Have found out tonight one of the parks I go to have put up sign saying : Dogs MUST be kept on leads at all times. Dogs are not allowed on sport fields Dogs are not allowed in the children play areas Dogs are not allowed on or near the BMX & Skateboard tracks Dogs are not allowed in the boating lake Dogs are not allowed in the court yard The first 4 rules I can understand as some owners just let their dogs off their leads then ignore them, but not being allowed in the court yard I can't understand as the toilets & café are in there & my dogs love having a paddle in the boating lake (when no boats around) Have any parks near you live have dog rules ?
Well dog owners are their own worst enemies, rules like this get introduced because owners let their dogs cr@p all over the sports fields etc and then don't even pick up. I don't use parks except country parks which are mostly woodland and Epping forest.
Officially we do have the first four rules, and a tiny poster at the main entrance tells us, 'No Dogs on the Sports Pitches'. However, the sports fields have so many access points there is not a cat in hell's chance of enforcing the rules. When we were waterlogged, the police couldn't even keep the quad bikes off as there were too many escape points. I agree with Shirley, most owners don't help themselves by picking up, or even more mystifyingly, leave a collection of black bags by the side of the pitches for the dog poo fairy to move.
Have contacted the NDC (Newark district council dog warden) they have said family activity parks will have these signs going up over the next couple of months, I then contacted the NCC (Nottingham city council environment department) & the DCC (Derby city council environment department) they have said much the same that dogs will have to stay on leads & away from certain areas. There are dog owners who will ignore the rules as Carole as said who will be policing these rules, I have never seen a park ranger in the Newark & Nottingham parks, however there are always dog rangers patrolling the parks in Derbyshire, (but they are mainly looking out for illegal breeds such as Pitbulls type of dogs, there as been increase of dogs being attacked by pitbull/ type dogs so dog rangers are checking parks for any pitbull looking dog) This time of the year there are signs up in the dales saying young lambs calves in field please keep dogs on leads, yet again some owners ignore these signs & have their dogs roaming free, I do point out these signs when with my dogs but nearly always get a mouth full of abuse back from these idiot dog owners. It's not difficult just to slip a lead on your dogs when going through areas where dogs must be kept on leads, owners ignoring the keep dogs on leads signs is how dogs got banned from certain areas of Skegness beach, they would always say "my dog is under control" or they would say "my dog never wanders off" in fact their under control never wanders off dog as gone pee up someone's windbreaker (don't laugh) or gone snatch a sandwich/ice cream from a child, I can see dogs being banned totally from all parks if owners continue ignoring the signs asking to keep their dogs on leads.
Yes, our woods, which surround us here, some of them are play areas, have notices up to keep dogs on leads and if they do the toilet, to lift it up. However, most folk ignore the rules and let their dogs off lead in it, including the children's play area, where the swings are. Nor do they lift their dogs poo, only a few do!! No one seems to bother with the rules being broken!
Our local park is owned by national trust ,lots of paths ,woodland and river running through, certain times of year dogs have to be on lead where wildlife is nesting, but most people ignore it. Have to say that the beaches are getting more and more stricter though.
We have a high school oposite our house and a publuc footpath runs through their playing fields. About a year after moving here and using this field i started to notice poop all over place. Then signs went up saying no public right of way and the stiles were removed. I went in the school and asked what was going on as this field was great for us as its so flat i could have phoebe off lead at night and see her. School ha e had footpath redirected to stop people going in the field because of the poop. I couldnt believe people wernt picking up as its a school but i suppose some people dont care. I still go in the field on occasion but the school have warned me that if the cctv man doesnt see me picking my poop up i will be reported to dog warden for fouling and police for tresspassing. Its not a problem as i always pick up and wouldnt risk getting in trouble as they know who me and phoebe are. Some people just cant help spoiling it for everybody
