc etc.

 

[winniec777]

Today I walked her on a very long leash..and we liked it.

We've used a long leash with Poca since she was a pup. Ranges from 30 ft to 60 ft or more. It works really well and gives me a chance to let her run without worrying that I'll lose her to a bunny chase, etc. It takes a bit of practice to get used to letting the lead out and reeling it back in without getting all tangled. And I always have to be prepared for a dog that might bolt when she's XX feet from me. I keep her lead double wrapped around my wrist/arm. Probably asking for a broken bone or two, but I haven't had trouble with it for 6.5 years, so it's working so far. And I can usually stop her bolt with a "Stop!" or "This way!" command.

The lead is short when we're near a road and let out when we hit an open area. The one real downside about using it is needing to have a solid "leave it" since she'll pick up lots of stuff I really don't want her to have if I let her, e.g. chicken bones, deer poop, etc. So I have to keep a sharp eye out for garbage and such along the way.

But like you, we've been really happy about using it. I think it makes her walks more interesting and enjoyable.

 

[JulieK1967]

Walking my dog around our area off leash would scare the crap out of me.

Me, too. Molly's prey drive is too strong to let her off leash. She'd take off after a critter in a flash & she's so fast, I'd never catch her. I'm afraid to let her off her lead at the beach & there's really no where to go, LOL! I just got a 20' leash to work on recall just in case.

 

[Roloni]

So does that mean you aren't allowed to walk your dog off-leash in your neighbourhood? I'm having a hard time understanding your response.

Its very easy to understand..
Where I live there is a law against doing just about anything.

We cant walk our dogs unleashed...
and also...
The leash has to be 6 feet or less in length.

 

[Loki Love]

We cant walk our dogs unleashed...
and also...
The leash has to be 6 feet or less in length.

Ah.. well, that does make sense then. I guess I don't understand why you'd walk your dog unleashed if it was not even legal to begin with then. Ah well - at least you didn't enjoy it so you won't be doing it again.

 

[Roloni]

Ah.. well, that does make sense then. I guess I don't understand why you'd walk your dog unleashed if it was not even legal to begin with then. Ah well - at least you didn't enjoy it so you won't be doing it again.

Yes....
I always try my best to be the perfect dog owner..I must try harder to obey the many laws ...
Soon it may be illegal to own some breeds of dogs in my county and I may have to kill her.....
Ah well...at least she was a great dog while she lasted.