At 'Its Not the Dog' we have a concern; let’s look at our Facebook feed for just the past 24 hours. We’ve seen humans injured by dogs, dogs injured by dogs, dogs lost, dogs chased into becoming lost. Without being melodramatic we think if we look hard enough we’ll also be able to add to that list; dogs injuring/killing wildlife and livestock, loose dogs being the cause of road accidents and in the news just this week there’s even been a community park in the South-East closed due to a uncontrollable family canine.
So What’s The law regarding the control of your dog?
"Out of control
Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:
injures someonemakes someone worried that it might injure them
A court could also decide that your dog is dangerously out of control if either of the following apply:
it attacks someone’s animalthe owner of an animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal" Souce www.gov.uk
Now we are dog trainers, that’s our job, and it’s the best job in the world. We’ve spent many delightful hours working on our dogs’ impulse control and recall abilities and yet we realise that we may not be in 100% control 100% of the time. How can we be 100% considering the other influencing factors (that aren’t in our control) in our environment?
We meet far too many owners whose dogs have been permanently scarred by inappropriate greetings from off lead dogs not to recognise this is a growing problem.
Now yes, at INTD, we do have secure dog fields, we do provide impulse control classes, we do provide recall workshops, that’s not what we’re trying to sell you - honestly! What we are trying to bring to peoples’ attention with this post is the absolute need for responsible dog owners to use the correct facilities and environments to let your dogs be dogs in a safe and happy and to not adversely affect the safety of the people, the dogs, or the livestock around you.
Please look for a reputable dog trainer in your area and make use of those invaluable secure dog fields. You'll thank us later!
Safe and secure dog exercise fields can be found at www.dogwalkingfields.co.uk