Off-Lead On-Lead: All About the Dog, or the Manners?

Everyone has a view about off-lead dogs - what constitutes being ‘out of control,’ and what separates the responsible owner from the irresponsible one. I see both sides, and it’s a topic I find genuinely interesting, so I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

Is it irresponsible to let a rambunctious, energy-laden dog off the lead to burn off the crazy - even if a calmer dog is the long-term result? And is it really reasonable to expect every dog out there to give a nervous or reactive dog a wide berth?

From a behaviourist’s perspective, the tension is real. A dog with poor recall is undeniably a menace when you’re working with a nervous dog on a lead who isn’t happy having their space invaded. But here’s the thing - that lead dog, if the owner is working hard to improve the situation, will eventually become the off-lead dog who needs to practise their social skills. We all have to start somewhere.

What About the Training?

If recall is a work in progress, there’s almost inevitably going to be a period of annoying everybody while it’s being built up around real-world distractions. A long line helps bridge the gap, but at some point we have to work without it. And it’s worth acknowledging that the dog on the lead isn’t always entirely blameless either. A nervous dog and a tense owner can read as fascinating - and frankly quite exciting - to a well-adjusted dog, sending them into a heightened state before anyone’s had a chance to intervene. Most dogs will ramp up when another dog is barking furiously at them. Some breeds find it genuinely very difficult to walk away from a dog that’s screaming confrontation, and some dogs are the metaphorical hand grenade - capable of turning a calm walking area into a tension-charged accident waiting to happen, whether on a lead or off it. Those dogs that are ‘under control’ only because they are addicted to ball chasing? Tearing up the local field in pursuit of their next fix?

On the flip side, when working with nervous or reactive dogs, space and trust-building are everything in the early stages. Even a happy, well-meaning dog barrelling up uninvited can undo a great deal of carefully constructed confidence in a matter of seconds.

Social Beings with Different Preferences

Dogs are fundamentally social creatures who are eager to meet their own kind. Is it unrealistic - perhaps even a little unnatural - to expect the average dog to have robotic recall, particularly puppies with limited attention spans, or dogs who are actively working through excitement issues? Perhaps the more honest conversation is about consideration for others: choosing our walking times and locations thoughtfully, reducing the chance of unexpected encounters when we know we need space to work.

There’s no universally agreed social protocol for dogs. I often keep foster dogs with issues on a lead out of consideration for others - but in my heart I know they’d benefit enormously from time off lead, and that the freedom itself would reduce their stress and help address the very issues I’m trying to resolve. A classic catch-22, especially in terms of a faster turnaround vs a much longer – but polite - grind.

Yes, I could take them somewhere quiet - but there’s always the chance someone will appear and tut pointedly when the dog isn’t under perfect control. Every dog has to learn, but how do you teach social skills and polite behaviour without upsetting somebody along the way?

It’s a very fine line to walk - and I suspect most of us are doing our best on both ends of the lead.