This was published 3 years ago
October 23, 2022 — 4:30pm
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I have the misfortune to live near a dog off-lead beach. That’s because not enough owners understand the concept of “effective control”, which is what their dogs are supposed to be under even when enjoying open spaces without being restrained by a leash. So, every time I go for a walk, I need to be on alert for uncontrolled dogs.
Non-dog owners like me are not yet in a minority, but things are heading in that direction. Research from just before the COVID puppy extravaganza estimated Australia had one pooch for every five people. Today, in the Byron Shire region where I live, the local council estimates there’s one dog to every 3.5 residents.
That’s a significant challenge when dogs and humans both need places to play. And, it’s an increasing pressure on native wildlife, which is at significant risk from wayward dogs. It’s a problem here in laid-back Byron but also more widely, as Sydney councils are struggling to divide available space, and dog attacks have reportedly increased in many areas over the pandemic years.
I’m not a dog-lover, having never fully outgrown my childhood fear prompted by a neighbourhood German shepherd that barked so aggressively my internal organs quaked, then intensified after a terrifying sprint home from a neighbour’s house chased by an excitable beagle and a bouncy labrador that, to my young mind, were certainly the hounds of hell.
Since moving to the Byron Shire, I’ve become a dog-tolerator. That’s by necessity, as off-lead dogs are everywhere: on beaches, in parks and within towns. Local Facebook groups are full of posts trying to reunite wandering dogs with their owners.
I’ve even become a dog-liker; partly thanks to some cute COVID-period puppies but also from the joy of seeing well-trained dogs happily ignoring me while they exuberantly race down to the waves after being let off their leads.
It was years before I realised the huge number of dogs off-lead is culture rather than regulation-driven. But, a shift may be coming. Byron Shire is reviewing its dog policies, including a likely change of approach from education to enforcement. I welcome this change as education has clearly failed to clarify that an off-lead dog still needs to be under their owner’s control. In essence, this means a dog is kept in sight and will come back to their owner when called.
Effective control does not mean a dog so poorly trained it causes serious injury when rushing a beach walker. It does not mean allowing dogs to roam within a playground. It does not mean an owner downplaying the effect of their dog urinating over a picnic basket on a rare sunny Sunday.
Recent research shows that dogs tend to function similarly to preschoolers, so let’s compare a “fur baby” (a term that entered the Oxford Dictionary in 2015) with kids. We expect parents to keep their kids close enough to prevent, or quickly intervene, should they threaten to bite you, run full-pelt into your knee or wee on your rug.
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If one of these things did happen, you’d rightly expect the adult to apologise, right any wrongs and do everything possible to prevent it happening again. Not to simply retort with, “It’s OK, he’s friendly”, “Don’t worry, her bark’s worse than her bite”, or, “What do you expect, it’s a kid-off-leash beach?”
I’ve seen horrendous examples on my beach, like the owner who physically abused his dogs after they jumped on my kids for 10 minutes before he noticed. I’ve also seen delights, like a dog who waits sphinx-like on a towel while its owner surfs, and people who use quiet times to train their new pup to return when called.
Dogs off-lead does not mean “dogs rule”. When dogs are well-trained, off-lead spaces are joyful for places for all. Hopefully, a change of culture will mean I’ll consider myself hugely fortunate to have my beach one for off-lead dogs.
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