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

[Adina P]

I don't have a problem with a leash...but I do WANT/WISH FOR/HOPE FOR eventually training at least one of my dogs to be reliable off leash. Clark did it with Cass. Yes she was a border collie, but simply being super smart doesn't mean a dog will be more reliable. I think I messed up that chance with Rosco (for the time being) but I think Boca might have hope. We shall see. I live in a no-leash law small town...neighboring a bigger small town WITH a leash law.

I realize you're right. We don't live in an ideal world. But I think any time there are opportunities for those who work hard to earn extra privileges it is a good thing for all involved. Leash law or no leash law there will be people who break the law and who allow their naughty dogs to do naughty things. Those people will let their naughty dogs off leash whether or not they are allowed. And there are naughty people who don't pick up after their dogs that create the need for restrictions about where dogs are allowed. They ruin it for the responsible folks. It should not matter though. If my dog were off leash reliable or stuck on a leash...the naughty off leash dog could STILL hurt my dogs, right? The naughty off leash dog doesn't care whether YOUR dog is off or on leash...IT is still free to do naughty things. So this ordinance would not negatively effect the responsible people with dogs (on or off leash).

At the same time, IN this city with the off-leash-with-permission ordinance, it's probably only the trouble makers who get in trouble. I'm sure they don't ask every off leash dog-owner duo to see their license.

It would be nice if those with a good reason to be off leash would be allowed to be off leash--rather than a blanket law that can be taken to extremes. Again if I were a trainer or someone who did competition obedience and lived in a super strict leash law city...I'd be completely unable to train my dog to a high level. These super strict leash law cities won't even allow a 15 foot leash--it has to be 6 feet long and in your hand.

The test required to pass for this special license is essentially like the CGC but off leash with even MORE distractions. The fact is, there are people who are capable of training a dog to be reliable off leash and can train a reliable recall as well as a reliable off leash heel, fetch, etc. That's not me yet...but I'm working on it =)

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Amen!

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

We keep trying, sometimes very successful, sometimes not. Ann Arbor is really lose with their laws, I see a couple of guys walkin' their dogs off leash, seriously walking down the sidewalk 20 feet behind their pooch, which I don't like because of kids in the neighborhood and dogs like mine that think they need to befriend every man, dog and squirrel.. I won't do it this time of year too many squirrels, and whilst they won't leave my side in the house even for my potty breaks, they have no issues running 50-100 yards across the street to chase a cat, squirrel or say hi to someone they think looks friendly. So we are still training, working thru it... maybe someday!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I take Gracie off leash lots of times. Never on a busy street but when we go to one of our parks (not a dog park), I let her jump out of the car which is parked along the curb and she get right on the lawn and waits for me to chuck her ball. We go after we know the "dog catcher" is off duty. She always comes back to me. I throw her ball and she goes and gets it and comes right back. Then we take a walk along the channel and she really wants to go in the water. I just have to tell her NO and to "stay with Momma". She is really good about this. Of course we are where we have no dog friends for her to recognize and run to. She also walks around our neighborhood with me without a leash. I have worked really hard with her and her only weak link is when she sees one of her friends!!! We have a leash law here in San Diego but ehhh. If you pick and chose your places and time of day, you can get away with it!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Besides we'll come and visit you if you get locked up. Sometimes I think I'm getting to the point where I don't suffer fools or silly regulations gladly. The ranger at the beach yesterday was very nice and told us we were fine as long as the doodles stayed in the area where we were.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Daisy will never be totally of leash, she has that "doodle fear factor" that many of you speak of. Everything startles her and has bolted so quickly (and hard) that I have dropped her leash and had to "chase" her. She usually will calm down within seconds and return or stop but if we were near a street, well enough said. We do have her friends over to romp in our unfenced back yard and she does very well, stays where she is supposed to be. So in short there is a time and a place for her to be off and on.

[Meridith and Lola]

Reading these posts makes me really appreciate New York City's liberal off-leash rules. From 9 pm through 9 am, dogs are allowed off leash in many parks. Central Park has so many areas where people gather with their dogs to play off-leash. There is one area in particular that I like to go to - the Great Lawn. While the dogs are not allowed on the lawn, there is a large circle that everyone walks around -with different open areas on the side that the dogs will go off and play. On weekends, there seems to be a hundred if not more, all playing peacefully in this area and amazes me how they are all so well behaved. Lola had some prey drive issues chasing runners, bikers, roller bladers so I wasn't able to let her off leash comfortably. But we worked with a great trainer and she is now one of the happy dogs in the park.

Everyone few years, there appears to be discussions of repealing this law but fortunately has not happened. The author Ted Kerasote who lives in Wyoming and has written a number of books on dogs wrote an interesting article about NYC leash laws that included statistics that dogs off-leash are safer than leashed dogs (http://nycoffleash.wordpress.com/)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Wow, this is excellent support for NYC's off-leash position. I think this is great, although I believe the "permission" aspect provides additional assurance that if you're walking your dog "on leash" they will not encounter another dog who is not under the safe control of their owner.

[Melissa & Porter]

Must be all the NYC transplants who started this activity in my commuter town lol.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Very, very cool.