walking offlead in onlead areas..

kcolsey · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject: off-leash

I agree with what many of you have posted...off-leash with a watchful eye whenever possible. I feel fortunate to live in an area that there are many places to take dogs where they can be off-leash. I do my best to stick to those areas and even then, I call Gracie back when I see other people or dogs. She has gotten pretty good now though; she will usually come back on her own if she sees the people or dogs and waits for my permission to greet them. As we all know, weims need to run. If dogs are under voice control, I feel comfortable allowing them to roam off-leash, even if it means bending the rules a bit!

Pharaoh07 · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:17 pm Post subject:

Lily12481 · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject:

We have a private HOA park behind our house and since we don't have grass in our backyard (rocks) I take him for walks in the park. There are signs that specifically say "Keep dogs on leash at all times"... and if there are no dogs around, I let him off leash in the grass fields and we play chase. He loves it! Other people in our neighborhood do the same thing.. so unless some old hag who has nothing else better to do, I think everyone is ok with letting their dogs off (other people do it too). My dog is sooooooo lazy. He'd rather cuddle and sleep all day. Laughing

youhavenoidea · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject:

tltrooster · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:34 pm Post subject:

We have leash laws in effect in all of our parks. We have no dog parks
and the parks are owned by the city. Well the parks also have fenced in
baseball fields, which is an awesome place to run a dog offleash. Well
during the summer months the baseball fields are rented out to the Little
league organizations, and are locked up like a prison. Well it is October
and Champ and I went to the one across the street from where I live, and
of course the gates are still locked up. I pay taxes to use these parks, and I understand that these organizations spend alot of time working on
these fields, but if they are just sitting there, Whats UP??

On another note, there is a church that is about five blocks away that also
has a baseball field completely fenced in. Well I now take Champ over there. The church said they didnt have a problem with me running champ
as long as I clean up his poop, which I do. They are the nicest people, and they keep the grass cut and always come talk to me if they see me out there. When baseball season was going on, they let me know what their practice schedule was, and said the field was mine after practice.

Champ loves going there. We also walk on leash at the park, and there are alot of people that do walk their dogs offleash though, but I dont trust
Champ or the other dogs, so we stay on leash.

PamK · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:48 pm Post subject:

Derek is off leash all of the time. I have taught him to down and stay when anyone he doesn't know approaches. Ridley is mostly off leash. When we walk our normal routes he is off 100% of the time, he is just leashed when we go somewhere new.

They are both on e-collars all of the time. I always pick up their poo. I also know who in our neighborhood doesn't like dogs and I make sure to keep them away.

freespiritmom · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:01 pm Post subject:

I am lucky in this area, when I got married, my husband came with land. So my boys have a lot of room to run and play, they also have a tank for swimming, they just have to share with the cows and horses.
I am looking for a good place to go camping where we can take our boys, does anybody know any good places.

ange165 · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 11:25 pm Post subject:

Glad you guys let your dogs off lead and don't feel irresponsible either.. Once we are back on for walking I'll be letting her off and run around and do what she's gotta do. I just think how bored a dog would be to be constantly kept undercheck and not let off to explore and gain a bit of independance.

hoochmamas · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:22 am Post subject:

i was so scared to let hooch off lead when we got him, but boo was NEVER on a leash.. ever.. so cass was confident in giving hooch freedom, and confident that he would not stray.. he doesn't.
we take him off lead at the local soccer fields every day for frisbee and trail walking. we try to put him back on lead when other dogs are there, which is rare, or people.. but lately he doesn't listen and runs right over.. teenagers.. we are working on that.
there are also trails behind the fields that we take him to run around on.. he always checks back in.. we, too, hide behind trees and make him find us.

the park by our new house has a big no pets sign.. hoping if we bring him to run there after hours, the neighbors are cool.. we brought him once already but mean soccer people came.. didn't even say hello.. so we left.

i don't see the problem if you are responsible and clean up after your dog.. and your dog is not aggressive.

SirSilver · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:14 am Post subject:

We live in a suburban area where there are NO dog trails Shocked

but plenty of dog owners. Luckily we live across the street from a golf course - and Calvin can run there off-hours, off-leash, and all winter long. Of course I make sure that he's cleaned up after and I always always practice recall right away so he knows that I have treats and must be minded!! But if there's no one around...let that Weimy free!

waitingonmyweim · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject:

krisnkaipo · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject:

Wilson loves being off-leash as well. He is really good and keeps an eye on me. I have no problem with dogs being offleash in areas that are posted anything, if my dog has good recall, is well-behaved, non-threatening, and I pick up the poo i feel no guilt what so ever!

I can tell you, from the perspective of the environmental compliance, the dog poop is a big issue regarding not allowing dogs. Many people do not clean up after their dogs and studies have shown that dog poop (as does all poop) carries high levels of bacteria, so when it rains it gets washed into the creeks and lagoons where it contributes to a host of health problems for the water bodies.

I am the environmental planner for the local railroad and actually received a notice from one of the local cities regarding "illicit discharge". It was an e-mail with pics of dog poop attached. My reply, "then I will have to start citing people for trespassing". They were trying to threaten my organization because local people were allowing their dogs to walk on our property and were not picking up the poop. Please keep that in mind when you trespass......I looked the other way on the trespassers and unfortunately at a later site visit i stepped in poo Evil or Very Mad

makes property owners mad!

singsmom · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject:

Another reason alot of beaches don't let dogs on them either is because of irresponsible owners not picking up poo. I have witnessed it too and get mad they give us all a black eye. Most have garbage cans and bags available, what more could you ask!