Your dogs leash should never have tension
We live in a city crowded with people and dogs. Yes, Chicago has too many laws, ordinances, and bans. But this one exists for a reason. There are too many people who do not properly train their dogs. This can be seen on a daily basis: Dogs straining at the end of the leash, pulling their owners around. If one cannot even control their dog on a leash, how could they ever control them off-leash?
The law states you must have control of your animal. A 15-foot thin-as-yarn Flexi Lead does not qualify as "control". People think these leashes give their dog more exercise. This is incorrect. The dog is walking at the same pace, just 15 feet ahead!
Your dog may be the friendliest and safest dog, but that doesn't mean other dogs are. So if you have your dog off-leash and someone else's dog is dangerous, you have no means to control or pull back your dog. If your dog ever got hurt, it would not help your case that your dog was off-leash running free, and the offending dog was on-leash. Next time your friendly dog goes running up to another dog, consider that the other dog may be dog-aggressive, and ask the owner's permission first. Or maybe a person walking down the sidewalk doesn't like dogs, and you shouldn't allow your dog to approach them or jump on them.
Teach your dog to walk nicely on a leash
Every dog, wether it's 5 pounds or 150 pounds, should be able to walk nicely on a leash and not pull. The best all-around leash is a 6-foot leather lead. Leather is easier on the hands and gives you a good grip. Nylon leads, whi
le inexpensive, can burn your hands and wears out and frays easily. A leash is a control tool, and should be respected by the dog. Never allow your dog to chew or bite at his leash anymore than you would allow him to bite your own arm. Proper leash walking (loose leash walking), and heeling (where your dog stays at your left side) is not difficult to teach, depending on the dog and how much you practace.
You do not need gimmicky things like head halters or harnesses- they do not work. There are also some harnesses that pinch or throw the dog off balance when they pull. They do not teach the dog, they are a crutch. No harnesses! A harness is for pulling, sled dogs wear them! (pictured, right: this is what harnesses are for) You need to be able to control a dogs head and direction, not just pull against the bulk of their body. A professional trainer can help you with the best ways to train your dog. If you are in the Chicago area and would like a training demonstration, including heeling off-leash, check out Dynamic Dogs Chicago Training, trainer and behaviorists, at www.DynamicDogsChicago.com
Some may think a leash is too restricting to their dog in public, if so, they should go to one of Chicago's many off-leash dog areas.
From the Municiple Code Chicago Illinois
Chapter 7-12 ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
7-12-030 Animals shall be restrained.
Each owner shall keep and maintain his animal under restraint; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to any dog being used for rescue or law enforcement work. It shall be unlawful for any owner to allow his or her animal to cross outside the property line of its owner to any extent, including reaching over or under a fence, or to keep or allow his or her animal to be outdoors on an unfenced portion of the owner's property, unless the animal is leashed and under the control of its owner or another responsible person. In addition, it shall be an unlawful failure to restrain for an animal to attack, bite, threaten, or jump on any person without that person's consent, outside the property of the animal's owner. The provisions of this section shall be a positive duty of the owner and the offenses described herein shall be strict liability offenses.
Any owner who violates any provision of this section shall be subject to a fine of $300.00, if the violation does not result in severe injury or death to any person or damage to another person's property. If the violation results in severe injury or death to any person, the owner shall be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000.00 and not more than $10,000.00. In addition to a fine, the owner may be required to submit full restitution to the victim or may be incarcerated for a period not to exceed six months, or may be required to perform up to 100 hours of community service, or any combination thereof. If the violation results in damage to another person's property, the owner shall be subject to a fine of not less than $300.00 and not more than $1,000.00. In addition to a fine, the owner may be required to submit full restitution to the victim.
Also check out: IS YOUR PET MICROCHIPPED?
Comments
While I agree with the vast majority of your article regarding off-leash dogs and their owners, I do protest that training a dog to loose leash walk is not difficult. While it may not be rocket science, it takes major amounts of patience, time, and effort and can be very frustrating.
Best way I can tell to teach a dog to heel or loose leash walk. Practice this: every time dog starts to pull, take two steps back. Then walk forward again. Sure you look like a fool, but after a few days your dog will get it for life. Really. I've done this with some horrible, choke-themselves-at-the-end-of-the-lead pullers. You just have to be consistent. I didn't even have to use a prong collar or a choker. BUT, using a flexi-lead will not discourage a dog from pulling, so it is important to get a regular lead. Sometimes, if I really want my dog to have freedom on leash, I use a 15 ft. lead. He used to be on a flexi, but got confused (rightly so) when I taught him not to pull on a regular leash and then he had to pull on the flexi.
To train your dog easily in a few days with no practice sessions, read "Smarter than You Think" (Paul Loeb). Cheap, easy, and you don't need "tools" (choke, etc). Amazon carries it. My dog is trained in a week!
Thank you for this article. You are so right. There are so many people out there that just assume all dogs are friendly and all people like dogs. I have a pit that is dog-agressive. (Very people friendly though, so please don't get the wrong impression of the breed.) Everytime I see someone letting their dog run loose while I'm walking my dog, I feel a small amount of panic. I can't prevent a loose dog from coming up to us and I know if a fight happens my PIT will get blamed even though she was on a leash and under my control. I am a responsible owner who even padlocks my gate to make sure she doesn't accidentally get out of the yard. But there's only so much I can do, when someone else doesn't control there dog. Luckily, we have not had anything bad happen and we have had our Pit for 7 years. But still others need to leash their dogs.
I have been walking my dogs off leash for over ten years, but I agree that dogs need to be under control at all times. My dogs are leashed in crowded areas and near heavy traffic, but on daily walks they're not. They respond to voice commands, hand signals and whistles, and do not go very far from me, but I understand not everyone has that kind of control over their pets. Fortunately, I've built a relationship with the people in my community and we have a better idea of which dogs may cause a problem if they meet up and give each other space when walking. Unfortunately, this is a rare case.
I wish there was some way of preventing people who can't control their dogs from walking them off leash without resricting those of us who can manage packs with a gesture. It is possible to safely walk a dog off leash without having to panic when you see other dogs or people.
Great article! You bring up such a great point about the retractable leashes. I cannot say how many times I've watched peoples dog take off after something on a retractable leash and the leash snaps or gets ripped right out of the owners hands. I particularly don't understand people who think that its safe (dog trained or not) to walk 100 lbs dogs with the retractable leads. I don't care how leash trained your dog is, one day he might see the mother of all squirrels and then its all over. They're dogs, that's what they do.
I know some people like the flexi leash handle for gripping purposes, but there is a ReadyLeash made by Rascodog with a similar handle, but the leash is non-retractable. It's a great product.
Check out www.rascodog.com for more information about it.
my dog doesn't get along with other female dogs and is not friendly to them, so I can't stand it when dogs are always coming up to her off their leashes, the owner is usually 20 feet away strolling.
PEOPLE NEED TO STOP BREAKING LAWS AND THEN COMPLAING WHEN SOMEONE 'ELSE' BREAKS A LAW AGAINST THEM- YOU CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE- LEASHING YOUR DOGS IS NOT A "CHOICE" IT IS A CITY ORDINANCE YOU NEED TO FOLLOW, OR YOU SHOULD GET A TICKET, AND IT WILL BE A $150+ FINE. POLICE ARE ALREADY TICKETING FOR IT, BUT THEY NEED TO GIVE OUT MORE TICKETS, TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM BREAKING THE LAW.
FORGOT TO ADD THIS IS A GOOD ARTICLE AND I AGREE WITH JENNIFER THE WRITER. IT IS NICE TO SEE A TRAINER WHO FOLLOWS CITY ORDINANCES AND DOESN'T PROMOTE DOGS BEING FREE OFF THEIR OWNERS PROPERTY. THANK YOU, AND CURB YOUR ANIMALS, PICK UP THEIR WASTE AS WELL.
Okay there are valid points and reasons for leash laws.
Now, that said, I raised my dog, a 3 year old Westie male, (fully intact) on an island where we do not use leashes and extend the same curteosy to our four legged friends as our human counter parts. There is no such thing as a bad dog, and never was a tourist bitten, *average tourisim turn over in one day being approximately 10,000 different people!* because our animals are socialized to be part of our lives. I do live here now, and am respectful of any other dog and the leash, but I have found more often than not the animal on the leash is the one who is in need to be protective due to BEING leashed. Ever heard of leash aggression? Most dog in the city suffers from it and it is a shame. My dog would never leave my side, and that is a bonding issue and training, as well as hyper-exposure due to the way he was raised the first 2 years. I will never leash him, and will happily pay any fine if ever given one. No leash, ty!
I just want to remind people that, though many laws make sense for the general public, there are many that are fairly rediculous. There are laws still in place in some places that allow for spousal abuse in certain cases. If we followed every law passed blindly, we'd be fined for some things that no one in their right mind would agree with. Yes, laws are made and passed for a reason, but it isn't always a good one.
I believe an owner should be in control of his/her dog at ALL times. I don't believe a leash is the only sure way to control a dog.
Also, I hate flexi-leads and shock collars.
LOL, in gary IN, it is not legal for anyone under 18 to walk a pit or rott or mixed! must be muzzled, 1/2 million dollar insurance. it is not enforced because the police and fireman raise them to fight here, the police run the local dog pound, what a joke, laws are not for the police to follow
Keeping a dog properly takes "major amounts of patience, time and effort" and those who are not willing to invest the time and effort should not get a dog. If you think training is frustrating, try living with an out of control spoiled mutt.
Using a book, I personally trained my 11 year old pit bull to obedience. Investing 15 minutes a day for 6 months will get you an admirable, well-mannered dog for life.
As for those of you who feel that your dogs are trained well enough to walk off leash under your command, that is well and good, but your confidence in your dogs does nothing for the person who might be afraid of dogs and has no idea whether or not YOUR off leash dogs are friendly. Consideration for and respect for other people's personal space is the primary reason you should keep your dogs on leash in a public place.
Any dog can react on instinct; they are not furry little people. Even the best trained dog can be unpredictable. Outside of fenced dog parks - leash em.
Training your dog doesn't take "major amounts of time" when you go to Jennifer the Dog Trainer :o) she is the best. Her site is listed at the bottom of the articles. I think she could get any dog to walk on the leash without pulling pretty quickly for you, her dog is really good.
Those of you who think walking your dog off-lease for any reason is ok are horribly mistaken. Any dog off-leash is vulnerable to attack by other dogs off-leash. Sure, your dog may be the best dog in the world, but what about that dog across the street? Do you really wish to sacrifice your dog's life just so it can be off-leash?
As a veterinary assistant I have seen so many heartbreaking cases where dogs off-leash are injured, killed or placed in rabies quarantine because they were off-leash. In on instance I had to assist with a corgi puppy who was out for a walk with its owner in their driveway. The puppy was backed over by a friend who was leaving after a visit--the visitor's child got out of the car to help the puppy, and the puppy, scared, bit the little girl; because the puppy hadn't been given rabies vaccination, it's head was sent to a lab for testing.
Do you really want to play roulette with your dogs life? If you are a responsible dog owner I should really hope not.
It is really inportant to have your doog leashed.My 3 your old lab/pit mix was out in the yard and my mother was not watching him while I was at work. He was accused of escaping and attacking one of my neighbors. Because I could not pay for the insurance policies we had to put him down. Now I am facing charges violating this code and I don't know what to do. I am a student and have no money. PLEASE PEOPLE KEEP YOUR DOG LEASHED AND SUPERVISE THEM AT ALL TIMES....its not worth losing your animal over.
I frequent Churchill Park, and it has become downright dangerous with all the off-leash dogs running around in the non-dog-friendly-area part of the park. I have seen adults and toddlers trampled by dogs, with little or no concern from the owners. Balls and frisbees are regularly stolen by unleashed dogs. The dog section of the park was created to alleviate these types of problems that existed in the past. Instead, they have become worse. Time to ramp up enforcement and take back the park for safe use by human residents.
I just had an incident with an unleashed dog this morning. My dog is leash aggressive and this unleashed dog comes up to my dog right outside our house. Of course he tries to fight the other dog while I am pulling him up the porch. I asked the other owner why his dog wasn't on a leash and he said his dog was well trained and didn't need one. If your dog is so well trained, then train it to not approach other dogs! I was so infuriated with this guy. His dog is going to approach the wrong dog someday and will end up hurt.
IF YOUR DOG IS SO WELL TRAINED THEN KEEP IT OFF MY PROPERTY AT ANY TIME ,,, IT IS YOUR DOG AND THAT IS MY GRASS NOT YOUR DOGS TOILET
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