Where is it appropriate to take pets?

[Doing my best]

This is a slight spin off from my vent thread.. But this is a genuine question cause maybe I am just on a different level..

Personally I love animals, but obviously not to the extent that others do. I always had pets (dogs and cats, and even a goat) when growing up, but we never took them on holidays with us, and were mostly outdoor animals, except the cats indoors at night. They would be walked almost daily, and always on a leash in public places..

But I have found many people take their dogs to parks and let them roam free (I am not talking about the designated dog parks), and today I was at the markets.

So where do you think it is acceptable to take your pets and allow them to go to strangers (even if under control of owner)? I am not going to shoot anyone down, but want to know in case I need to start preparing DD differently when going out.

[alish]

my hubby takes our dogs everywhere, they stay in the back of the ute though..but it still annoys me!
they destroy the backyard if we leave them at home, even if its for an hour or so!

me personally, i like that he takes them to work, but i dont like that he has to take them if he goes down the street for 5 mins or whatever, they are perfectly fine being left at home with me!!

[LizLemon]

I am a dog lover, but I actually think there are few places where it is really acceptable to take one. Parks - maybe, but always on a leash. Obviously taking for walks around suburbs etc - but only if well controlled and if the owner picks up after them.

Markets/shops etc - no.

The other day I saw a poor lady with a young girl on a bike and a baby in a pram being chased by a rottweiler that some idiot had let loose at a park. The lady was walking her kids near the park and the dog ran from the park to chase them. The woman was rightly TERRIFIED and I was equally terrified for her, trying to work out how I could help if it attacked. Luckily it ended up running back to the owner. I've had to leave parks many times with DS because someone has come and let their dog run loose.

Even if a person thinks their dog is the cutest, tamest, most harmless thing, animals are still unpredictable, and some people also just want to go about their business without dealing with someone else's dog.

I probably sound harsh, and as I said I do love dogs, I just think people need to be more considerate of everyone around them.

[Livinthedream]

Definatly not to other peoples houses.
The amount of clients that come here and bring their bloody little yap dogs who then **** and **** all over the place and insight my bloody little yap dog to do the same. Fricken other peoples dogs arrgghhhh.
Been one of those days............Can you tell?

[Phteven]

I take my dog to the park and I let her off the lead there but generally I keep her on the lead at the playground. That is mainly for her protection - she's a child magnet and if she is off the lead they tend to swarm around her. I also take her to the cafe on her lead. All the local cafe's here keep a bowl of water for dogs in their outdoor areas and there are often other dogs there. Most mornings and afternoons she does the school walk with me and she has a spot where I tie her up while I go inside.
I wouldn't take her to the markets or inside the shops.

My cat is happy on a lead and when we go away to our weekender she usually comes with us in the car and gets out for a walk if we stop. It's always good for laugh when people spot her because she likes to sit up and look out the window like a dog lol.

[misty]

It really depends. The outdoor markets here in Canberra (ie, Hall markets) it is perfectly acceptable to take your pets with you. The indoor markets (ie old bus depot markets), it is not acceptable, and those who do are not supposed to take them inside, but leave them tied up outside.

[Miss.September]

If we take our dogs away, it's to a dog friendly park and they both remain on their leads in the common areas. We don't take them to shops and we don't take them to markets. We take them to two different beaches in Melbourne that are all-year-round dog friendly, one in Sorrento and one in St Leonards. Only one dog is ever allowed off the lead there, because she doesn't stray from us. The other dog remains on her lead all the time, she's a beagle so she's owned by her nose and therefore we have no control if she was to get off her lead and run from us. When on walks, they are both on leads and the only house they ever visit is my mum's, simply because in two years we'll be living there anyway.

I guess I hold the thought that every dog that has attacked a person or another dog, has an owner who always says "He/she's never done that before." So if I have a strange dog running up to me, friendly or not, I get into my defensive pose of one leg up lol. My mum was attacked by her neighbour's dog who had never done it before, never had a mean bone in it's body, yet mum ended up in hospital and our family dog, a big golden retriever, was covered in bites. The dog that attacked them was a "friendly" family pet who had grown up with children, but decided to bust through the fence when mum was walking past and attack her. I hold the thought with my dogs too. I know my dogs. But how do I know that they aren't going to do something stupid because they think they're protecting me? Keeping my dogs on a lead protects them as much as anyone else.

[Floweryfields]

I take my dog to the park, but not off lead as she'd want to take off and play with everyone and I'd probably not get her back again! Again, dog friendly parks, beaches I don't see a problem with if they are controlled and well behaved. Markets, etc that are outside are fine to take a dog on leash to as well I think, again as long as they are controlled and well behaved. My dog is like my baby as I don't have any though!

ETA - even though I am a dog person, I also do not like badly behaved, uncontrolled dogs when I am out, especially if I have Holly with me, as I don't want to have to deal with preventing her being eaten by some uncontrolled beast!

[misty]

The other dog remains on her lead all the time, she's a beagle so she's owned by her nose and therefore we have no control if she was to get off her lead and run from us. When on walks, they are both on leads and the only house they ever visit is my mum's, simply because in two years we'll be living there anyway.

We have a beagle too, and she definitely stays on the lead at all times. We also have a lab, who we will let off the lead at a park, if there is no-one else at all around; but as soon as we see anyone approaching (even if they don't look to be coming to the actual park) she goes straight back on the lead. But our lab is very well trained and won't stray or even go too far from our beagle. We have a park just across the road from us (no play equipment, just open grass area with fence) which isn't specifically designated as a dog area, but where all the locals take their dogs to let them off the leashes to play games like frisbie, etc; there are quite a few other 'kids' parks (with equipment) in the area too, so there has never been a problem with this unoffical set up - it works for the community.

There is also a horse riding school down the road, so we often get many riders up around our neighbourhood.

The problem is, it doesn't really matter what is 'appropriate' or not, there will always be those people (pet owners) out there who ruin things for everyone. I love animals, my children love animals, but we try to teach them a health respect for them. This can be very hard when some dog owners will bring their pets right up to the children and let them jump and slobber all over them. We teach our kids that you never touch another dog (other then our own). If it is a little puppy or something, they have to first ask permission from myself or DH and then ask the pets owner if it is alright to give it a gentle pet. Often the answer is 'yes' (and then my kids know how to approach the animal properly and safely, and either DH and myself are right there with them) or sometimes the answer is 'no'; and my kids accept that too, because some animals just do not have the temprament for young children - and if the owner says 'no' their is likely a very good reason. I HATE it when other pet owners try to allow their animal to touch my kids without asking permission from me if it is all right for them to touch the dog, or tell me "it's alright" when I stop my kids approaching their animal. It is not alright. Unless you know an animal initmately yourself, it is always better to be wary around young kids (and sometimes even if you know them well things can still happen).

[Miss.September]

The problem is, it doesn't really matter what is 'appropriate' or not, there will always be those people (pet owners) out there who ruin things for everyone. I love animals, my children love animals, but we try to teach them a health respect for them. This can be very hard when some dog owners will bring their pets right up to the children and let them jump and slobber all over them. We teach our kids that you never touch another dog (other then our own). If it is a little puppy or something, they have to first ask permission from myself or DH and then ask the pets owner if it is alright to give it a gentle pet. Often the answer is 'yes' (and then my kids know how to approach the animal properly and safely, and either DH and myself are right there with them) or sometimes the answer is 'no'; and my kids accept that too, because some animals just do not have the temprament for young children - and if the owner says 'no' their is likely a very good reason. I HATE it when other pet owners try to allow their animal to touch my kids without asking permission from me if it is all right for them to touch the dog, or tell me "it's alright" when I stop my kids approaching their animal. It is not alright. Unless you know an animal initmately yourself, it is always better to be wary around young kids (and sometimes even if you know them well things can still happen).

Absolutely.

We had a lady come up to us when we were on holidays recently, with a beautiful German Shepherd puppy. From about 20 feet away, she yelled out and asked if it was okay to bring the puppy over as she would like him to be familiar with young children. We said there was no problem but I was so thankful to her that she had asked.

[AwesomeFoursome]

We take our 2 out abit they love going in the car. We take them for walks, parks, town, car wash but they are always on their leads.