What does it mean to be "under control"?

A recent post from the APBC. Thought it was very relevant and important..

Monday Mention: Under proper control – what does it mean and who does it apply to?

If you are a dog owner, you might have heard about other dog owners getting in trouble with the law for having their dog “dangerously out of control”. But what does it mean, and does it only apply to dogs that are likely going to bite or scare someone? Is it just about dogs being controlled around children or does it extend to other situations too? Is it just about certain breeds?

While it isn’t our aim to explain dog related legislation here – there are far too many legal acts applying to dogs – we would like to briefly address the term “under control”.

Contrary to popular belief “under control” concerns all dogs, of all breeds, sizes, types and temperaments. Both dogs showing aggressive behaviours towards other dogs, people, livestock etc., and those that are perfectly friendly and “wouldn’t hurt a fly” need to be under proper control at all times. What does it mean in practice?

Basically, it’s about making sure your dog comes back to you when called. It’s also about keeping an eye on your dog at all times, making sure he is not causing nuisance to other dog owners, people without dogs, livestock, wildlife, or other pets (e.g. cats). It’s also about keeping your dog on lead if you know you won’t be able to control him otherwise.

In the light of this understanding of “under control” it really doesn’t matter how friendly your dog is when approaching people or animals that do not wish to be approached. Remember that a person who feels threatened by your dog in any way – even if your dog has never shown aggression in his life and is basically a soppy teddy bear – can press charges against you.

Behaviours that can cause apprehension range from jumping up, chasing, and licking, through nipping or mouthing, to knocking someone over (and it’s not difficult if your dog is a big lab and he’s trying to make friends with a little child), and biting.

A dog that is under control can refer to ANY dog that: the owner can see at all times (so is under direct supervision); if off lead, can be recalled reliably to the owner every time he is called; and if he cannot be reliable recalled from a certain distraction, be it livestock, squirrels, traffic, other dogs, horses etc., he should not be allowed an unlimited access to these in the hope that it will be OK, until adequate training has been put in place to remedy the situation. Some dogs might never be able to be off lead in certain situations (e.g. dogs with a strong chase instinct around livestock or cats), and for them being under control will always mean “on lead” in those situations.

Whether our dogs are friendly, or not so friendly, we owe other dog owners as well as non-dog owning public respect and understanding that our dog, even if we consider him the most beautiful creature on the planet, might not be welcome to approach at all. So please, keep your dog under adequate control at all times.

Written by the team at Pets in Practise "where positivity and determination, works!"

saw this on fb - very useful.

The sad thing is that most owners of difficult dogs will be aware of this but the owners of the 'it's alright, he's very friendly' rockets come at you at 90mph aren't.

There was an argument on the Heath the other day between the owner of a completely out of control but very friendly young lab and a woman without a dog that was being covered in muddy footprints. The lab's owner was just laughing while the other woman was quite distressed. I bet Mrs Lab would not see the 'out of control' bit as applying to her dog, though.

wish people of wee yappies would read this law aside from that very useful ty xx

Good article, we all have so show respect to other dogs, non dog public and other dog owners, wish some of the wee dogs with attitude and there owners were more aware of this and not just the bull terriers who seem to get it more.

I think my local park is mostly on the ''not under control'' side. Lots of dogs with not great recall, or a tendancy to leap/chase. Also, a fai number of owners that are too busy paying attention to their phones or jogging path to notice when their dog is up to.

I may not have the best control over Gizmo, but at least I usually know where he is and am trying to get him under control.

Completely agree Liz, but this is the first article that I've seen that is addressed to everybody, so even if a small number of people read this and take it on board I would be happy Going out walking with the people that I support is just as problematic, many of them are unhappy around dogs and become very anxious when off lead dogs approach. Unfortunately we have had incidents where a dog has received a kick from a service user, thankfully he was okay but his owner blamed us.. the dog was jumping all over the person in question who is very scared of dogs..

The buses with three sets of doors are fantastic for dog owners, we can avoid walking through the bus to get off. Also I've got off the back enterence and then gone back onto the bus using the middle to bypass some scared of dogs people.

All in all we owe it to our own beloved dog to keep him or her safe x