Walking your Dog
What you need to know when walking the dog
Having a dog provides a great excuse for taking a walk. The benefits of getting out and about in the fresh air with your four-legged friend are many, so enjoy the rewards but also remember your responsibilities.
The countryside and National Parks are a great place to exercise your dog, but please remember that not everyone who walks in these places is a dog lover and it is every owners duty to make sure their dog is not a danger or nuisance to other people, wildlife or farm animals.
Countryside Code - Keeping your dog under control
- By law, you must control your dog so that it does not disturb or scare farm animals or wildlife. On most areas of open country and common land, known as 'access land' you must keep your dog on a short lead on most areas of open country and common land between 1 March and 31 July, and all year round near farm animals.
- You do not have to put your dog on a lead on public paths, as long as it is under close control. But as a general rule, keep your dog on a lead if you cannot rely on its obedience. By law, farmers are entitled to destroy a dog that injures or worries their animals.
- If a farm animal chases you and your dog, it is safer to let your dog off the lead – do not risk getting hurt by trying to protect it.
- Take particular care that your dog does not scare sheep and lambs or wander where it might disturb birds that nest on the ground and other wildlife – eggs and young will soon die without protection from their parents.
- Everyone knows how unpleasant dog mess is and it can cause infections, so always clean up after your dog and get rid of the mess responsibly. Also make sure your dog is wormed regularly to protect it, other animals and people.
- At certain times, dogs may not be allowed on some areas of access land or may need to be kept on a lead. Please follow any signs. You can also find out more by phoning the Open Access Contact Centre on 0845 100 3298.
- Everyone knows how unpleasant dog mess is and it can cause infections – so always clean up after your dog and get rid of the mess responsibly. Most parks provide dog litter bins so please use them.
doggymate walking code
Here in the UK we are lucky we can walk with our dogs off their leads pretty much anywhere. Elsewhere in the world this is not the case.
To ensure that members of the public have no reason to complain we recommend following these 6 simple steps:
- Keep your dog under effective control. It should either be in sight at all times and return immediately when called or be kept on a lead.
- Do not let your dog disturb other visitors.
- Do not let your dog chase or disturb any wildlife or livestock.
- Always abide by the bye-laws/ rules of the particular park.
- Always clear up after your dog.
- Ensure your dog has a collar and identity tag with your contact details.