And just try it with two dogs -

This is a valid and interesting discussion... I love my dog and enjoy taking him for a walk but he is trained to walk past people and not approach other dogs unless invited to by the owner.

I detest oter peoples dogs racing wildly towards us whilst the owner weakly calls out, 'come here (dog's name) over and over. When said dog finally throws itself at Max, which he hates and growls, the owner just laughs and says 'he's only playing'. Well Max doesn't want to play with him and should not be put in this position.

So many dog owners are not responsible and ought not to have them, it is totally antisocial.

There, that's my 2 penn'orth

There is nothing nicer than seeing a dog being able to run free - I agree you shouldn't do it where there are lots of young children playing.

As for comparing someone leaving their dog off the lead in a wide space to have a run with someone not clearing up after their dog, there's no comparison

It's quite sad really for the dog if all it ever knows is being restricted on lead when it goes out.

Sometimes it is for their own good - Duncan is allergic to grass and fear aggressive so for his own good and everyone else's we keep him on a lead. Mollie is odd, if she is on lead she pulls but unhitch her and let her off and she holds whatever you are wearing (skirt on me usually) in her teeth and refuses to leave our sides !

Given if there is good reason for it - then I totally agree;

One of mine, we can only let her off in the enclosed park opposite (only when it is empty) or on the beach - she's not aggressive - but she is bonkers (and not called the psycho midget for nothing )

Gosh how I hate the 'he's only playing' brigade

Yeah maybe, but my dogs aren't having fun!!!

Old Murphy takes pretty much everything (except humping) in his stride but you can sometimes see how p'ssed off he is at some overly boisterous dogs and the Cresties are only tiny so can get a tad concerned at big dogs rushing them.

In contrast, a well socialised dog with good doggy manners is always received well. They do that relaxed sniffing thing and then play bow or do that run away and turn thing. THAT is true 'only playing'. Anyone who has to say 'he's only playing' usually has a poorly socialised dog with bad manners.

Nonsense.

My dogs stay right by my side until they are told they can run off. Even then they would return immediately when called and most certainly do not bother other people or dogs.

This drives me crazy. I'm sure that most people's dogs are very gentle and very lovely - but that doesn't mean I want it 'playing' with me. You may love your dog, but I don't want him barking, licking or jumping up on me. And that 'he's just playing' is so annoying!

Entirely agree, well mannered dogs genuinely wanting to mutually play with other dogs, rather than use play as a snide way to score points (or worse), do not charge up with intense eye contact, try to hump, lean over, barge, stiffen, block, mouth hard before any introductions, paw smack, etc etc

Mind you the "he's never done that before" brigade are no better, especially when you have personally seen or experienced the selfsame dog doing it before

If my dogs are off lead I call them to heel if we pass anyone. Should the distraction potentially be too scarey for princess dog or too distracting for hooligan dog to be sure of off lead control, they go back on their leads.
Unfortunately yet again irresponsible and inconsiderate dog owners give us all a bad name.
However sometimes someone else's out-of-control dog suddenly appearing very fast from out of nowhere with no owner in sight can put paid to the best laid plans or management straetegies.
Likewise uncontrolled children rushing up to or chasing after dogs can cause problems for dog owners, even with well-behaved dogs, so it's not all one-sided.
Extending leads or long lines can be useful training aids in clear open spaces but imo shouldn't be used in busy areas due to the dangers to people, the dog itself or to other dogs of trips, rope burns or getting tied up in them, which can cause dogs to panic and become aggressive, and I have frequently seen dogs on these, including those who clearly have aggression problems, still being allowed to bother people or other dogs as they aren't pulled in when others are nearby. As this sometimes occurs on paths narrower than the length of the extended lead they can be impossible to avoid

I agree.

A well trained dog would ignore you completely.

There's a park in my town that leads to loads of fields, and everyone lets their dogs off the lead there. In fact I hardly ever see a dog that's still on the lead there. I personally don't have a problem with other dogs coming up to my dog, as my dog is very friendly and doesn't mind.
I remember once though I was coming out of the park with my dog, my friend and her dog. My dog Buster was on the lead but my friend's wasn't, and she saw a woman coming down the road wearing a really smart suit, and she ran and jumped up at her and left muddy paw prints on the woman's suit

Our local recreation ground has a fenced off childrens play area where dogs aren't allowed ~ so at least the children are safe from any out of control dogs (& vice versa!).

But the park is also next door to the Dogs Trust so unfortunately many of the dogs in kennels get walked there as it's the only open space near enough to the kennels. All DT dogs are on leads, flexis or longlines ~ never off lead. But many other dogs are off lead & not in the owner's control, whilst the owner is sitting on a bench having a nice chat with a friend, or immersed in texting someone, totally oblivious to the fact that their dog is causing havoc to a DT member of staff or volunteer dog walker.

I've nothing against off lead dogs & I like to think that dogs are given the chance to meet, greet & socialise with other members of their species ~ all normal doggy behaviour, provided that both dogs are happy with this.. But it still means that owners need to be vigilant, & know where their dog is & what it's doing all the time.

I rarely go to busy parks & playgrounds other than at 5.30 a.m. when it's just me, the dogs & a few dozen rabbits but if I had to, then the dogs have to be under my control. As I 've got one tennis ball obsessed dog & one food motivated dog, it's not hard to get them to recall on the odd occasion when there's something very exciting about to kick off! Most of the time they just mooch about collecting smells

But I also agree with StressMonkey about sharing these places with all users, including cyclists, footballers, walkers, children & sometimes kitesurfers. A bit of tolerance & a bit of thought for others can make it much nicer for everyone

cos some people are idiots i always have my dog on a lead when outside yet some idiot had his off a lead then it attacked mine he said it was normaly it was well behaved and never been agresive b4 just as well mine was insured for the vet bill when out in public they should be kept on a lead .

Being once a dog owner, sometimes we make accidents and our dogs get a bit hyper. One time my great dane jumped up at some random women in the park. It was quite embarrassing.

And may I also add: don't let your dog wonder around the street on its own.

Went to visit a friend on this one particular estate, parked car, opened door to get out, and in jumps this very friendly, very fat, very smelly Staffie thing - right into my footwell! I ended having to forcefully turf it out of the car. Thankfully, as I said, it was friendly. Though I did have to wash my hands about three times just to get rid of the unwashed dog smell.

I couldn't see any owner around anywhere, and it seemed to be spending its time happily ambling from one front garden to another. My friend who I was visiting said she's seen it quite often, sometimes with someone, often not.

I feel sorry for dogs like this. They obviously have owners that buy them as some sort of status symbol, yet can't be bothered to look after them; why make an effort to walk a dog when you can just push it out of the front door to wander around on its own for a few hours? Complete lack care when it comes to the dog's safety and those of the people it encounters.

I have a park very close by, in constant use daily, not least by dog owners.

Some on leads some not.

It has two fenced off play areas, plus a lot of humans doing their stuff, kite flyers, conker hunters, grass boarders, bike riders (steep hills).

I take my two dogs up there for their exercise. Sam has one of the most benign natures I've ever seen in a dog, unfussed by dogs or humans, if they call him or if dogs approach him he'll go with the flow, if growled at he'll steer clear, so he goes off the lead except when within 50 yards of the gates.

Fry on the other hand, is unpredictable with other dogs except Sam, so he's always on a lead. He's fine with people just other dogs.

Both can be recalled, and I do if they go within 10 yards of kids, because you never know how comfortable the kids are with dogs.

Loose dogs can be a concern with Fry the way he is, but I can't complain because Sam is loose, so it's up to me to be always aware of the situation and stop anything developing.

I've only had one complaint ever and that was rather bizarre, a guy raged at me because his loose dog stuck its nose in Fry's rear unexpectedly from behind me and Fry snapped at the dog. No harm, but he ranted all the same.

We've nearly been run down a couple of times by kids on bikes, and once a Husky/Wolf/Alsation nearly knocked me down but no harm done and it's the park after all.

Everyone has a responsibility to think about what they are doing in the shared area and take reasonable care. If Sam became a pest or a nuisance than I'd have to take more care and put him on a long lead.

Ugh yes! This is my pet peeve. (No pun intended! ) It's incredibly dangerous too. I don't care how well trained your dog is, they could still run out into the road and get hit by or a car or cause an accident.

A little extreme there I think.

There are plenty of places for dogs to be off lead.

I don't let my dog off lead in the park because he can be a little too excitable around peopl and I appreciate that other people don't want my hyper collie running up to them.

We found a great walking place through the woods and across a big field where we never see a soul, so he gets his off lead runs there with only the rabbits and an occasional deer to frighten. (he just tries to herd them)

My neighbour has two dogs who are never on leads and have absolutely no recall whatsoever. Every day I hear her shouting one or both of them to come back repeatedly, while they run up and down the street jumping at people and generally causing havoc. She won't be told though and just responds with 'but they only want to play' if anyone confronts her.

and please clear your dog's poop up on the beach!!!

Sorry just needed to vent!!

On the beach ? What beaches allow dogs on them any more ? Not that we take ours to the beach anyway because of the rubbish left behind by humans - nappies particularly offend me, they are dangerous too.

Dogs are allowed on our beach, as I mentioned earlier, place is swarming with them.

Never seen a nappy on the beach.

Every beach we used to visit now ban dogs - particularly so in the summer months. Nappies abandoned in the sand dunes and rubbish from take aways etc were what put us off the beaches we used to use, south coast mostly.

We've found that is if you come slightly out of the seaside resort there are parts of beaches that allow dogs, usually where there are no huts or ice cream outlets

Our dog loves to run on the beach, he barks at the waves coming in (we keep him on a long line though, as he runs in the sea and is so small we worry the tide might carry him out )we often take him for a long walk along a beach somewhere, especially in winter when a lot more beaches are open to dogs, but we have to be careful, the last beach we took him on, we nearly stepped in a load of hypodermic needles left by somebody ...thats not to mention all the tin cans, dirty nappies and remains of picnics and beach barbecues we have to avoid

Molliepops ~ the beaches near me on the south coast are open to dogs all year round (Shoreham-Lancing area just west of Brighton). Unfortunately the beaches are pebbly unless it's low tide when there's miles of sand for dogs to run around on. And they do tend to get a bit busy with swimmers & sunbathers on warm summer weekends, but evenings & early mornings at low tide are great times for dogs Plus we're near the mouth of the River Adur & there are lovely walks along the banks on both sides.

If ever you feel like a trip to the area, let me know & I can tell you about parking, walks, pubs etc.