Yesterday I cycled to the 40 foot and watched – frankly amazed– at people swimming in the freezing cold water. Clearly they are made of sterner stuff than me ( also, I have not quite developed the ass callous required for cycling over 20 miles and am ouch today. Too much information? Sorry.). Anyhoo, I cycled out via Sandymount and Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire and noticed amongst other things of course, the large variety of dogs trundling along with their owners or playing fetch. At that time I knew little about the hoo-ha coming down the pike with regards dog freedom to do just that.
It’s bad enough that this stupid country has a restricted breed list, where by entirely blameless animals must be muzzled and permanently leashed in public, but now the DLR ( Dun Laoghaire Rathdown) Council want to make sure all dogs are leashed at all times and indeed banned in toto from pubic beaches during certain times of the years.
Dogs Unleashed are holding a meeting/debate about it on the 22nd of January in Killiney Castle, hosted by David McWilliams, who is aghast at the fines imposed and the stupidly regressive nature of councils against sensible dog ownership.
Dogs are social creatures with social habits, they have a language all of their own, a way of meeting and greeting their own kind that being on the end of a leash restricts. If you have a dog who tires himself out chasing a ball how are you to do this on a leash? Do owners now need to swim with their dogs – all leashed up too? It’s stupid and unworkable.
I’m not saying dog owners ought to have the run of the show either, but more and more dog owners are having to concede to unreasonable demands by increasing authoritarian rules and laws made on whims and knee jerk reactions without any real logic behind them. This debate on the 22nd ought to be interesting.
Opinions?
January 16, 2012 at 12:33 pm |
Dogs shouldn’t be leashed up completely, I agree with that, but I do see the need for dogs to be on a leash near a road or where there are lots of other people or young kids.
As a dog fan and as a cyclist, I see it from both perspectives. I had a dog chase me up a trail once while the owner was screaming at the dog to come back. Once I stopped and the owner got the dog back under control, she started going on about how I could have ran over her dog. Where does the responsibility lie if I had hit the dog? Mine, as the cyclist, or her’s as the dog wasn’t under her control off leash?
January 16, 2012 at 12:41 pm |
It smacks of poo and taxes…
Other than that I can only add that as a seriously bitten child (large puncture wounds narrowly missing important vein) I do believe proper dog owner responsibility means never allowing your hounds to impinge on the right of folks to go peaceably about their business.
If proper dog owner responsibility is not exercised than the authorites do have to step in. Frinstance… I have no truck with people allowing their harmless dogs (large or small) to run around beaches and jump happily at strange children who fear they are being attacked.
January 16, 2012 at 12:57 pm |
I’ve been bitten and chased too, most unpleasant- had a really nasty experience the other year when I had to stand down a bloody massive dog that wanted me for a snack while out jogging. But there has to be a fair middle ground, the majority of dogs won’t bite or attack people and ought not to be punished for the minority that do. On that note, the yappiest snappiest dogs I have ever encountered out running has been Jack Russells and Westies, but these dogs are not on the restricted list, neither are collies who are champion biters and bite regularly.
(Absolutely dogs shouldn’t be allowed leap all over strangers, but people should understand their animal and control them)
Auroralapetite, you were dealing with an idiot. She should have apologised for her lack of control, if a dog has prey drive and no recall it needs to be on a leash. I’d have lit the ground beneath her.
February 7, 2012 at 8:26 pm |
I don’t think the dogs are being brought to heel here. It is the owners who are the problem. Some dog owners refuse to see their dogs as animals. Animals have different rules. They should not share the same amenities as humans if they are not under control. Like dogs btw. there is a place for them as pets. But not as pests.
January 16, 2012 at 2:25 pm |
A little over half of my route yesterday went through a park that’s ideal for dog owners to let their pups run. The only dogs that were remotely interested in me running by were the ones on leashes, including a Bichon Frise who would’ve nibbled my ankles to shreds if he could’ve. I think many dog owners don’t take the time to actually train dogs to a leash so they’re not always straining against it.
On a similar note, running around my parents’ house in the country, the only dogs who bark at me like they’re menacing me are the ones in pens. The others run up near the edge of “their” property, bark a couple times, and just look at me. I usually talk to them, call to them or something, and I’ve never felt threatened. I suppose I’ve been lucky.
January 16, 2012 at 2:25 pm |
Oops. That was me, not spouse.
January 17, 2012 at 10:34 am |
Chained dogs or penned dogs are ferocious, they really are. Poor things, I do feel sorry for them though, their space is so confined they’d sooner bite than have it invaded.
January 16, 2012 at 5:47 pm |
I’ve found that if a dog threatens, just reach down to the ground as if to pick up a stone and the mutt takes off like lightning.
January 16, 2012 at 8:08 pm |
Er that could have been me you seen. I was at 40ft about 9.30 with my dad, one GM and one scardy collie. There was only two men there when we arrived.
I am forever giving out about this, it is beyond ridiculous. I am damn sure more people are killed or maimed on roads by young male drivers than on beaches by dogs. But alas, we don’t ban all young men from driving. That would be stupid. I am not saying we should give dogs the key of city but taking a dog to the beach or the park and letting him of the lead is perfectly acceptable. If we could just be reasonable about this for a minute, you are hardly going to neglect a dog, not bother to train him and then decide to take him on a walk and let him off the lead and by the same token, you are not going to go the trouble to take a much loved pet to the beach or park, let him off the lead knowing he does not follow instruction. A little common sense goes a long way here, in much the same way you would let a curious toddler play near a sleeping dog people are hardly going to let their dog bounce around a public playground. There is an element of risk in everything we do. I am all for safeguarding against the probable but the odds are stacked against this bubble wrap nonsense.
Also, I know everybody has a different story to tell but I have lots of animals, so does my parents and their parents before them and I genuinely don’t know anyone that got bitten by a dog. And I know why this is, we respect them and have absolute control of them.
This stinks of an over resourced county council, I am pretty sure the salary for enforcing such a silly ban could be better spent.
January 17, 2012 at 9:27 am |
There are careful dog owners, who train and poop scoop etc and of course there are owners who just let the dog go wild and you are right, they will not be walking the dog on the beach. But you are forgetting the large group that are full of good intentions but don’t quiet train the dog properly due to lack of time . Those thousands of dogs left in the backyard all day while everyone is at work , and then brought to the beach for a saturday run.
January 17, 2012 at 10:37 am |
No I was there later than that.
Dog poo is a bugbear with me as a runner, I don’t know HOW anyone can let their dogs shit on the footpath and not clean it up, round where I live it’s dog shit central, and I’ve given out to a few folk for letting their dog foul the path. Usual response? ‘ I don’t have a bag with me.’
THEN BRING ONE!
February 7, 2012 at 8:32 pm |
There are many dog owners who let their dog become pests when out in public and stand and scream at the dog. After the fact. Dogs putting their nose into your picnic lunch and fouling on the beach are much more of a problem than coming across an agressive dog.
The owners need training. If your dog takes a dump in public space then clean it up. Train it to respond to commands, like heel.
Screeching at the dog, and then saying he won’t touch you is not
responsible dog ownership.
January 16, 2012 at 11:11 pm |
I am damn sure more people are killed or maimed on roads by young male drivers than on beaches by dogs.But alas, we don’t ban all young men from driving. That would be stupid.
Eh? yes, yes it would. you sort of need to compare like with like.
I’m damn sure more people die from cancer than from helicopter accidents, but you don’t need a helicopter licence to smoke a cigarette. That would be silly.
January 17, 2012 at 1:43 pm |
I’ve been a dog owner all my life, and I am of the firm opinion that dogs must be leashed when out and about. It’s the law back home, has been for a good long while, and in more than a few cities now (again, back home) dogs are banned from parks and beaches. Then again, so is smoking, and there was more outcry over smoking being banned than dogs. But, we also have fenced dog parks back home so people can take their dogs there, Not to mention that a good many people also have large backyards and so it’s easier for a dog to do laps and run itself silly while still at home.
There should be a restricted people list, and they should be required to be neutered. Also muzzled in public.
I don’t know the answer for over here, people seem to get really worked up at the thought of their dogs having to be leashed but not too upset at the thought of their dog knocking over my autistic kid who is afraid of most dogs (other than ours). I think people tend to give their dog the same degree of manners, or lack of, that they have themselves. Common courtesy isn’t so common, seemingly.
January 17, 2012 at 2:24 pm |
I think it would be better to establish a reasonable time for dog walkers to be able to walk their dogs on the beach/in parks without leads; and make that publically known, that way people who wish to avoid dogs can do so, and people who wish to exercise/socalise their dogs can do so too. There’s got to be a reasonable middle gound other than bans and fines. And I am vehemently against the restricited list too.
January 17, 2012 at 2:13 pm |
I wonder will we look back at the logic of keeping large dogs in small houses/ back gardens in urban areas in the same way as pigs and fowl were raised in tiny back yards in cities 50 or 60 years ago? Will we see it as unacceptable, unhygienic and unfair for the animal? It would be if it was a pig . I wonder do you have to have a leash for a pig? I hear they make good pets.
January 17, 2012 at 2:17 pm |
January 17, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Put me down for two!