Factors Influencing Off-leash Dog Walking in Public Places

Little is known about factors that influence owners' decisions walking their dogs on or off a leash in public places. We examined the effect of the type of public place, dog's age, sex and size, and human gender on off-leash dog walking. Observations of 1850 dogs and their owners were made in streets and parks in Brno (Czech Republic). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed no significant effect of human gender on the frequency of unleashed dogs in streets and parks. Off-leash dog walking was 2.8 times more likely in parks than in streets. Adult dogs were unleashed 1.9 times more likely than puppies in streets and parks. Larger dogs were unleashed 3.4 times less likely than smaller dogs in streets and 2.8 times more likely in parks. Male dogs were unleashed 1.7 times less likely than female dogs in streets. The dog's sex had no effect on off-leash dog walking in parks. The age and sex of dogs walked by men and women in public places were not significantly different. Larger dogs were walked by men 1.9 times more likely than by women. Results indicate that off-leash dog walking is affected by the type of public place and dog's age, sex and size.