Off-leash dogs in Europe vs. off-leash dogs in the U.S

[jenny4him]

@alfred1963 Hi! I had the opposite experience from you kinda, being from Europe ( Portugal) went to the states (Texas) and noticed how things are in fact different..

To be honest I didn't really see any US dogs misbehaving but I did see lots and lots of dog parks just for dogs! We don't have those! I think those are a great idea! But then I got home and took my Ginja for a walk, I realized that while we don't have those, I can take her to most normal parks or the beach and go off leash there as long as I think I have her kinda under control and there are other dogs there. Fights or quarrels may happen as we do tend to have more whole males around.. I would say the rules are a little more relaxed about it maybe?

Besides the parks I do think European cities are made for walking and not for driving. I lived in LA, NY, Madrid and offcourse Lisbon, and over on our side of the Atlantic I walk to most places and this means we can comfortably walk on a leash and get used to the urban enviornment. I guess what you saw was people who lived in even busier cities with even better behaved dogs so eventually they stopped needing a leash. Specially from my recent visit to Dallas, I didn't see people on the streets since the city is clearly better constructed for driving around...

From my point of view: US DOG PARKS RULE but our cities make it easier to walk around instead of driving which promotes the dog walking and bonding. Makes sense?

 

[sylviagab]

@alfred1963 We don't have such strict leash laws here - the attitude is just a bit different. We let our puppy off leash every day (if he doesn't come back once, he goes straight back on) because he'll be using off-leash skills throughout his life. We take him to the pub regularly, and he's coming to his second 30th birthday party this weekend! We also don't really have a culture of letting dogs live outside - no one would leave a pet outside in the yard during the day (which I believe some US owners do?). Crate training is less common (we have a travel crate but don't shut him in a crate when we leave the house) but it's not unheard of. Most stuff is pretty similar though, and a lot of the breeding / training issues are identical.

 

[sirca18]

@sylviagab how do you deal with you dogs getting into things when left at home alone? I only ask because I'm having an issue now.

 

[sylviagab]

@sirca18 It depends what you mean by "into things" but we have quite a small dog who underestimates his size, so he can't reach counters etc. The kitchen is basically puppy proof for him. We did used to leave him in a small fenced off area (he sleeps here overnight) but he was behaving less well (barking etv)

 

[wallionmick]

@sirca18 Personally we leave our pup in a safe room where there isn't really anything to get into (the kitchen, with child locked cupboards). Walking her and tiring her out mentally with a quick training session first, then leaving her with a difficult Kong and plenty of toys really helps too I think.

 

[childofgod69]

@sirca18 Typically this is a huge issue of not giving your dog enough attention or exercise or not having toys that they like. making sure you walk them or let them ou tif you have a yard for 30-40 minutes before you leave for the day has always beena huge help for me, but also making sure you have toys to keep them occupied. Kongs worked well for me but obv it's different for different dogs.

 

[wallionmick]

@sylviagab

if he doesn't come back once, he goes straight back on

This is the best training tool I use for off-leash. Combine with showering her with treats whenever she does come back, and she's very quickly learned it's always to her advantage to come when called.

 

[alfred1963]

@sylviagab I assume you're European. May I ask where?

I'm an American and I know many people who leave their dogs in their yard all day, but I do not. My dog gets at least three walks a day, about 20-45 minutes each for a total of 1.5 hours a day, and I'm one of the only people in my neighborhood who do this year-round, regardless of weather. My friends think that that is a LOT of dog walking, but I think it's what my dog needs. I would walk her more if she didn't have a bad knee!

But yes, there is something missing from just walking my dog on a leash. If I could bring her on errands (even on a leash), or with me to a coffee shop, I feel like she'd be a lot more stimulated. I don't work eight hours a day, so she isn't alone a lot, and I think that helps her behavior. But still, even though I think my dog is pretty well-behaved, her training pales in comparison to what I observed of the dogs in Europe.

 

[sylviagab]

@alfred1963 I'm British - we have a tiny puppy so he has a lot to learn still, but yeah, we walk him for 20 minutes twice a day, and to us walking a dog is part of the commitment. If the weather was REALLY bad, we'd probably swap it for intense indoor play and training - or a trip out to somewhere brand new, to met new people and also keep him guessing about where we might be headed in the car! The extra socialisation options are definitely really helpful in training him (although he is still over-friendly and excited, not sure I can completely eradicate that at 4 months...!)

 

[spinner981]

@alfred1963 I'd love to learn more about European dog training and ownership in general, one of the reasons being what you stated above. It seems a lot of dogs are kept off leash and have great socialized behavior in comparison to American dogs. Training styles? A life that involves more walking/outside exposure for people and dogs instead of car rides everywhere producing well rounded dogs? Are shelter dogs as prevalent in Europe with unknown pasts vs. getting dogs as puppies and socializing well from the start? So many questions!!!!

 

[swingline15]

@spinner981 I would be particularly curious about the shelter aspect of that question. I know several American dogs that behave in the "european" way described above, and in all cases they were raised from puppies and accompanied their owners about daily life from a young age.

 

[spinner981]

@swingline15 Agreed. As the adopter of a reactive dog I am most curious about what kind of dogs end up in shelters and how prevalent it is for people to adopt shelter dogs.

 

[scot73mmx]

@spinner981 All kind of dogs end up on shelters, some because are kind of attackers, others because while they were puppies people thought they were cute but when the dogs grow become less cute and become "one more job", some are abandoned when the owners want to go on vacations and don't want to take the dogs with them or people lose their jobs so they have no money for themselves much less to feed and treat the animals and many more and different cases.
I'm portuguese btw.

 

[spinner981]

@scot73mmx So just like US shelters then. Do a lot of shelter dogs get adopted? Do you think those dogs get socialized to the level of the "off leash" dogs that are being talked about?

 

[akjackjack]

@spinner981 In my experience (Germany) shelter dogs plus any kind of "second hand dogs" that haven't necessarily gone through a shelter make up at least half of our dog population. Many of those do require a longer training period and a small percentage can not be trusted off leash, ever, though mostly for impulse control issues and hunting instincts. But these dogs still get out and about. In areas where many dogs are off leash the owners often give their leashed dog room for socialisation and doggy fun via long lines (10-15 m long) or flexi leashes (which, when used properly and with consideration, aren't as bad as their reputation).

 

[spinner981]

@akjackjack Do you know of or see a lot of dogs come out of the shelter with reactivity issues? I'm curious how a reactive dog like mine would be handled. She has poor dog manners and over excitement/frustration issues.

 

[sylviagab]

@spinner981 At my training club, about half of the display team previously had "issues", be that aggression with dogs, people or excessive shyness. People with reactive dogs keep them on leash in the park and warn you if you get too near. That's part of the importance of training - I don't want my dog to approach them without my say-so (and again we're still working on this...)

 

[scot73mmx]

@spinner981 Some do get adopted but most don't have that luck, people have a tendency of wanting/liking pure breed dogs puppies strait out of the breeders... And a big part if not all shelters don't have money to sustain all dogs that they have so poor conditions is what you can get there, no socialization at all.

To be honest I almost never see dogs "off leash" here at least where I live I don't and dog parks is a thing Americans have, here we have the "let's pretend we have exercised animals" so it's just the normal walk with dogs and that is only if it isn't raining, because winter with rain usually means dogs with "flex leash" doing their poop and pee right outside the building with the owner at the door inside the building because they might melt if get wet by the rain - all of this is more people the live in cities that work 7 or 8AM to 5 or 6PM of not more so the animals stay a lot of time home because people work away from it!
Then there's the people with "big houses" with backyard that even by doggy houses and just leave the dogs doing their thing outside.

 

[spinner981]

@scot73mmx Interesting. So Lisbon sounds a lot like America in regards to dogs. Thank you so much for your input!