One recent thread mentioned leash laws in passing: looking in from the outside (UK), I was just curious as to where these came from (and why they are seemingly so draconian).
FWIW, we had a border collie for 9 years in the UK... and for the last 8 of those, I never used a leash with her: not in town (where I'd happily get her to lie down outside stores whilst I shopped) nor in farmland / wilderness (where "keep your dog on a lead" warnings could be found, but where most folk recognised that a dog under control WITHOUT a leash is preferable to a dog that's only a dropped leash away from running riot).
A friend (UK born, based in the US since 1993) has reported draconian leash laws (and a widespread expectation that they be observed) from the mountains of Maine to suburbs of Las Vegas and from the coast of Georgia to some midge infested swamps in Wisconsin - but I've just never understood the acceptance of what appears from afar to be a very different approach to that with which I'm familiar.
FWIW, we had a border collie for 9 years in the UK... and for the last 8 of those, I never used a leash with her: not in town (where I'd happily get her to lie down outside stores whilst I shopped) nor in farmland / wilderness (where "keep your dog on a lead" warnings could be found, but where most folk recognised that a dog under control WITHOUT a leash is preferable to a dog that's only a dropped leash away from running riot).
A friend (UK born, based in the US since 1993) has reported draconian leash laws (and a widespread expectation that they be observed) from the mountains of Maine to suburbs of Las Vegas and from the coast of Georgia to some midge infested swamps in Wisconsin - but I've just never understood the acceptance of what appears from afar to be a very different approach to that with which I'm familiar.
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