Etiquette tip: when our dog is off leash

Etiquette tip: when our dog is off leash

Most dogs should not be off leash in public.  But if we think ours is reliable and well trained and if we do allow our dog off leash in any public setting we really should have our eyes on our dog at all times.  And let's face it, we sometimes don't.  

When we're confident that our dog will not run away and will stay close by and we allow our dog off leash (let's say.... at the park) we are still easily distracted with conversations, a phone call, or whatever.  It's very common.  And while our attention is not on our dog, while we're not looking, our dog can quickly squat and leave a big pile of dog crap that we don't pick up because we did not see it happen.  So now we've either become that obnoxious dog owner who doesn't pick up (and I know that would never be you) or we put someone else in the awkward position of having to politely point the situation out to us (and that other person would be me).  And since we didn't see it, that poor other person now has to help us locate the pile among all the leaves. 

Please don't be that dog owner.  

Also, while we're not looking at our dog, our dog rolls in something we are going to smell and regret later.  Or our unattended dog makes a parent in the park with a young child feel nervous about what this unknown dog might do next. 

Let's keep our eyes on our dogs.

If we spot a young parent with a child, let's gently call our dog back to us to reassure the parent that this dog may be off-leash but it's still very much "attended".  It still has our full attention. We may unclip the leash, but let's not "unclip" our eyes.  

Keep your eyes on the dog.  Dogs are not robots and they're not perfect, so we need to resist the temptation to become overly confident.  We're not in control of the entire environment, right?  I've seen a (usually very reliable) off-leash dog step off the sidewalk and into the road twice (on different occasions), with traffic coming, to smell something tempting.  The owner was walking ahead of the dog, and didn't see this happen.  Eyes on the dog.  

I know multiple people whose dogs consumed something quickly, while off leash, that later required visits to the veterinary emergency hospital.  

Keeping our eyes on the dog allows us to also keep our attention on the environment and be proactive about recalling our dog to avoid potential issues (like that other unleashed dog who looks like he might like to pick a fight with someone).  It's just the responsible thing to do.  Keeping our dog on leash is actually the ultimate responsible thing to do but if we're not going to comply with that, let's at least not relinquish all control.  When we are not even watching our dog, we've relinquished all control.  Avoid the tendency to be overly confident, err on the side of keeping the dog on leash unless you can give your off-leash dog your full attention the whole time.

We all love our dogs, and this is not a criticism of the dog.  We need to view it as a privilege to be out in public with our dogs, and we need to be courteous and conscientious. Not everyone is a dog lover (I know, it's hard to believe). Let's make sure we're not giving those people any cause for concern or complaint. An unattended off-leash dog can't meet that requirement.