I WAS making my way down Penyghent recently when a couple of walkers with a sheep dog were coming up the other way.
The dog was off the lead and way ahead of the women, who were struggling with the somewhat tricky ascent.
I sympathised, I know it’s not easy climbing Penyghent with a dog on a lead, especially a large one.
But then I overheard their conversation. They were wondering why a bird was making such a racket and repeatedly darting towards them, so I waded in and pointed out it was probably worried about their free-ranging dog. One responded the collie was under control, which led me to point out the bird didn’t know that.
That was the end of it, there may have been some muttering, but I was well out of range by then.
Despite the signs, many people are walking in the Dales with their dogs off leads
A few weeks earlier, at the start of the bird nesting season, I had been on the same path but where it crosses moorland. There were chirping birds all over, it being the quiet, less well trodden path from Helwith Bridge, and with many sheep about, not all of them visible. A couple of walkers with two Hungarian Vizslas strode towards me, the dogs were bounding through the moor on both sides, noses down and basically doing what they are bred to do (hunting).
My own dog, a terrier, was on a lead and strained to reach them. I kept my mouth shut, there was something about the defensive look about these walkers that warned me against saying anything.
The next gate I went through, I checked. There was the sign, asking people to shut the gate and keep dogs on leads.
Ground nesting birds warning on a route up Ingleborough
I’m out hiking in the Dales every weekend as I make my way through 50 peaks in 2026, and I’m seeing this a lot.
Clear signs tell people about nesting birds and sheep and more often than not, everyone I see with a dog has it off the lead. Oddly, sometimes when my dog is with me, some see he is on a lead and put theirs’ on too. That is dog etiquette, dog on lead means aggressive dog. As soon as they pass me, their dog is off again.
So, what is the right thing to do? Challenge irresponsible dog owners, or keep quiet? In one of the recent police press releases following a dog attack on sheep, I noticed that it included an appeal to responsible dog owners to point out to irresponsible owners the error of their ways. The implication I felt was that visitors from towns or other parts of the country without free roaming sheep, not to mention a large part of the remaining breeding curlews, did not know how to behave in the Dales countryside.
A friend, who now lives in Austria, was horrified when on a recent trip home to Norfolk she saw dogs off leads in a nature reserve, despite all the signs. “No one does that in Austria,” she told me. “What is it with people in Britain that they think rules don’t apply to them?”
Earlier this year, in the spring, husband and I were walking on the moors near Grassington. Ahead of us, enjoying a picnic, were some adults, children and a couple of loose springer spaniels. One of the dogs ran towards us and went for our dog, snapping and snarling. I shouted, husband shouted, horrified adults called their dog, which just ignored them.
The adults were clearly upset, it was an awful experience for them and they apologised. “He’s never done that before”, they said.
Husband wasn’t having it and pointed out there were ground nesting birds all over the place, and what were they thinking,
Their day in the Dales was no doubt ruined and so was ours, we hadn’t gone out to be nasty to visitors. And all because they had ignored the signs. How much easier it would’ve been to have kept their dogs on leads.
A few years back, I came across some people walking with their dogs near Gargrave just after the dogs had killed a duck sitting on eggs. One came towards me with her arms full of eggs, some of which had just started to hatch, asking if I knew what she could do. The angry farmer who had seen it all did not hold back. A lesson learnt, but a shame it had to be at the expense of the ducks.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority advises owners of dogs to keep them on leads on public rights of way and in fields where there is livestock of any kind. In addition, it says dogs should be kept on ‘short leads’ during the ground nesting season, between March and July because birds are easily disturbed and will fly off, leaving the nest vulnerable.
From March this year, the laws around dogs and livestock have been strengthened, giving police more powers, including the seizure of dogs, and unlimited fines.
l For tips on dogs in the countryside, go to: yorkshiredales.org.uk/plan-your-visit/essential-information/dogs/