Off Leash With Permission Ordinances...

[Adina P]

Most urban cities have leash laws requiring dogs in public places to be on leash.  Some cities are incredibly STRICT and officers will not allow even professional trainers to work their dogs on a light line in a park. 

But there are two cities supposedly that do things a little differently.  They also have leash laws requiring citizens to keep their dogs leashed in public...except for those whose dogs have passed a test that gives them "off leash with permission" privileges.   I think this is kinda cool and allows those who want to work hard to earn the right for more freedom.

Rockville MD is the only one of the two cities for which I could find info on their program:

http://www.rockvillemd.gov/police/neighborserv/offleash.html

[Camilla and Darwin]

This is really cool! Darwin is definitely not there yet.. but maybe someday... ha ha!

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

I'm pretty sure my dood wouldn't go anywhere either (he likes being with me) but if he saw another dog or person across the street, he may very well run across the road and that scares me. For that reason, I don't know if I will ever be able to take him off leash but REALLY admire those dogs/humans that I see without a leash.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think, don't ask don't tell, my town only requires that dogs have tags and be under the owners control , not destroy property and not annoy the neighbors. I had seen these in the borough code but I can't find it in the new, improved-ha-version. The beauty of Sandy Hook yesterday is that no sane doodle would leave a group of doodles and people. Freedom to run, frolic and dig!

[Melissa & Porter]

My town has a park with a stream and some natural barriers. There are streets too, but like your description of Sandy Hook, when a bunch of us with dogs meet up, the dogs are off leash and they stay together. Some people have more comfort with being near the street than I do. I leash Porter before we leave the group and if the group drifts toward the street. Porter will run into the street for food-wrapper trash.

There is a 6:20 am group and an 8:40 group, possible more but I can never make it in between. The early people once told me every ten years or so, someone complains about the dogs being off leash. This happened last year, and there was an article in the local paper about leash rules, with warnings about tickets. I was wary for a while, and put Porter on a leash every time someone approached without a dog and looking police officer-ish instead of jogger-ish or commuter-ish. So many people walk through the park to get to the train, that the dogs pretty much ignore them. They are desensitized to the fact that while playing 20 commuters will walk by. Once my brother-in-law passed by and said hi to Porter, you should have seen the look of surprise on that dog's face.

A couple days ago, I saw a woman training her dog to walk off leash on the sidewalk next to a street, it was a cool sight. I recognized them; Porter stole a bagel from their kid's stroller one Saturday off-leash morning...embarrassing!

[Adina P]

I agree. The reason this came up on a training discussion list I belong to was because several trainers mentioned how in their town (they happen to live in some city in NJ coincidentally) either they or their students have gotten nearly cited by police for working their dogs in advanced obedience exercises. Some of these dogs were even on long light leashes but that wasn't enough. Some have gotten kicked out of the parks for coming back on different days. Pretty sad when you consider that in order for a dog (especially one that shows in obedience) to learn off leash stuff...they have to actually work off leash and all of this work can NOT be done in one's backyard. There are GOOD reasons for leash laws, but also equally GOOD reasons for dogs to be off leash. That's why I WISH more cities would consider such off leash permission ordinances.

[Melissa & Porter]

I agree! Training needs to be done in a real scenario. Ironically, I was once yelled at by a woman for allowing my son to hold Porter's leash. (Porter just walked past her too, not even a sniff.) But she thought my son was too small to "control" him (son outweighs him by about 5 lbs). A 4 ft leash.
People like this have had bad experiences with dogs and no amount of restraint will make them feel comfortable. They also tend to come from families/cultures that see dogs as intruder attackers.

[Christine & Shelby]

Very cool. I wonder if this will catch on?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We are so far from this, but this is what we are training for now. I'm moving to Rockville. Spud and Starlit are my first dogs to ever go on a leash.

[Kyoko]

For me, the off leashed dogs makes me nervous...not because of them ( They are ususally very good and obedient, stay right by the owners ) but because of Charlie..... She is trying really hard to compose herself :-) when she sees another dogs at the park. But I guess I get nervous thinking that off leashed dog may come to say "Hi" to Charlie, ends up freaking her out....

[Adina P]

This is exactly why off-leash with permission would be great. The off leash dogs would then ALWAYS be the kinds of dogs you wouldn't have to worry about because most likely they wouldn't be allowed to go visit a strange dog. They'd be recalled by their owner and heeled to prevent altercations with unknown dogs.

[Kyoko]

I guess the permission will keep the irresponsible owner from keeping their dog off leash, and only the well trained dogs wil be off leashed... Anything that raises awerness for the responsible dog ownership is good!! :-)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

"the off leash dogs would then ALWAYS be the kinds of dogs you wouldn't ahve to worry about ...."

Maybe in a perfect world that would be true, but you all know as well as I do that that is not the world that we live in! There will always be those who break the rules, so you won't know which dogs are ok, and which dogs are not ok! While I applaud (and even admit to being jealous) of those of you who have gotten to this point in training, I will never ever have that comfort factor with my girls! I will always worry about that one situation where they get spooked and I never see them again! (How do you train for that). Example: the story on here just a couple months back where the crazy man came the opposite way on the trail around a corner and screamed at the dog and it took off. Granted, maybe that dog wasn't to the point you are talking about, but how do you know what will happen when they get truly spooked! Just isn't worth the chance to me. They get off leash time in the back yard ...... My parents live on an 80 acre farm, and I have only let them off leash once, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack the entire time. (Granted I admit their recall is not what one would need for the off leash you are talking about, and I fully admit that). I'm probably in the minority, but I just don't have a problem with a leash!