Parkrun, running with dogs

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larkim Nov 2018 12:10pm, 29 Nov 2018 6,111 posts	0 larkim It's not stupid, it's just an alternative perspective that would ideally see a world without pets, and animals bred only for food or utility. But I'm in a (significant!) minority of that opinion!! I just value humans over animals by a factor which is unquantifiably large.
HellsBells Nov 2018 12:25pm, 29 Nov 2018 24,728 posts	0 HellsBells Milton in Cambridge has banned dogs - too narrow and congested and a couple of incidents of overexcited animals getting a bit jumpy uppy at the start. Coldhams, we are very happy to have them as long as they don't crap on the football pitches!
McGoohan Nov 2018 12:27pm, 29 Nov 2018 36,992 posts	0 McGoohan Most of the parkruns around here seem okay with dogs. There's a narrow section at Reigate that can get slightly problematic but most of the owners run with a short lead and that's okay. My one problem is that the person with the howlingest dog always goes and stands at the front at the briefing so no-one can hear what's being said.
McGoohan Nov 2018 12:29pm, 29 Nov 2018 36,993 posts	0 McGoohan Oh, and the funniest one was Dorking (Denbies) parkrun - which has lovely wide tracks - where about five minutes in, peristalsis kicked in on about five dogs at once. Cue, five owners collecting poo in bags to run with the rest of the way.
BaronessBL Nov 2018 2:12pm, 29 Nov 2018 7,373 posts	0 BaronessBL Ipswich has had a long hard think on at least a couple of occasions as far as I am aware about banning dogs, but not due to Cani-X running more due to people running with dogs not being careful about letting dogs either trip up or entangle runners or two dogs having a pop at each other as they go round and bringing down every runner around them (I believe - I have not witnessed any of this and have largely only picked it up second, third or even fourth hand from other people who probably weren't there either!!)
Bonio Nov 2018 2:21pm, 29 Nov 2018 229 posts	0 Bonio I asked the question as a non dog owner has decided that dogs can join in with our club runs - when safe - but only on a hand held lead. As per her parkrun. But I think this is a very unsafe alternative to a harness. Totally understand protocols of dogs or not on parkruns, but that’s not the issue...
MazH Nov 2018 2:28pm, 29 Nov 2018 9,983 posts	0 MazH I love running with my boy, i hold his cheapo Cani X type thingy short until we are out of the thick of people, and always try to be mindful of him straying over from the keep left rule. He is a shouty wee shite, so i keep him quiet during the briefing, and once RD says 3-2-1 go, he likes to yap yap yap yap thru the start line. I like to think he's being encouraging, but he's probably very annoying! He also will have a bark at other dogs on the fly by, which again might be upsetting for those around. but i quite often stop him and hold him to heel til the other passes. It's certainly not a short lead, but i do hold it short with a handle in the middle. i give him a wee warm up, to hopefully get the "peristalsis" over n done with, but regularly run the first leg with a poop bag in tow!!
HappyG(rrr) Nov 2018 3:19pm, 29 Nov 2018 29,609 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Actually, you're not in a minority, not of pet ownership (you might be in your opinion of pet ownership of course, I couldn't find any data for that one!) statista.com Only 45% of households have pets. So 55% don't presumably. So the majority are actually the non pet-owning cohort. While dog ownership is the largest of these, it's still only 26%, so by being a not dog-owner you're actually in quite a sizeable majority! Bonio, I think there might be a legitimate concern that the cani-x waist harness type lead is harder to ensure that the dog stays in a fixed place, relative to the runner. Not so important once you're a km or two into the run, but at start or congested spots, getting them right to your knee on one side might be important. Not saying you can't do that type of control with your dog and lead, but seems a probably valid perception that a longer, waist mounted lead would inherently have less control? I think if you ask the club person nicely you could probably show that your and your dog's control is perfectly adequate though. I suspect they'd show a little latitude? G
HappyG(rrr) Nov 2018 3:19pm, 29 Nov 2018 29,610 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) The % point was @larkim, obv. G
larkim Nov 2018 4:12pm, 29 Nov 2018 6,118 posts	0 larkim I suspect my strong (genuine, not trolly, honestly!) opinions though aren't shared by many, even if most of us don't have pets.