Do you put leashes on your dogs?

@mememama (3076)
United States
April 11, 2007 8:14am CST
I've seen people walking around my neighborhood without their dogs on a leash. Once a day I hear someone running and screaming "Butch (or another dogs name) get your butt out of the street you're going to get hit!" About 2 minutes ago, a woman was screaming expletives at her dog, she then warned him of the beating he was about to get. I just want to thank her since my son heard all of that :( I don't have a dog myself, so I don't know if it's that hard to put a dog on a leash or if some dogs don't like them. Do you have a leash on your dog? Do you trust your dog to be without one?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
11 Apr 07
My dog currently lives with my parents (4 kids, 1 on the way and my husband is deploying for 6 mos, so they asked to take her for awhile). But when I had her the only time she was ever without a leash outside was in my fenced backyard. I wouldn't trust her off a leash on a walk, because something might distract her, and she'd get hit, or lost and I'd feel terrible about that. And I think it's a responsible thing to do period.
2 people like this
@astromama (1221)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I have two and there are different rules for each... the beagle stays on the leash all the time, no exceptions. She is a great travelling dog and I had never had any problems with her running off until I took her to Ashland. We were hiking up Mount Ashland when she caught scent of something and decided to follow her nose... 5 hours later my husband found her, exhausted, over two miles away hiding under some brush! She had been chased by something large and scary... I'm thinking Mountain Lion or bear... and she had ran until her muscles gave out. She literally could not walk for the next three days, and I had been terrified I was never going to see her again! So, yeah, no off-leash priveleges for her anymore. The lab mix gets to be off leash in our front yard, which is not fenced, because we play fetch with her and she never goes in the street or does anything even remotely disobedient. During the afternoon walk she is on a leash, but if we go out for an evening stroll I just carry her leash with me and let her go. At this point in the evening there are NO cars and no people out, and she has so much energy that I prefer to let her run ahead. She runs down the block, then turns around when she gets to the street and runs back to us, then runs down the block again! I think off-leash training is great for dogs like her. She knows not to go in the road, ever, and we've established something I never could with my beagle. With the beagle, I would say no and her attitude was 'make me'. With the lab, I say no and she obeys. I trust her, but you always need to be mindful of other people's feeling about your dogs, so anytime we are around people or on day walks, it's the leash for her!
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@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
18 Apr 07
I have two dogs. They are on leashes anytime we are leaving our own yard. Our backyard is fenced in, so most of the time we just let them out there. If we are going somewhere in the car, we usually don't bother to put the leashes on the dogs, even though they have to walk across the front yard, which isn't fenced. They both go directly to the car or the house, whichever we tell them. From time to time, if we are out in the front we let the terrier come out with us without being on a leash. She listens really well to me, not always to my husband, though. The lab mix tends to try to get away if she isn't on a leash, though, so she has to stay in the house or on her leash when we are in the front yard. Our terrier does jump really high, though. She jumps the fence during the summer. Every kid in our neighborhood knows who she is and where she lives. I hear other people calling my dog and telling her to go home! We aren't allowed to put her on a chain in base housing, though. So there isn't much we can do, besides stay out there with her all the time. If she was a threat at all, we wouldn't let her out in the summer without us, but since she's not, it's generally not a big deal if she does get out. She comes back on her own and is really friendly to any people she comes in contact with. Since we have the baby, she's good with kids, too. And she's only about 20 lbs so she isn't scary even to a toddler.
• United States
11 Apr 07
I put leashes on both my dogs.. I dont trust them at all. In fear that they would run off..
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Apr 07
I always have my dog on a leash when we're out. She's real friendly and inquisitive. If she sees a stranger, she likes to run up to them and greet them and give them kisses. But they don't know that and might think she's a threat as she's a big dog. I don't want her running away from me and risk the chance of being hit by a car or for her to scare anyone. I think it's the responsible thing to do. The only time she's not on a leash when she's outside if she's in a fenced yard.
1 person likes this