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I am fed up with owners letting their untrained dogs off leash. My dog and I were charged by 3 off leash dogs yesterday! I'm stressed out! How do you handle exercising your dogs off your property?

I've reached out in the past about my GSD puppy developing dog reactivity around 6 months. She is now 1 year, 4 months, and is doing great. She is no longer dog-reactive (unless charged by an off leash dog) and is fully e-collar trained and her obedience is extremely reliable.

My question is about other off-leash dog encounters. Almost every time I go out on trails, we are approached by an off-leash dog. I shout "NO" and use a walking stick/air spray, which has caused arguments with the other owners. We were charged by 3 off-leash dogs just yesterday. I am fed up to the point of being stressed out with my head on a swivel any time I take my dog off my property, and I know I can't control others that won't train or leash their untrained dogs.

I am starting to wonder if I should exercise her solely on my property/acreage, but worry this would be detrimental to her quality of life. How do you handle this with your dogs? Do you focus their exercise on your property?

Cindy's Answer

Hi, this is a huge problem everywhere it seems.

I have had similar issues in our area, even in posted areas that require dogs to be leashed. It seems the people with the least control over their dogs are always the worst about cutting them loose.

Leerburg is located in a technology park, filled with businesses like dentists, doctors, daycares, banks, and offices. A local bike trail is tied into the tech park, so I usually walk my dogs over there if I don't want to be hyper-vigilant. It's not the most beautiful walk but my dogs seem to enjoy it and I can relax. I might run into another dog walker once in a while but I haven't had any bad experiences there so it's worth it.

We also have a rails-to-trails bike path along the river just 1 mile from our home and I will walk down there with my German Shepherd once the weather gets cold and the fair-weather walkers stay home. I also found a more remote trailhead about a 10-minute drive farther downriver and I rarely see any other people on the trail down there.

I do most of my dogs' daily running and exercise here at home but I have found that even a 2 or 3 mile leashed walk away from home seems to tire them out more than running and playing here. I think the sniffing and mental stimulation of being in a different environment is beneficial for dogs, it's unfortunate that rude and entitled people can ruin it for those of us who want to have a nice peaceful walk with our dogs.