Nope, unless I'm carrying them anyway. It's just far too risky since one of our dogs do bite strangers, especially when they touch her. The others are very playful and active though. If I take them off the lead, they will probably run off to different places and maybe even pee all around. So taking them off the lead in public places is a big no-no for us.

We have this little park here though in our village. Almost no one goes in there anymore and so I bring my dogs there. Usually, two at a time, since they can get too playful. I let them run around there, since there's a fence around it anyway. And only when there are no people around.

But whenever we're at the mall or crowded places, we don't allow them to run off by themselves. Although they won't necessarily bite others, they can disrupt them which can lead to chaotic events.

I totally get your point, you should't do things that bother (or even hurt) other people just to please your dog. It's really disrespectful.
My dad always take my dog out off the lead really early in the morning, but he always make sure that there's no one that he can bother on the park. And my dog loves to be all around that way.
People need to be aware of this and try to change this part, because if they don't, sooner or later they'll have some kind of trouble.

You never know what dog your dog will meet, or what people your dog will meet. So letting the dog loose could result in some serious misunderstandings even if you have the most well behaved dog.
I think it's best to let the dog loose only when there's very little people around.

No, when taking a walk, I always take the lead. It makes it safer for my dog, and it gives me superiority, and teaches my dog to follow orders. You also can make sure that you wouldn't have to deal with incoming traffic hitting your dog, and you can also make sure the safety of your dog while he sniffs around and enjoys the walk through the streets.

In that situation I wouldn't let my dog off the leash, it would be foolish because you don't know how he reacts with certain people or animals. In general I don't let my dog off the leash because both of mine are really active and playful, I'm sure they would run around and I would have to chase them.

Yes and no. It depends on where we are, but he usually just sticks by me until he knows what's up. He's extremely friendly to people who approach him first, but he will absolutely FLOOR it if he sees another dog, like mad sprint for a half mile type fixation on other dogs. Tried to train it out of him, and he'll stop but only if the other dog doesn't run towards him too. If they both want to play, there's no chance he's gonna listen.

I personally don't like to let my dog off the leash when we're just on a walk around the neighborhood because a lot of the neighborhood dogs can be pretty aggressive, even behind fences, and I don't want to lose control of my dog. However, when she's on a hike or something where there aren't many other dogs, she can usually go leash-less.
In public places in general, it depends on a variety of factors including potential aggressors such as dogs or food in some cases. My dog is pretty controlled and calm, so she usually stays close, but if there are lots of stimuli around that could influence her to leave, she'll stay on the leash.

Unfortunately, I see way too many people doing this kind of thing regularly where I live. Daily, in fact. I don't like it and it's not something I do myself. I've seen all sorts of problematic situations because of it and a lot of the time it seems like people just don't have any common sense. Additionally, there have been times when people's (small) dogs have come running up to me and latched onto my trouser leg and that was when I didn't even have my own dog with me! I do think that people seriously need to be more responsible with their dogs in public.

In that situation, I would never let my dog off his leash. The other dogs are one problem, but consider all of the servers walking around with drinks and hot plates. I can easily see a dog tripping up a server and causing a huge mess that could potentially hurt someone. There are a few remote places in the parks around here that are great for letting dogs off their leash though. As soon as I see someone else coming though, the leash goes back on.

Dogs are not allowed in most public places unless they are a service dog. Many place do allow dogs in their places of business such as Lowe's and Home Depot along with many other places, but the majority of businesses only allow service dogs.

That being said, even service dogs are REQUIRED to be on leash at all times unless the dog is trained to do tasks that the leash interferes with significantly or the disabled individual is unable to use a leash.

As far as parks and outdoor public areas, my dog remains on leash unless it is the dog park. I may at times release the leash with just my foot on it to allow some relaxation when he's laying down by me, even in public places, but even as trained as my dog is, I always at least have my foot on the leash. This is mainly to help others feel comfortable in knowing that I have my dog under control at all times since they have no idea how trained he is or anything about him.

I recently went for lunch with my mum and sister, we went to pub that has an outside space and dogs are welcome there. We took george and tied his lead around one of the chair legs and he quite happily rested while we were there. There were a lot of people there though, the place was pretty packed, and lots of kids. A group of people came in with their dog, a young dog, and they let him off the lead to do as he pleased. He was full of energy and very playful and began running around and wanting to play with the other dogs, most of which weren't happy about it and there ended up being a bit of a scuffle. In my opinion if you bring your dog to a place like that you shouldn't let them off the lead, there were too many other dogs and kids about to be able to control what was going on.

Some people can be very disrespectful of other people's space. Even in a crowded pub, we each have our own space that others and their dogs should not enter.

I own a service dog and having that young dog coming along trying to play with dog would cause a distraction to my service dog which could cause him to miss cues or commands that he needs to listen to. In my case, it's not quite as bad if he misses a cue from me as it is for others, such as someone with diabetes whose dog detects low or high blood sugar, or the dog who alerts to seizures ahead of time. For these people especially, the person could get hurt badly or even die if their service dog is distracted like that.

This is why even service dogs are required to be on leash at all times.

Not usually. I guess it depends on how public the place is, because if it is a public park but nobody is there I will let the little guy roam free for a bit. If there is a good amount of people around though, I am pretty protective of him so I keep him on the leash. I do not think he minds, so we are all good.

Oh, I am very strict when we are outside. I wouldn't want any dog near our dogs. It's not bonding time for dogs for they have the instinct to bite. What if a dog gets bitten? Whenever we are in the park and some dogs are coming, I always instruct our housemaids to carry our dog until the coming dog (with their owners) have passed. You don't know what would happen when the stranger dog might be vicious or ferocious. Maybe I am over-acting but that's how protective I am when it comes to my dogs.

I don't take our dog off the leash unless we are somewhere that it is explicitly okay, like at our local dog park. Anywhere else though, he's on a leash. He can be an excitable dog, especially if he sees other dogs or children, and despite him not wanting to hurt them (he just wants to be everyone's friend!) I do worry about other dogs getting aggressive, or children who aren't accustomed to dogs getting scared. To me it's just a mark of courtesy to others to ensure that he is on a leash in public places - and I think it's appreciated by others, too!