There’s an awful lot of snobbery out there about dogs that walk on-lead. We’d all love to be in a situation where we could step out of our front doors into acres of beautiful countryside and let our dogs roam freely without worry. It sounds idyllic.
But sadly, for most of us, that’s not real life. Perhaps you live in a built-up area and don’t have access to open spaces. Perhaps your dog is nervous or noise sensitive and prone to running off when scared. Or perhaps your dog is reactive and walking them off-lead is a safety concern. Believe it or not, some nervous dogs actually prefer to the sense of safety that being attached to their human brings, and find the experience of being off-lead in unfamiliar places quite overwhelming.
There are a multitude of reasons why a dog might need to walk on-lead either some of or all of the time. We do a mixture of off and on-lead walking and it works really well for us. Loose leash walking is an important skill and it’s important to me that my dog is able to practice it. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about the choices you make for your own dog, and please, don’t judge others. Every dog is different and there are no rules about what you should and shouldn’t be doing when it comes to leads.
There are tons of ways that you can make walks just as fun, exciting and enriching for your dog, even if they need to be on a lead. If you’d like some help with this, let me know 🐾
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